Not the neighbors from hell

One more benefit to my new house:

Evidently there’s a brew pub not too far from me. And my Viking Maiden friend is making an introduction to her daughter, who lives nearby, and is acquainted with the pub.

What more could you ask for?

New neighbors

Here are a couple of benefits to my new home:

I look out my back windows and see cardinals, juncos, chickadees, finches, blue jays and robins. Friday morning, when I went out in search of something to cover over the nasty sticky liner crap in the kitchen drawers and shelves, I was actually brought to a halt because I heard birdsong.

Imma have to find squirrel-proof bird feeders. I tossed out some Fine Tunes for the song birds I saw loitering about, but squirrel radar picked up on it while the birds were still trying to ascertain whether it was some sort of Evil Avian Trap. I am not the Sciuridae smorgasbord.

Also: I have no idea what this is, but it’s scattered around the back yard:

Treasure hunt

Update from last week’s move report:

I did find my down jacket. On Saturday. 

It was stuffed in a drawer in the file cabinet.

Light and space

Well, there’s more floor to be seen than there was a couple of days ago:

 

Vs.

I figured out a kludge to restart the stuck garbage disposal (no hex wrench, but a slot screwdriver worked fine), and I believe I have enough food organized that I don’t have to shop for groceries until next weekend.

One of the things I love most about this place is that the back of the house faces south—even on cloudy days, the living-dining area is bright enough that I don’t have to turn on lights.

Which is good because you would not believe what the previous owners have for a dining room light:

Not only is it butt-ugly, and a hazard to ambulation because it hangs down to about five feet off the floor, but it throws absolutely no discernable light anywhere because it was fitted with a single “eco smart” bulb that has a cold, dim output of about 3 watts.

I looked at it yesterday: there was only the one bulb, although there are fittings for two. I put in the single, dim “eco smart” bulb that had been in the one, functionally useless overhead light in the kitchen. The light is still cold and uninviting, but it’s now marginally less dim. Still marked for replacement.

What’s interesting about the kitchen situation is that the overhead light is clearly wired for two lamps, but whoever installed this didn’t even put in the receptacle for a second bulb. I have to hire an electrician to even get the second dose of wattage. I swapped out the “eco smart” bulb for a 100 watt one, but that’s still inadequate for doing much of anything in a kitchen.

But it’ll have to do for a while.

Gratitude Monday: Settling in

As you know, last week I moved house. Since last Wednesday I’ve unpacked most of my kitchen (and put away about 80% of it), have nearly all my books put away, and can see floor in a few of the rooms in the new place. The new water heater is in place, and the USPS letter carrier is delivering stuff (mostly come-ons from mortgage insurance scammers who obviously troll public records) to the mailbox that’s sitting on the ground because I don’t have concrete bits for a drill.

Or a drill.

But a couple of things that aren’t necessarily Great Progress have inspired my gratitude today.

My first glass of champagne in the new place:

My coffee machine was packed in its original carton, so I could have latte my first morning in.

I found enough bits and bobs to lay out the tablecloth, placemats and napkins that my BFF gave me years ago, and I sat down to dinner at my candlelit dining table. I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to be able to do that again, after living in a cavern for the past year.