Soft Landing

The Old Digs

December was a killer month. I moved out of the 3000+ sf house and into a single bedroom. Yikes. Grecia came and removed the some of the garage stuff and his storage shed and I did the rest. Me and 4 strong men. I worked for three weeks and they guys helped me for 2 days. But I could not have done it without them.

Let's go back a bit... we had decided as the auction approached to just take exactly what we needed and leave the rest because we did not have time (or space) to move it all. So after the auction I called the realtor to see if I could extend the leave date through the end of the weekend (this was around Thanksgiving) and he offered keys for cash and be out by the end of December. Well, that was a no brainer. My first job in ages! I gave myself a deadline of the 20th and began frantically selling, recycling, throwing out, giving away and packing everything in the house.

Then I came to the point where I could not do any more by myself so I hired some guys to help. They took what give-aways they wanted in addition to a decent wage but bailed on me the final day. So, with some prodding by Phoebe I went in search of day workers. Around here, guys hang out in certain places and wait for people to offer work. I knew where those places were in Escondido but not around here. So I went into McDonald's for my morning iced tea and asked them if anyone knew. The girl at the counter sent me to Hemet (a bit of a haul) and I hired two really great guys. I explained to them that I had no money until I get the check at the inspection at the end of the day. So - we were all motivated to get a move on.

The inspection was at 4 and we finished at 3. I asked each of them if they spoke any langages besides Spanish and English and one of the was from the Yucatan and he spoke Maya. Who knew? When all was said and done, I gave them a well deserved Christmas bonus and bought myself a little time. And, I can put the house behind me. Great house but such a heartbreaking place.

This brings me to some last little house stories. But every picture tells a story so let's do that:

Believe it or not, Jean did not let the boys climb on the outside of the stairs - the part where you fall and create great injury. One day she said "Pasha, you have been climbing on the outside of the stairs" showing her superior mother-knows -all skills and Pasha said "How did you know??!!"

The proof is in the footprint. LOL (better seen if you blow up the picture by clicking on it)

The deal with the realtor was that nothing of ours could be left in the house. It had to be totally empty. And I worked HARD getting that done, including vacuuming and wiping surfaces. My hard work paid off because the place looked so good he did not look in every nook and cranny.

When we had a party at one point Spence did as he does in every house he visits and threw a beer can in a top shelf of a closet in the kitchen. He checked for it whenever he came. I did not have the heart to remove it. So, that is the one legacy I left behind. The next owners may never see it themselves.

The New Digs

The landing was soft indeed. With the help of the fam, I was able to rent a room in Murrieta with a lovely 81 year old dynamo who wanted a veggie garden. So I said, yeah, I guess I could do that. What I was really thinking was, "Oh boy! Oh boy! A garden!"

It is not the scale I am used to but she already had a perfect 4X4 built in raised bed that is just made for Square Foot Gardening. I removed the top 6 inches of soil and added a special mix and today I planted. I finally have roots down again. Not bad for a vagabond.

What I started with - not bad. Pulled out the oregano and it is drying in the garage

Now divided into 16 mini plots. Each square gets anywhere from 1 to 16 seeds planted depending on final size (16 carrots, 1 broccoli, etc) My landlady was impressed with the neatness and amount of produce planted. Which is pretty good because she started out pretty skeptical.

The final plot. Still planting spring items like peas and lettuce and spinach. Needed the fence for the small, but curious dog.

At one point I was taking pictures of the garden and my landlady said, "You take pictures of such a small project?". I was thinking, why wouldn't I take pictures of this. Man, I cannot wait to have a life!