Update

We have been very busy packing boxes moving and unpacking.  This weekend, with help, we plan to move the rest of everything, all the furniture, and all the stuff from the garage.  We have moved over three truck loads of stuff, and the apartment is starting to look a bit different, I think once the bigger stuff is moved it will finally appear as though we are moving out.

It is hard to try and make food here as most of everything except the fridge has been emptied out.  I was really wanting a steak so I brought back some steak seasoning, and some seasoning salt for the potatoes, which were freaking awesome!  We only had a handful of charcoal and was able to make it work to make our dinner.  We just bought pizza yesterday, and luckily there was a large knife here to cut it with, as the pizza cutter has been moved.

Boxing clothes, I am not sure what we'll be wearing for the next few days, or if we'll camp at the new house?  I did move the air mattress so it is possible.  We definitely need to find a cart to make the moving of dressers and such a bit more manageable.

Keep boxes under control

Monday I relaxed a bit, avoiding boxes all together.  Yesterday I went to the house and unpacked all the boxes I could, filling cupboards and cabinets.  I also cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom so we could start using it functionally any time.  The closet is rather large and I still have plenty of room in it, but I will have more stuff too.  It will be great to store all bathroom things in the bathroom for a change!

I have seen where people move and you visit them the next week, and it looks like they have lived there for years with out a box in sight, so I am going to try that, not sure if when the real move happens whether I'll be able to keep it under control, but goals are nice to have.

I am tired today and not feeling much like packing, tried to make some coffee with boiling some coffee in the microwave and straining it into a cup, now I am hot, I am hoping for a burst of energy soon so I can finish packing everything up today, that would be fab!

Well, I better get to it, it's not going to get done any other way.

Endlessly deep cupboards...

My solution to organizing and using the endlessly deep pantry cupboard at the apartment, I hope these will find a nice home in the new house.

Emptying cupboards...

Spices, none of the bulk from a shelf I cannot reach (we move the stool already).

Thursday update.

I had to go to the house today so that the internet and carpet could be installed.  Needless to say the carpet did get installed, I got most of the kitchen cupboards and drawers lined and ready for use.  I still need to sterilize the bathroom and sweep the new carpets, being that the bag I have in it now is a bit full, I decided to wait and change bags before attempting to sweep the new floors.  I didn't get anything mopped, but with the carpet installation it make it a bit dusty and thought better to not try to mop it just yet.  Not that I had time to do it anyhow.

To see the details check out my newest blog specific to the new place... http://peyton-farm.blogspot.com/  I thought I would keep the progress of the house separate from my every day thoughts and craziness and reserve it for the specifics of country living. 

I cannot wait to move in!  I made some ramen noodles for lunch as I didn't know what I could take and easily make, and clean up.  It felt like college, where you just don't have what you need, but can get by with what you have.  So I forgot to bring any cooking utensils, so I just used the spoon I brought to eat it with, and that seemed to work out well.  I only took paper plates, so I had to be careful of how full I filled one. 

I finally figured out how to unlock the front door, and with everyone in and out, no one used it, they all came in the back door, I suppose because the carpet people saw the internet guy and the line to the house is on the porch, by the door.  I was able to get the door back lock before going to the apartment.  Wishing I didn't have to work tonight, my feet are tired from standing all day long.

Lacking in my duty

I am supposed to be boxing up the apartment, but since I do not know when the potential date of move will be I fear boxing things I need.  So each day Jesse "teases" me about not packing anything.  I haven't just been sitting around either, although Pinterest keeps capturing my attention lately!  Sorry, that would just be an excuse for my laziness.  Anyhow, I have been doing lots of laundry, as our water bill here makes no difference as to how much we use, so I have been taking advantage of washing bed linens, rugs, towels, and of course clothes.  Today I did box some stuff that was sitting around I know I will not be using, along with towels and rugs.  Those darn rugs made such a mess of my washer, I have to wait for Jesse to come home and clean out the lint from around the drum, as I just cannot reach it.  I want to strip and bag the spare bed so that it ready to move.  Pillows and blankets too, as we aren't using those this time of year.  I really should be tackling the papers and computer items, but that seems a bit over whelming, I will get there though.  

Tomorrow I will be spending the day at the house as the internet will be installed between 8 and 5 and the carpet begins to be installed at 10am.  I have to be at work at 5:30 so I hope they all are done with time to spare.  If I am cut short on time I am not sure what I will do with Moose as he will be at the house with me and cannot go to work with me.  I am not sure he will be comfortable staying at the house by himself, although he will have to start some time.  If so, my day will be really long as I don't get back to the apartment until after 8 and if I have to go pick up Moose it will be much later.

I am going to try and load the car with a bunch of stuff that can be taken over in the morning, so I can unload and put away.  My ultimate goal is to unbox as fast as we bring it in so that I don't have boxes sitting around.  I am so tired of seeing boxes, as I have done so since moving out of my first house.  The decision I will have to make is what to do with all the stuff I decide is no longer need.  The kitchen is big enough that I should be able to fit everything into it nicely, and the storage room in the basement will work well for my larger items and bulk things.

I need to take some pictures when I am over there tomorrow so I can post them and can show progress.  I only have a few cupboard to wash down to be finished in the kitchen, then I will move to the bathroom and do those, and then the floors will need mopping.  The floors had a lot of dirt when I swept, but that might be due to people walking through the house to potentially purchase.  Along with a tape measure, maybe I can figure out when to put things.  List, lists, lists... got lots of them now.

Laundry soap

It has been over a year since my last batch of laundry soap, and I really enjoy using homemade, but wasn't thrilled by the smell of fels-naptha so I bought some lye soap from my favorite soap/bath store, and used it instead.   www.livingsimplysoap.com  Upon mentioned what purpose I had for purchasing the Lye soap, they recommended the one without additives (to keep it white) and pulled it out from a closet.  I was glad it was an option for me to purchase and glad I asked a few questions about recipe and what not to be able to keep it a pure as possible.

I got the recipe from the frugal girls web site, and have been using it for quite some time.

• 1/2 Cup: Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda {not Baking Soda}
• 1/2 Cup: Borax 
• 1/3 Bar of Fels-Naptha Soap {you could also use Ivory soap, but if using Ivory… use the whole bar}

Based on the different amounts of the two kinds of soap it mentioned I figured two ounces of lye soap should suffice. You just grate up the soap, or use a food processor to chop and blend all of the powders together.  Being the first time making with this soap I think it is a bit wet, and would pack less if it was allowed to cure a bit more, or left over night after grating to dry more before mixing to keep it from clumping.  It was much softer and easier to grate, using my microplane zester/grater.

On to the laundry room to use the newly mixed creation.  When we move to the farm house it will be a bonus to hang the laundry on the line as I was reading that the sun helps brighten the laundry when using lye.

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...

Amazed!  When we looked at the house to purchase, I thought how clean it looked, with the exception of cobwebs in the one closet.  I thought I would go over to the house for a few hours to clean what I could, and it seemed as though every where I looked there was more dirt.  Every single drawer or cupboard had gunk on the bottom of them, so I scrubbed and scrubbed at them to get them cleaned up, all while wondering what the heck they did to get them so nasty. 

The sink is huge and awesome, under the cupboard I found a basin that you can use fitting half of the sink, and also a grate that fits the entire bottom.  They were really nasty!  The basin had what looked to me to be drywall mud caked on the top edges.  The grate was filmed with something sticky, like old grease??  What a great feature to have in a sink once it is cleaned up enough to use.  I thought I would fill the bottom of the sink to let the grate soak for a bit, but the sink plug didn't fit quite right so maybe we'll need a replacement??  Although I don't know how often I would plug the entire sink, maybe we'll wait. 

I had to clean a toilet to use, so I cleaned the  two toilets upstairs and one of the sinks.  There is a lot of tile in the main bathroom, it will be fun to tear out when the time comes.  We are going to combine the two bathroom at some point as they have a half bath in the master which doesn't make any sense to us.  There is also a window where the bathtub is.  I did ask the home inspector about it, and he seemed to indicate that it was common and to just put a shower curtain over it to keep it from getting wet. 

I did go down to check out the status of the basement.  All evidence of the leak was gone, although it did look as though they shampooed the carpet.  Moose doesn't yet feel comfortable going up and down the stairs, we'll have to keep coaxing him to do so, as I think we'll spend time in both levels.  Laundry is in the basement, so, I be down there a bit.  I also am going to set up the one room as my sewing room, so I definitely will be down there.

So I had to stop cleaning as it was getting dark and I am too short to pull the string to turn the lights on, so I came on home.  Tomorrow is another day and I will be armed with more tools and a stool!  Ironically in the garage I saw a broom and dust pan, and I had one set to go with me but walked out of the apartment without it.  God is good!

Bought the farm

Well, Thursday we signed papers on our Kentucky home, which has a nice barn and 5 acres.  We did a "walk through" Wednesday, which I thought would be pointless and as we walked throughout the house I was wondering again the point of doing so in a home that has been empty for the past 6 months.  We went down to the basement and during which I smelled muskiness that wasn't present in prior times we visited.  Looking around once we got down the stairs, we saw that they had the carpet braced up with wood and fans blowing on and under it.  We saw a carpet shampooer in the pump room, and were wondering where the water came from, and they obviously have taken care of it as there wasn't water sitting anywhere, but something leek. 

Our realtor is out of the country on vacation and his associate was there with us, so she called to see if he was aware of anything, and of course he was not.  A few calls back and forth we learned that the pump regulator had broke, and had been fixed, but we didn't know the details or how it was fixed.  This is Kentucky and I didn't know if a wiggle or screw fixed it, with the offer of the realtor to have one of his guys check it out, he confirmed that the pressure gauge had been replaced, which we knew wasn't working when we had the inspector go though the house.  Glad it happened and they took care of it before it became ours, we wouldn't want to think of it as a bad purchase right off the bat.  ;)

The wad of keys we received was unexpected, don't know what they all go to, but I guess we'll have fun figuring it all out.  Cable to be installed on Thursday, and I have to call about scheduling the carpet installation and removal that I ordered earlier this week.  Bonus, we saw several bags of charcoal in the loft of the barn so, I think we are set for grilling for the summer, or a couple.  Jess just scored 4 20lb bags for just 10 dollars, and I had bought two 15lbs before thinking they were the ones that were on sale, but it wasn't the same stuff. 

So the boxing begins, I have been reluctant to do so, as I don't want to pull stuff out of boxes needing them before the official move, but maybe I can get stuff boxed and moved and set up in the house as we go, and then I'll make due here in the apartment for now.  I want to move right this minute but know we need to get the new carpet installed first and it is much easier to do so with empty rooms. 

I'll also need to go clean the place before unboxing; not that it looks unclean, but I won't feel comfortable if I didn't do so.  The kitchen is bare floor, laminate, I think, so I can fill the cupboards any time.  I guess we need to get new locks too, Jess said that he has to see what kind we need first, hopefully that won't be a big deal.

Shopping

While staying in my old house I had to visit shops I'd grown fond of over time:

I went to some of my favorite places up north this past week as the guys worked on the house to get it ready for siding.  One day I went to the Silver Cross Catholic Book Store where I got presents for past events, my Godson's First Communion and Nieces Confirmation, oddly I got them both jewelry. 

Then I had to go to my favorite ice cream shop up the road, where I got a chocolate malt milkshake which I finished before going to the beloved St. Mary's Bernina Center.  Unfortunately, I saw a sign on the window saying they were going out of business, fortunately for me, everything was half price.  Including Machines, I didn't need a machine as the one I have works just fine.  I did want to add a few features which I would have needed to bring my machine up for and they didn't have in stock.  They did have a machine there that had such features included.  Also they were selling the chairs and were expressing how they can sew all day sitting in them and not tire but going home to other chairs they do, so I bought two of them as my DH expressed that his chair isn't comfortable.  They looked almost new, and they said that they get rotated as they sell them and order new, so they aren't as old as the store of just 5 years.

I have been wanting a binding attachment since I saw a video on how to use it, I do bind some and want to be able to quickly make stuff and they had one on the shelf but it was only a quarter inch.  They had 3/8 in their stuff they have tried, and gave me 25% off, so that was something as they are very expensive.  I have plans to grow "washcloth" squash, and make luffa sponge washcloths to sell or give away, just love the nature of them.

I had to buy some fat quarters, to do what with?  I don't know, as I just love their fabric... upon returning home I did look up the print and I can get it at the local quilt shop so if I figure out what to make I can purchase more easily.  

On Friday, I got to go shopping with Jodie, as we had to get food for the party, we had a surprise 60th birthday party for Mom/ 40th anniversary party for Mom and Dad.  So I got to show her my favorite little soap shop, two women started to be able to get together once in a while as they weren't spending enough time and thought a project of making soap for friends would bring them together more, and then they received requests from those friends and ended up opening a shop, and are very busy now.  All the soap is made in the loft of the store.  Together we bought Mom a bag of goodies of lavender.

Moving again

We are closing on our Kentucky house this week, so we are packing once again.  Mostly this move will be moving boxes that were packed from the last.  We only are using what we need this past year instead of living in this apartment.  It will be great to stretch out again.  This time we will be able to do what we like as we aren't going to be in town dealing with their politics.  With our 5 acres we plan to raise some animals, and have a garden.  I will really have a sewing room this time, not a corner in a storage room.

Today I ordered the carpet to replace the carpet in the bedrooms and living room.  I am not a fan of carpet but it is a quick fix before moving in.  I don't know the people that lived there before and they had a dog per the disclosure so we don't want to keep it.  I am hoping to get the living room and one of the bedrooms to hardwood sometime, for now I will settle for carpet.  I have a great vacuum, so cleaning isn't a problem.  The rest of the house is carpet free so that works.

Found a local sub shop to our new house, bought some for dinner, hoping my DH likes it.  I guess there aren't much as far as sub shops around??  The guy was telling me that he has ordered an oven, to make brick oven pizza's and the closest to get such a pizza would be in Louisville. 

Update:
I have asked Jesse almost everyday since signing the contract when we can give our notice at our house, and he keeps putting it off, now that we have closing scheduled or he wanted me to stop bugging, he agreed to putting in our notice.  Maybe it was the carpet purchase; we do need carpet change in order to get stuff into the rooms.