Unique Aspects of Days - July 2022

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Settling into our new home in Missouri is still prompting unique aspects of our days!

1st doctor’s appointment in Missouri. Getting medical records transferred from a specialist in Maryland to a new specialist in Missouri was a first for me…and I was pleasantly surprised that it happened so easily and that the new doctor continued the monitoring/treatment as I expected.

Callery Pear to the recycle center. It was a unique experience to discover a pear tree growing in a crepe myrtle in a front flower bed of my new house. I cut it down…discovered it had thorns…and was very pleased to get it cut up enough to fit in the back of my car and then to the recycle center yard waste bins without injuring myself. It was an experience I hope is unique!

Unpacking the art glass. I packed it but my husband unpacked it. There was a joy in packing and unpacking the beautiful pieces….savoring them individually and then again as a whole in the display cabinet. We left 2 pieces that are on light stands out on a desk beside the piano to act as ‘night lights’ in that part of the house. It has been over 25 years since we enjoyed the glass the way we did in July.

Making a compost ring with cedar edging. I bought two sections of edging made with 3-6 inch vertical lengths of cedar branches and formed a circle to hold my kitchen scraps and soft yard waste under one of our pine trees. There is not enough material to require a bigger compost bin so this is a relatively unique solution. I’m not sure whether I will move the ring once the compost is deteriorating enough to continue as a pile without the ring or ready to spread out. There is space to move the ring and start another collection nearby.

Finding the camera battery charger. It seemed like there were about 5 times this month where we came close to panic because we couldn’t find something we needed in our new home. The one that had me most worried was not knowing where the charger was for my camera battery; luckly I found it after an hour or so of hunting through boxes. Now that we have unpacked most of the boxes, it is less likely to occur…making this particular kind of anxiety unique to July 2022.

Forgot my toiletries. I travel frequently enough that I rarely forget anything I need…but I did for our trip back to Maryland for the closing on our house there! The compartment bag for toiletries was left hanging on the bathroom door in Missouri. I quickly bought essentials…glad this event was unique in my travels.

Hot and dry Josey Ranch lake. The lake at Josey Ranch near where my parents live was lower than I’ve seen with deep cracks where there is usually water or mud. The cattails area is dry and other plants are taking over. I hope this is unique and not what it will be like every summer from now on in Carrollton TX.

Hummingbird moth. I was surprised…glad I had my camera with me…when I spotted a hummingbird moth at the Springfield Botanical Garden. They are fun insects to watch and I always feel priviledge to see even one a year.

Hummingbird outside my office window…on the crepe myrtle. I looked out my window one morning and saw a hummingbird checking out the crepe myrtle outside my office window. It was the first I’d seen in our Missouri yard.

Missouri watermelon at the Carrollton (TX) Walmart. I noticed that the watermelon I bought for my parents in the Carrollton Walmart had been grown in Missouri…and discovered when I got home to Missouri – the watermelons in the Walmart were from Missouri too!

Wasp Nests

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Shortly after we moved to our Missouri house, we noticed a wasp nest in a corner of the garage door frame. It was out of the way and the wasps did not appear to be particularly aggressive. The nest has become something I observe every time I back my car out of the garage…and I have started a project to photograph it for the rest of the season.

When we were having some repair work on the house, the workers discovered a second nest – in a more hazardous place….under the handrail on the stairs between the deck and the patio. They must have inadvertently brushed the nest with their hand as they went down the stairs…the wasps were quick to respond. My husband was going to destroy the nest but several days have gone by and we’ve discovered we can live with the nest where is; we don’t usually take those stairs since we go out on the patio from the basement level of the house and onto the deck from the main floor.

Medical Transition

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The process to transition medical care after a long-distance move is a little complicated. I’ve made the address switch (and sometimes policy) for my insurance, identified new doctors, requested medical history be sent, and had a first appointment with one of the doctors…now hoping I haven’t forgotten anything.

First appointments are always a little challenging with paperwork and meeting a new doctor. I am trying to establish doctors that are all in the same system so that I’ll only have one portal (unlike the situation in Maryland where every doctor seemed to have their own!).

I realized that even finding my way to the building and the office was part of the ‘first appointment’ challenge. I tried to notice things about the building that were a little different: the young trees in the parking lot islands (not sure why they were wrapped as they were) and the glass atrium light fixture/loft railings. Maybe I’ll remember the place when I am due to return in 3 months!

Blooming in our Yard

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It’s been very dry in Missouri since we arrived in June and the sprinkler system was not working until we had it repaired….but there are still plants that are managing to bloom! The hostas are thriving in the shady parts of the yard and ants seem to enjoy them.

There are 4 crepe myrtle plants (one in back and three in front) in various stages of blooming they all seem a little different shade of red – pink – purple.

I’ve cut one to branch bring inside and have read some articles about how to prune them.

The roses are small, but the 2 bushes are prolific.  I occasionally bring a flower inside but enjoy photographing them on the bush; I’ve noticed that they are different shades of red. After the blooms are done, I clip off the forming hip and hope that it will give the plant more energy to put on new growth.

Overall – I am pleased with the plantings in the yard…already full of plans to supplement them: bulbs, a oak leaf hydrangea, some perennials for pollinators.

Back to Missouri

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The drive back to Missouri was different this time. Both my husband and I realized we would not be back to Maryland any time soon. We were leaving an area of the country where we had lived since July 1983…39 years. We were both aware that this was a pivot point in our lives just as the prior move had been. In 1983, we were moving to enable the type of careers we wanted….now we are moving to be near our daughter and within a short day’s drive to much of our extended family. We talked a little about what we were leaving behind…and the significant effort still required to be settled into our new home. Now that we own one house again…home is Missouri even if we aren’t quite comfortable – yet.

The weather was wet for most of the drive, so I didn’t take as many pictures at the rest stops. On the plus side, it was not as hot, and the rain only caused minor delays. The navigation system took us around the beltway of St Louis rather than through the city because of a road closure; we saw the arch from a distance. I took more pictures through the car window…two of Louisville (KFC Center and a bridge being renovated (somehow it reminded me of a stylized open mouth of a dragon!).

We were glad to be home again…relieved that the last long road trip associated with moving was over and that the remaining tasks relative to moving are ones we could do at our own pace and all in Missouri!

In Maryland

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Our first local stop in Maryland was our old house. We loaded up the few things we had left (which included some things we had left accidently). I took one last picture through the windows on the upper floor into the back of the house (view of the sycamore and the red maple). The room that had been my office (the picture on the right) was my favorite of the house. I realized that the room I’ve chosen in my new house is quite different…but my favorite of the new house.

The only furniture we left was the table and chairs on the covered deck. The table was just too awkward to move (didn’t fit through doors without disassembly).

We cut two daylilies (with buds) from the front flower bed and added them to a bouquet we purchased at a grocery store to put on my mother-in-law’s grave. She died in 1990 and had purchased the original daylily bulbs the year before…it seemed fitting to include the flowers in this bouquet. We’ve had annual times that we put out flowers/wreaths on her grave – her birthday and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday. We don’t know when we’ll be back in the area so this might have been a last time.

We took a short walk around Brookside Gardens…a place we enjoyed during all the years we lived in Maryland. It was not a thorough walk around…but enough to be a gentle goodbye to a special place.

We stayed in a hotel near the title company where the closing would occur. It had an impressive shower: a different kind of drain and well-balanced barn type glass doors and textured walls without seams.

The next morning, we were the first appointment of the day at the title company with a waiting room like a sitting room…with a carpet that needed a good vacuuming.  Our part of the closing was uneventful; I was disappointed that the buyers were coming in later and we did not get to meet them.

We made a stop at my favorite grocery store for one last purchased of my favorite salad dressing. It was a bust since it was sold out, but I was still glad to be in the store on last time.

We left the area to head back toward Missouri before noon.

Last Trip to Maryland

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We opted to drive to Maryland one last time…for the closing on the house there and last goodbyes to some favorite places. We started out shortly after 6:30 AM for the two-day drive – with a much longer drive on the 1st day. The first stop from Springfield was the Route 66 rest stop along I-44 near Conway. Our route was the interstate along the old Route 66 until St. Louis.

It was sunny and hot for most of the day – traversing Illinois and Indiana and most of Kentucky. The only big cities on the route were St. Louis and Louisville. We stopped in Ashland, KY for the night; we had driven out of the hot and dry Midwest and into rain. The last rest stop of the day (in Kentucky) was one that included oak leaf hydrangeas in their landscaping…reminding me that I want to plant one or two in my new yard.

The next day it rained…and rained. Most was not too heavy and did not delay us as we travelled through West Virginia and into Maryland. It did change the type of photography is did at the rest stops I switched to macro photography– lichen, moss, buds, insect, shelf fungus. I took several pictures from inside the car (since I wasn’t driving). Sidling Hill is more interesting from the highway than the eastward rest stop!

And then we were at our old house…more on the time we spent in Maryland tomorrow.

Baby Bird in the Grass

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The first sad event at our new house in Missouri was seeing a baby bird in the grass of our front yard. It seemed to want to stay cuddled down in the grass…kept looking toward the maple tree and calling; there was an answering call so maybe the nest where it had hatched was in that tree. It seemed too far from the tree to have simply fallen out of the nest. Maybe it did a glide from the high location in the tree and couldn’t return. Unfortunately – the baby was probably too young to survive away from the nest. We checked on it for about an hour and it didn’t budge. Eventually it would starve or be eaten be a predator.

There were too many leaves on the maple to see the nest properly but the blue marking on the wing of the young bird might indicate it was a blue jay. Hopefully some siblings did survive.

Settling in, developing new routines – 1st month

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A new house – neighborhood – city – state (Missouri)…a lot has changed for us this past month. We are still unpacking but have done enough to live comfortably…do the rest of the opening of boxes and distribution of ‘stuff’ at a slower pace. I am starting a monthly post to document the new routines we are establishing.

Trash/recycling. I like that we have a bin for the weekly trash collection rather than just putting big plastic bags at the curb like we did in Maryland. The downside is that recycling comes every other week rather than weekly like it did in Maryland…and the first cycle was cancelled because they were short a crew! Another difference: neither trash or recycle curbside collection take yard waste. So – I’ve been to the recycle center 3 times already (twice for boxes there were not reusable and once for yard waste after I cut down a Callery pear that was taking over a crepe myrtle in my front flowerbed); fortunately, the recycle center is not that far away from our neighborhood.

The mini-kitchen in the basement near my office is perfect for making my favorite snack: popcorn! What a luxury to have it close rather than a flight of stairs away.

It is also a luxury to do my back exercises on the twin bed near my office rather than getting down (and then up) from the floor.

Groceries are different too; the closest store is a Walmart which does not have as much selection as Wegmans in Maryland. I may look further afield for groceries eventually even though the close location of the Walmart is a big plus. I get to the store about 6:30 AM just as I did in Maryland; shopping in a store with more stockers than customers is something I’ve grown accustomed too…prefer!

Laundry has been an adventure. There is still a flight of stairs between the laundry room and the bedroom, but our Missouri house has a laundry chute! We’ve added handles to the doors of the chute (not sure why they didn’t have handles before) and bought large baskets to catch all the laundry at the bottom. And what a luxury it is to have so much room to hang up clothes that we don’t want to put in the drier!

Barn swallows. When we moved into the house, we noticed almost immediately that we had bard swallows nesting under the deck….easily viewed from our patio or through the windows around it. The babies hav since fledged and I’ve tried to clean up the bird poop that fell from the nest onto the patio…the price for having an easily observable nest. We didn’t have barn swallows at our Maryland house, so this is a new bird for our yard. We put out two bird baths but they haven’t been used very much….the neighborhood ponds are too close probably. We haven’t put up bird feeders yet.

More new routines next month….

Zentangle® – June 2022

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30 Zentangle tiles for June; it was challenging find the time to make tiles in June with the crescendo of activity for our move to Missouri…but very worthwhile to help me decompress.

I found myself enjoying new Sharpie Ultra Fine pens and savoring some newly discovered gel pins; both provided the smooth glide of color onto the variety of tile materials during the month. The paper coasters (round and square) were in the box I carried with me on all my travels. I rediscovered an unopened box of the round ones as I was packing…will return to them in the months ahead.

My favorite tiles are probably the light brown ones made from recycled lightweight cardboard or old file folders. Both square

And rectangular.

There are still a few tiles made from old pocket folders saved my daughter’s K-12 days; I found more of those folders as I packed to move…will cut them into tiles as some point.

I had a few tiles that were a narrower rectangle…the back of pads of paper I used up….and then had the cardboard left to repurpose!

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2022

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What a month! It is probably the busiest, most stressful in my post career decade….with so much that has gone right in the end…lots of little celebrations.

Hearing a phoebe in the morning….seeing a crane fly – The sights and sounds of nature often become little celebrations for me…they just happen and make the day brighter.

New low weight for the year – With all the work getting ready to move and then moving, I expended a lot more energy and lost a few pounds. I celebrated a new low weight for the year in June.

A new house – Settling into a new house/location is stressful…but there is also a lot of to celebrate. Noticing all the aspects of the house that I like…celebrating that it is becoming home.

A picture taking walk around the ponds in the early morning – The water features of my new neighborhood are more extensive than where I lived previously. There were plenty of sights to celebrate in my first walks around the ponds and I anticipate enjoying them all through the year.

Internet/cable at Missouri house (just in time to make hotel reservations for the follow night going back to Maryland) – Our internet/cable access was installed the morning after we closed on our new house; I celebrated that my husband had been proactive for making that arrangement.

Made it back to Missouri even with the blowout before lunch – The drama of a blown-out tire on the trek from Maryland to Missouri was not traumatic as it could have been….and I celebrated when we made it to the new house.

The movers arrived….delivering our stuff – The house was so empty…then was full of boxes. I celebrated that it all arrived intact even though the piles were daunting.

Finding the missing piece to husband’s desk – I had packed some pieces of my husband’s desk and we didn’t find the box for about 24 hours. Celebration by all when the piece was found!

Unpacking progress (slow but steady) – We are still unpacking but every day I celebrate the progress we are making. At this point, all the critical items are unpacked and put into their long-term location.

A contract on our Maryland house – My husband and I were pleasantly surprised that we sold our house in Maryland in just 4 days and for more than the asking price. At first, we were overwhelmed…and then we celebrated.

Zooming – June 2022

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I didn’t have as many photographs as usual to choose from in June…too busy moving. There were still enough to choose twelve. The locations were wide ranging: our neighborhoods in Maryland and Missouri, the botanical garden in Springfield MO, our houses in Maryland and Missouri. It is occurring to me that my multi-day road trips between Maryland and Missouri/Texas are almost over. The trek between Missouri and Texas is an easy 6.5 hours!

Enjoy the slide show!

Unique Aspects of Days – June 2022

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June was probably the most unique month of 2022; moving from Maryland to Missouri made for a lot of firsts…made more unique by the time that had passed since our last move (more than 25 years ago). It was hard to choose just 10.

Move out day in Maryland. Packing up was hard enough…seeing it all be loaded on the truck in one day (rainy toward the end) was overwhelmingly intense – certainly not a ‘normal’ situation. And I knew I would be getting up early in the next morning to head to Missouri.

A lot of armadillo road kill. In Maryland the most common road killed animals were deer. In Missouri, there were armadillos; perhaps it was the time of year they go walkabout.

Closing on a Missouri house. I hadn’t closed on a house in over 25 years and this is the only time in my life (so far) that there was no mortgage.

First sunrise at Bentwater house. Firsts are unique simply because they are the first!

Blowout of my driver’s side front tire. It was not a totally unique experience but the last one was years ago (2017) and only the third one in my 50 years of driving!

The neighborhood pool for the first time. I wasn’t sure I would use the pool but I discovered that there are times it is not very busy…a very pleasant respite from the heat.

Mend Piece. I’ll do a post about the experience in a few days….it was a unique hands-on experience at the Springfield Art Museum.

Making popcorn in the downstairs kitchen – first time. It felt a little odd to make popcorn in a place other than the main kitchen…but the mini-kitchen near my office in the basement has a microwave. I used my Nordic Ware bowl…melted butter in an old stoneware cup. It’s great to have a hefty snack without having to go up or down stairs!

Our Maryland house went on the market…under contract 4 days later. We hadn’t sold a house in a long time…and the previous experiences had not been quick. This one was lightning fast – just as the realtor had predicted. We were pleased and overwhelmed all at the same time.

New washer and dryer. I don’t remember the last time we had a new washer/dryer….so I am counting it as unique….and still enjoying the big improvement over the older models: quieter, more effiecent use of water/energy, quicker. Also – the laundry chute in our new house is a very nice feature.

Our (new) Yard – June 2022

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A quick walk around our back yard…on my way to a walk before the heat of the day.

There are still a few roses. I’ll water them and hope that the blooms will linger. There are still buds but the heat could be problematic for them.

There are pines and hollies around the deck with steppingstone paths through the beds to the lawn. The lower patio is very private and will be in the winter as well. We see the neighborhood tennis courts and pool over our fence from the 1st floor but the basement level, where my office is located, is a green walled oasis. I love it already.

There are a few plants blooming – they probaby need water too – and there is grass growing into them. I need to find my gardening gloves and clear out the undesirable intrusions into the flower beds.

My sister bought us a glass bird bath that has a solar cell in the base that glows at night. Our first addition to our yard. I can see it from my office window.

There is a swallow nest over the patio – under the deck – and we are avoiding the area in an effort to not upset the parents as they are frantically feeding their hungry young.

Our New Neighborhood – June 2022

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There are two ponds with a ~0.5 trail around them in our Missouri neighborhood…three bridges (one at both ends and between them). One of the tangential paths from the loop passes by our back gate. I took an early morning walk – taking photos in the great morning light. A squirrel posed for me on one of the bridges.

I was glad the mowed areas are not ‘golf course’ like…lots of clover mixed in with the grasses.

There is a mallard with a broken wing that I’ve seen several times. The first time was the day the movers arrived. It was wondering around our backyard and my husband opened the gate so that it could return to the ponds. It was swimming in the water or on a muddy island in one of ponds the other times I’ve seen it. It probably cannot fly well enough to move to another location.

The edges of the ponds are not mowed….so there are plenty of taller grasses, seedlings, wild onions and other plants that make it interesting.

I stopped just before I made the last turn to my house to photograph one of the larger trees….and its reflection.

We are experiencing lots of high temperatures this week so all my walks will be on mornings when the temperature is still pleasant. I am anticipating that the short walks are going to be ‘favorites’ for my post-move life.

Unpacking

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The morning after the movers got everything into the house, I was up with the dawn (before 6 AM) and ready to start with the unpacking. My sister helped and we made good progress for the next 4 days of her visit (with a few breaks for exploring the area around Springfield).

I kept my laptop set up on the kitchen counter to mark off the boxes on my inventory as we unpacked them.

The living room was one of the prime areas that boxes were piled. I had thought ahead to have the book boxes in the area near the window and the other (lighter boxes) destined primarily for the kitchen/China cabinet) in the center of the room. The kitchen counters became cluttered with items to put away – slowing down to allow time to refresh shelf paper…and occasionally rearranging once we better understood the way we would use the kitchen.

The basement also had a big pile of boxes…mostly in the John Deere room. My husband helped me put my office furniture together and I started carrying a few items down to the kitchenette that I would use there.

We had piles of bubble wrap which we stuffed in plastic bags to return to a store for recycling, Styrofoam went in the trash. There were piles of boxes and packing paper. I posted to the community Facebook page and the boxes that were still in good shape were given to people in the neighborhood that were preparing to moving. My sister and I took the damaged boxes/paper to the recycle center since the first curbside recycling day in our new house was cancelled (they didn’t have a crew!)…and the size/amount of cardboard would have overwhelmed our bin anyway.

Every day the house became more ‘normal’ but it will probably be weeks before I unpack everything…and there are items (pictures/breakables) to get from my daughter’s basement (and a lot of beanie baby bins that she is going to take back).

As I write this – I am one week into the unpacking process and the house is livable…but still looking messy with boxes in odd places!

Moving In

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Our driver confirmed via text that he would arrive as scheduled the next day shortly after we returned to our Missouri house. The truck and a car with three helpers arrived just after 8 AM – making an early start since the day was forecast to be very hot.

The steps to the front of the Missouri house are shallower than the ones in Maryland; the ramp they used looked better but was squishy when weight was on it.

I had my blue paper signs held up with painters’ tape to name rooms and designate where major furniture would go. More red and blue runners were needed to protect the floors because none of the flooring was going to be replaced in the Missouri house (like the carpeting was in Maryland).

The piano crate was moved into the dining room…and would stay there for 4 days until the specialist crew came to uncrate it and put the parts back together.

It was an exhausting day for me – on my feet directing movers to the main floor or the basement (separate entrances) for the loads of furniture and boxes. It took the 4 men 6 hours to unload…shorter duration than the loading of the truck but the temperature/humidity made it very hard work.

Not much got unpacked on the same day as the unloading occurred; my husband and I were too tired. Fortunately - we had enough linens to make beds for ourselves and my sister that arrived shortly after the movers left!

Overall – I was pleased with the way the movers handled the move itself…but the task of unpacking everything I had packed, now in piles in key places of the new house, seemed daunting in the quiet of that first evening after the unloading.

Utilities

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My husband made the arrangement to transition of utilities from the previous owner to us in our Missouri house. The water, sewer, electric, gas and trash/recycle were all with the city…easier than in locales where each one is separate.  

We thought that maybe the internet/cable connection would take longer, but we got an appointment for the day after closing! What a relief to have that taken care of before I made the whirlwind trip back to Maryland!

It seems like the process was easier than when we moved to our Maryland house 25+ years ago…a positive experience.

Now to wait a month and see how we do on electric usage with the air conditioner keeping the house comfortable during the summer heat. The gas usage during the summer is only for hot water so should be at the lowest for the year.

Whirlwind trip to Maryland and Back

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I left early after only one day in the Missouri house that was now ours…to go back to the Maryland house. It would be a 4-day trip with lots of driving each day. The weather was good for the whole trip although it had been very wet the days before. The early rest stops were soggy. I drove from Springfield MO to Huntington WV the first day…a bit long but I knew I would need time at my Maryland house to load the car on the second day. It rained heavily after I was at the hotel!

The Red Roof Inn in Huntington was a surprise. Perhaps it had been recently renovated because the lighting over the bed and the size/arrangement of the desk area were more functional than most hotel rooms.

I was up early the next morning and heading to my Maryland house. At one of the West Virginia stops, I noticed a dead tree…took a closer look at the fungus growing on the trunk.

The drive was uneventful…arriving early enough to have lunch with my husband on our Maryland house deck…and then start the daunting task of loading the cars. Our plan was to caravan back to Missouri with everything from the Maryland house….but we couldn’t quite fit everything so we’ll return to Maryland for the closing on that house; everything left will easily fit in one car. I took pictures of the house without furniture…with the new carpet…before we headed to a nearby hotel for the night.

We headed out early….saw morning sun on the Sidling Hill road cut.

After another night in a hotel, we got another early start…destination our house in Missouri. The drive took a dramatic turn at mid-morning: the front driver’s side tire blew out on my car just east of the Skeeter Mountain rest stop in Indiana. I was glad my husband was following me. It occurred on a bridge….part of the tire flying off…I managed to control the car well enough to pull onto the shoulder past the bridge. I sat in the car after I got it stopped. My husband came up and asked if I was OK…’not really’ was my response. Fortunately, the trauma was emotional rather than physical. We both stood further off on the shoulder, and he called for a tow (my car does not have a spare). I took pictures of the car…and the vegetation nearby. The tow truck came in about 20 minutes…about 10 AM; the tow to a tire place took about 30 minutes and a new tire was on the car by about noon. We continued toward our Missouri home.

Fortunately, the rest of the drive was uneventful…the blow out episode causing a 3-hour delay…not bad overall. Both of us went to bed early - emotionally exhausted once the drive was over.

When will the movers arrive?

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The timing of the arrival of truck truck at our new house in Missouri was a range of more than a week at the beginning; on the day they loaded the truck, we were told it would arrive the last day of the range. On the day after closing, the driver called in the morning. If he could get a crew to help, he could deliver  later in the day and finish unloading the day after. I went into panic mode to get the house ready: putting everything I had brought in the car out of the way and making signs for the floor or walls to indicate where major furniture would go.

Later in the day, the driver called to indicate that he had not been able to arrange for a crew so the truck would arrive a day before the original delivery date…in 5 days. I was almost overwhelmed by the whiplash of changes but I quickly recovered and made plans to make a return trip to Maryland to get the last items our of our Maryland house and then drive back with my husband --- both of us with fully loaded cars.

What a flurry of activity the day after closing on our Missouri house!