Waiting

Even though we're in The Villages and it's going to be our new home, it still feels like we're on vacation. Perhaps that's because we won't be in our house until the end of the month, and because we've been playing a little bit. 

Over Memorial Day weekend our Tampa family came to visit. We hadn't seen them since last December when we were previously in The Villages.

For their visit, we rented a four seat golf cart to get around in together. Two year-old Austin absolutely loves the golf cart. 

Austin is very much a Bapa's boy.

From Sunday through Tuesday, we experienced the rain that came with our first tropical storm, Beryl (pronounced "barrel"). It was fun getting wet. 

When we got caught in a downpour while in the golf cart, we got drenched! Rental carts don't have drop-down canvas sides like most carts do, so the water blew in all over us. It was almost like a water park ride - with many shrieks and much laughter. Here we had taken cover in one of the many golf cart tunnels throughout The Villages.

The rest of our days have been spent furniture shopping and doing lots of looking for items such as a washer/dryer, TVs, bar stools, and such. Who knew it would be so difficult to decide whether to switch from an agitator-type machine to one of the new HE (high energy) types? With an HE, we've got some new methods to learn. We'll need to read the owner's manual, for sure. As for homeowner's insurance... how different it is to have coverage for hurricanes and sinkholes, instead of tornados! 

I've been carrying around all sorts of swatches for the house: cabinetry, carpeting (in the bedrooms only), and countertops. These fabric swatches and TV console wood sample (ivy color) will be our living room furniture.

I've been taking lots of photos like these as possibilities for area rugs...

...and conversation corner chairs.

At this landscape center I spent an hour or so appreciating the great variety of plants I'll be able to grow:  lavendar, split-leaf philodendron, schefflera, and gorgeous palms. A sweet woman named Linda drove me around in a golf cart so I could see and learn about all the palm varieties - both cold-hardy and non-cold hardy - that can be grown in this area. I'll have to say that palm trees are more expensive than I would have guessed. To start, a baby one might have to do.

I also experience my first self-serve frozen yogurt shop, called High Five. I'd heard about these places and how temptingly easy it is to overfill one's cup.

Orange cream and tart mango are yummy flavors, and low-cal too.

So we're happily, but impatiently, passing the time until we close on our new house (June 14), and finally move in (June 23) after driving back to Kansas City to get our belongings. While we wait, I'm planning my new sewing room.

A quarter-inch scale plan of our house, provided by the sales office, is great for considering room arranging options. The different colored pieces are index cards that represent cabinets, shelves and furniture. They're cut to scale. Quite a few of the items in the room need to be collapsible and/or moveable for occasions when the space becomes a second guest room. A double bed-sized air mattress will be for grandchildren.

The orange pieces represent storage, and I'm not sure this will be enough. I've also learned, after much Internet searching, that cabinets are going to be a big challenge. They need to be tall (to best utilize 96" high ceilings) the proper depth for different uses, have doors to protect fabrics from UV rays (the bay window looks west), and economical. No small order there!

I hope to keep and use the two large, varnished hollow core doors for a machine quilting surface. The only piece I'm certain I'll buy is a fold-up Gidget II sewing table for my new Bernina Aurora 440.

Even though I can play with the design, until the sewing and quilting supplies are actually in the room, I can't know for sure what will work. And I sure can't sew! Did I mention? I'm impatient for late June. Linda