Moving In, Moving Over, Moving Up

We moved in, boxes and belongings, to our new old house on July 10.  Daughter, Son-in-law and Dog lived on the more functional side of the house. They were due to move out at the end of July.  Because of the necessity of keeping the cats and dog apart, we and our two cats took the side with no working bathroom or kitchen.   Using a bathroom or accessing the kitchen meant John and I had to take the stairs down to the cellar on our side, cross over to the other side and take the stairs up to the main floor - kind of like a walk to the comfort station when camping except with stairs.

down

across

up

through

 

Using the shower meant another flight of stairs to the main bath on the second floor.

 On July 30 we moved over to the other side of the house. There was some muttering about being sick of moving furniture.  But it was good to begin making the house feel like home.  John got out his sawsall and went to work on creating an opening between the two sides so we wouldn't have to negotiate all the stairs. Notice his great safety gear!

When our children moved out they took their dining room table and chairs with them.  Our own 1980's set had been sold so we began the search for a new set.  We wanted something formal, beautiful, able to seat 12, in keeping with the age of the house and for a modest price. Some might call it luck but we believe in God's providence.  Last Wednesday morning I stopped at a local antique store in Carrying Place.  The owner, not normally open at that time, just happened to be there as he had delivered a dining set. This set was built in 1910 by Ridpath Furniture in Toronto - a company that had catered to the more well-to-do client. (The company, closed in 2011, had been in a building with a Tudor style front,) This set included a 6 foot table made out of walnut with two leaves that stretched the length to 10 feet enabling seating for 12, 8 chairs and a 6 ft sideboard for a fraction of the original value! Talk about moving up!  On Friday John checked out the furniture and agreed.  This was the perfect set for us.