Friday, March 20, 2015

Organizing and painting


 Our bedroom is now the hub of activity in our house.  After finally getting parts re-ordered and brought to us by a rep of the moving company, we have our bed assembled and sleep-ready.  Darrell is "assembling" another Ikea closet organizer, and re-configuring the closet so that things have a better place to hang.

As you can see, our Ikea Hemnes dresser fits perfectly into the cubby that we didn't know what to do with.  But......now that we look at things, our bed does not go.  With anything.  Much discussion, weighing all the options, has left us (me) with a new task.  I will paint the bed to match the dresser.
Onto the computer I get, and am amazed at the ingenuity of many young women out there who have painted their Ikea furniture.  A trip to the hardware store, some experimental paints, and I think I can do this.  Stay tuned.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

TIMBER!

 Now in the state of Colorado, due to all the wildfires in previous years, in order for us to get homeowners' insurance, we had to comply with "defensible spaces" as dictated by our insurance company's underwriters.  That meant that we had to have the beautiful pine tree right outside our bedroom window taken down, along with cutting back 30 feet of Gambel oak.  Through this process, we have met a series of really nice people.  First, Chris, the arborist, who is an expert at doing this, and also Jack, a gnarly Coloradan in his late 70's, who comes and gets the downed wood for his own use.  Jack is very talkative, and he has familiarized us with several of the neighbors we haven't yet met, and has related at least one epic story of a camping trip where his buddy slept in a shower curtain.
As I write this, a few days after the tree event, most of the snow you see is gone with just a hill in front of the house where it slides off the roof.

Darrell took a quick video of the giant going down.
We now have a sizeable pile of wood mulch next to our house.  I had thought it would be good to spread in our landscaping efforts, but it is full of pine needles and not pretty stuff.  So much for my idea. We went out and bought a rake.......

Saturday, March 14, 2015

The view from our front window, and things we have come to know.....so far


 Before we left Tucson, we visited Ikea in Phoenix and brought a truckload of "stuff" home with us to be moved along with everything else, knowing that shopping opportunities are limited in Pagosa, and even Durango.
Darrell has been assembling furiously since we landed, among his projects an entertainment center, under-counter lights, an 8 drawer dresser (which fit in its spot perfectly), and others too numerous to list.

Today we decided to take some time off for fun, and attended a local church (St Patrick's) parade and event.  We met and talked to some very nice local people, and enjoyed the good-natured, small-town hospitality.

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

More snow and a moving van


 So we got the keys on Friday, the day the storm began, and after retrieving and putting away our stuff in the trailer, waited til Tuesday, when the driver could make it safely up the road to us.

Yay, our worldy goods have arrived!
And so begins the task of finding just the right place for everything.  Footage-wise, our new home has about 400 more square feet....the kitchen seems to have the same amount of storage...or more, but just different.
As I sit typing this, we have the furniture pretty much arranged and most of the kitchen is put away.  We are still missing the hardware to put our bed together, so we will be in the guesst room tonight.  Good way to try out the new mattress.