Moving: the little and big pictures.

So...  Lots on the agenda here these days!  I'm finishing up my last week of work this week.  With the move coming up and the school year hot on its heels, it's just the thing to do -- though, I have to say, I will miss communing with the antiques and with the friends I've made at the antique store.  But there's a lot to do -- a LOT -- before the moving truck rolls, and I'm hard pressed to make good use of my time and stay healthy through all the busy-ness.  Trying to eat well, first of all. Thank-you to the hens for their copious healthful egg supply, that regard!  (Just dying of anticipation for the tomatoes to ripen!) And I'm trying to be good and get some exercise with the occasional walk - though I'm not much for phys. ed., I admit.  And it. is. hot. out there! Even first thing in the morning But, you can sit in the cool of your air conditioned space and take a little walk with me, if you like.  Come on along!

Hey there, girls! Working on some more eggs for us this morning?

Here comes the sun. (Doo-d-doodoo)

Well, hm.  Lookie what I found out here in the grass... 

(Someone is going to hear about this...)

'Morning, Penny and anonymous kitty.  Tired from barking all night, girl?

Go back to sleep.  Don't mind me.

Just love how the canopy of trees lets the morning in little by little here.

Oh, alright.  Now that you're awake are you coming along?
Do you see that bird up there?

The soundtrack to our morning walk, that bird up there, singing its heart out.

Wild berries of some kind -- not sure what kind. 

 Mulberries?  Very small bush, though,for mulberries...

Up the hill toward the cemetery.
 "People are just dying to get in here," as my Dad used to always say.

The fall batch of hedgeapples.  Can you see them?

There's my girl.  Walked with me all the way up to the cemetery and back.  

And then there's this kitty.  She walked half-way up with us,

 then stood in the middle of the road and meowed 

until we met her on the way back, then joined us for the walk home.  

Lazy little kitty.  Smart little kitty.  

But look what she missed at the top of the hill.  Such a lovely vista! 

The house we're moving to (in less than a month!) is in a lovely place,

 but not as beautiful as this  -- and not on such a safe and remote dirt road... 

 There are definitely some things we will be giving up by moving.  

But it's all good.  As the temperatures continue to soar and the humidity climbs with it, I think I'd probably rather realistically have the central air conditioning in the new house than this marginally better view.  No kidding! 

"It begins."

We're all busy packing and organizing, dotting all our Is and crossing all our Ts to get this move rolling.  We're half way through clearing the outside storage trailer, compiling bins, making "give-away" piles and filling the dumpster.  We have a couple of insurance quotes to decide between for our home insurance, and have scheduled a walk-through for Friday evening, to measure doors and walls -- to see what will go where to map out a strategy for moving day.  And Dan's going to walk the property to measure for fencing and what we need to do to move the hens over gracefully.  So, yes indeed: things are coming along. (You'd think maybe we'd done this before, huh?)  Less than a month until the big day, though!  We can't wait!