Sunday, March 20, 2011

%$&*(#$

Something nags at me to sit down in this space and type a bunch of letters that make sense. So.

Isn't there some rule where you shouldn't work on two houses simultaneously? We're nearly finished with the seven-year excavation of the Brandon Street house basement; this afternoon I got all the way down to vinyl, which I mopped, until the mop did itself in. This is the rule: stuff fluffs. When you think you're finally done with most of the stuff, the remaining stuff plumps up to fill the newly vacated spaces. It's not just a rule: it's a law. The Law of Stuff Plumping. My advice? Throw it away. Now.

My son informed me that the furnace died today, and I discovered that the main floor shower is leaking and rotting out the floor. (%$#&*$!) (But mostly just $$$.) (Again: #%$&*#!)

The Redmond house, where I actually do most of my living, is boxed and dismantled for painters. And then it will be the wood-floor refinishers, and then the carpet installers. It will be beautiful, eventually. But the general lack of order and disarray addles my brain. This morning I continually tripped on box edges, caught my elbow on stacks of bowls sticking out from where they don't belong. At one point, fallen nearly face-flat, I decided it was wise to just lie there and straighten my banged knee for a few moments, let the sharp sting of the tumble pass. All balance is askew, all centers tilted to the left.

But the good news is that Spring has officially kicked Winter off the calendar. Not much in the way of seedlings in the garden yet -- a few straggly daffs, some teensy violas. And we have new neighbors -- from Hungary -- who pre-empted us yesterday in the Welcome Wagon department when they showed up at the door with a plate of Hungarian apple cake. Neighbors! Friendly neighbors! Almost feels like I'm back on Brandon Street.

15 comments:

  1. oh lordy. Well, at least it's spring, and the furnace won't be crucial until next fall.... Damn!

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  2. Good luck, good luck, good luck with everything. Houses... I was just telling my husband today that I'm not sure we're home ownership material anymore. Fourteen years in a house built in 1939 has nearly done us in.

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  3. Full moon...spring solstice...everything is off kilter.

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  4. Perfect time to start anew!
    I read that new neighbors are SUPPOSED to come to you rather than you go to them. Who knew? No one has EVER done that for me when they moved in....ever.
    ps. This is Ima though it is signing me in as NONE.....sigh.

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  5. Friendly neighbours..fabulous. There are too few of us. Whether we go to them or they come to us...it's all good.

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  6. Finally!!! You just might have some lovely and interesting neighbors there, T. Hang in there on the house update in Redmond...it will be lovely. Think of all of the progress (and fluffing) going on over at Brandon Street. By the way, love the wig poses, what fun!

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  7. Nita, I hear you! I've lived in old houses my entire life, and the current house is 30 years, which is new by my standards.

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  8. Jacqueline, yep, that's it! Did you see the moon Saturday night? Plenty beautiful, it was.

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  9. Ima aka NONE: I wondered who in heck "NONE" was.... Glad to see it's you. You know, I don't care which who makes the first move, I'm just delighted to finally have some friendly neighbors!

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  10. mybabyjohn: yep. Exactly. Uh huh. (Thanks for stopping by!)

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  11. Mary! Great to see your comments here! Yay! Thank-you! (Okay! That's enough with the exclamation points.)

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  12. BTW, the furnace, though 25+ years old, is just fine. Needed some maintenance. Phew!

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  13. Ugh. You have bitten off a big big bite, m'dear! Just keep your eyes on the prize...yeah?

    My folks are leaving their 100 year old home for a newly built town home -- my mom sighs, "Ah, no more remodeling!!"

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  14. Oh, that's what the cussing was about! Don't envy you that at all but the end result will be worth it!

    Some neighborly neighbors and Hungarian cooking...couldn't be better!

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  15. Brave and tenacious...two houses at the same time. My experience was one, not nearly as extensive and it was 28 years ago. I can't even imagine. But a good neighbor, a good sign.

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