Praying for a sale

Well, my home continues on the market and showings continue to happen.  So that is good.  All it will take is one prospect to decide to buy.  All I have to do is optimistically, hopefully, wait for that to happen.

That is just so very hard.  Right now a major part of my future hangs on the decision of someone else, a complete stranger.  I am not in control and have no influence over who it is going to be or when this might happen.

For those who know me, my extreme discomfort with this is understood.

As I reflect on my life, so much of what has occurred has been due to my influence.  I made choices and plans and changes, geographical and career, so I would be or get what I wanted.  It has felt like I have left very little to any other's control, rather I had control.

Well, now, that's just a tad arrogant!  I did have dreams and ideals and wishes.  And I did investigate and research all that was involved in making them happen.  And I did do all that I could to inform events.  But, beyond that it was not in my control, it only felt like it was.

So, maybe that is how I need to approach this waiting to sell my home time.  What can I do to promote this?  Keep the place as attractive and welcoming as I can.  Yup, doing that.  

Bury a statue of St. Joseph.  I nixed that at first, but changed my mind.  I was amused to find special "Seller's St. Joseph" kits.  I read the info, did what fit and now have it buried in a potted plant that will be moving with me.

Spend time meditating daily, reflecting on all the joy and love this home has given to me and my family and send that out so that someone searching for a loving home will feel it and respond.  Well, I can do that.  And spending the quiet, reflective, meditative time will be good for me, keep me calm during this "in-between" phase.

Keep my home delicately filled with loving, welcoming and inviting scents that capture prospective buyers when they walk in.  I've decided on sandalwood in the living/dining rooms, lemon and basil in the kitchen, eucalyptus in the bathrooms, jasmine in the sewing room, and lavender in the bedrooms.  I already have oils or candles, I just need to get them releasing their fragrance before showings.  Not so much that any one is even sure it is there, but just enough to waft into the subconscious.

And I can pray.  I've never been comfortable praying for things for myself, in fact I have deliberately not done so as an adult.  But those in one of my prayer groups believe that if it is for love, with love, loving, yes, do it.  Well, I do want this home to be owned by someone(s) who will love it and feel loved in it.  And I do want this sale to enable me to go to my next home and make it a place that is welcoming and loving to my friends and family.  So, I will and am praying for a good, loving, sale.  Sooner, rather than later, please.

This year's church auction quilt

As with previous year's I wanted to donate a quilt for the annual auction at my church, St. James Episcopal, Groveland, MA.  I've been doing this for quite a few years and have enjoyed the making of the items, the praise for my handiwork, and that my efforts brought in much needed funds.

In the past there have been some group projects and these were really a delight.  Then there were a number of years where I worked alone.  This year it was a joint project with my good friend, L.  She was most kind and generous, let me take the lead, make just about all the decisions, and was willing and capable to do what needed doing.

I have to say, I am very pleased with the final result.  I had seen a quilt pattern somewhere on FB and purchased it for, well under $2.00.  I had an assortment of fabrics for a baby quilt that I wanted to use.  

As we progressed this morphed from a baby quilt to something larger and, I like to think, better.  We added a couple of rows to make it larger.  Then some loops and buttons so it could be folded and fastened to become a sleep sack.  That inspired a matching pillow with a sham that could be laid flat for a teddy or pet blanket.  And it all rolled up nicely and fit into a matching duffel bag for easy transport to wherever.

Once the piecing was done I decided this was a great opportunity to try something I'd wanted to do for quite some time.  I have neither the space nor the funds for a long arm quilting machine, but I really wanted to try my hand at it.  There is is this great shop in Burlington MA, the Burlington Electric Quilt company where you can get lessons on using the machines and then book time to do your own.

I didn't have enough time to go that route, so I booked a block of time with individual tutoring to get it done.  That was great fun.  And I was so thrilled to find a baby elephant quilt pattern, it went so well with fabrics.

It was well received at the auction, the winning bidder was my dear friend C who has gifted it to a couple we both know who are expecting their second child.  I especially like that it has found a home with folks I know.

I was inspired by Isabella Stuart Gardner

I love the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum; the architecture, the layout, the atrium, the collection, the way the walls are arrayed in lots and lots of art.  This was my inspiration for my home.  I could not afford original paintings, but do have a few.  One is by a fellow parishioner and the others I stumbled in a yard/estate sales and consignment shops.  I had a few framed needlepoint and crewel pieces, some my mom did, some I did.  

These past 10 or so years I have expanded my collection with lots and lots of stuff from yard sales, estate, sales, 2nd hand shops and eBay.  I tried to keep to a limit of $25. per item and did so most time. I have so enjoyed the vast array of "art" that I have been surrounded with.


I knew I would have to remove most of it to make my home ready for potential buyers.  The display pleased me, but would be way too distracting and could keep possible buyers from seeing the good design and potential of the place.  

These past few weeks I've been living with the stripped down minimalist look and find myself enjoying that.  So, I will need to make many, many  decisions about which things I will keep when I move and which ones I won't.  I'm delaying serious processing of this until I know what my new home will look like.

When I started stacking and storing all that came down, I was more that a bit stunned by the sheer volume.  It fills, from floor to ceiling, one end of a closet.  Yikes!!!  Deciding stay or go will be hard, as I really am fond of just about all I have acquired.


Sorting through photographs was not that hard.   I had albums, boxes, and stacks.  Over a year ago I did the first sort of some.  I purchased an accordion file box and sorted the ones I am keeping by subject: me, my girls, my immediate family, friends, relatives, my homes, my pets, scenery I can't bear to part with, etc., etc.  It has 26 sections, so I came up with 26 groups.  As I saw the number of photos going into each section it got easier and easier to realize I didn't need that many of any one event, person, place.

I've recently gone through all the albums.  As i turned pages from saw lots and lots of photos of places I could not name, people I could not make out, and for those I could, multiples. 

I selected my favorite in each category and the rest went.  I have eliminated 10 albums and added those pix I am keeping  to the accordion file.  I have decided to keep the 2 from my trip to Africa.  After I move I will go through them very carefully and scan the ones I must keep, already have about a dozen scanned, printed in 8 x 10 and framed.  Am thinking maybe 5 or 6 more.  These will be displayed where I can enjoy them and truly, I simply do not need to keep the rest.

The accordion file is packed and needs further sorting, but at least I have reduced it to an amount I might even look at on occasion.

I was able to let go of pictures of people and places when I reminded myself that I was not letting go of the person or experience or memory of the place.  That lives in me and will be there forever.  The images are imprinted in my mind.  All these pictures have been piles of stuff too many and too cumbersome to even bother with.

This simplifying and letting go feels good.  I haven't lost weight, but I do feel lighter!

Photo Day

I will get back to "letting go", but for now I am totally consumed and distracted by today being the day the photos for the MLS are being taken.  Since last Sunday all I have done is de-clutter and un-decorate for this.  By the week's end I felt I had done a pretty good job, so had the realtor come and check my work.

I was pleased that she agreed with me; had just a few minor changes.  She was here Friday and scheduled this photo shoot for today, Monday.  

I did the few things she wanted, they inspired me to do some more along those same line - keep each room neutral, so that the walls, windows, floors and space are what catches the eye, not the furnishing.  

I just have to do a very quick dust and vacuum and the whole place is ready.  It looks great and I am not minding it much at all.  This somewhat simpler, sparser look does have it's appeal.

The open house will probably be this coming Sunday.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful Mother's Day present if "THE" buyer showed up and things settled fast?  I think I would be just a bit overwhelmed, but also quite excited.

I've tried hard not to fixate on where I will be living next, but find myself really, really, really, hoping for the loft in downtown Haverhill.

So, that's where I'm at.  I am exhausted.  To get things to this stage I've worked every day for the past week.  It was good work and satisfying work, but very tiring. Am looking forward to when they leave today and there isn't anything that I have to do.  I can relax, nap, sew, or just sit and day-dream, but not for too long.  

Need to sort through my dresser, closet and some storage bins of clothes and also look seriously for a place to live.  But, I don't have to do any of that today.  Tomorrow, I should start for sure, but not today.   Today I will congratulate myself on a job well done, reward myself with some snuggle time with my cats, rest and get ready for this next phase.

I've been contemplating this for such a long time, that I am actually at this point and doing it seems a bit unreal.  But, once it is listed it is real and, I like that!

I'm not too old for this, almost

Preparing to downsize is hard work.  It is physically exhausting and mentally draining.  Fortunately I am not too old for this now, but just.  I still have enough stamina and strength to do what needs to be done.  It just takes 3 or 4 times longer than it would have 20 years ago.  I need to take rests to get back my energy.  I need to take rests to get back my mental focus.  I need to take rests to let the aches subside.  I need to take rests because I am 71, going on 72.

But, after taking a rest I am able to and do continue.  It is just that sometimes these rests are long and may involve a nap! These past few days I've been very busy carrying out the physical sorting of my stuff that I have been doing in my head for awhile now.

I have had to meet a few objectives:

• Prepare my home for an open house.  This means taking away a lot of wall art (some might say I have had too much).  Removing some pieces of furniture to open up the space.  Rearrange things to make each room look it's best and biggest.
• Separate things I will definitely be moving with me from things I will definitely not be moving and things that will only come if my space is adequate to contain them.  I've designated the storage eaves off my room for definitely moving and clothes I need to sort through.  The storage eaves off the guest room are things that will not be going and will be laid out for my inside yard sale.  In doing this, the guest room closet was emptied and now holds things that may go, if I have space.
• Keep my home in a fashion that I can comfortably live in during this time.   I need access to my sewing machines so I can continue to work on my projects.  I need a comfy place to sit to read or watch TV.  I need my home to still be my home and not an impersonal "model" or hotel room.
•  Make the entry and deck welcoming and pretty.  I have repaired some gashes in the screen/storm door and scrubbed the front stoop.  I will add a new welcome mat,  a hanging pot of flowers.  The deck has been stripped of all things but the grill and lawn chairs, not my labor, just my direction.  Thanks to C & J for getting this momentous (to me) task done in, well, it seemed like no time at all!  I will put flowers in the 2 flower boxes and, for the open house, move the larger potted plants outside.

These have been my tasks for the past week.  My older daughter, C, spent Sunday helping me.  We got all I had planned accomplished.  I had set a date of May 7 for the realtor to return to review my work.  I think I will be ready this Friday, May 4th.  Which is great, that will give me the weekend to complete the inevitable suggestions and maybe the pictures can get done the 7th. Then it will be just a blink of an eye until the open house.

I had spent a lot of time last year when home from helping my brother doing the same here in my home.  I think I must have done a really good job.  With this past week's work I have only 2 medium sized boxes of trash and everything else fits into my 3 categories: keeping, going, if there is space.  And in this process I have also emptied drawers and cabinets so that I don't have to angst over not taking furniture that might not fit.

The biggest challenge was my sewing/craft/art room/office.  But I have weeded out and organized and feel I have good control over what I have and also have it sorted and stored to fit any size apartment I move to.  That did involve a lot of letting go, but now that it is done it feels quite freeing.  I still have lots of stuff, but now have only what is truly useful.

As I have been doing this I have looked at certain things thinking, "oh, if I won't have space,  I would like to give that to..."  That has me a bit excited as I think a number of things will really please the ones I want to have them.  But, I can't be too eager, don't want to give away what I will need when I moved.  So I will think about my choices and smile about them and wait and see where I wind up first.

In the meantime I have a bit more tweaking and arranging to do.  Then a good vacuuming of the floors, some polish to make them shine like mirrors and I am done with this phase.  With this done I can leisurely sort through stored clothes and other personal items in my closet and drawers and have some time to do other things. A bit of a lull before the next surge of activity.  

Next Up: Letting go of pictures and other memorabilia.