Bu-Bye & Hella-yes!

Due to Dale's persistent work, the Pod was cleared out yesterday. Today it left the building. Or the front of the house, anyway. Dale and I can now both park in the driveway. Hoh-yeah.



We got a couple new additions to the family today, too.They're not living and breathing, but they do crawl around the floors, upstairs and down. I'm incredibly grateful for these purring babes (and Black Friday sales) because now vacuuming will no longer exacerbate my back injury. We haven't named them yet. We'll have to think about that.

Also ... we got an offer on our Post Falls home. We'll have to think about that a bit, too.

What's For Dinner?

Well, THIS happened today.



Jodie spent the day with me and Dale. Her friend Jana helped Dale haul bookcases and boxes upstairs while Jodie cleaned my bathroom for me. Then we started figuring out how to set up the kitchen. It started with sticky notes on cabinets, guessing where pots, baking supplies, and food would go.

We opened one kitchen box just to get a jump start. Before we knew it, all the kitchen boxes were unpacked and items found new homes. We're not DONE-done, but we are done for now. If I have to cook a meal, I can do it now.

Dale is the bomb. He completely unloaded the Pod (truck) and it will be out of our driveway by tomorrow afternoon. There's much more to do, of course, but today felt like a BIG leap forward in getting settled.

My Lovely Birthday

Here's how the sun set on the end of my 61st trip around the it.



My daughter Jodie and her husband Ken cooked an excellent Thanksgiving dinner for me and Dale. For a first effort, they did a wonderful job! It was such a nice way to spend our first Thanksgiving in Oregon.

We had a chance to Skype in to Julie's family in Moscow, ID. Jeanne joined the Thanksgiving celebration there. Thank goodness for the technology that allows us to be in touch this way. We got to wish Jeanne a happy birthday, too.

Jodie knows me well. Instead of a birthday cake, she made this spectacular pumpkin chiffon pie ... and sent the leftovers home with me.




Thanks to Jodie for taking these pictures!

Remembering Summer

Guest blogger Jeanne here!

Waaaaay back in July, my mom and I went for a walk at the park. We'd taken her nice camera with us in case we found something we wanted to photograph for a blog post.

I'd used the camera before, but my mom decided to give me a refresher course on macro-photography. I found this interesting flower I decided to practice on.



But what's that in the corner? A tiny inchworm was crawling along a blade of grass!



It practically glowed in the bright sunlight as I zoomed in closer.



Time for your close-up! I love the way you can see all it's fuzzy little hairs!




Next time we go for a walk in the park together, it's probably going to be in a completely new state!

Crispy Around the Edges

No, not in Oregon ... this was from before I left Idaho.

Light and Shadow

One of the interesting things about moving into a new home for a photographer is watching how light and shadow play on the walls at different times of day. This is a morning photo taken from the second story near our foyer. There is light coming in from the east from a window to the right of this window which faces north.

The walls forming this corner are the exact same shade of grey, but they look quite different due to the light. The window casing is a stark bright white, but appears grey here. The tree's shadows seen through the window are dancing on the grey of our next door neighbor's house.

I love all these variations of tone. With the high ceilings and the many windows, the light changes in the house throughout the day. It's going to be fun to find these nuggets of beautiful lighting throughout the house and then use them to my advantage. In our Post Falls house, it was morning light in the dining room that I exploited, and the twilight light on the front porch. We have many more windows here, and both sunrise and sunset light to play with since we no longer live in a gully.

What great exploration I have ahead of me!

A Little Lovin'

Some would say this home's previous owner left us a little love note in the master bedroom.

Others would say there's a chink in the baseboard.

I prefer to think of it as the former.

Home!

We made it to Eugene, Oregon!

Anyone want to buy a beautiful house in Post Falls, Idaho?  😉

309 S Ridgewood Drive

Interior photos will be added on Tuesday.

It's Official

Our house is for sale. The sign went up in the yard today.

Dale and his brother are loading the last few items into our temporary storage area as I write this. We give his mom a hug in a few minutes. We head out of Post Falls tomorrow.

Bye-bye, house! Thank you for holding us in care for the last 26+ years!

Birthday at the Bay

We were freezing, so we turned around.

My daughter Jeanne and I took a day to play today after our weeks of hard work and cleaning. We started by heading out to the Cougar Bay Preserve for a hike. It's a place I wanted to visit before leaving the area. We found one geocache there, then started on a hike.

But it stopped being fun when we got too cold, so we turned around and went back into town for lunch, more geocaching, and a little shopping at local gift shops.

But the frost did make for some nice images. It was a lovely way to celebrate our mutual birthday -- one week early. It was hard to say goodbye to Jeanne at the end of the day. We're not sure when we'll see each other again.

Time Here is Waning

The sun is setting on my time in Post Falls. 

I'm feeling as wonderful about it as this image is beautiful.

900

Another milestone.

It's been a bit of a challenge to keep meditation up during this life change. The number of minutes each day has diminished, for sure. I'm looking forward to being in a place where I can resume my morning routine and increase my time in silence. In the mean time, my intention remains and a little meditation still happens every day.

Grandbaby Time with Annalee

Annie is nearly 7 months old and has learned quite a few new baby tricks since we last saw her.

She can crawl now, and then sit up like a pro from the crawling position. She also likes to tease Melody by trying to take Melody's balls.

Annie also eats some solid foods now. She's teething, so chewing on anything that fits in her mouth is a high priority.

Grandbaby Time with Melody

We went south to Moscow today to visit with my daughter Julie's family and cuddle those grandbabies one more time before we move. Her family is also on the cusp of moving. They were able to have the realtor show us their new home today. It's a beauty.

Melody helped out by measuring - a lot.

Then she showed us how the mirrored closet doors work downstairs.

Get Out the Popcorn

Doing my civic duty and watching the impeachment hearings.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 16

The final Clue game piece I uncovered is the rope. I like how this is the only plastic weapon in the game.

I sure do appreciate all the details that were put into the game piece designs.



The dagger and the lead pipe were nowhere to be found.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 15

The most obvious Clue weapon



The revolver.

Ugh. Guns. Not my jam. I never liked playing "Cowboys and Indians" as a kid, either.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 14

The next Clue weapon is ...

The wrench!

Classic Game Pieces - Part 13

The final game whose pieces I came across, was Clue. This is such a classic game, but I haven't played it very often. The idea of murder was worse for my psyche than the fun of figuring out "who done it."



However, I do appreciate the shape of the candlestick.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 12

The top hat.



So fancy, Monopoly.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 11

The second Monopoly piece I liked to use was the iron.



Being a homemaker is in my blood. I love it.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 10

The thimble was always my favorite Monopoly piece to use as a kid. I wonder why!



Pi

Classic Game Pieces - Part 9

Now for the markers ... how about the horse and rider




.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 8

For Monopoly, let's start with the houses and hotels

Classic Game Pieces - Part 7

Monopoly!

These iconic pieces have so much detail that it was fun to put them under a macro lens.

Classic Game Pieces - Part 6

I've shared these photos before, but thought they deserved another viewing with the game pieces series.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any of the peg people to fill the station wagons.





This car has that well worn feeling.