Moving Out

So I'm back from Portland.  For those of you who didn't know, we will be selling the Portland house; I needed to get my stuff out so that the house can be put on the market.  

(Portland has had a cold, rainy winter -- rainier than usual, just as our Minnesota winter has been dry and warm.  I took these photos on the one sunny day -- although it rained every other day, there were many moments of sun during them, too.  The daffodils are in prime, and the hyacinths, and the cherry blossoms, but not yet tulips, and strangely, no tree leaves yet. Not even buds.  In Minnesota, we have leafed trees, but no flowers yet.)

I went with the Pod solution -- you hire a shipping container, essentially.  I packed it myself (with help from HomoDommi and friend J, not to mention the Texan and anyone else who I roped in to carry stuff) -- PODS deliver and take it away, and store it for as long as I need it.  

The pods that are available to move across country are either 8x8x8 or 8x8x16.  I had more stuff, I knew, than an 8x8x8, but not as much as needing to fully fill an 8x8x16.  Still, it was nice to have elbow room.

I thought, when I took this photo, that I was done with boxes, and about 1/3 done with furniture. That was an underestimate.

In good bass-ackwards fashion, I filled the Pod with small things first, ending with the big things -- the couch and the bed (both of which were in use until the morning I left).  But even this photo, taken when I really thought I was done, was before I uncovered the antique writing desk that I had as a child, and the rocking chair that I was given by my Australian friends, at the back of the studio.  They fit in with little maneuvering.

One of my beloved Turkey rugs, which had been languishing on the floor of the basement, was discovered to have been a haven for moths for the last year or more.  Several big three-inch holes eaten through it.  I ache, a little, although luckily, it was my least favorite of the rugs (although still beloved).  Anyway, the moths have undoubtedly laid eggs in it, and who knows what else.  So the last thing we did before locking the Pod, was to throw in a Bug Bomb, which should kill everything in any of the textiles.  We had raccoons and possums crawling in the basement (not to mention indoor/outdoor cats), so this should take care of the fleas, too.  

The Pod will be picked up tomorrow. They will store it in secure facility, and then deliver the unit to me in Minnesota when I'm ready for it.  

I'm not yet ready for it.