Moving From The Hobbit House

So moving day has come.

Spent most of yesterday afternoon trying to figure out how to get everything to fit in the tiny Uhaul trailer. Pop and Sis were there to help with the jigsaw puzzle. We got most of the trailer packed and then decided to call it a night. Headed to a favorite pub for some beer and pizza and to celebrate the Pop's birthday belatedly. Afterwards, I headed back to the Hobbit House to work on cleaning.

Didn't sleep well, since it was on the straight floor and there was tons of crap on my mind, but I did manage to squeak in a few hours.

Sis and Pop showed up at 7:30am with breakfast and coffee and we started back at it. Had to get the fridge emptied out and everything moved out of the house and to the curb so we could apply the jigsaw puzzle to the back of the truck. Amazingly, we were able to get everything to fit...we were all surprised by this, and the check out with the landlord went well.

I left the area to begin my drive to the Bamboo Lagoon around 10:30am. Trailer worked fine and I made the trip in 5 hours, which is much better than expected. Turned the trailer in after a quick unload at the other end.

This is the last post for this blog, as a new adventure has started at The Bamboo Lagoon, and you are more than welcome to catch up with me there.

Making Use Of Time At The Hobbit House

Trying to knock out some of the bigger tasks so the day of the move is just that, a move and not a cleaning expedition. As I mentioned before, I cleaned up the dining room so I could use it as a staging area for packing. I started on the bigger items last night...sprayed down the pans and racks in the tub from the oven and then did the inside of the oven and below the burners. It needed to sit overnight so this morning I had to make a trip to my local Starbucks to get some breakfast and coffee.

Today, I have to finish up the oven, and then get the refridgerator done (since I plan to use the tub for parts of it) before I can start cleaning the bathroom. I have two rooms (the mudroom, and the bedroom) that aren't being used anymore so I can get in there, dust and vacuum and call those good.

I have some running around I need to do as well. Have to make a trip to one of my favorite stores that I won't have access to for a few months (we are getting one there in the fall), and need to get a dolly for moving all this stuff. Need to get my change of address turned into the PO for the forwarding of my mail.

In the midst of this, I started a new blog for the adventures at the Bamboo Lagoon (the new house) and I have updated both my great great grandma's blog as well as my own blog (both of which have been weighing on my mind). Lastly, I have been applying for work, which was a huge step for me emotionally...and I am glad to be making headway on it even if I haven't found anything yet.

The Cleaning Has Begun

We are about two weeks out from the move, so today I decided to tackle some of the bigger cleaning stuff that doesn't need to be done again before leaving so that I am not overwhelmed with stuff when moving day is upon me. If you have read any of my first posts to this blog, you will know that this place wasn't even close to a standard of cleaniness when I moved it but I refuse to leave it a mess when I leave so the cleaning has begun.

I pulled out the refrigerator and the microwave stand and cleaned behind them and on all the sides I wouldn't be able to get to once they were put back in. I vacuumed all the baseboards and walls and ceilings in the dining room part of the kitchen and all the windows and blinds. I mopped the floor behind the refridgerator and microwave stand before moving them back into position. I removed all items from the front of my refridgerator so I can take them with me.

Obviously in a house that was built almost 100 years ago, I am not going to get anything completely spotless and I am sure that any work I put into it will not only be lost on the landlord (as he is an elderly man from Poland that probably is just glad that the house still stands), or any future tenants, but I will do my best to leave it as clean as I can get it with a reasonable amount of effort.

African Violet Bloom

I guess all my hard work has paid off...my african violet is finally starting to get flowers again. I am so excited! I have never had one bloom after being purchased. They have always lived and gotten new leaves, but never have been happy enough to bloom. Yeah!!!

Happy Plants

So when I bought most of the plants I have inside the Hobbit House over a year ago, several of them needed to be replanted. I even bought the soil and the pots to put them in....and then I never got around to doing it. Recently, I decided it was time to finally do it and have some happy plants around here. I also wanted to get the pots and the dirt off my porch.

This is the same day that I worked on the herbs too so I was kind of in a "plant" mood. What really put me over the edge was that my african violet was starting to get root-bound and had not bloomed in forever. So I dragged them all out the back porch, figured out who was going where, and go to work. After everyone had a new home and I was out of dirt, I moved them all to the shower for a good soaking.

Everyone seems very happy now to have some breathing room in their pots.

Happy Herbs

Amazingly enough, all my herbs from last year are coming back with the exception of the basil. They were looking a little haggard though from the winter and due to the fact that I neglected to cut them back in the fall. I was taking on a "plant" project for the day and the herbs were on the list. I had already purchased the replacement basils.

Easy enough, I just trimmed everything back...tried to get some of the legginess out of the sage and rosemary, pulled out the old basil ball and roots, and then planted the new stuff. Watered things up a bit and tada!!

Caught In Action

The other day, I was sitting in the livingroom working on the computer and happened to see a large bird out of the corner of my eye. I was able to grab the camera very quickly and catch these two shots of our friendly neighborhood Cooper's Hawk hanging out in the front of the Hobbit House (which I have never seen him do before).

He perched there for a few mins and then took flight towards the backyard. I quickly went towards the back but he wasn't there, perhaps I scared him off as I was coming out the back door.

Guess It Is Lunch Time At The Hobbit House

So it seems that this guy has put the Hobbit House birdfeeder on the route for his weekly if not daily forays. The other day, I was washing dishes and I heard the distinct sound of a bird hitting the glass in the french doors on the back porch. I cringed a bit, but hoped it wasn't a hard hit and that there would be no casualties. I finished up what I was doing and then peeked around the corner, so if there was a stunned bird there, I wouldn't scare it. What I found was this hawk sitting on my welcome mat, not 14 inches from the door with a small "victim" in his clutches. As soon as he saw me, he flew off...with the "victim" for lunch.

Yesterday, I was coming around the corner of the house from running errands, and I saw him fleeing the scene (fortunately with no "victims"). I have noticed over the last couple of days that the birdfeeder is not being depleted as fast as usual and I have to wonder if my unwelcome guest is scarying off the little guys. Boo!

New Bird At The Hobbit House

I don't usually get the opportunity to see a completely new bird, but this weekend, I did. I have never seen a Varied Thrush before and when I saw him on the ground below the feeder, I had to do a double take...then I grabbed the camcorder and tried to get some snap shots of him...this one is not perfect but it was good enough for me to identify him. Click on the link to his name to see images that other internet sources have of him.

Apparently the Varied Thrush is related to the American Robin...similar in size for sure...but I loved the colors that were completely new to me. I have seen a few Robins out and about as well but they aren't in full color yet and this guy was so vibrant. I don't know if this means that the Varied Thrush has an earlier breeding season than the Robin or not.

Regardless, I thought it was pretty cool to see a new bird out there...hopefully he'll come back some more and I can get some better shots.

Hobbit House Maintenance

Due to the fact that I leave the back porch life on at night, and have Christmas lights on the back patio, I close the door between my office and the livingroom at night when I sleep. Because the carpet in this place is new, it is kind of puffy and big still. In the spot where the door would meet the carpet, the carpet was starting to pull up from the threshold. Shutting the door was always a very tight fit, but doable.

Even though there is nothing in this little old house that is perfect, I am still not able to leave damaged things, and the carpet was starting to really bother me. On top of that, I didn't want it to get worse over time. I wasn't completely sure how I was going to fix it but I was willing to give it a try.

So I pulled up the threshold, lifted the carpet, cut the padding back, moved the carpet strips back, and then made a trip to the DIY store to see what my options were. I purchased a new threshold and a 12x12 piece of parque colored linoleum so that I could try to fill any gap that might have been left in the process. After looking at the work I had done and laying the carpet back down to see how it all fit, I realized I wouldn't need the stuff from the DIY store.

I trimmed the ends of the old threshold to fit better and then reinstalled it an inch back from where it was. Overall, it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I am thankful for that. I didn't have to do any creative construction to get it back into working order.

Snow At The Hobbit House

Don't know if it will be the last for the year...I watched it snow off and on all day yesterday but it really started to stick once the sun went down. I wondered if it would continue through the night, and it did. This was the biggest dump we have had yet, and it was so pretty. The birds were fighting over the birdfeeder. The majority of it melted off as soon as the temp started to come up. I was going to get out and get some pics in, but it started to melt so quickly that it wasn't much of an option. I ended up limited to shots from the house...

Idiots On Parade

I don't know if I mentioned before but I have new neighbors in the house next door. It seems for the last two years the owners have tried to sell the house next door during the winter (which really isn't the best thing to do), and when it doesn't sell, they get desperate and rent it to a bunch of idiots college students. Let me start off by saying this batch is better (even with this weekend) than the last batch, and I haven't lived here long enough to know any before that.

So the new batch moved in a few weeks back and at first, they weren't too bad....stayed pretty quiet and didn't make an effort to piss off their neighbors. Well, as of last week, that is all past. Last weekend that had a huge party that started at 5:30pm and went until Campus Security showed up (yes, I live near their school) at 1am. The city police weren't called, in hopes that they would get the hint.

Hobbit House Wildlife

Today, I needed to go out and fill the feeder up since it was almost completely empty and this beauty of a towhee was out there and he was not even phased by me so I was able to get a lot closer than normal with the camera and get a shot of him. He is really pretty....however I didn't see any of the white breast that all the towhees in my book have so I don't know if that is because he is colored up for spring or what.

Then of course, the fat little squirrel that lives close by came by for a snack under the feeder. He seems to have given up on trying to get any seeds from the feeder itself, and is just as happy to just look around on the ground for cast offs from the birds.

"The Birds" At The Hobbit House

Oh my gosh, the other day, I had a million birds in the yard. I am not sure what caused it but it was a little freaky. I was watching television and kept seeing all these birds fly past the window. I looked out the window and saw all these birds on the ground picking around.

Earlier in the day, the house owner was here cleaning the gutters, so perhaps he was throwing the gutter leaves onto the lawn and there were bugs in them. The first time I checked the window, the birds saw me and flew away in a huge flock...but they quickly came back.

I grabbed the camera and snuck back up to the window. This was the best shot I got. I think they are Starlings, but I am not sure.

Hobbit Mouse

Doing laundry last night and almost stepped on a dead mouse on the floor of the basement. I have no idea where it came from...there are no open spaces in the basement for it to get in and there is nothing in the basement for a mouse to eat. I also have no idea what killed it...it looked pretty normal to me, just dead. I found some yard gloves close by and picked it up by the tail and tossed it outside.

I kept thinking it was going to wake up while it was in my hand and freak me out but it didn't. I don't have a fear of rodents but if one woke up when I thought it was dead and in my hand, that would definitely freak me out.

Guess I need to keep my eyes open in the future, just in case there are any live ones down there...

Darkness

Okay, it is one thing to have rain, but when it is so dark at 10am that I have to turn on lights in the house to get things done...that is not good. Now I am off to venture into the pouring rain...hopefully I will find parking and not have to stand at the overflow lot...

Hobbit Smoke Alarms

I don't know if I mentioned this but the Hobbit House on a whole is kind of small. The main living area is probably 900 square feet max. There is a basement and an attic but I don't use either of them for anything but laundry and storage. I have always know there were a lot of smoke detectors in the Hobbit House, but I never really took a tally. The other day, I took a tally....there are 5 in the main living area, and 1 in the basement. In the attic, there is a bracket for one (so one was there are one point), but there isn't an active one there. A couple of these are only a few feet apart.

I don't know if the fact that there are so many makes me feel secure or worried!!!

Hobbit House Snow

A couple of weeks ago, we got the one and only snow I think we are going to see this year. It wasn't a lot but it was still nice to experience the snow. The quiet, the stillness, the fresh feeling...it was all there, even with only a few inches.

Of course it came in the evening/night time because that was when it was cool enough for it to snow rather than rain. So it was hard to get decent shots but at least I was able to get a few to document our only snow.

Hobbit Seasons

The holidays started late for me since we were out of town until mid month, but I did find this cute little live tree for 10 bucks at the store and decided, "what the hell?", might as well do what I can to get into the spirit a little. I also had Xmas cards coming from friends and family and wanted to put them up. The tree only came with a bell on top (which I put on my front door), and 3 little ball ornaments, so I bought a few small things to spruce it up a bit.

I found a short strand of LED Christmas lights that I thought I might find a spot for. The only outdoor socket I knew of at the Hobbit House was near the back door, but I wasn't even sure if it worked. Without taking the lights out of the box, I plugged them in to see if the socket was good and it was so I quickly strung the lights up around my patio window...and instant festivity was had. Now, since my patio has no lights on it regularly, I am seriously considering leaving the Christmas lights up for a while, unless I can find some all white ones to replace them.

At this moment, all my Christmas stuff is still up...I need to get over to a couple of stores and see if they have any sales for Christmas stuff and maybe some white lights will be in my near future...LOL.