Countdown - Week 2

It has been a busy week with everything focused on the Estate Sale. There isn't a lot we have done besides shuffling items for sale, moving them from here to there and back again, cleaning things, fixing things, hiding things, pricing things....

So, here's a list of this week's accomplishments:

• I put in a few extra hours on the long arm machine to finish a king-size quilt. The machine had to come down before the sale. I will use the backing to bind the edges until I find my sewing machines and my fabric, and have time and energy for sewing on a real binding. 

• We interviewed realtors. Back in May we "hired" a realtor. We never signed her contract, and she never pushed for us to sign it. She never did much of anything. We were disappointed. Mr. Dreamy stopped in her office and felt she was very unprofessional. He was uncomfortable and he struggled for 2 weeks about what to do. Finally he decided he couldn't work with her and he called her to tell her so.  We talked with 4 realtors. 
• We received an unsolicited bid on the house. However, because of the situation with the Realtor, we felt we might be painting targets on our backs for a lawsuit, so that is why we began the interview process again. It's a nice feeling to know we have one bid on the house and can turn around and sell it immediately! (Additionally, should his second bid be high enough, we might not have to pay the full 3.2% that selling realtors normally receive.) After 5 interviews, a few that were excruciating, we hit upon what we hope will be a fabulous Realtor. 
• Our house-sitter extraordinaire came to take her horses off our property. What a circus! She came with two horses in her trailer. She offloaded one, and loaded sweet Zoe. Off she went to one location. Then she came back to get the two that were here, destined for another location. One that she had just offloaded and the other, Lady Bug, who has been living here for the best part of a year. Everything went well until Lady Bug decided, uh, uh... I'm not getting on the trailer! Ugh. Poor house-sitter spent almost 2 hours working with LB to get her to load. Meanwhile, her other horse, who had loaded on the trailer like a champ, was getting anxious and was pawing and kicking. Crazy times! I was able to help for about 30 minutes, but then we had a realtor come by to meet us so I had to leave. My mind was on the horses, not the realtor's presentation, if you want to know the truth! Finally, I heard a truck engine, heard a whinny, and knew our house-sitter was heading out. I wasn't sure if she had Lady Bug on the trailer, or whether I'd find a dead horse in the paddock. (Just kidding. I know that our house sitter would never hurt a horse.)
• Ready or not, the dates for the Estate Sale came. We had three long days dealing with lots of people. The first day cars were at our gate by 6 AM. The sale didn't begin until 10!

6:12 AM

9:40 AM

It was funny to see the hoard practically race into the house to find treasures they had seen online. We had a pretty good first day, according to the company. The second day was quieter, but we had people coming through all day. It was very strange to see people wandering around holding my things. Plenty of people inquired as to whether this was an emotional issue for me. "No", I replied, until a woman began to collect some of the Boyd's Bears figurines. She asked me about them, I explained that my sons used to give me those pieces as gifts... then my eyes welled up. What a surprise to find I reacted this way and had no control over my emotions. After she left with her new collection I pulled two figurines off of the shelf that had a special emotional attachment, and I felt better. 

• During the sale days the dogs experienced day care at Club Pet, which is less than a mile from our home. Tucker used to go to doggie day care for socialization. I don't know if Gypsy has ever been. They reported that both dogs played independent of each other, and would occasionally check up on each other. Tucker was so tuckered out the first day that he turned around one time and slumped down in the car seat, before I could even back out of the parking spot! Gypsy didn't show a whole lot of excitement about returning. Playing with other dogs isn't really her "thing". As I type this, on Sunday morning, Tucker has come over to inquire about going to camp! Poor guy will be disappointed today; No camp!
• I delivered my funky western/English/Australian saddle to a delightful young lady from South Dakota. She was in town for a wedding and was thrilled to get the saddle. She was particularly interested in the saddle because her mother, an American Indian, rode English and her dad was a rancher, who rode western. She thought the saddle was symbolic of her parents and their marriage. I loved her explanation.

• After the sale we sorted through the left-overs, piling things we decided to keep in selected corners of the house and marking them with flagging tape. We hired a service to deliver items of value to a charitable organization, chemicals and electronics to appropriate facilities for disposal and to toss everything else in the dumpster. 

They were absolutely amazing. Sean, LaDonna and Michelle worked practically non-stop for over 9 hours. They worked miracles. 

 Basement on Friday morning - day 2 of sale

(Photo from security camera)

Basement on Sunday

One benefit of the estate sale is that we had realtors come by to "shop". Perhaps they weren't all that interested in our things, but they were very interested in the house. What a great way for them to get a foot in the door, literally! I had a small deck of business cards in my back pocket by the end of each day. A few of the realtors came back to shop... with clients in tow. We were told by one of the realtors to expect a bid from her clients; they have just sold their larger home about a mile from us and are ready to move forward with a cash offer and a two-week move-in. OMG! Could life get anymore stressful?!! So, we continue to work on sorting and packing and we wait to see what the offer might be. 

The ABC's of the TCS Sale

TCS is conducting our estate sale beginning Thursday, July 13.  I thought it would be fun to create an ABC book of some of the items that are included in the sale.

A is for Antiques
Some are older than me!

B is for Bronze
We have two or three.

C is for Couch
Come have a seat,

D is for Decorations

What a mess! Will it ever be neat?

E is for Ralph Waldo Emerson
Why do we have him,  I ask?

F is for Feathers
Robert Shields made these masks.

G is for Glass
Both round and flat,

H is for Powder Horns
of horn, wood and brass.

I is for Italian ducks
My stepmom thinks they are weird.

J is for Jewels, but mostly just Junk!
For your wrist, neck or ears.

K is for Kites
They will fly high in the sky.

 L is for Linen and Lace,
Some yellowed as years have gone by.

M is for Money
Bills, quarters, pennies and dimes,

N is for Nambu
A metal alloy with a shine.

O is for Old News
Where did we get all this stuff?

P is for Paintings, Pewter, Porcelain, & Purses too,
We are having this sale because enough is enough!

Q is for Quilts
Between mine and my moms, I have quite a few.

R is for Rug Beater
That's a chore I wouldn't want to do.

S is for Silver,
Would you want to polish these?

Tis for Tools and Toys
... and one that fits both categories!

U is for the Ugly Dog Trophy
That our sweet Monty dog won,

V is for Volcanic Ash in Blown Glass
that really sparkles in the sun.

W is for Turned Wood Bowls
Scott's prolific and they fill every nook

X is for Xeric
as in this Colorado gardening book.

Yis for Yachts
Yes, I'm almost done!

Z is for Zapper
Zap those bugs! Hey, it's fun!

If you'd like to see more pictures click on the link for TCS sales at the beginning of this post.
If you want to buy something, let me know!

Countdown - Week 4

Life is getting pretty crazy  exciting around here. The Estate Sale folks have been putting things on display, and bringing in extra tables to display more items. We shift items from one room to another, and then sometimes shift them back. My pots and pans have moved - other essential cooking items will move, at least for the sale. We need the cabinet space for items we want people to buy. 

In addition to getting ready for the Estate Sale we:

• called container moving companies to get an idea of the costs we will be facing. It's a bit hard to get quotes when we aren't exactly sure where we want to land!
• the side light windows for our front door were installed. The plastic trim on the original windows was broken in several areas and that trim is not available on its own. The trim and window come as a single unit. 
• The painter came to paint the exterior and interior of the sidelight windows. He also painted the inside of the front door and one side of three other interior doors that for some reason were never painted. He also worked on a corner in the basement that showed some problems with peeling due to previous moisture, and he touched up an area on the back door. And the charge for all of this??? $60. I feel guilty!

Our newly painted front door and side lights

• our new sod showed some areas of damage. It was a patchwork of green and gold. It appeared that some of the rolls were dried out on one side so we had beautiful green lawn on one side of some of the pieces of sod, and dried out grass on the other side. Ramon went down to his supplier, who suggested we hadn't watered correctly ... until he saw the pictures that Ramon had taken. Ramon returned later in the day and replaced the dried out pieces with fresh green sod.  
• the Estate Sale company had an appraiser come by to evaluate some of the finer paintings and pieces of furniture we will have in the sale. Some of the pieces may be offered in an online auction as well as for purchase on site. She will send a report to help the pricers decide the best price point for these items. 
• We Dreamers tackled the garage. Shelf by shelf. Foot by foot. It is slowly taking shape. It seems to have gotten worse... but one has to consider that we used to park two cars in here, and now all of the stuff that was crammed on shelves and hanging on the walls is more organized and it is not 4 layers deep!  I took all of our gardening tools and lawn and garden supplements down to the barn, as well as all planting pots. Some things were dispersed to the basement and others were set aside to go to the RV barn where they will end up in Florida or packed for wherever.

Yesterday....

... and today. 

Slowly more floor space is appearing!

• I packed an additional 10 boxes, and the guys (Mr. Dreamy and Littler Dreamy) packed some of their own... but they didn't count them!) and carted most of them out to the big barn. Mr. Dreamy took some out using the truck. As I have always done, he left the gate open to the pasture while he was shifting boxes (we are stacking boxes by the back door of the RV barn which opens up onto the pasture). Madam Zoe took it upon herself to finally enjoy the greener (ha ha - we are so dry, most of our grass is turning yellow) grass on the other side of the fence. She kept avoiding him when he tried to get her back. When I returned from visiting my dad I grabbed the newspaper that had recently been delivered and threatened her with that! She quickly trotted back through the gate!!
• I planted some petunias & snapdragons that have been begging to be planted for weeks. Some are in this bed in the back, the others are along the walk in the front. Our day lilies are looking fabulous! 

• We went shopping for dishwashers. Wouldn't you know, our current one kept tripping the breaker, something was not quite right. A newer, less fancy model, will be installed next week. 

The house is a wreck. It's a bit tough living in such chaos... and this spoken by one who's house was always a mess! Neatness is not my thing, but this is insane!

Countdown - Week 6

My blood pressure has been really high. I know it is stress, and I'm not dealing with everything that goes along with the move very well. I think the hardest part is that I was raised to "finish what you start". I can hear my dad telling me that, over and over, and over.... with the move, there isn't a way to finish each task at this time. I can't pack everything in any one room because we need things to live with or for showing the house. Yet, we are having an estate sale before the house goes on the market and we have to make sure that things we want to keep are removed. Evidently, it is driving me crazy!! Everything is incomplete. There is mess everywhere I look. Even Mr. Dreamy has mentioned increased stress levels - and that just isn't his style.

And, speaking of incomplete, this "Week 6" has been interrupted by a wonderful trip to San Francisco. Our sweet little Alexis turned 2 and long ago we had made arrangements to visit. We had our reservations for the B & B near our son's condo in the Mission District long ago. Then, our son and DIL bought a house! Closed on the house! And moved into the house! So, we cancelled our reservations at the B & B and we stayed chez son & DIL! (I think they may have their own high levels of stress!)

So, here's what we accomplished half one week, and half the next:

• I met with the estate sale folks at my dad's place. They took pictures of the things we will be bringing over here to sell. We created a calendar for the next few weeks showing when they will be here for pricing, etc. They stopped by our house again and we planned where they will set up their tables and the basic traffic patterns through the house and yard.
• I was supposed to meet with a mover, but his estimator did not show up. Harrumph! I called another and got a price. The estate sale folks are going to get me another name.
• We had another estimate for painting. It was very reasonable. So, Mr. Dreamy bought the paint and the painter began painting. What a relief not to have to do all of that. When we arrived home we drove into a home with a freshly painted garage door, newly painted porches and a gleaming picket fence. Wow!
• We Dreamers began researching and writing up information about some of the fine art in my Dad's collection that will be going up for sale so we can share that information with potential buyers. We still need to get an appraiser here. 
• I packed a few more boxes. I am up to a total of 32. In addition,  I packed 8 boxes at my dad's place, and carefully bundled 8 paintings, and brought them over to our place and unpacked them for the sale. In addition, I carried out two large garbage bags of bedding. We finally cleared a place in the big barn to stack boxes, and I moved most of the packed boxes to that storage area. 
• We hired the painter to patch the ceiling in the basement where the plumber needed access to fix our leak. He also painted the ceiling and put in the baseboards.
• Our pool table found a new home. I advertised it on a "Free in Parker" FaceBook page and within minutes had a taker. I am so thrilled that Trey got in their first. He deserves the table. His dad came over with him and we took the table apart, carried it upstairs piece by piece and loaded it into Dad's truck. Trey (23 yo) shared with me that he played a lot of pool when he was younger as he spent a lot of time in the hospital. He was so excited to get the table. Dad shared that Trey was born with Short Gut Syndrome and his parents were counseled to "pull the plug" and let him die. Trey was a fighter. He's seen so much hardship, but for now, is doing well. I'm glad!
• Sod was finally put in place in the front yard. It looks great! I took leftover pieces and patched them into the back yard. I seeded bare spots where I didn't have sod. 

From this:

To this:

• The landscape folks also put mulch around all of the trees and in some of the gardens. I planted a few more bedding plants here and there. 
• The painter had a friend who was able to replace the missing stones on our fireplace. I hate to admit that one of my friends and I both scavenged construction areas for left over pieces of fake stone to replace the missing pieces. 
• I took the doors off the shelving units in the living room to make it easier to display items for the sale. After the sale we will need to take them down and move them out. This is all getting scary. It is really happening!

Things are slowly coming together. I am feeling a bit more confident that it will all happen, and I'm able to sleep without waking at 3 or 4 AM running through lists of things that need to be completed. So, here it is, Father's Day, and I'm fretting over "finish what you start"!!!