So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly...

View from family room, through dining room, to living room

We're here!  Oy.  This settling in is taking quite a bit more time than I expected, complicated by a serious reduction in closet space (and built-in bookcases, which we had in abundance in our last two homes).  We're also concurrently doing some updating...painting now, to be followed by wallpaper removal and more painting, changing out lighting fixtures, etc.  So lots of scrutinizing and considering is going on while I'm still up to my armpits in boxes and packing paper.  (*Where is this going?*)  We downsized quite a bit and think that this house will be just perfect for us eventually...hopefully within the next few months.

Sewing room

With so much else to do, I promised myself that I wasn't going near the sewing room until things were pretty settled in the rest of the house and I had found my way around the neighborhood.  But then M asked a favor of me.  Did you notice him in the first photo, painting on his holiday weekend?  How could I refuse?  He wanted me to replace a button on a pair of dress pants that he needed for work this week.  Okey-dokey!  Now where's a needle and thread?

The guys who packed us up weren't very specific when marking our boxes. 

How about this one?

Before I knew it, it was feeling like Christmas!  I must confess that I hadn't been looking forward to addressing that room.  I guess with everything else right now, it was looming as just another big headache-y project.  But once I started digging around, I found it difficult to tear myself away.

 

  

Wheee!

So now we're both happy.  He doesn't have to worry about his pants falling down and I am reunited with my fabric!  And books, and paints, and stamps, and yarn...all of which were scattered throughout my last house but now are in one, big, creative space here.  Organizing it will be a challenge and at least one trip to Ikea is planned to help on that front, but for the time being, it makes me happy to be in there moving things around so I'm using it as a reward every day after I work on something distasteful or trying.  Like where the heck the letter jackets and prom dresses (not mine!) are going.

*sigh*  I'm going to love this room.

Yard shot taken through a rainy day window 

A quick question for you gardeners out there.  While up in my room this morning, I noticed that several of my hostas have yellowing leaves.  I admit to having been focused inside these last 10 days...is this due to some neglect on my part or is this normal, late-season dying off?  I have plenty of hostas to spare, but I'd hate to lose any when I could be sharing them.

Comments

[Wendy]

All those pictures brought back memories of our 4 moves. I am sending good thoughts your way.It can be a thrill to find a bath towel,fork, or button! Sewing room looks like it's going to be wonderful!Just keep the thoughts that by Christmas all this will be over and it will look wonderful and you probably won't have to do this again!Keep us posted....P.S. I love that backyard, and real beauty! My Hosta's are getting a little sad looking, though no yellow leaves.

[Ann]

Two happy people ... that sounds good.

It could be rotten, sometimes that happens to some Hostas. You should follow it for another year, and replant it with stronger types if it does this again :)

[susan]

Welcome to the 'hood. I have enjoyed watching your progress towards my general neck of the woods! I live in the Naperville area, and my hostas are also yellowing. I am not a great gardener either (so take my theories with a grain of salt), but I think it is either the general lack of rain in the last 20 days (not a problem today!) or the end of the season droop. I can't remember what they did last year. :(

[Carol]

Hi, I am a real life friend of your neighbor Martha McGuyver. I am no gardener but lived in Indianapolis for ten years and had lots of hostas. They are so hardy. Perhaps lack of rain is the issue. Martha might know. In any case, you would have to work hard to kill them off.

[anina]

Congratulations on being in your house!
I think the hostas are just at the end of their season. That, accompanied with less water, heat, and maybe the sun turning and giving them a little too much sunshine would be a very likely explanation for the yellowing.

[Chris]

That "Everything" box is classic! Glad you're there and getting settled in. :)

[Thimbleanna]

Ah movers! They probably didn't know what all those goodies were -- thus the everything tag. We had a mover once who, by the time he was at the end of the packing and it was my sewing room, labeled the box sh*t. Guess he was tired by then! Have fun un-packing and organizing!

[Wanda]

The fact that we had some really hot weather last week and no rain for 3 weeks could have them sunburning a little if they happen to get direct sun at any time of the day. Mine aren't yellowing yet but they will at the end of the season anyway. It might be the ones that came up the earliest, and then they wither back first too.

[Kristin La Flamme]

I love the "everything" box!

We never got one that vague, but there were lots that said "deco" or just the name of the room. The big challenge was for the American movers to read the European numbers on the packing list. :-)

Good luck in finding a place for everything. I think having your sewing room available (even if not set up or perfect yet) is a great reward.

[Tonya R]

you've made amazing progress, really. love those turquoise/aqua walls with the white trim. hurrah for having all your creative endeavers in one place - woohoo!

[Amy]

First, I'm no gardener, but my grandmother has hostas and her rule of thumb - ignore them. (That work for African violets too.)

Second I have a sister - we moved quite a bit while growing up - one set of movers labeled everything from my room "Girl's room" & everything from my sister's room "Girl's room."
YAY. (We never did get everything sorted. She removed my book labels, I threw out her barbie stuff. Oh yeah we got along great...)

[amy]

Ahhh, settling in. Love the progress shots of the sewing room. I wonder if the mover was smirking as he wrote, "everything?" Just wait, you'll soon come across one that says, "everything else." My bigger hostas definitely turn yellow around this time of year. The smaller ones (I have gobs of hostas and have never bothered to figure out what different ones I have) haven't turned yellow. I committed a gardening sin this year and cut back the yellowing ones. I have a feeling they will be fine.

[dee]

So happy you're in your new place. I've missed you in the blogging world. Your room looks just like mine-only difference is you will get organized eventually....me...not so much.
Tons of hosta in my yard-they just get those yellow leaves and die off for the winter. Have faith, they'll be back and pretty in spring. You do need to divide them occasionally or they just get leggy and not very nice looking. Pull them up carefully and whack them into several pieces with a good knife or sharp shovel. I got most of mine by my friend giving me pieces of her divided plants.

[KathieB]

Welcome back to the 'burbs! Oh, I have lived that boxes-boxes-boxes life too, and I think they were Planes boxes on a couple occasions. You will get there.

I think your hostas are normal for this time of year. It's been so dry. I also see that browning on my hostas that get too much sun (mine are obviously not planted in the best area).

[mimi k]

I wouldn't worry about the hostas- it is most likely to be fall related. Oh- studio arranging! I am suppose to be thinking thoughts of studio moving (out of the attic) and it is causing tons of stress and a bit of fun fantasy design. I will look forward to seeing what you do and maybe get some good ideas :-)

[Glenna]

Hostas are dying back for fall. You pretty much can't kill them (although if the leaves have big holes in them, it's because the slugs love 'em but even that doesn't kill them). They're ugly this time of year. Eventually the leaves will just wither away and it will look like the hostas picked up and moved to Florida because there will be nothing above ground to see. But have no fear, those sweet smallish hostas will be back--bigger and badder than ever, and will bully everything in their path.

[Glenna]

Although, ours may behave a little more aggressively because we're zone 7 down here in VA and don't get your long freezing winters. Love the new house, but space aside, I'm such a city girl--I loved your highrise views!

[JudyC]

Wow Jan, you and I have the SAME color sewing rooms now...what luck! LOL! I love it, but I know you are a white kinda gal so I know how much all that color and wallpaper is killing you. Take a deep breath and work slowly!

I don't garden but my Mom always had tons of hosta and she couldn't do anything to it to kill them so I'd say you are safe. If you lose any, it's easy to take a spade and chop one right in two and re-plant to an open space. Mom did it all the time!

[Carole]

I can't help you with the hostas but I can wish you good luck as you finish unpacking!

[Wendy]

My hostas are doing the exact same thing in the backyard (the front yard ones are faring better because they get less sun). I do think it's a combination of not much rain and too much sun. Time of year for them to do that too. Don't worry, they'll survive.

I was going to say that you should have called for the thread and needle, but perhaps you just needed a good excuse to unpack those boxes of everything.

Let me know if you need help scraping. As you well know, the school year has started and I actually have a little child-free time!

[KT]

Congrats! So thrilled that you are *finally* in your house!! Amen! Hostas are really tough. Ignore them. Also if you have any lilacs, the more you are mean to them, the more they like it. Enjoy!

[Lisa]

Looks like I was labeling your boxes...love the "everything" box!!! The color of your new sewing room is fab!

So happy you have landed safely and happily in your new home.

[Lynn Dykstra]

Farewell from the city! The Chicagoan in me saw the Beverly part of your post first, and thought you moved to the Beverly neighborhood. Then, I read the complete headline, and you brought me back to my childhood favorite show.
Your sewing room looks like it has great light.
You are efficient in setting up--come and clean my sewing space any time!

[Scribbles & Bits]

Ha1 i love the one labeled "everything"! That's how I started labeling boxes during the move. There are a lot of "stuff" boxes and a few with slightly less polite names.

[Cindra]

If I packed, all my boxes would say everything! Love your rooms, love your garden... hope you took a lot of before so we can compare the afters!

[Maryjo]

Ummm ... and you really found the thread you were looking for? I'm still missing a Cat Bordhi slim book from last time we moved: I had it in a stack of "unlike" things, thinking, oh, I'll find it here anyway ... nope.

Passing on the

I love your Blog award -- check out my blog for the stuff!

Maryjo

[Sue]

I'm jealous, I wish I had a box of everything!

[Maryjo]

let's see if this works now

I Love Your Blog award

[Leslie]

Yee-haw, glad to see you've landed in the new place. You'll be busy for a while, but in a good way.

[Annie]

The good thing about packing my own boxes? They are labeled with probably too much detail. :) I think I'd rather have the vague "everything" than pack the boxes!

We closed on our old house last week. We're now renting back for another week or so and then we're loading up the truck and movin' on. Can't wait!

[Linda Lum DeBono]

The everything box is perfect. My husband says that he never wants to move my fabric stash!! Love your sewing room.

[Schnoobie]

Congrats and hope you are staying High and Dry!! We're mud boggin big time here in Hoosierville...so bad even the South Shore train cancelled all service today....have fun unpacking can't wait to see "everything"!!!

[Kelly]

Late season dying off. This can also happen if hostas (which love the shade) have too much sun exposure. This happened to some lovely large-leaved hostas of ours when our neighbor cut down all the trees that shaded our backyard! The hostas will still produce, they just won't look as pretty.

[amandajean]

enjoy your new space! it looks wonderful. and I, too, love the box labeled everything.

[sandy]

Your new home looks so beautiful, like HOME! (and you got me very excited, I thought you had moved to Beverly, which is where I live!)
:D
Have fun getting acquainted with your new place. Remember to rest!

[Rae]

No worries about the hostas, as you've already gathered from the other comments. I keep mine neat looking at the end of summer by removing the yellowing leaves and spent flower stalks. I've noticed that my blue-green and silver hostas (like "Halcyon") don't get yellow leaves and stay pristine until the very end.

[Crystal]

I feel your pain and delight! Me and my husband just relocated from 500sq. feet in NYC to 50 acres in Ohio and it's daunting to say the least. But oh-so-exciting. It's a good thing you're getting the moving blog posts started because I'm 8 months in and way behind on posting our progress. I have a feeling it's going to be one loooong post!

this is my first time to your blog! simply wonderful!