Contentment

9 October 2014

We have been taking our time with "filling" the spaces of our new home.  I have known that I would not want to rush to fill my house and make every room "perfect".  Instead I wanted to wait until we found the right piece for the right place.

I have always loved our stair design.  In particular the way the stairs turn on themselves for the last couple of steps.  A space was created at the bottom of the stairs.  It is really a nook.  The architecture of the stairs frames this space, and it has been begging for something to fill it.  But it had to be the right "thing".

A couple of months ago Steve and I were shopping for a piece of furniture to fit our side entry foyer, as you enter the house from the garage.  We did find a narrow table at a store in Alexandria which fits perfectly, and gives us drawers for sundry things like keys.  The same store had several pieces of artwork and vases, many of them large.  Some of the vases caught our eye, and we could imagine them fitting well in the space at the bottom of the stairs.  But the piece that really caught my eye was a statue carved from driftwood.  It was different; unique.  It was also several hundred dollars, and we have never spent that much money on something that is purely decorative.  So we didn't get it.

Well, I couldn't stop thinking about this statue.  The more I thought about it the more I just knew it was the perfect piece for the bottom of the stairs.  A couple of weeks ago Steve and I were running, and I told him "enough is enough".  I can't stop thinking about this statue, which tells me I just need to buy it.  I decided that I would go back to the store that day, and if the statue was still there I was buying it.

Perfect, or what?

Needless to say, I bought the statue.

We were told this is a type of statue that is considered a Good Luck Charm.  Villages in islands of Southeast Asia have statues like these at the entry to their village, meant to bring contentment and happiness.   My heart tells me this statue was meant to be in our home.  I am content.

Slowly but surely, artwork is filling the house.

Footnote:  The small strap of bells hanging near the statue was Steve's Dad's.  Harry collected bells, and we have inherited a few.  We had these bells hanging in our "old" Carol Street home for years.  Now our old good luck charm shares space with our new one.

Fall - A Time for Renewal

4 October 2014

The leaves are starting to fall from the Poplar trees.  Fall is my favorite time of year, for many reasons; not least of which is the weather.  Fall in Virginia is mild, with Indian summers not unusual.  It is a beautiful time to enjoy all the colors nature gives us.  And it is the best time to plant trees.

As is Steve's and my fashion, we do not tend to hurry into things.  We have spent several months mulling over first WHERE we want to plant some trees, and then WHAT types of trees would be best.  We have talked with a few "landscape designers"from local nurseries. We have had a general sense of the areas we want to develop, but have struggled to get comfortable with the right TYPES of trees to plant.  The opinions from the various landscape "experts" varied enough to confuse us more than help.  And our fear that anything we plant will be literally eaten alive by the multiple families of deer that graze and sleep all over our yard and woods has also caused us to hesitate.

Last weekend we went to Merrifield Nurseries, hoping against hope that we would be inspired.  We were ready to buy some trees.  It helps to have a friendly, straightforward salesperson, and we lucked out.  We also discovered this Nursery has much more stock than other places we had been to, with beautiful selections to chose from, even at the end of the growing season.

We ended up buying four trees:

• a Japanese "FireGlow" Maple for the front of the house, to be planted between the entries doors and in front of the Dining Room;
• a Sweet Bay Magnolia for the front yard, to be planted off the corner of the Garage where the driveway bends;
• two "Cloud Nine" Dogwoods, to be planted at the rear side area behind the concrete driveway pad and in-between large Poplar Trees.

The trees were planted this morning!


View from the Mailbox - with the delivery truck in the driveway

They started with the Magnolia.  Steve and I had already marked the locations for them so their planting went very quickly.  For a long time we thought we would plant some kind of evergreen in this location.  But the Norway and Blue Spruce we were thinking of potentially grow to 40-50 feet tall, and almost as wide.  As they mature they lose the density of the branches and just don't look as nice.  The Magnolia we selected has a mature height of about 25-feet, with a canopy of about 15 -20 feet.  Even when it matures, which will be at least 15 years, it will not overshadow the house.  The flowers will be white!  The Magnolia is a real "southern" tree, and seems very appropriate.

 

Planting the Sweet Bay Magnolia

Next the Japanese Maple tree.  Almost from the beginning we have envisioned a small tree in the area bounded by the house facade and our front sidewalk, between the main and side entry doors.  And we have not waivered from the Japanese Maple family.  Our tree is already about 6-feet tall, with a mature height of about 15-feet.  These trees tend to grow slowly, and it's scale already looks good.

It may just be two trees, but they look great, and feel right.

(Hard to see the magnolia)

As we have spent months pondering what trees to plant where, it has made us used to the open, clean feeling of not having a lot of landscaping, and we like that.  I don't think we will overdo the landscaping.  Or it is something that will evolve slowly over time.

Last but not least, the two dogwoods were planted in the back yard, to the east side.  We used to have a couple of dogwoods in this general area, but they did not survive construction well and we removed them.  The new dogwoods have more room to grow now, and they are further away from the drive.  We can see them from the Eating Area, which was one of our desires.

Dogwoods, with Buddha in the background

Spring. A New Beginning.

Sunday, 6 April 2014.

Winter lasted too long this year.  We have had more than our share of cold days and snow.  But life is a cycle and so are the seasons.  We just had to be patient.  I took to having flowers around the house.  (I kept waiting for Steve to tell me to STOP buying flowers.)  They really helped lift my spirits.

Why can't I figure out how to rotate my pictures?

Spring seems to have decided to come, and stay for more than a day or two at a time.  And with the warmer weather our thoughts turn to our yard.  We spent all of our energy last year on getting the house built.  Every once in a while someone would ask me what we were doing for landscaping.  I know I probably gave them a dirty look for even asking.  We were on design decision overload with the house construction, and there was no time or energy left to be thinking about the yard.

But now there is.  And we have been thinking through the winter months as well.  We have plans for a few trees, to provide long-term context, growth, and screening.  We haven't planted anything yet but have made most of the tree selections.  It will probably happen within the month.

In the meantime Steve has started doing a lot of "clean up" in all areas of the yard.  I had forgotten how BIG the yard is.  We have been raking up a lot of dead leaves from around the edges of the yard and along the driveway and front road.  Steve had a large pile of mulch delivered and has been spreading it around the base of trees.

We keep the trash company very busy

But the big news is that the grass is growing!!!!!!

My classic "mailbox" view of the house and YARD!

Our new front yard - looks a lot like the old yard :o)

I did a lot of grumbling to just about anyone who would listen, that spending money to seed the yard was a complete waste of money.  Well, I am happy to say I was wrong!  The entire front yard is becoming more "green" by the day.  The side and rear yards are taking longer to grow but we can see grass coming up between the straw.

 

View from driveway toward the back yard - mulch around the trees

We have to keep the construction silt fencing up until we get a "final" site inspection from Fairfax County.  We are going to wait a couple of weeks, to let the grass come in on all sides of the house, just to be safe.  Our inspector seems to enjoy finding fault, and we don't want to give him an excuse to "fail" us.  Hopefully by the end of the month the fencing will be down.

New Traditions

31 December 2013

I had to add one more picture to this blog!

What a team!

With all the MOVING activities in the month of December it has been a challenge to even acknowledge the holiday season, much less relax for even an hour.  But some things are worth finding the time for.  Three years ago Carol gifted me at Christmas with a book entitled "The Gingerbread Architect".  The book is lovely, with about a dozen gingerbread house designs.  There are step-by-step instructions for each house, with a lot of license for re-design/decorating along the way. I had never done anything like this before so while I was anxious to roll up my sleeves I was realistic about my capabilities.  The houses are "ranked", from 1 gingerbread boy to 4 gingerbread boys, to signal their difficulty level.  For our first attempt Lauren and I made the "Cape Cod" house.



2010 - Cape Cod Gingerbread House

 We had so much fun making the house, and doing some things differently from the book instructions.  And the lessons we learned; we knew we would do it again, if nothing else because we knew we could do an even better job next time.  Lauren was in South Africa the Christmas of 2011, and I just couldn't muster the interest without her.  It really is a team effort; so much more fun.  But in 2012, with Lauren back in the United States and with us for the holidays, we did a second house.  This time Katherine came to help; even more fun.

2012 - Victorian Gingerbread House

This was a "2 gingerbread boy" house.  It was considerably larger than the Cape Cod house.  But we were definitely up for the challenge.  We were particularly happy with some of the details; the roof shingles and snow, the entry door and railings (great job, Katherine).  And we had liked the rice-krispy-treat trees and wreaths from the first year that we did them again, as well as the frosted-pretzel fencing.

Here we are in the holiday season of 2013, but with so many things on our minds relative to getting settled in the house I wasn't holding out much hope that we would find the time or energy to do a gingerbread house.  But .  .  .  Carol said she was coming to visit with Katherine over the New Year's weekend and half-week.  I decided having her in town was too good an opportunity to pass up.  Carol is (in my opinion) a gourmet baker.  This is just the kind of think I knew she would enjoy.

Luckily I hadn't lost the book in our move.  We selected a "3 gingerbread boy" house for this year - Tudor style.  I made the dough on Friday night, and baked almost all the gingerbread pieces Saturday night.  We were ready to start assembling Sunday, when Carol and Katherine arrived.

busy assembling

Most of Sunday was spent assembling the house (sorry, no pictures).  We worked all afternoon and into the evening, and by about 9:00 pm all the gingerbread pieces were on the house, except for the doors and overhang supports.  The front overhang is the part that makes this house a 3-gingerbread boy house.  I'm still amazed it hasn't fallen.  It is held to the roof and walls only with icing.  I propped it up with soup cans overnight, giving the icing lots of time to dry.

Starting the roof and adding "wood" timbers

Monday night was decorating, which is definitely the most fun.  And the roof is always a really big part of the house.  I have enjoyed seeing the roof go on each year.

Gingerbread-eating expert in the background

Lauren is becoming our "roof" expert.  She has done the roof every year.  It takes a long time!  And this year we ran out of shredded wheat squares!  It was one of the reasons we had to stop for the night Monday.  But we were very close to being done; New Year's Eve would be spent on the finishing touches.

New Year's Eve Snacks

Cucumber Cups - delicious

By the end of each of our house-making sessions we were all feeling overwhelmed by the smell of sugar - too much!  We didn't even nibble that much, but definitely felt sugar-overdose.  Carol and Katherine brought some wonderful "good" hors d'ouvres for us to enjoy while we were putting the finishing touches on the house.  You can see in the picture above some of the "details" - lamp posts, wreaths, and a Christmas tree, next to the cucumber cups.

2013 - Tudor Gingerbread House

Et voila!  We really enjoyed the landscape details.  We thought of a lot of ways to do the sidewalk and fencing, ending up with gourmet mini-jelly beans with licorice "split-rail" fencing.  I made four gingerbread Christmas trees.  We each decorated one; lots of rivalry there.  We all love Katherine's lampposts.

The back is as pretty as the front

One thing I enjoy when we do these houses is that every side of the house is different, and a delight.  The book does not do justice to that.  There isn't a side of the house that isn't interesting with it's own unique details.  We all love Katherine's lampposts, and the snowball "forts" in the side yard.

Nick had only one requirement for this year's house - that he be allowed to eat it!  Within a couple of hours of completion the nibbling began.  The roof is particularly tasty :o).  But that's okay.  We all took lots of pictures.

So the tradition continues, and in our new home.  Happy New Year, everyone.

P.S.  Lauren and I both have the idea of making a gingerbread house of our NEW HOME.  Next year, definitely.  Stay tuned.

Counting Our Blessings on Christmas Day

25 December 2013

Christmas morning.  Our first Christmas in our new home.  We have so much to be thankful for.  We not only have all three of our beautiful children with us for the holidays, but Dad is visiting as well.  Our greatest gift is being able to celebrate this holiday season surrounded by our family.

Steve and I woke about 7:00 am.  The house was very quiet.  We have barely figured out where to put furniture, and I am sure some of it will move around over the next couple of months.  But there is a perfect place for a Christmas tree in our Family Room.

I like looking around and seeing "old" things that make this house our "home".  Maybe it's just me, but many objects hold memories for me.  The tiny, child's chair in the corner (picture above) was Dad's, and sat by his fireplace in his house on Bowdoin Street, in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Now it sits by our fireplace.  The large sofa pillows also were handed down to us from Dad.  The Santa on the fireplace hearth was a gift to us from Becky, several years ago.  It always makes us smile when we jiggle it.  The Christmas stockings have stories to tell.  Steve's is the oldest, from when he was a boy.

People started stirring about 8:00 am, and by 10:00 am all the presents had been unwrapped.  (Steve is doing the Santa "jiggle" in the picture above.)

The large cardboard box by Steve holds a "new" tiffany lamp, for Steve's desk in the Office.  A new lamp, for the Lamps' new home.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Moving Day!

14 December 2013

Wow!  We are actually moving.  The day is overcast with rain/sleet/snow in the forecast, but who cared?  We are only moving about 200 yards :o).

We were all packing up in the rental house, and Steve suggested I run over and take one last round of pictures before we mess it all up with furniture.  So Alex and I drove over with some miscellaneous things.  Alex got out of the car and said "It's funny that the first thing we are moving into the house is a lamp."  So I said "Let me get your picture!"

Movers at the rental house

We hired a 3-man crew and 26-foot truck, to do all the furniture pieces.  It took them about 6 hours to move all the furniture.  There are a few heavy things left in the house, but we think we can handle them in the 4Runner.

Movers at our new home

Katherine came to help us in the afternoon.  Lauren and she concentrated on the Kitchen, figuring out where to put everything.  There are LOTS of cabinets.  And yes, I know.  I cannot reach the upper half of all the wall cabinets.  That's what step stools are for.

We were pretty tired by the end of the Saturday, but it was also a great feeling of accomplishment.

We slept in the house Saturday night.  Of course, we are illegal squatters technically.  We still need our final Site Inspection, but the Residential Use Permit will be issued.  Hopefully Monday.

Passing Inspection

2nd Week of December

Okay, so it's been seven months instead of six.  But we are so close I can finally get excited.  Today was a big day.  We had our "final" BUILDING inspections.  (Originally these inspection were to happen on Monday, but thanks to Mother Nature county offices were closed until this morning.)

Please note below, an email notice that Steve forwarded to me this morning.  Our RESIDENTIAL FINAL inspection PASSED!

While this is GREAT news it is not the end of our inspections.  We still need SITE FINAL inspection.  So everyone continue to keep your fingers crossed.  Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

Enough said for now. 

Front of the House - Sunday, 8 December 2013