Quick update... photos coming

I'm going to spend my first night in my new home.

The previous two nights I was at a hotel but barely spent enough time there to shower and sleep a few hours.

The unload was dramatic. I was lucky because I had the best team of movers in all of Canada. Some of my stuff didn't fit into the new place and I was in despair but they offered useful suggestions and I got the tools out to make the house fit the furniture. (Basically, a railing had to be removed.)

Also, some of my furniture couldn't go up the second set of stairs so the movers had to go out the main floor patio door, up some patio stairs, in the deck patio door, through the living room and up the next set of stairs. It was torture on them but they did it with a smile. What a nice bunch of guys.

The total time was 10 hours of moving and fitting stuff into this small place. While the movers were wrestling my stuff in the door and up the stairs, I started unpacking the things that were not breakable. This was a necessity since the boxes were so bulky that there was no floor space left. All of the master bedroom things were unpacked and shoved any which way into a closet. The bed was made. All the books were unpacked and shoved onto bookshelves. Most of the sports gear was unpacked and shoved into a different closet. The tools and camping gear was unpacked and shoved into a basement crawl space. The patio and garage items were dumped out back on the patio. What a long day.

After the movers left I continued working until almost midnight to put furniture together and try to get ready for the unpack team this morning. The unpackers came and opened up the rest of the boxes. They put everything on the floor in each room and made sure that nothing important was damaged. Then they took away all the packing material. They left by lunch time today.

Then I made a quick trip to the closest grocery store and picked up a few things to tide me over. I had some food, a little sit down, quickly followed by a nap. (Did I mention that I was tired? lol) Then I sat outside for a bit and had a chance to meet some of the neighbours. They seem very nice and have some good suggestions for maintenance. My home inspector identified a problem with a local tree causing damage to my roof and suggested that I trim the branches and then repair the roof. Before I even had a chance to raise the issue, the neighbours told me that they want to get rid of three trees in the back and trim the offending one as well. That problem was easy to solve! I told them that I was ok with that and would talk with them about it again soon.

(For the record - there are some VERY mature trees here that we are not touching, just some baby ones that are growing at an angle to try to get around the leaf canopy of the big one so that they can get some sunlight. The little trees that are growing at an angle are damaging the house and they need to go. The big tree will still be there and it will still be big.)

Anyway, the worst is behind now and I am ready to put on a pot of coffee and move some more stuff around. By tomorrow morning this place should be ready for photos. Now if only I could find that camera.......

Busy week

This coming week will be busy and I will be off-line for most of it. I'll get back in touch with you all by the weekend.
Hope you enjoy some summer weather.
BB

Prep for pack

I reviewed the guidelines that the moving company gave me to make sure that I would be ready when they show up on Monday. Apparently my preparations are deficient in one area. The movers will not pack open bottles of alcohol ...... It's a shame to waste all those "ingredients" that I use to cook with. Might as well drink them then. lol

Day Lily

Last week in Kingston

Utilities

Ottawa has a strange system for setting up utility accounts. I used the internet to set up services at the hydro and gas companies but couldn't find an application for the water/sewer/garbage services.

The City of Ottawa web page has contact information for the revenue department but no account setup service. When I phoned the revenue department, they informed me that my account had already been set up and my name was on the bill, effective on the purchase date.

I'm not sure who set this up for me (the lawyer, the sellers, ???) and now I'm wondering what else they signed me up for. Hopefully they set me up for a free cruise, kitchen makeover, choice of car or cash giveaway. Being signed up for free stuff would be much better than being signed up for utility bills.

Each area in Canada has a different set of criteria for setting up accounts. When I lived in the regional district in Comox I had to hire a private company to collect the garbage because the district didn't provide service. I didn't know this, however, until I saw the truck drive by and pick up all the neighbour's garbage while leaving mine at the end of the driveway.

When I moved to Kingston I set up an account with Utilities Kingston, not realizing that hydro and gas companies were separate entities. I found out my mistake when the gas was shut off and there was no hot water for two days. Luckily it was September so I didn't need a functioning furnace at the time.

Have any of you had difficulty setting up utility services during any of your moves?

Happy Canada Day

Dear Canada,
Happy Birthday to you. I am going to tie a little Canada flag to the tree in front of my house in celebration.

Wishing you peace and freedom this year.
BB