Meet Maggie and Moet

The meaning of the title will become evident by the time you've read this latest list of events in our lives.

Already it's autumn and the foliage has been especially colourful this year. Our crepe myrtle trees in the back dropped a carpet of red and gold hues on our patio. Maybe I'll rake them up one day and put into black plastic bags to create compost for next spring.



Our Japanese maple is also stunning with its autumnal foliage.




My second hand operation (left hand this time) was on October 13. Apart from big discomfort from the semi-cast I had to wear for the first week while the swelling went down (the cast was flopping about after a while as my hand was not swollen for long, and my thumb was no longer supported by the cast), everything went well. Yes, after a week, the full cast was one soggy item on my left arm and hand, but I had to just accept it and do as best I could.




Walter and I had quite a busy time with a 'film noir' festival, shopping for the house, getting gardeners and cabinet makers in, etc. so I didn't have much time to think about any inconveniences! I was back at work on October 16. Managed pretty well. The cast came off November 10, exactly four weeks after my operation. The 3 inch pin came out too, thank goodness!



As you can see, there's hardly much of a scar to show. And I'm in such little pain, that I have to keep reminding myself that I must not grip things or do repetitive movements with my left thumb. I continue with physiotherapy for two months - exercises 3-4 times a day at work/home, and two visits a week to the physiotherapist. The surgeon will see me twice more, then signs off. Job well done.


A job well done of a different sort was that we called in some serious gardeners to bring down our elm at the bottom of the garden as it was sick, and dropping all its leaves long before autumn started. They came in three different types of trucks - one held the huge collapsible 'boom' that took one of them up to the top of the tree to start cutting the smaller branches. Another truck had a machine into which the guys fed the cut up wood and it would be spat out as small wood chips the other side. The other one carried the other workers and all their tools. The work continued most of the day. Trees in the front and back were pruned and their trunks exposed at soil level. I hope I can remember all that I learned that day!











Then... nothing except the fine wood chips from the stump.



At some point these gardeners had to clear the way for another truck - this time carrying the cabinetry for our two dens and storage cupboards for our basement.
For several hours two men were bringing in all the parts of the cabinets and taking it up to our dens.

Walter's den:


My den:


My den, halfway through:


As I had taken the day off, so the installer did my den first. He finished Walter's over the next day and a few days later, as well as the cupboards in the basement.

You can see how it looks all finished.
Walter's den:




My den:




And now to meet Maggie. Maggie is a tree. A southern Magnolia, a type that's called "Little Gem" as it's a dwarf magnolia. Probably only reaching 15-20 feet high. Maggie was chosen to go in the place of the elm tree that was taken away. Here are some photos to show her arrival. Complements the garden well.









Presenting Maggie:



As for Moet - this is the name given to a black and white kitten in an animal shelter two years ago. She was adopted by a young couple, but now the couple is moving to Japan for many years, and Moet can't go with them. I read about them looking for a permanent home for her. I asked for photos (see below), then we went round to meet Moet.








She was shy, but she eventually allowed us to stroke and tickle her. I always think it's a good sign, when they lie on their backs as if inviting you to rub their belly!
Together with her present owner, I went to the local pet supermarket where they have a free 'wellness clinic' twice a week. She was checked out and given a clean bill of health. She came from there to our house, and was let loose. She'll stay with us for a week or so to see how she gets on with us and how we get on with her. If all goes well, we'll keep her. And buy all the accoutrements that go with having a cat: a drinking fountain, litter bin, big bags of food, a couple of toys, various items to groom her and keep her happy and healthy!

Of course, she disappeared several times into nooks and crannies, back facing outwards... so totally uprooted and miserable was she. And when her owner left, she disappeared for about four hours. I must have passed her hiding place several times and missed her each time. As you will see from the following photo, it was only when she by chance turned her face to look at me that I realized that she had taken refuge behind the chainmail curtain of the fireplace. It was black on black! I managed to get her out of the sooty chimney bottom, but didn't want to traumatize her any more by bathing her. So she's walking around with sooty once-white front paws and a sooty 'bib' on her chest. You'll see from the photo below, how sooty this is!



But over 24 hours she's perked up, and finally started to eat again. She's very well behaved. No problem showing her her litter bin and then having her use it. She's taken to the blanket that we put out on the sofa for her. She's not a kitten any more, so she's not leaping onto tables and knocking things over. I came home this evening after work to find Walter and Moet on the sofa watching TV together. They looked so content and sweet! Later I watched her hunt a cricket that had made its way into our house. Unfortunately it's the season where the crickets seek shelter from the upcoming cold weather, and there are always one or two jumping around somewhere indoors. Maybe Moet is our answer to the crickets. Good exercise for her too - she needs to lose a little weight around her middle.

Gradually making it our home...

For all of you who worried about my right hand that you saw all bandaged in my last blog entry, I'm including here a photo of how it looked the day the cast came off after four weeks. You can perhaps see the two incisions in my forearm where the surgeon split the tendon from up near elbow on the inside of my arm, left one half of my tendon attached as per normal, then threaded the other long half down, through the wrist, up through the thumb and through a hole he drilled in the thumb, then made the remaining part of the tendon into a ball and plugged up the empty space at the base of my thumb where he'd removed the arthritic bone (you can see a long scar at the thumb base). A huge pin held the tendon transfer in place under my cast for four weeks. Although my wrist and thumb were totally stiff, immovable, I got to move them after two days of physiotherapy. And now it's almost back to normal, except for less strength and pinch, and the occasional twinge and pain, and the daily ongoing tenderness in my wrist/thumb base which will eventually lessen and disappear (I hope!). On October 13, I go to hospital for the same operation on my LEFT hand. Wish me luck!


Someone recommended us a gardener. He spent a couple of full days pruning and weeding, and then cleaning up. Here are the front steps to the house.


Here's the front path down to the road.


This is the backyard being powerwashed. Unfortunately I think the gardener overdid it with the water and chemicals, and caused some damage to several plants which have since gone brown on me.


Our Leyland cypresses just after trimming... now there's a very popular bird feeder in front of them, and we so enjoy watching the aerial acrobatics of the birds. The feeder's squirrel-proof, in that if a squirrel tries to land on the feeding bar, it drops down with the weight, and of course closes the feeding source! Too many birds on the bar can cause the same effect - so that too is a comical sight to watch!


Here's a peek through one of the panes of the sunroom door. I've planted some nice herbs - several different basil plants (I made a great pesto the other week from the basil, and just made some Thai stir-fry with the Thai basil I have outside too), mint, parsley, rosemary, etc. I decided to plant some colourful flowers amongst all the GREEN in our garden, but they soon dropped their flowers. Unfortunately I've discovered that there is no soil... just a little bit, and lots of stones and rocks below... still don't know how the trees hold up, and actually the tree at the very bottom of the yard will have to be chopped down: Dutch Elm disease, black spot and other problems. :o( We had a long consultation with a tree specialist this morning, September 30. There's quite a lot of work needed to be done with our trees.


After these photos were taken, the patio furniture was delivered. We're delighted with how it looks. Chairs are really comfortable! (The only item in the garden that still hasn't been photographed or used yet, is the gas grill for doing some serious barbecues. We hope to try it out before winter comes.)


Back inside, here are two views of the mirror I bought in an antique shop north of here. This was all that was missing from our 'powder room' on the ground floor. And it actually is not antique and was inexpensive, but really looks good there.




Finally, three views of our front porch by night. Walter bought a 'glider' - a kind of rocking seat - to sit outside. Walter also repainted the porch floor which was neglected and stained from use and work that was done on the ceiling of the porch. The last photo below shows the white boards of the ceiling and the brown trim, just finished recently by the building contractor, who also fixed our back gate, a couple of pillars holding up our garage, and who built a shed below our kitchen window to store our bikes, garden tools, etc.
It's gradually all coming together!






Next up: Shelves, cupboards and desk space in our dens. Our cabinet maker came today to take final measurements for the units in both of our studies. We hope to have them built in by mid-November. After that I want to get curtains for the lower half of many windows, and replace all the plain blinds, and even have some full curtains too. Paintings will be hung. THEN we can maybe relax for a few months!
That's it for now!



P.S. October 1, I completed the preparation of my Yellow collage, to follow my Red collage before the move. The yellow one has yet to be glued in place on the board, but here it is, with the red one as well. (Remember to double-click to see more detail...!)

The Move...

Even though we started packing four weeks before the date we were due to move out of our condo, what with our regular life, work, and a huge policy conference which took a week out of the four, we only just managed to get out in time. It was hard to pack my den, with all its bits and pieces, as the following photo will show...



About 200 boxes of different shapes and sizes were piled around our place. Each day less and less remained in our kitchen for us to eat from, or even to eat, as we packed crockery and finished all the food in the refrigerator and freezer.



















On the day of the move, all went well, except for one mishap: one of the four movers accidentally let slip his corner of the piano. I couldn't bear to look, as I heard the dull tinkle of a few notes inside the piano.

We left the buyers an exceptionally clean residence, cleaning it for two hours, with two women's help, after the movers took all our stuff away in 8 hours.










But there WAS a dent in the floorboard where the corner of the piano keyboard had hit the floor. I would have to wait until move-in day to take a look at the piano and see if there was any damage.

The next five days were spent still in our area of Crystal City, but at the local Hampton Inn. We managed to catch up on our sleep, rest up a bit from our physical exertion and stress.

All went well on the day of the move, with me directing the traffic through the back yard and into the house that way. Furniture and boxes had the number of the room they were meant to go into, and most things went upstairs and round corners quite well, so there weren't too many last minute decisions or disappointments!

Here's the view through our dining room to our glorious sun room.



One of our favourite places: our sunroom, where we can watch and hear the birds. No traffic noise, nor jets taking off. Tranquility!



The evening before the move Walter and I painted our respective dens. Just enough time to paint one coat... but that seems enough to cover the garish 'nursery' colours that had been there previously! My den, partly finished, below.



My den finished.



Walter in his den, from my 'studio'. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to paint over the hideous mauve on my studio walls!



In the sitting room we have a REAL mantelpiece, with a WORKING fireplace!



View of piano in sitting room.



More views of sitting room and piano...





Unfortunately the left lower corner of the keyboard got damaged, the laquer was chipped, when I examined the piano. Probably not much we can do, but I'll be checking with the piano company.


Here's the attic (our master bedroom suite), before we moved our bed up there.



And here are two photos of our bedroom after the move in.... all we did was take off the 'sleigh' brass at the foot of the bed so that we could have the bed this way round, and thus manage to have our night tables (and bedside lights left by previous owner!)...





Now all I need to do is heal from my first of two hand surgeries to take out an arthritic bone and fill the space with tendon from my forearm!!! (Left hand in ?September?)





Thank goodness I managed to sort out kitchen contents, my den and my studio plus storing all extra glassware, setting up the linen closets, raked all the leaves in the garden to expose the soil, and a few other things before I had my surgery on June 23rd!!