It looks like it’s been a month to the day since I went off the air here and as cliché as it sounds, it feels like yesterday and a million years ago all at the same time. And while I’m not quite yet at a place where I can come back with full force, I’m here; sitting in our new kitchen, hotspotting off my phone, writing. The internet hook-up is scheduled for tomorrow as the hotspot isn’t the most effective so things are a little slow internet-wise at the moment, but today felt like a good day to touch base and reflect a bit nonetheless.
I’m happy to report that we’ve all made it. My husband would say there was never any doubt, but I certainly had them! Thanks to a lot of help and hard work from my mom and the kids (Mr KS had to make the move up for work mid-March), all the boxes of things to prep the old house for sale were checked (and then some) and it’s empty and officially on the market. I’m really happy with how I left it, nice and clean and ready for someone new to make their own memories. I was unsure how emotional it would be to leave after almost 13years there, but by the time I locked up for the last time that house really wasn’t our home any more. No family or Moose, no yarn or fiber or spinning wheel or loom or ridiculous yarn and fiber stash squirreled away. No familiar art work on the walls. It was just some (spectacularly clean) walls and a (good solid) roof over my head. It was a blank slate. And really, that’s what moving is. Leaving one place a blank slate for the next owners and moving into a blank slate left by someone else.
Our whole process moved very quickly — I met the movers at our old house last Tuesday morning. They packed up what I’d not yet gotten to and loaded it up and by 5pm I was on the road up to our new hometown, arriving just in time for a much deserved shrimp chimichanga and margarita with my hubby. The following morning we had our final walk-through and closed on the new house. Within about 2hours of closing, the movers met us at the new house to unload our things. My parents brought the kids and dog up later that same afternoon after having watched them while the actual moving was taking place and before long my mom — true trooper that she is — and I started cleaning and organizing the new kitchen. Now that’s a whirlwind.
If you’ve learned anything about me over the years, it’s that I really struggle to relax when there is work to do around me. Smart or not, I kind of just keep going until it’s all done. Suffice to say I’m not one who will live in what I’ve dubbed “The Sea of Boxes” for long. So at this point — less than a week since moving in — the only things not yet unboxed and put away are the basement storage/camping stuff that my hubby is in charge of, the garage stuff (which we need to figure out shelving for, and my own desk things because, well, I do not yet have a desk. The kids have finally graduated to their own rooms so my daughter has upgraded to my old desk and I’ll eventually upgrade to a new desk all my own. That’s on the long-term shopping list and it’s just going to be a list that takes time as we learn about our new space and curate the right pieces for it.
So the kitchen is set. A couple of my favorite spots include these little coffee shelvesand…
This rolling baking rack. Since we don’t have a pantry quite like we did in the old house, Mr KS came up with this little ingenious way to make baking easy for me — just roll my rack over to the counter when I’m baking so all the things I need are right there and roll it back when I’m done. Easy peasy — I love it!
And once I finally had the kitchen set and bathrooms scrubbed and the kids’ rooms and closets organized, I finally took the time to start organizing my yarn and fiber stash and tools. It was my hubby’s idea to use the big bookshelves we have to display all my yarn & fiber as a sort of gallery or living museum as a centerpiece in the room…
I’m kind of in love with how it turned out. There’s still some organizing that must happen in this area and a nice chair to pick out and a new spinning wheel to bring home (two more items for the long-term shopping list), but I really, really love it. And I’m just so excited to start creating in this new space. And finally, last night things were settled enough that I felt ready to get my wheel out…
The latest installment of the Three Waters Farm Top of the Month Club was thrown in on the top of my travel bag, so I went ahead and started with that. It’s been 7 weeks since I touched my wheel so I’m a little rusty and tuckered out quickly with it, but it felt GREAT to be back at it.
At my husband’s insistence, there have been some breaks to hike and get fresh air.And we found our FOY garter snake…
And some really impossibly lovely scenery in nearby parks.
Knowing that the move has definitely took a toll on my hip, Mr KS also found me a couple fantastic knitting spots so I could relax while he hiked with the kids.
It’s officially not half bad up here.
I’ve got a backlog of WIPs & FOs to share that I’ve worked on over the past month, but I’ll save those for another day. Probably a day before I have a desk because that will take some time, but after the wifi is hooked up so photos are uploading a little more quickly. But alas, I hope y’all have had a wonderful month and I’m glad to say that I’m on the other side of things and will be getting back into the groove here soon. It feels great to be back!