Memorial Day Week: Moving, Unpacking, and Espresso

Last week we were in Gualala so I could get all/most/some of the stuff unpacked and put away. For weeks and weeks Dave has been hauling stuff up there and unloading it into the house--anywhere into the house, generally.

There was no class to teach on Monday because of the holiday and I didn't need to be there for Wednesday's lecture so I just had to cancel discussion section for the week (with permission, of course). We were considering cancelling it anyway since the students flew through their collage presentations the week before.

So.

Eddie, Ruby, and I packed the van to the brim with kitchen stuff (pantry items and cookware) and dirty laundry to wash and wear up there. We made a stop at Costco and stuffed that in there, too.  The orange trailer was loaded with both rototillers, paving stones, gardening tools, and Eddie's bike.  I tried to load the big red tiller alone but lost my nerve so my friend Danny stopped by to help.  I'm so glad to have the majority of the stuff from the gardening shed moved!

We had a leisurely Saturday morning in Davis, allowing Eddie to play with the neighbors until they had to leave for a party across town.  I gave all of us pedicures, prepared snacks, and took a long shower before the long drive.  With a couple of pit stops on the way and a heavily weighted down van, it took us about 4.5 hours to get there.

The weekend was spent unpacking boxes, installing bookcases, packing up the random cookware in the Coast House kitchen and replacing it with our own (much, much nicer) stuff.  I still dislike the glass top stove but it cooking is easier with pans that aren't bent and bulging on the bottom.

A lot happened during the week:

• Eddie went to "big daycare" each day up in Point Arena where he hung out with his friend, Mason, and made some new friends
• I got a library card for the Coast Community Library--such a teeny tiny little thing!  It's in the building that used to be owned by my second cousin twice removed (I think?) and operated as a general store in there.  Eddie and I checked out some books for him one evening after daycare. 
• I rented us a PO box so now we can receive mail.  The Coast House is not on the mail delivery route, even though I can basically SEE the post office from the front door.  Weird.
• I got my W-4 forms and health insurance forms from Papa John so I can work for the family enterprises. There's a spare desk in the back room where I can work on my dissertation, too. 
• We had a land line phone installed. It's only local so we can't even call "local" cell phones but it should work for the water company alarm systems for when Dave's on call. We get cell reception at the house to make other calls as needed.



My dad gave me this old phone, which we had on Amherst in Livermore in the 1980's. Eddie'll probably the only kid in his class who knows how to literally DIAL a phone.

• I spent 2 (!!) hours on the phone with USAA to get our insurances in order--home owner's transferred to a renter's policy and starting a tenant occupied property policy for the Davis house. 
• Eddie's preschool forms were submitted to Arena Elementary School. He'll be the third generation of Bowers going to that school. My mom and his Papa John went there as well as Dave and Uncle Michael. I thought maybe it'd have been the fourth generation but Tutu Ida (John's mother) went to a one room school out in the hills east of Point Arena where all of the Italian homesteader ranching families went.  Update: Duh, I totally forgot to tally up all the Hallidays who went to that school, too!  My Uncle Bill reminded me that Eddie is actually the FIFTH generation in my family to attend. 
• We attended a BBQ that's been happening for 47 years as a sort of reunion for a group of abalone diver guys and their families and friends. John helped the organizer find a suitable location after their previous location didn't work out anymore. So every year John supplies the firewood and starts the fires for them and in exchange we all get to attend to mingle, meet new people, and eat LOADS of amazing foods--including lots of abalone and smoked salmon.  
• I weeded the garden for a total of about 6 hours over the course of the week. We did NOT have much success with seed germination this year because it wasn't watered regularly, I think.  It's okay with me because if we hadn't made the garden in March and planted all that stuff we'd've had NOTHING to work with now.  As it is, we have plenty of dill, fennel, potatoes, chard, garlic, and tomatoes.  I know it's late in the season, but I did get some peat pots and start some basil, zucchini, and beans that Dave can plant in a couple of weeks (fingers crossed!).
• Dave and I spent way too much time deliberating on flooring options for the Coast House downstairs living area. We got bids from three tile installers but are still deciding on what to do because it's sooooooooo expensive but it'd be sooooooooooo much easier to have someone else do it. Hopefully Dave'll finish that process this coming week.

And now: pictures of the week. I didn't take many because we were too busy.

Eddie burned off some energy on the drive up by playing on the trailer and tillers while I sipped an iced latte at the Petaluma Starbucks.

Who needs Starbucks when you find this thing in the house?  Dave got it working and we thoroughly enjoyed steamed milk drinks and espresso all week long.  He looks silly in this picture because I told him to look as excited as I felt about having that espresso maker working.  He pretty much nailed it.

We enjoyed that espresso maker so much we decided to 'Amazon Prime' (yes that's a verb now, like to Google) us some flavored syrups.

An afternoon snack of cinnamon raisin rolls and a latte.  I could get used to this!

I don't know how I ended up with this gif thing but isn't it cute?! There was a doe and her twin babies right outside the kitchen window one evening.  Eddie and I enjoyed watching them nurse and jump around afterward.

I was looking out the window on Monday while it was drizzling and found Eddie playing outside on the deck. He didn't see me up in the kitchen as he yelled and hollered to himself about saving the drowning pirate or whatever. I made a yelling sound and he didn't know where it came from so he mimicked the sound and looked around underneath him. I made the sound again and he yelled again, too. This happened a few times until I giggled while yelling and he finally saw me.  Such a cutie.

Most nights Papa John ate dinner with us and he'd read stories to Eddie while I cooked. It was very sweet.

Per Papa John's request, I made crab and garlic bread for dinner one night. It was good, but not as good as the warm Brussels sprouts salad I served that night.

Garden, day 1.  You can see that Dave had done some weeding the week before (thanks, Lover!).

Garden, day 1.

Garden, day 2.

Garden, day 2.

Garden, day 3.  I was about 2 beds short of finishing, still needed to weed wack and till the walk ways, and mulch everything with a thick layer of horse manure compost.  I guess Dave will have to do that for me this coming week. 

Garden, day 3. I heavily watered the tomatoes and gave fish emulsion to the tomatoes, peppers, and two wimpy zucchini plants Dave uncovered from the weeds. Hopefully they'll really take off now.

I found a dead snake among the weeds one day; Dave thinks maybe I stepped on it because it looked fine. Eddie thought it was pretty cool and asked us to keep it. I hung it on the fence to dry; hopefully it'll still be there when we return.

So that was our week in a nutshell.  We'll return FOR GOOD in about 4-5 weeks. And I can't wait.  I met some really nice moms while I was out and about in Gualala and Point Arena so I have playdates and friendships to look forward to, in addition to finally living together as a family.