Slowing down

Another busy week is nearly behind us, and I'm tired. We've been cleaning at the old house for a couple of hours every day and have the house emptied of everything but the appliances that are staying. The company who did the move also haul garbage. We had them in on Wednesday to take away some broken furniture and lots of garbage. There will be another haul away needed when we finish in the shed and garage, along with some yard waste.

We did make a run to the nearby town on Tuesday to look for a television stand for the living room. That task was not successful, but we did pick up a few groceries at Walmart and made a Value Village run. D walked out with a good number of brand name clothing pieces for Eli, some with original tags. I used my seniors discount of 30%, and she paid $60 for all of it. He's getting harder on his clothing now that he isn't growing quite as quickly. He continues to stretch up, but not out.

On Thursday, while my daughter finished the carpet cleaning on the second floor, I started filling holes and making some minor repairs to the walls. That work continued on Friday as well and I got the main floor spots sanded and wiped down. D stayed home as Eli was home from school with an ear ache. He's had a mild cough most of the week too. 

At the new house, we've continued to unpack in the office/craft room. There is enough of a dent made that there is open floor space. We still need to sort through everything and put duplicates together, rather than having them in separate containers. My under the bed space has been utilized too, for boxes of family mementos and photo albums. There are two boxes in the bedroom too, of photos and commercial artwork. I told D we'll go through that on a rainy day and I suspect a lot of it will end up being donated. Some pieces will stay but there is less wall space than in the old house in Regina. We have a lot more windows, which I appreciate fully....or at least until it is time to wash them this spring. :)

Today, I'm off to the old house for another hour or so to some sanding, and start laying cardboard on the large flower bed in the back yard. D has never been able to keep up with the weeds (even with her neighbour's help), and I'm hoping to take care of some of them early and without sprays. There is a large day lily that I'd like to split to bring a piece to the new house. 

The handyman, CT, will be in the house on Tuesday evening to start patching some cracks in the plaster that are beyond my abilities. There is more work to be done, but I need those taken care of before the painters arrive. They are booked the following week and expect to take two days to complete their work. After that, CT needs to return to do a few more minor repairs before the house can be listed. As I'm planning to head back to the city around the 15th of May, I'm hoping all will be done so we can list the house before I get away. To be honest, I doubt it will happen, but we'll try. However, not having any control over CT's schedule means we'll need to wait until he is available. Not only does he do good work, his pricing is also very reasonable.

Time for me to get moving! Have a great week ahead everyone. 

P.S. that's a photo of Stanley napping on my bed. Yes, there are still boxes in my room.

Day 1 - Newport RI

This was my first visit to the New England states and I certainly wasn't disappointed.  I don't recall when we arrived in port, but Conna, Valerie, Lori and met for breakfast at 8 a.m on the aft deck of the ship.  

It was a bit of a gloomy day, but the temperatures were lovely.  I can only imagine what it would look like with the fall colors.

Conna had found a two hour sailing on the Aquidneck on-line.  For approximately $30 p/p we boarded the schooner at about 10:30 in the morning along with the other Canadian in our group, Maureen.  Our crew were three young men in their 20-30's.  They were definitely characters, and whenever we asked a question, they had a story ready for us.  

Conna is on the left, Lori on the right as they help raise the sails after we motored out of the bay.

This was one of the ships (or is it a boat?) at anchor.  We were told it was 281 feet long and had arrived from Europe sometime earlier this summer.

Our schooner was only about 80 feet in length, had two masts and four sails.  I was quite happy with the size!

This is the aptly named Clingstone House.  It was built in 1905 by Wharton (of the Wharton School of Business).  After a hurricane blew through it (almost literally) it was sold for less the $4000 in the 60's.  The current owner passed away last year, but it continues to be used as a rental property.  For a mere $10,000 a week, you can rent this self-sustaining house on a rock.  With 10 bedrooms, it's a steal if you take 9 of your closest friends with you. :)  Of course the only way to get there is by boat, so there would be some added costs as well.

We were told this house was the former summer home of the family of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.  Can you imagine?  If this was their summer home, I can only guess how large their 'rest of the year' home would have been.  

It puts into perspective this building, which was apparently Jackie's playhouse!  What a lucky girl, though I suspect she wasn't the one who cleaned it.

I have no idea who currently owns the property but it has definitely been well kept up.  Below and to the right of the playhouse was their boathouse.  It appeared to quite large (like everything else).

After being deposited back on shore Maureen left us as we wandered over to the Crab Shack, which had been highly recommended by the crew.  I'm sure it would have been good but both Lori and I were ready for a sit-down meal, and the Crab Shack was exactly that...a small building on a pier with picnic tables full of customers.  We made our way back up to shopping district and found the Brick Alley.  We had a bit of wait, but it was worth it.  Several of our party had lobster while I had fish and chips with a local beer.  

I had thought I'd take the trolley up to the Cliff Walk but by the time we finished lunch it was mid-afternoon.  I'm sure I would have had time, but I have a fear of missing the ship.  The rest were ready to go back too, so we all took the tender back to the ship.  I changed into my bathing suit and made my way to one of the hot tubs to relax before showering and changing for dinner. 

There were 14 of us that evening, which we split into two tables, one of eight, one of six.  We waited a very long time for tables as we arrived at 6:30 but weren't until nearly 8.  I left around 9 with Maureen as we wanted to see the Marriage game.  It was hilarious - particularly because the oldest couple (who had been married for 70 years) were at odds as Ada wasn't aware John had entered them.  She kept shooting him dirty looks and her responses were curt (but always correct). The two of them easily won, missing only one question.  He was asked what the last words were said in the bedroom at night, he answered "Give me a kiss" which she answered "Move over".  

Another great day at sea.  We sailed that evening for Bar Harbor, Maine but the captain's announcement that evening wasn't promising.  The ship was in motion all night, though not horrible and I certain didn't feel ill.