This was the day that I hoped would run smoothly. Once again I was sadly mistaken. We knew that at least one piece of our belongings would be too big for the living room, our queen size hide-a-bed, so we figured it could go upstairs in the spare room, guest room cum computer room, we should have had a tape measure with us when we bought the house!
Not only did the couch not fit in the living room the movers could get it no further than the kitchen, that's right, if we wanted to have this piece of furniture in our house it would have to live in the kitchen. Why you may ask? The back door opens into the kitchen, from the kitchen we have the door down to the basement, the opening to the front hall and another opening into the living room. The hall and living room through arches are only 28 inches wide, 2 inches narrower than the normal 30 inches. There was no way that couch was going anywhere and definitely not upstairs. Now it may still fit into the basement but that is full of boxes so we have not yet tried.
The couch was not the only piece of furniture that the movers said could not come into the house, and we could think again about taking anything over sized upstairs:
The Freezer: we had two in Nipigon, sold the smaller of the two; what a mistake that was. The freezer was supposed to go into the basement it is now on our enclosed front porch. The movers said it would have to stay on the deck with the couch but Richard insisted that it be placed in the porch. Richard had to remove the lid in order for the freezer to fit through that 28" opening, but it did to the surprise of the movers.
The Triple Dresser: I own a full bedroom suite of solid wood, this is just one of those pieces. The movers refused to even try and get it up those stairs, so it was placed in the dinning room until we could decide where it would live. The triple dresser is now in the basement it is part of the utility room and probably will remain in this house when and if we ever move again. Richard with the help of Lynda managed to get the dresser down those steep stairs and into the utility room. It will be used to house Richard's tools and any paper and laundry supplies. I have to manage with just the tall boy and bedside table to house my clothes.
The Queen Size Beds: Now the movers tried to get our mattresses upstairs but they gave up. "There was no way," they said, "that those beds are going to live upstairs." The mattresses were placed in the dinning room and the box springs where placed on the porch. Later that evening with the assistance of Pat and Merv (our first hosts), who kindly came around after work to help us move in, and Richard managed to get those two queen size mattresses up the stairs. Mattresses bend, box springs do not. We had to purchase two split queen box springs, I did not know there was even such a thing. For the first few nights we slept on our mattresses on the floor.
My Computer Desk: This piece of furniture was dropped as the movers took it out of their van breaking a caster, (this was not the only dropped item). Again the movers said it would not go up those stairs; Richard said we should take it apart, the movers still did not figure it would go upstairs. But it did. We are still trying to find the correct casters to replace the broken one.
Several of our boxes were dropped by the movers many of them marked fragile. We had one box of commemoration mugs which ended up dropped several times, I was surprised that it appears only two of the mugs broke. I have yet to check other boxes for broken items. I'm sure there will be others.
Everything except for the couch made it into our new home. We have boxes everywhere, the movers where not very good at placing boxes in the basement, or any other room for that matter, tidily. Boxes marked 'soft top' had other boxes placed on them. Boxes marked 'fragile' where not handled carefully. One bookcase arrived only fit for firewood, every shelf was broken.
I usually take our moves in stride but this one wore me down to the point of tears. I was tired of hearing the movers state; "That's not going to fit." "There is no way we can take that upstairs, downstairs." "The box only rolled once." "... replacements can be bought anywhere."
Before all the items were unloaded I was crying... Everything had been done so quickly, The purchase of our new home, packing, traveling, painting and moving in. I had reached my maximum stress load. Thank God for Merv and Pat. They arrived after everyone else had gone to find me dejected and Richard at the end of his rope. The first order of business was to get our beds set-up, upstairs. The three of them push, pulled and folded those two mattresses up those stairs, they accomplished one of the things that the movers said would not happen. Pat made the beds for me. Then she helped with putting some sort of order to the kitchen so we could at least begin the long task of unpacking. By the time Merv and Pat left we had a beginning or order to our home. The tears had dried and once again I was excited about our new home.
The Family and Christmas arrive... next installment.
Wednesday 31 December 2008
Saturday 20 December 2008
The Move Continued
Friday December 5th: we settled in at our Hosts home; which was our home away from our new home for the next four days. Determined to get some rest but also get our home ready for receiving our furniture. Basically this would mean painting a couple of the rooms. Lloyd from Redeemer Church would be helping us with the painting. Lloyd was one of many who had been helping with the various tasks that needed to be done at our new home before we could move in.
Saturday morning we headed out to do some shopping and then headed to our home to be. I was overwhelmed with how clean everywhere looked. If you remember from the pictures of the house it was in quite a sorry state. Several of the ladies from the church had been in a cleaned everywhere. The carpets had been removed and the floors ready to receive the laminated boards that we had chosen to replace the filthy carpets. The floors are lovely, the walnut colour looks very rich and was a great choice. As we went through the house we took note of all the wonderful work that the ladies and the men had done for us:
All the magnetic winter windows were in place.
The carpets steam cleaned.
Nails and screws and tacks etc. taken out of walls and walls patched.
Furnace and ducts cleaned.
Sink and faucet replaced in main floor washroom.
Appliances in their place from a Sears delivery.
I'm sure many other items of repair were all complete by the time we arrived.
All that was left for us to do was to paint the upstairs orange bedroom and the living room. We had gathered some colour chips and decided on the ones we liked ready to get paint the next day or Monday.
That was it for Saturday. Sunday afternoon we went to church. Monday with Lloyd's help we bought primer and began the job of painting the upstairs bedroom. In the afternoon we delivered the motor home to it's winter parking at a small farm south of PA. In the evening I headed to the Church for the LWML Christmas Dinner.
Tuesday Richard and I went to and bought the necessary paint for the two rooms. Lloyd was already working with the primer upstairs. We realized that a second coat would be required on the downstairs room. So off to supper we went, we had an invite from Neale and Janette. After supper we began with the second coat on the living room. Lloyd had finished the upstairs room which was now blue and had begun to help with the living room, which will be a mint green.
Tired but feeling well pleased with our work of the day we headed back to our hosts. Rowland greeted us at the door, he had been worried about us as they did not expect for us to return so late in the day. We had been given a key to their house and did not realise that they would be concerned about a late return. With many apologies we went to bed as the next day would be an early start the furniture was arriving the following day, Wednesday.
That is a whole new story.
Saturday morning we headed out to do some shopping and then headed to our home to be. I was overwhelmed with how clean everywhere looked. If you remember from the pictures of the house it was in quite a sorry state. Several of the ladies from the church had been in a cleaned everywhere. The carpets had been removed and the floors ready to receive the laminated boards that we had chosen to replace the filthy carpets. The floors are lovely, the walnut colour looks very rich and was a great choice. As we went through the house we took note of all the wonderful work that the ladies and the men had done for us:
All the magnetic winter windows were in place.
The carpets steam cleaned.
Nails and screws and tacks etc. taken out of walls and walls patched.
Furnace and ducts cleaned.
Sink and faucet replaced in main floor washroom.
Appliances in their place from a Sears delivery.
I'm sure many other items of repair were all complete by the time we arrived.
All that was left for us to do was to paint the upstairs orange bedroom and the living room. We had gathered some colour chips and decided on the ones we liked ready to get paint the next day or Monday.
That was it for Saturday. Sunday afternoon we went to church. Monday with Lloyd's help we bought primer and began the job of painting the upstairs bedroom. In the afternoon we delivered the motor home to it's winter parking at a small farm south of PA. In the evening I headed to the Church for the LWML Christmas Dinner.
Tuesday Richard and I went to and bought the necessary paint for the two rooms. Lloyd was already working with the primer upstairs. We realized that a second coat would be required on the downstairs room. So off to supper we went, we had an invite from Neale and Janette. After supper we began with the second coat on the living room. Lloyd had finished the upstairs room which was now blue and had begun to help with the living room, which will be a mint green.
Tired but feeling well pleased with our work of the day we headed back to our hosts. Rowland greeted us at the door, he had been worried about us as they did not expect for us to return so late in the day. We had been given a key to their house and did not realise that they would be concerned about a late return. With many apologies we went to bed as the next day would be an early start the furniture was arriving the following day, Wednesday.
That is a whole new story.
Friday 19 December 2008
Day Three of the Move
Finally a few moments to let you know how the move played out at least day three!
Day three we were up really early; waited for the Ontario Power guys to move their vehicles in order to move the motor home out of the parking spot we were in. Once on the road we decided to see how far we could drive, actually how long I could manage. The walkie talkie batteries were died so no communication between our two vehicles. That was fine, Richard had a plan, if I needed to stop for any reason I was to turn on my flashers, which he would see, and pull over at the first opportunity. Well it sounded good until I actually tried to gain his attention. I needed a washroom break;
flashers on...
1 1/2 hours later...
I was desperate...
finally my signal was seen!
We decided that because of the perishables in the motor home we would munch as we drove; lunch consisted of chips, chocolate and water. At about Roblin, Manitoba I once again needed a washroom;
flashers on...
1 1/2 hours later and a few horn beeps...
I was almost beyond desperate...
On no! Where was he pulling off...
A Superstore Gas; no washrooms here...
He had still not seen my flashers or heard my horn...
Quick instructions we are going to Wal-mart to buy batteries and to use their washroom facilities; he was filling the motor home, unlike a car that fills very quickly the motor home takes forever because it has a huge tank. Finally we headed for Wal-mart. We decided to continue traveling, eating as we drove; supper consisted of chips, chocolate and water.
In Yorkton we change our positions; I drove lead with my flashers on and Richard drove behind me with his flashers on and no headlights. We traveled the rest of the way to Prince Albert. When we reached Malford, Saskatchewan I buzzed him on the walkie talkie (yes we did buy batteries) and told him he better chat to me as I was finding it really hard keeping my focus on the road. We pulled into Prince Albert 15 hours after we had left Kenora, Ontario.
First we had to find our new home and drop the cats off and leave the motor home outside the house until the following day. We did take some of the perishables into the house but not many. Then we headed for Mervin and Gerdie's home (our hosts for the next few days).
Day three we were up really early; waited for the Ontario Power guys to move their vehicles in order to move the motor home out of the parking spot we were in. Once on the road we decided to see how far we could drive, actually how long I could manage. The walkie talkie batteries were died so no communication between our two vehicles. That was fine, Richard had a plan, if I needed to stop for any reason I was to turn on my flashers, which he would see, and pull over at the first opportunity. Well it sounded good until I actually tried to gain his attention. I needed a washroom break;
flashers on...
1 1/2 hours later...
I was desperate...
finally my signal was seen!
We decided that because of the perishables in the motor home we would munch as we drove; lunch consisted of chips, chocolate and water. At about Roblin, Manitoba I once again needed a washroom;
flashers on...
1 1/2 hours later and a few horn beeps...
I was almost beyond desperate...
On no! Where was he pulling off...
A Superstore Gas; no washrooms here...
He had still not seen my flashers or heard my horn...
Quick instructions we are going to Wal-mart to buy batteries and to use their washroom facilities; he was filling the motor home, unlike a car that fills very quickly the motor home takes forever because it has a huge tank. Finally we headed for Wal-mart. We decided to continue traveling, eating as we drove; supper consisted of chips, chocolate and water.
In Yorkton we change our positions; I drove lead with my flashers on and Richard drove behind me with his flashers on and no headlights. We traveled the rest of the way to Prince Albert. When we reached Malford, Saskatchewan I buzzed him on the walkie talkie (yes we did buy batteries) and told him he better chat to me as I was finding it really hard keeping my focus on the road. We pulled into Prince Albert 15 hours after we had left Kenora, Ontario.
First we had to find our new home and drop the cats off and leave the motor home outside the house until the following day. We did take some of the perishables into the house but not many. Then we headed for Mervin and Gerdie's home (our hosts for the next few days).
Thursday 4 December 2008
The Move; Day Two
We received a wake-up call from the front desk at 6:30 am. Now that should have given us plenty of time before daylight to prepare for another day on the road. Richard first had to load the car; after waiting for the elevator for at least 5 minutes, he came back to the room not for the next load; but to ask me to ring down to the front desk and find out if there was a problem with the elevator at our end of the building. That sorted; Richard soon had the car loaded ready for today's drive. While he was loading I had breakfast; yogurt with a packet of oatmeal cereal mixed in; of course we didn't have a spoon handy or a bowl; so I used what was handy, a plastic cup and two stir sticks.
We checked out and Richard walked to the Motor Home and I drove the car. Once at our home on wheels I spent time with our two furry friends; Wyneken and Katie, who were not too happy about being left alone all night. The heater did stay on; so at least that was good news.
The next order of the day was to figure out how we were going to defrost the inside of the motor home windshield; as you probably know using the conventional scrapper does not work very well. Richard figured he could drive it with the small amount that was clear until I had the brilliant idea of getting the hair dryer from my case and using that to clear the windshield. As you can imagine we did not get on the road at first light. We ended up being at least an hour later than we had hoped for.
We traveled for a couple of hours when Richard pulled off the road; he was so cold. He only had on his leather jacket,a tee shirt, jeans and shoes; not really appropriate clothing for minus 13 with a windchill factor to bring the temperature down to -23.
We eventually pulled into Wal-mart in Drydan where Richard went on a shopping spree. First a Parker, then a sweatshirt, glove/mitt combination, and a pair of Solaris boots. We had lunch at McDonald's and then back on the road. Because we were not out of Northern Ontario the sun set really fast. We reached Kenora in time before Richard was illegally driving without headlights.
While he was registering us in at Days Inn the headlights miraculously came on; we laughed saw the irony of the situation but parked the motor home anyway. After unloading the car we headed over to the restaurant for supper.
The day has not yet ended; Richard remembered that he had forgotten to bring in the items that require refrigerating from the basement of the motor home; this turned out to be a good thing because the furnace had gone out. There was no way we can leave the motor home without the furnace running as we have all our liquids, canned food, etc. in there to say nothing of our two cats who also require the motor home to be kept at a minimum temperature. Richard is still not back in the room which means it is not just a case of relighting the pilot light, it may mean the propane has frozen in the bottom of the tank. Richard has taken the car and gone to Canadian Tire to purchase a portable heater. The motor home has to be at least 10-15 degrees all night; I would hate to think of the mess if things freeze, to say nothing of our poor babies.
Richard is back from the store; the propane is flowing, the air is blowing, but there is no heat from the furnace. We do not know what the problem is but for now Richard will turn off the furnace and propane and plug in the heater for tonight. Tomorrow is another day, we have a 5:30 am wake up call in place. Let us pray that tomorrow the adventure will be more of just many hours of driving with no mishaps.
We checked out and Richard walked to the Motor Home and I drove the car. Once at our home on wheels I spent time with our two furry friends; Wyneken and Katie, who were not too happy about being left alone all night. The heater did stay on; so at least that was good news.
The next order of the day was to figure out how we were going to defrost the inside of the motor home windshield; as you probably know using the conventional scrapper does not work very well. Richard figured he could drive it with the small amount that was clear until I had the brilliant idea of getting the hair dryer from my case and using that to clear the windshield. As you can imagine we did not get on the road at first light. We ended up being at least an hour later than we had hoped for.
We traveled for a couple of hours when Richard pulled off the road; he was so cold. He only had on his leather jacket,a tee shirt, jeans and shoes; not really appropriate clothing for minus 13 with a windchill factor to bring the temperature down to -23.
We eventually pulled into Wal-mart in Drydan where Richard went on a shopping spree. First a Parker, then a sweatshirt, glove/mitt combination, and a pair of Solaris boots. We had lunch at McDonald's and then back on the road. Because we were not out of Northern Ontario the sun set really fast. We reached Kenora in time before Richard was illegally driving without headlights.
While he was registering us in at Days Inn the headlights miraculously came on; we laughed saw the irony of the situation but parked the motor home anyway. After unloading the car we headed over to the restaurant for supper.
The day has not yet ended; Richard remembered that he had forgotten to bring in the items that require refrigerating from the basement of the motor home; this turned out to be a good thing because the furnace had gone out. There was no way we can leave the motor home without the furnace running as we have all our liquids, canned food, etc. in there to say nothing of our two cats who also require the motor home to be kept at a minimum temperature. Richard is still not back in the room which means it is not just a case of relighting the pilot light, it may mean the propane has frozen in the bottom of the tank. Richard has taken the car and gone to Canadian Tire to purchase a portable heater. The motor home has to be at least 10-15 degrees all night; I would hate to think of the mess if things freeze, to say nothing of our poor babies.
Richard is back from the store; the propane is flowing, the air is blowing, but there is no heat from the furnace. We do not know what the problem is but for now Richard will turn off the furnace and propane and plug in the heater for tonight. Tomorrow is another day, we have a 5:30 am wake up call in place. Let us pray that tomorrow the adventure will be more of just many hours of driving with no mishaps.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
First Day of Move
What a day it has been. Richard was up early ready to finish the packing. He woke me with a cup of coffee at 7:30 am. That was the easy part of the day. The movers were an hour late arriving. I know nothing unusual about that; but when you are anxious to get everything packed and on the truck an hour makes a big difference.
The motor home was parked on the driveway ready to add all the food, liquids, can stuff etc. Oh; and all the items we would require on the road. Everything appeared to be running fairly smoothly until Richard decided it was time to start the Motor Home in order to warm the interior of it so nothing would freeze. Famous last words; start the Motor Home. You've guessed it, it would not start. Brennan Fords were called out to assist us as they had recently fixed, or supposedly fixed our electrical problem enough so we would be able to move with the vehicle. While all this is going on the movers are busy loading their truck.
Did we get the Motor Home running; yes and no. Yes but it kept cutting out and Richard felt it prudent to just plug in the oil pan heater, but to shut off the motor. I went out for lunch. Janet had kindly invited us out to give us a break from the upheaval that was going on. Richard decided to stay and sort out the vehicle problem while I was gone.
Most of the house was loaded and the movers told us they would be another couple of hours and there was no reason for us to stay waiting for them to finish. They would lock up the house once everything was loaded. You know I was never more glad of a decision than that one because the adventure had only begun.
The Motor Home, once again would not start; Brennan's were called out yet again, the problem was found. The solenoid that Brennan's had put into the vehicle was too small so overheating and cutting out. They could order a larger one from Thunder Bay and get it by tomorrow. The only problem with that was we would not have any beds to sleep on; they would be on a truck in Thunder Bay. A few phone calls a quick walk to Canadian Tire and ride to Allen's Auto but nothing that would work. the solution was to by-pass the solenoid altogether; as long as we remember to switch of the batteries when we stop; if we stop.
We were finally running and on our way. First stop was Crystal Springs to fill the propane tank and gas up both vehicles. Now we have our next problem; the propane tank valve would not close so propane was leaking out. A quick phone call by the service station attendant to find out what he could do to fix the problem. With methanol and a screw driver they fixed that valve. That wasn't the end of the problems for today. The head lights went off but we managed to get them back on until about a mile or two down the road. Richard let me know we would have to pull over as once again he had no head lights. As we sat there wondering what to do next our moving truck pulled up behind us. They had wondered if they would meet up with us or not.
What was the solution: The moving truck traveled in front with it's four ways on and I traveled behind with my four ways on and we limped into Thunder Bay. Yes we made it as far as Thunder Bay. One and a half hours away from Nipigon. We are booked into a motel until day light arrives.
The motor home is plugged in; the heater is on low enough to keep our cats warm and to stop anything from freezing. The car was emptied of all it's items that could freeze. Now we rest until the morning for our second day of our moving adventure.
The motor home was parked on the driveway ready to add all the food, liquids, can stuff etc. Oh; and all the items we would require on the road. Everything appeared to be running fairly smoothly until Richard decided it was time to start the Motor Home in order to warm the interior of it so nothing would freeze. Famous last words; start the Motor Home. You've guessed it, it would not start. Brennan Fords were called out to assist us as they had recently fixed, or supposedly fixed our electrical problem enough so we would be able to move with the vehicle. While all this is going on the movers are busy loading their truck.
Did we get the Motor Home running; yes and no. Yes but it kept cutting out and Richard felt it prudent to just plug in the oil pan heater, but to shut off the motor. I went out for lunch. Janet had kindly invited us out to give us a break from the upheaval that was going on. Richard decided to stay and sort out the vehicle problem while I was gone.
Most of the house was loaded and the movers told us they would be another couple of hours and there was no reason for us to stay waiting for them to finish. They would lock up the house once everything was loaded. You know I was never more glad of a decision than that one because the adventure had only begun.
The Motor Home, once again would not start; Brennan's were called out yet again, the problem was found. The solenoid that Brennan's had put into the vehicle was too small so overheating and cutting out. They could order a larger one from Thunder Bay and get it by tomorrow. The only problem with that was we would not have any beds to sleep on; they would be on a truck in Thunder Bay. A few phone calls a quick walk to Canadian Tire and ride to Allen's Auto but nothing that would work. the solution was to by-pass the solenoid altogether; as long as we remember to switch of the batteries when we stop; if we stop.
We were finally running and on our way. First stop was Crystal Springs to fill the propane tank and gas up both vehicles. Now we have our next problem; the propane tank valve would not close so propane was leaking out. A quick phone call by the service station attendant to find out what he could do to fix the problem. With methanol and a screw driver they fixed that valve. That wasn't the end of the problems for today. The head lights went off but we managed to get them back on until about a mile or two down the road. Richard let me know we would have to pull over as once again he had no head lights. As we sat there wondering what to do next our moving truck pulled up behind us. They had wondered if they would meet up with us or not.
What was the solution: The moving truck traveled in front with it's four ways on and I traveled behind with my four ways on and we limped into Thunder Bay. Yes we made it as far as Thunder Bay. One and a half hours away from Nipigon. We are booked into a motel until day light arrives.
The motor home is plugged in; the heater is on low enough to keep our cats warm and to stop anything from freezing. The car was emptied of all it's items that could freeze. Now we rest until the morning for our second day of our moving adventure.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
The Boxes are Packed
The day is just about here. Yesterday we spent the whole day packing. Even with downsizing over the last couple of years we still have more boxes than you can imagine. I had help with the packing yesterday which I was so grateful for. By the time I fell into bed last night there wasn't a part of me that did not hurt.
All that is left to pack is my computer which Richard will put in it's boxes just as soon as I have finished today's list. First: read all messages of the last few days. Next: catch up on Evette's Blog and Laura's Blog. Then: write a quick blog... and this is it.
Our poor cats are in a dither as to what is going on. Their daily routine is no long there, their food and water are in the wrong bowls. Their comfy blankets packed away. To say nothing of all the boxes that are in their way.
Tomorrow the truck will be here to load all our worldly belongings. We will put all the liquids, food etc. in the motor home, the movers will not take any of these items. Most of our frozen food will have to be given away as the freezer in the motor home is very small.
Once the rooms are empty I will sweep them out and close the doors for the last time on this house that has been our home for five and a 3/4 years. Another chapter will start, in a new town, in a new house, this time a house that we have purchased. We have gone through many good byes. Friday I finished work, being unable to complete all that I wished to get done before my last day; but then work is never done.
Hopefully we haven't forgotten to do anything that needed to be done before we move from here. Medical records, Dental records, medications have all been handled. Cancelling the phone and Internet still have to be accomplished but we can do that tomorrow while the movers are loading everything.
We say good bye to Nipigon and within the next three days we should be in Prince Albert beginning another phase of the life God has mapped out for us.
All that is left to pack is my computer which Richard will put in it's boxes just as soon as I have finished today's list. First: read all messages of the last few days. Next: catch up on Evette's Blog and Laura's Blog. Then: write a quick blog... and this is it.
Our poor cats are in a dither as to what is going on. Their daily routine is no long there, their food and water are in the wrong bowls. Their comfy blankets packed away. To say nothing of all the boxes that are in their way.
Tomorrow the truck will be here to load all our worldly belongings. We will put all the liquids, food etc. in the motor home, the movers will not take any of these items. Most of our frozen food will have to be given away as the freezer in the motor home is very small.
Once the rooms are empty I will sweep them out and close the doors for the last time on this house that has been our home for five and a 3/4 years. Another chapter will start, in a new town, in a new house, this time a house that we have purchased. We have gone through many good byes. Friday I finished work, being unable to complete all that I wished to get done before my last day; but then work is never done.
Hopefully we haven't forgotten to do anything that needed to be done before we move from here. Medical records, Dental records, medications have all been handled. Cancelling the phone and Internet still have to be accomplished but we can do that tomorrow while the movers are loading everything.
We say good bye to Nipigon and within the next three days we should be in Prince Albert beginning another phase of the life God has mapped out for us.
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