For 18 day values of "a month"
Apr. 29th, 2004 12:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gerisullivanGood news from Wales. The plans for the new septic system were done extra speedily, which meant they were ready in time to be reviewed and approved at the April 20th meeting of the Wales Board of Health. Whoowhee!
I was back in the area last Friday to pick up a shingle color sample brochure. When Deb Geisler (WINOLJ), Priscilla Olson (WINOLJ), and I drove over to the house to look at the roof while considering the colors, we ended up stopping at the top of the driveway because a dump truck was parked halfway down. Beyond that, a backhoe and bulldozer were busily rearranging the landscape. So I have pictures to remind me of where the septic field is.
The shingle color? "Harvard Slate." It's a medium grey. I'd thought to go with a light grey, to better reflect summer heat, but when I used the spiff color selection tools at the manufacturer's website, I soon learned that light-colored roofs really limit color options for the siding and trim.
Many other transaction details are falling nicely into place. My mortgage is "cleared to close" and I managed to stem the bleeding tide of rising interest rates about halfway up the curve as it currently stands. I sent pictures of the driveway to the moving company -- my customer service rep thinks the big truck will be able to navigate it, but she's going to make copies of the pictures for the driver and let him decide. Sounds right to me. A small transfer truck (and related additional charges) may still be in my future. Right now, I'm just pleased that it's in the realm of the possible rather than the certain.
I still need to obtain homeowner's insurance, and to figure out exactly how I'm going to get a certified check from my account in Minnesota in the correct amount in time for closing. That could be tricky, depending on just when I can find out what the correct amount is. Then there are utility companies to contact, etc....
The good news at the bottom of all of this is that the seller's are anxious to be done and gone, and have asked for a closing date of Friday, May 14th. In two weeks and 1.5 days, I'm scheduled to sign my life away and become the new owner of the property. Very exciting, indeed.
My current plan is to give the movers the okay *after* I take possession, thus avoiding the possibility of having my belongings en route and no place to deliver them to if the closing doesn't take place as scheduled. That will also give me a little time to do anything I might want to on the home. I packed an interim kitchen kit and shipped it east, so I can set up some form of basic "roughing it" existence until my seven crates of stuff arrive. Overnights will require the loan or purchase of an air mattress/air bed, as I really don't think I'm up for sleeping in my car, even if the seat does tilt back all but flat.
Mark and Priscilla's is only 50 miles away; commuting from there may be my best bet for the week or so I'm talking about. It all depends on what needs doing when.
It's all more than a tad unreal. Surreal, even. I've loved being here at Fanhihall these last few months. But the whole notion that in a little over two weeks, I'll have my very own home again, and especially that I'll have my own four acres of woods, well...wow. Wow.
That's what this whole move has been about. And I'm getting it. It's working. (Cross fingers, knock wood, and All That Jazz.)
It's working.
I was back in the area last Friday to pick up a shingle color sample brochure. When Deb Geisler (WINOLJ), Priscilla Olson (WINOLJ), and I drove over to the house to look at the roof while considering the colors, we ended up stopping at the top of the driveway because a dump truck was parked halfway down. Beyond that, a backhoe and bulldozer were busily rearranging the landscape. So I have pictures to remind me of where the septic field is.
The shingle color? "Harvard Slate." It's a medium grey. I'd thought to go with a light grey, to better reflect summer heat, but when I used the spiff color selection tools at the manufacturer's website, I soon learned that light-colored roofs really limit color options for the siding and trim.
Many other transaction details are falling nicely into place. My mortgage is "cleared to close" and I managed to stem the bleeding tide of rising interest rates about halfway up the curve as it currently stands. I sent pictures of the driveway to the moving company -- my customer service rep thinks the big truck will be able to navigate it, but she's going to make copies of the pictures for the driver and let him decide. Sounds right to me. A small transfer truck (and related additional charges) may still be in my future. Right now, I'm just pleased that it's in the realm of the possible rather than the certain.
I still need to obtain homeowner's insurance, and to figure out exactly how I'm going to get a certified check from my account in Minnesota in the correct amount in time for closing. That could be tricky, depending on just when I can find out what the correct amount is. Then there are utility companies to contact, etc....
The good news at the bottom of all of this is that the seller's are anxious to be done and gone, and have asked for a closing date of Friday, May 14th. In two weeks and 1.5 days, I'm scheduled to sign my life away and become the new owner of the property. Very exciting, indeed.
My current plan is to give the movers the okay *after* I take possession, thus avoiding the possibility of having my belongings en route and no place to deliver them to if the closing doesn't take place as scheduled. That will also give me a little time to do anything I might want to on the home. I packed an interim kitchen kit and shipped it east, so I can set up some form of basic "roughing it" existence until my seven crates of stuff arrive. Overnights will require the loan or purchase of an air mattress/air bed, as I really don't think I'm up for sleeping in my car, even if the seat does tilt back all but flat.
Mark and Priscilla's is only 50 miles away; commuting from there may be my best bet for the week or so I'm talking about. It all depends on what needs doing when.
It's all more than a tad unreal. Surreal, even. I've loved being here at Fanhihall these last few months. But the whole notion that in a little over two weeks, I'll have my very own home again, and especially that I'll have my own four acres of woods, well...wow. Wow.
That's what this whole move has been about. And I'm getting it. It's working. (Cross fingers, knock wood, and All That Jazz.)
It's working.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 08:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 10:40 am (UTC)I'm very impressed that you're now landed gentry. Do you get peasants? Every feudal manor has to have peasants.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 10:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 12:28 pm (UTC)Buy an airbed. Or, for that matter, buy a spare bed -- get it delivered, sleep on it for that week, when your bed comes, put it in a guest room.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 02:32 pm (UTC)When I first read your comment, I thought to tell you that it's the drawback to having just purchased a new guest bed last year, one that's being shipped to me. Then I remembered -- I dumped the futon and foam cushion that were on the 1880s three-quarter sized bed frame that was my great-great-grandparents. I wish I had the dimensions with me to get an exact fit on a custom futon, but being in New England, I'm betting I can find a good choice of places that still grok the three-quarter mattress size and can provide something that will work both as a temporary bed and as a mattress for the antique bed when it arrives.
*Add to list*
Thanks,
Hooray!
Date: 2004-04-29 02:43 pm (UTC)Probably too late now, but there's some stuff on "moving house" on my website at http://www.magician.co.uk/indexh.htm and in particular, the Moving Kit (http://www.magician.co.uk/movingkit.htm) (kettle, mugs, teabags, door wedge, pen & paper etc. stuff that's useful when unpacking and moving into your new place)
And there's a list of people/companies you may need to contact (utilities, driving licence, medical, window washer etc.)
Good luck with the move, and we look forward to seeing some pictures online!
Re: Hooray!
Date: 2004-04-29 03:29 pm (UTC)If you want more amenities than the house itself and whatever fits in my car, I'd suggest waiting a couple more weeks. There's this nice Worldcon later in the summer...a combo trip might be just the thing.
Door wedge. That's a good one. I *think* there's one in my interim kit. I look forward to checking out your website; thanks.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-03 07:32 am (UTC)I can see where it will be good to settle into your own place -- you might even experience some culture shock from the change, eh? Still, it's a Good Thing.