Post Nineteen: Settling In

OK.  So, things like address changes, mailbox setup, BBQ with the neighbors.....  I think this all means we can be called permanent residents of Nevada County.  Not to mention the fact the house in Novato is completely empty and in the final stages of escrow, and will no longer be ours.

We have been doing a LOT of driving back and forth.  We knew this was going to be the case, but I think we are ready to be done with the moving part.  My question is, how the heck do people move when the distance travelled is a plane ride or even more, away?  I am in awe......  And, as much as we are pretty tired of doing the Highway 80 drive, I still love to be behind the wheel, having the chance to view things like this amazing sunset to the west of my eastbound travels last week.

And, we are not off the roads by any means.  Now that we are fully located in the foothills, we are trying out the "drive to Marin for the Day" thing for work --and yes, it's more complicated then we thought.  The weekday commute traffic is unpredictable at best, and often just plain unjustifiably slow or stopped.  But, we are driving for work, and done with the moving.  

Now it's just the unpacking.

Which is going fairly well.  Two straight days of effort last weekend have left the garage at least half empty, and with most things inside the house in a reasonable state of semi-order.  There are still random acts of furniture, many pictures leaning on tables waiting to be properly hung up, bags of personal effects still piled in the cabinets in the laundry room.  But things are very livable.  I'm enjoying the kitchen more now that we have more than one sharp knife to work with.  

The daily routine is a pleasant blend of work, house chores, errands in town, wildlife sightings.  No one commuting anywhere means we are lounging in bed later than normal on workdays, coffee on the deck getting organized for the day, retreating to our respective offices for rounds of conference calls, document editing, corporate whatever-doing, usually sharing lunchtime, more work, winding down by 5:30 or so to change shoes

and walk "the bench" as the neighbors call the NID road that winds through our property parallel to Pasquale Road.  The evenings as always, are my favorite time of the day, me in the kitchen playing around with dinner, Barry checking his bee traps, watering trees, playing music or on the computer researching stuff.  Dinner and cleanup, reading or watching something, then retiring to the huge and still mostly empty master bedroom where we can hear and sometimes see the beautiful night in the forest.

There are also the things that set each day apart; Marin Sierra is close enough I am able to drop by for lunch with Mr. Dybeck while camp is going on,
  other

lunchtimes spent at Lefty's Grill along Deer Creek just down the road, and a real real live rock concert  at the Miner's Foundry, where we saw an amazing Neil Young Tribute band, Tribe of the Red Horse.  

I wonder -- often aloud -- how long we will feel this sense of awe in what we have here.  I'm sure that the reality of the challenges of the property will slowly gnaw away at the amazement, but my hope is that coming back an re-reading this blog in the future will remind us of this time, and keep us thankful for what we have here.

Post Eighteen: A Moving Experience

A day after I wrote the last entry, we received an offer on our house.  About one percent below our asking price.  We countered with an offer of a half percent below, and the deal was done.

Having recently experienced the purchasing of a house, we are familiar with the process.  And, this time was infinitely easier than 20+ years ago when we were selling our house on Tampa Drive in San Rafael.  Suffice to say, it was not a seller's market at the time.  I know we are not done yet, but it's clear that this transaction will be significantly simpler to conclude.

So, now the reality of our situation begins to become clearer.  Assuming this transaction goes through as planned (and we have no reason to believe it will not) we have just over two weeks from now to have vacated the home we have been in for almost exactly 19 years.  Luckily (conveniently? thankfully?) we had scheduled to have the last large pieces of furniture moved up to Madrone Haus just after the Fourth of July, and we took advantage of that to pack up and move almost all the rest of our personal belongings as well.  The timing was actually motivated by the end of my time off work, which concluded.....  this morning. 

Our experience with Tana Movers last winter when we transported the Music Box and other treasures from Ray's old house to Nevada City made them the natural choice for this move as well.  I got things arranged with "Eric", mostly over email. 

Loading up at Carnoustie

A break in the unusually long heat wave was most welcome.  A long and bit chaotic Friday the Fifth packing boxes and loading the truck, was compounded by our buyer and her agent being there with their Home Inspector and a Sewer inspector, in addition to two gentlemen buying our bedroom dressers and a visit from our good friend Dan Hixenbaugh.  I was relieved when everyone was gone, and treated myself to a mani-pedi and mini-massage at Crystal Nails before cleaning up the house as much as possible and then sleeping on the couch.

Navigating the driveway at Madrone Haus

Next morning, I drove to Nevada City for an uneventful Saturday the Sixth - Eric and George arrived with the truck at the new house around 2:30, and unpacked in 1.5 hours what it had taken four of them over 8 hours to load up the day before, leaving a tidy but daunting collection of small furniture, boxes and bags. 


Eric and all the people working for Tana Movers were so great to work with, working hard but in good spirits,  impressing us mere mortals with their ability to pack and organize and lift and maneuver.




Backing up in time just a bit, on the actual day of July 4th, we helped Neil move his furniture into his new place in Sausalito.  His studio apartment is in a quiet part of the south end of town, a 10 minute walk along the waterfront from the ferry and downtown.

As is happening at Madrone Haus, furniture, artwork and other belongings all seem to fall into place.  We sat and read the Declaration of Independence, had some beer and pizza, and then watched the fireworks from the Sausalito shoreline.

Even though in both new residences, there are still unpacked boxes and empty walls, Carnoustie is now all but empty, and certainly now does not feel like "home."  On Sunday, I got to really set up my new office, and boldly declared on Facebook that "home is where the iMac is" and that the setup of my trusty computer meant that Madrone Haus was now truly my home base.

One more weekend of packing and cleaning up and a few more Craigslist scores, and we should be nearly set.