The big exchange or 12 hours of .....

So today was the day.  We were finally able to plan on a day of sun and we took advantage of it by "flipping" the garages.  You may remember that one of the main reasons we bought this place was the third car garage that could be turned into a shop.  During the past few months we have been using the main, 2-car garage for a shop and staging and we used the third-car garage for storage of a lot of our stuff.  Well it was time for the big swap and today was the day.  All I can say is that, contrary to my husband's belief, we have waaaaaaay too much stuff.  That said, we are doing our best to pare down and got a fairly good start on it today....  there is a lot more to do, but.......  And on another front we have a new teenage neighbor, Anna, who was  looking for work and she worked on the yard today while we worked on the garage.  She was so fast that she ended up helping us for the last 1/2 hour!   It was great!  Thanks, Anna!

Drat!  See those boxes, they  are invading the house from the garage again!  The good news is we are already
sorted some of the cook books and some are ready to depart!  

All those boxes on the left are full of books and you are just seeing the first row!  There are three of them.
Anna asked if we'd ever heard of selling them.......  LOVE IT!  Bill just chuckled.  

The view from the garages!  Oh my, where did we get all this stuff!  And, maybe more important, WHY!?!?!?!?!

The third-car garage cleaned out and almost ready for shop equipment!  Yahoo!  It looks so light compared
to the dark cramped space it was all winter!  I should have take a before picture!

The two-car garage before the exchange.....  And we'd already put a lot of stuff in the driveway!  I found
myself fondly remembering my Uncle Fritz and and Peg's basement and shop - so CLEAN!

Anyone want a 'speed bag platform' and bags.  Bill finally
agreed to give it up today.  The previous owner's family
had no use for it so it was just left in the garage.

Okay, so it isn't spotless or well organized yet!  It is such an improvement already.  Some of those old kitchen
cupboards are going to be moved in soon so there will be better storage! (And we'll have access to our
back porch! Yahoo!)

The view from outside!  Looks better from here!

And the two car garage with all the stuff from the third-car garage sorted (house stuff, garage stuff, for sale
stuff, and stuff waiting to be picked up) and ready for distribution.  It will be better soon - as Bill build cabinets and shelving/storage and we reorganize the cabinets to the left.  Ah, it's been a long day, but it feels great!
(Oh yeah,  I have to confess to an hour swim with my friend Becky at Lake Padden this afternoon!  It was great and sooooo refreshing!  I came bak in a much better mood and reinvigorated.)

It's been a month!

Wow!  Time does fly and it has nothing to do with having fun!  Well, maybe a little.  We moved on June 7th and 8th and then fell into a coma for a couple of days before getting back on the horse and tackling the next jobs.  More trim work, finding (Kate) and installing (Bill) cabinet handles, unpacking more boxes from the garage - there are still plenty there :-( ,  tiling the upstairs shower, cleaning up the yard and actually planting some annuals!

We've already had a few guests.  My former roommate, Carol, came from Oregon with all kinds of energy, which was just what was needed at the time.  We shopped for a new microwave, toaster and some other miscellaneous items (if you know how much I hate to shop you know how much I appreciate her help), weeded the peony bed (what a job that was), and, unpacked a ton of boxes!  She said she wouldn't come if I wouldn't put her to work, so..... That may be a warning to the rest of you!  She left and we finished tiling the upstairs shower just in time for Maria, Ava and Meredith to arrive for a few days.  We really did stop work for a few days while they were here and that was GREAT!  Ava took me swimming twice in one day - LOVED it!  And Maria got me out on the golf course - we are still wondering what happened to that promised beverage cart!!!!!!  We are in the midst of grouting the shower as I  write this, so I better go and add the photos this evening!

The master bedroom closet - with temporary clothes rod.  This
house has almost no storage space, so I have a feeling this space
will be holding a lot more than clothing. Nice to have some stuff
out of the suitcases.

Our laundry room vinyl that we installed in a morning.  Interesting
stuff in that it is fiberglass backed and very flexible.  It doesn't require
and adhesive for installation and if you do get a knick you can cut it out
relatively easily and add a new piece.

Finally - a couple of shelves, albeit temporary ones, in the
laundry room so you can actually see that vinyl.  It's a tight space,
but I am getting used to it.  With the entire house only 24 feet wide
one has to get used to narrow rooms.

Bathroom cupboard knobs and pulls!  Yahoo, no more broken
fingernails!  Even though my fingertips are still numb most of
the time, they don't hurt so much from trying to open drawers!

Our extremely stylish living room sconces!  Okay, so we aren't quite
there yet with them.  Bill's thrilled that we are using LED
lights.  Now to figure out what to do for covers!

The cork flooring (and Bill's feet) in the loft.  Bill installed
it all by himself.  It was best that way after it didn't go
in as easily as advertised! It will be a great surface I think.
We have a little stereo up there and surprisingly it sounds
great throughout the whole great room.  I am sure someone
could explain why, but ......

A view of the loft from the walkway.  The beautiful weaving
is a gift from our friends Paul & Becky.  The colors are GREAT
with the house.  The storage unit in the background is from
IKEA and will someday hold yarn and other supplies.

Our new microwave and toaster!  The weirdest thing about the offer the buyers
made on our old house was that they only thing they wanted was our $79 microwave....
We threw it in the deal and forgot about it until we moved in and I would say to Bill,
or he to me, "just zap it for a few seconds" and there was nothing to zap anything in!
We traded in the toaster over for a real toaster........  Thanks to my friend Carol for getting
me to go shopping without a panic attack!  Well, it isn't that bad, but....

The master bathroom is looking a little kookie these days.  We found the
curtain track we wanted (IKEA) but finding a long enough (both ways)
shower curtain has proven a bit of a challenge so far.  Nice window curtain, huh?

We're getting there. We grouted this today - with epoxy grout.
It is a good team project and with my previous grouting partner,
Meredith, out of town Bill stepped in.  It went well.  We need
to finish one of the short walls and the floor tomorrow.  If you have
a good tiler do anything to hold on to him/her and it you are married
to one (hey, Angela) you are one lucky person!

Pete, the previous owner like gardening and pink, so we have 22
peony plants, most of which are light pink.  Thanks to our friends
Harriet and Andi they produced great blooms this year.

Some dianthus in the rock garden - they need some company!

And there are a few darker peony plants.  I hope to add more
variety to the fold.

And lots of strawberry plants - we need to tend them better so that we beat the
birds or worms to them! 

And a little rose peaking up in the back!

The white garden around "the rock."  You can see the peonies in the background,
well what is left of them,  We finally cleaned up the side yard a bit and moved
the picnic table there.  Ahhhhh, it's starting to feel like a home, not just a project.

Ava helped me choose the plants and plant these pots near the entry.  She
positioned them as well - saying they will be good for greeting guests. I finally
got some annuals in the planter along the walkway, too.  It felt good to work
outside again!