To Catch You Up . . .

Faithful blog followers:
The past 6 days have been a blur of packing, loading, hauling, lifting, shoving, and cleaning.  I'm not sure of much except that we got moved and we're still married.  Here are a few details to catch you up on the progress:

1.)  New People:  Scott and I met Kevin and Sara, the new owners of Grant Street, during the final walk-through of the property on Thursday the 27th.  We couldn't be happier that they couldn't be happier to be the new owners of the house we loved for so long.  I know we'll stay in touch - at least until I retrieve the drawer-full of utensils left behind in the kitchen.  (I miss those wooden spoons!)

2.)  Refinished Floors:  Meanwhile, back at noTTafarm, the crew completed the process of refinishing the upstairs floors early Thursday, the 27th.  They look fantastic!  The floors were sanded, patched, and finished with three coats of a water-based sealant.

Scott checks out the sanded and patched Douglas fir floor.



The refinishers kept us off the floors with a warning sign and a piece of masking tape.  We cheated slightly and moved our bedroom furniture upstairs Saturday afternoon (though they suggested we wait until Sunday.)

3.)  Trailer Time:  The trailer came in handy - even in the dark - as we loaded it down with whatever we could lift.  We took a trip to noTTafarm from Grant Street each evening before the movers came Thursday the 27th plus it came in handy on Friday for our final clean-up day.  Scott hopes to take a break from using tie-downs for a while, and the trailer deserves a break for now.

Loading the trailer by the light of the Grant Street garage.

4.)  Moving Day:  Thursday, October 27th, was the big day.  We were smart enough to realize that we should use professional help so contracted with "Two Men and a Truck" to do the heavy lifting.  Our crew of Marque and Chris was great; very polite, smart, fast, and strong!  The process began just before 9AM and ended at around 4PM with the noTTafarm basement and library packed to the gills.

The figures in the logo look slightly happier than we did after a long day of moving.

Marque and Chris did a super job!

noTTafarm's library room, "after."

5.) Nerd Alert!: Our friend Troy paid a visit to noTTafarm later on Thursday to teach Scott a thing or two about the installation of telecommunications and audiovisual cabling. In addition to a few bottles of his most recent homebrew, Troy brought Scott his very own toolbox, stuffed with every kind of pliers, snippers, strippers, and cable ends a boy could ever dream of. Now for the fun part . . . Scott needs to get ready for the satellite TV guy's appointment this coming Saturday (Nov. 5). Can you imagine? I haven't had a TV to watch (or a couch to lay on, for that matter) for nearly a week!

Troy presents Scott with his AV toolbox.

6.) Home: We were close-to-homeless part of the week when we were caught between an nearly-empty house and a house with almost-finished flooring. Luckily, Scott and I took advantage of the warm hospitality of his mom and dad; after all, Carl and Marita are our new neighbors, living just over the hill and down the road a stretch from noTTafarm. Marita cooked dinner for us, and Scott spent quality time with his folks watching the Saint Louis Cardinals take the World Series. They were a huge help, too, each day - taking car loads of stuff from one house to the other and helping tote furniture up the noTTafarm stairs. And while we enjoyed staying with them, nothing made us feel better than to sleep in our own bed in our new big bedroom.

Note the pretty newly refinished floors...such a cozy space!

7.) Beautiful Birch: Today (Tuesday, November 1), the installation of the library and parlor wood floors began. As I described in an earlier post, the birch is 3/4" solid wood and has a hand-scraped finish. As I type this, the parlor is complete and the library is nearly half done. Matt and Gus estimated that they would be finished by 3PM Wednesday. Then, we will begin the process of moving our furniture out of the big storage container parked on the driveway. Even better, after the flooring is finished, we will get to bring Leo to noTTafarm to stay! We've missed our little kitty but are so happy that Gramma and Grampa Camp have been taking good care of him.

Ready to take off the truck.

Parlor floor - before. 

Parlor floor Tuesday night.

Library floor Tuesday night.

We still have alot of work to do but I think we've made amazing progress when you consider that two months ago, we were still debating on whether it was time to sell our house in the city. Scott and I are certainly grateful for all of the love and help we've received; we could not have gotten through the moving process without the help from our friends and family. We both look forward to the day when the house is "done" and we can welcome overnight guests to noTTafarm. In the meantime, stop by anytime!

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!