Orinda
Ikea
Yard
Housekeeping
We have decided that we need to sell the two houses in Northern CA. Our house in Walnut Creek has to be sold before August of 2015. Since our tenants lease is up this month we asked them to leave along with the tenants at Dad's house in Orinda. It was a hard decision to make, but a necessary one.
Sunday night the 10th we packed up the truck with everything we thought we might need to set up housekeeping in Orinda and start working on the yard. After the 5+ hour drive up, we unloaded and hopped back into the truck and headed for Emeryville. Had lunch at our favorite little Indian place and then off to Ikea for a much needed bed! Back to Orinda...OMG we had forgotten what commute traffic was! I was so worried we'd run out of gas before we got through the tunnel!
Set up our bed and got things unpacked. Showered and were off to dinner....at 9pm. It was a very long day. The house was in great shape after 3 years of being a rental. Mind you there's lots to do but we were pleased we could step into a clean house.
Bruce spend the day cutting juniper off the drive way. He kept saying he never remembered it being so hard to get the truck up the driveway before. Then he realized that the juniper had grown over a third of it! They had taken out some of the lawn in front and planted a nice little garden. The vegetable garden on the side will is a different story.
We could see Dad (and our tenant) frowning as we cut down all the rose bushes and plants that were clinging to the sides of the house. But it all had to go in order to protect the siding. Bruce filled the truck twice and made two trips to the dump. The first was stuff left behind and the second was full of cuttings. As you can see from the one picture, the ivy is out of control. But it will have to wait. Our next trip up on Wednesday the 20th is to deal with the Walnut Creek house. I have made a promise to keep my mouth shut when we meet with our manager. Having worked in the family business of property management we've seen it all (specially in Berkeley), but when it comes to a house that you built with your own hands..... I'm not sure what my reaction will be. I know Bruce is not looking forward to the yard work. The manager didn't spray the weeds as directed so the half acre is like a wheat field. It's the wrong time of year to be able to rototill. The ground will be rock hard. And with the draught, watering it may be out of the question.
The tenant nicely folded all Mom's bath and kitchen curtains and stored them. Found other drapes we had put up and rehung them all. Bought some window film for the front door. Got timers set to come off and on in the different rooms. Want to make the house look lived in, but don't want anyone looking in. Right now all we have in there is the bed, a dining table that was up at the cabin at one time (Dad's) and 2 camping chairs. We may need to make another trip to Ikea for 2 more comfortable chairs. After working all day, it would be nice to be able to sit comfortably. :)
We were going to come home on Thursday, but ended up staying until Friday the 15th. I was very surprised with myself that I was ready to come "home". Yes, Ventura, now feels like my home. That's such a big step for me. Yes, I loved drinking and showering in EBMUD water again. I still miss my friends. But hated the traffic. Felt out of place with the big city feeling. Most of all I missed my girls.
Today is August 17th. Two years ago today, we left the Walnut Creek house and moved into the house in Ventura. Hard to believe it's been that long or that short of time. Miss Molly is in the back taking a nap. We're having a sleep over tonight. Got to get our Molly fix before leaving again.
Sunday night the 10th we packed up the truck with everything we thought we might need to set up housekeeping in Orinda and start working on the yard. After the 5+ hour drive up, we unloaded and hopped back into the truck and headed for Emeryville. Had lunch at our favorite little Indian place and then off to Ikea for a much needed bed! Back to Orinda...OMG we had forgotten what commute traffic was! I was so worried we'd run out of gas before we got through the tunnel!
Set up our bed and got things unpacked. Showered and were off to dinner....at 9pm. It was a very long day. The house was in great shape after 3 years of being a rental. Mind you there's lots to do but we were pleased we could step into a clean house.
Bruce spend the day cutting juniper off the drive way. He kept saying he never remembered it being so hard to get the truck up the driveway before. Then he realized that the juniper had grown over a third of it! They had taken out some of the lawn in front and planted a nice little garden. The vegetable garden on the side will is a different story.
We could see Dad (and our tenant) frowning as we cut down all the rose bushes and plants that were clinging to the sides of the house. But it all had to go in order to protect the siding. Bruce filled the truck twice and made two trips to the dump. The first was stuff left behind and the second was full of cuttings. As you can see from the one picture, the ivy is out of control. But it will have to wait. Our next trip up on Wednesday the 20th is to deal with the Walnut Creek house. I have made a promise to keep my mouth shut when we meet with our manager. Having worked in the family business of property management we've seen it all (specially in Berkeley), but when it comes to a house that you built with your own hands..... I'm not sure what my reaction will be. I know Bruce is not looking forward to the yard work. The manager didn't spray the weeds as directed so the half acre is like a wheat field. It's the wrong time of year to be able to rototill. The ground will be rock hard. And with the draught, watering it may be out of the question.The tenant nicely folded all Mom's bath and kitchen curtains and stored them. Found other drapes we had put up and rehung them all. Bought some window film for the front door. Got timers set to come off and on in the different rooms. Want to make the house look lived in, but don't want anyone looking in. Right now all we have in there is the bed, a dining table that was up at the cabin at one time (Dad's) and 2 camping chairs. We may need to make another trip to Ikea for 2 more comfortable chairs. After working all day, it would be nice to be able to sit comfortably. :)We were going to come home on Thursday, but ended up staying until Friday the 15th. I was very surprised with myself that I was ready to come "home". Yes, Ventura, now feels like my home. That's such a big step for me. Yes, I loved drinking and showering in EBMUD water again. I still miss my friends. But hated the traffic. Felt out of place with the big city feeling. Most of all I missed my girls.
Today is August 17th. Two years ago today, we left the Walnut Creek house and moved into the house in Ventura. Hard to believe it's been that long or that short of time. Miss Molly is in the back taking a nap. We're having a sleep over tonight. Got to get our Molly fix before leaving again.
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