Our home is officially on the market.

The schedule below was sent to me via email hours after our first meeting with the realtor.

• Staging Consult – 8/20
• Begin off market marketing – 8/20*
• Staging To Dos- Completed by 9/1
• Sign Installation- 8/29
• Professional Cleaning- 9/2
• Professional photos – 9/3
• Drop off Lockbox & Showing Items- 9/4
• Active- 9/5
• Open House- 9/8

After touring the house with the realtor we had a staging consult.

The real estate team wrote up a gorgeous description of the house.  They sent the first draft to me for corrections/additions of which I had very few.

All through this time Charlie and I and a couple of steadfast friends got most of the tasks done to stage the house by September 1st.

In the meantime a sign was displayed in our front yard.  When I bought the house 27 years ago a sign had not yet been erected. Since the sign goes up before our staging needs to be finished I’m relatively sure that will not happen this time.

We have told the real estate agent that we don’t want to be here when the house is shown.  Charlie and I are not really the issue — it’s Dash that will bear the burden of riding around in the car and stopping for a pup cup at Starbucks.  I guess we’ll take long walks in strange neighborhoods.  Poor little barking pup.

The next few weeks will be an intense time for the residents of The Glade.  I’m trying to maintain my serenity by continuing my regular activities like tap dancing and ukulele jams.

Jo

As always the month of August in Maryland was hot and steamy — not in a good way.

Charlie pulled up the old flooring in the new house.

I did the following things that were not on my numbered to-do list:

• Checked in for our cruise which leaves Istanbul in less than a month.
  

  These arrived in the mail this week; we better get ready to travel.

• Hung 3 lighting fixtures.
  

  The 2-bulb fixtures are plenty bright when turned on.

• Hired a realtor and started staging the house.
  

  We removed all the rugs except the primary bedroom.

• Ordered flooring for the Bay House.
  

  The pine wood ceiling will not complete with the new lighter flooring. (This is a computer generated floor.)

In August I completed the 10 tasks below.

1.   Work on moving small items to the new house and finding a place to store them.
   

   Can really never have too many boxes.

   Both Charlie and I have taken carloads to the new house.  Most things are still in boxes while we paint, replace, and update.

2.  List more items on FB Marketplace for sale. I keep listing all kinds of things from both the house and the yard.
   

   Progress

   Many things are now listed for FREE.  Do I sound desperate?

3.  Take a box of donations to a local thrift store.  I took 2 boxes to local thrift shops every week this month. In addition I looked through my fabrics and crafting supplies for a donation to Scrap B-more.
4.  Meet with a realtor. I met with a real estate agent in order to put The Glade, our home of 27 years, on the market.
   

   We have loved living here.

   We now have a timeline in place.

5.  Read a book or play. I started reading Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on T’ai Chi Ch’uan at the suggestion of my tai chi instructor.
   

   Cheng Man-ch’ing is the tai chi style I study. (Single whip position pictured.)

   It’s possible that I am just beginning to understand some of the subtleties of the form. When he demonstrated a blow to the solar plexus, my teacher was showing how form follows function.  I was making a mental list of whom I would like to punch.  Or maybe I missed the point entirely.  I also read the play Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge; then watched the 1952 movie starring Shirley Booth. Fabulous!

6.  Paint one room in the Bay House.  I actually painted 2 rooms because I am a classic overachiever.  Ha! Not really.  It’s just easier to paint rooms with no furniture to get in the way.
   

   The green room:  Benjamin Moore’s Tea Light.

7.  See a movie.  I saw Deadpool and Wolverine. I would say this movie would have been improved greatly if the f-bombs and foul language would have been minimized or left out.  The inside jokes and letting the audience in the frame were terrific.  Too bad I can’t recommend it.
8.  Attend a concert.  Second Hand News Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band and Technicolor Motor Home Steely Dan Tribute Band were both loads of fun in an outdoor venue on a warm summer evening.  Alas the outdoor concert season has come to an end in Maryland.
9. Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: CHANGE.
10.  Write a goal list for September, 2024.

Jo

I met with a real estate agent last week who was very positive about the possibility of selling The Glade.

She sent us a property stager who was also impressed by the location and the “look”. She and I toured the property while I took notes.

We are not emptying the house just minimizing our style to allow others to see themselves in the space where I have lived for the past 27 years.

The stager left us a with a “top ten to do list” that we had to accomplish in 2 weeks.  Additionally we received a more detailed email that same day.

People like hardwood floors and lots of light it seems.  To that end we were instructed to remove all rugs (except the one in the primary bedroom) and all curtains.

The rugs were a huge chore.  The pile was large — too large to “hide” somewhere on the property.

The curtains came down easily since we were instructed to leave the rods up except that the kitchen curtains are stapled to a board which was screwed to the wall.  This was challenging since I didn’t have the paint color (from 11 years ago) and was not about to repaint the whole room.

We started packing up anything that we could do without for the next few months because all counters needed to be empty of our personality and replaced with a pretty flower or a bowl of fruit.

This was an enormous job to accomplish in 2 weeks.  As Charlie and I began to dismantle we realized we didn’t have the space to “hide” all of it so Charlie hired a moving pod which arrived the next morning.

Charlie and a buddy loaded that thing for 3 days since we had positioned everything in the living room and mudroom hall.  Still, an overwhelming job.

According to the stager, the “money” items in a house are:

• Kitchen
• Primary suite
• Closets: primary bedroom, pantry, and linen closet.

In the mean time Charlie fixed a crack in the primary bathroom ceiling for which I had no matching paint since it was last done 10 years ago.

So I painted the entire ceiling which included the hallway. Ugh!

I also had to take down my gallery wall in the mudroom that left lots of holes to be spackled and some darkness where the frames had been.  I painted this whole wall with the previously used color of Benjamin Moore’s Moonshine.  I was errant in not getting the same sheen which means I had to paint multiple coats.

I have spent the time after staging being Sergeant Major by saying “Don’t put that there!”  No fun.

Jo

When we decided to replace the flooring on the main level of the Bay House I had a few decisions to make.

• First: What gets new flooring and what does not?
• Second: What would I use in its place?
• Third: Who would remove the vinyl/rug/tile that’s in there now?

Here’s where we stand.

I have looked through hundreds of samples and narrowed my decision to 2: Talamar Wire brushed Glenwood and Provenza New York Loft Collection Saratoga.

I only considered prefinished engineered hardwood which is recommended over regular hardwood in our very humid area by the Chesapeake Bay — it was actually designed by the marine industry. And prefinished because I wanted to see the finish before it was installed.

Actually my very favorite finish was Mirage Hickory Sandy Reef Character Brushed however the estimate was the price of a car — I don’t think so.

I went to another local flooring merchant (actually 2 more) for a proposal more in line with my budget. I’m still waiting on the results.

The entire downstairs will get engineered hardwood except for the kitchen, laundry room, garage hall, and closets.

We tried to get a jump on the process by having Charlie remove the existent flooring.  He spent a long weekend knocking himself out for a very difficult job.  Turns out we only saved about $275.

My son left his hauling trailer with us to fill up with materials.  He got rid of everything at his local dump.

Can’t wait to get on with the flooring process.

Until that time we are not moving in any heavy furniture and certainly not Charlie’s new piano.

Jo

The room we call the back bedroom had 2 large fluorescent lighting fixtures.

These fixtures (and one in the kitchen and one in the laundry room) remind me of a warehouse.

I decided they all had to go.  I ordered brass finished round lights similar to the stainless ones I used in the Shore House.

The most difficult part of the job was removing the large and HEAVY fluorescent tube lighting fixtures.  First I had to take them apart, then dismantle the wires, then unscrew them from the ceiling.  The first one was so heavy I almost dropped it so Charlie helped with the rest of them.

First I replaced one in the back bedroom.

I had to wait  to hang the 2nd fixture because it was missing the knurled thumb screws to hold on the glass filter. (I bought these fixtures from Lighting New York who were very responsive to my dilemma.)

The company sent me a replacement without requiring I return the deficient one so I ordered 3 brass screws and I now had 3 new fixtures.

I put the 2 identical ones in the back bedroom and the 3rd with bright brass (unnoticeable) screws I hung in the laundry.

The only fluorescent fixture remaining is in the kitchen.  I have ordered a replacement but its delivery time is 8-13 weeks out so hopefully it will arrive some time in September.

These were just starter electrical fixture projects because I plan to replace most if not all of the ceiling lights and wall sconces.

Since lights are expensive I’m happy to extend my purchases over time which makes the ability to install them myself very cost effective.

It’s definitely a skill everyone should consider learning.  Much safer than self plumbing in my opinion.

Jo

Sometimes it’s the little touches that make me feel like I’m making progress.

For example I hung 3 totally unnecessary door knockers — front door, main bedroom, and 2nd bedroom.

Then I added a handle to the shed door to make it a little easier to open.

I replaced 2 fluorescent industrial looking lighting fixtures in the back bedroom with something much more shipshape.

I did likewise in the laundry room.

I have known how to wire lighting fixtures and lamps for a long time and now it’s even easier with these Wago snap-on wire nuts.

Finally I stopped at a couple of flooring stores for samples to completely resurface the downstairs floor.

Since all of the ceilings are yellowish knotty pine (and unlikely ever to be painted) I wanted something light and sandy for the floor that would go with but not match.

I was able to make a mock-up on one of the flooring sites to see how it might look. Now I’m waiting for the installation estimate.

So much to do; so much money; sooooo exciting.

Jo

When I cleaned up the basement at The Glade I found all kinds of old paint cans — some good, some not so good — which I consolidated into a 5 gallon bucket.

Since it takes about 2 gallons to paint a room I decided to use the new color — a pale greyish green/blue —  in the 2nd upstairs bedroom.

I also had about 3/4 of a gallon of pink.  I’m not planning any pink rooms in the new house so I poured off about a gallon of color #1 (something like Sherwin Williams’ Sea Salt) and mixed it with the pink.  The new color is a little lighter and a little greyer than the original.

After swatching the walls I decided to use the new, new color (Salty Sea) in the second bedroom and the original new color (Brackish Bay) in the back bedroom/office.

The ceiling will remain wood but the trim is going white. (I’m still working on new color for all the doors in the house.)

After seeing the first coat I thought the room wasn’t green enough so I decided to top coat the Salty Sea with Benjamin Moore’s Tea Light (which we used in the conservatory at The Glade).

The room has 2 coats of paint on all the walls except the window wall.

I’m definitely considering a feature wall that will be visible from the hall entry door.

We’re not changing the white carpet right now but will probably add an area rug on top of it.

I don’t look forward to covering up the dark brown trim — I’m imagining multiple coats of paint.

Jo

We’ve been working feverishly to get our home ready to be put on the market — cleaning, clearing, selling, donating, staging, etc.  I say feverishly because the weather has been devilishly HOT!

We try to get to the new house whenever we can but not nearly often enough. Every time we visit we take what we can from one house to the other in our passenger cars — not every effective or efficient.

In August I plan to:

1.   Work on moving small items to the new house and finding a place to store them.
   

   I’m only keeping one set of good dishes — heartbreaking.

2.  List more items on FB Marketplace for sale.
   

   I’m going to have a By Appointment Only Yard sale in Glade Cottage.

3.  Take a box of donations to a local thrift store.
   

   Maybe a box per week is a good giveaway goal.

4.  Meet with a realtor.
   

   We’re ready to sell.

5.  Read a book or play.
6.  Paint one room in the Bay House.
   

   I think I have the perfect color for this small bedroom.

7.  See a movie.
8.  Attend a concert.
9. Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: CHANGE.
10.  Write a goal list for September, 2024.

Jo

I’ve had a very busy month.  We’ve been cleaning up and clearing out the home we’ve been living in for 27 years.  That means old tools, piles of wood (not firewood), vintage dishes, papers, books, and lots of items we didn’t know we had or where they came from.

And we’ve been visiting the new house from time to time actually cleaning old grime, learning to use the new utilities (well and septic), and thinking about improvements and the order in which they should be made.

In addition to the planned list I:

• completed #24 of my 101 in 1001 list which is “get rid of 5 big items”.   I still have more items but 5 have been rehomed.
  

  I decorated this file cabinet in 2013 and sold it this month.

• took care of Sug’s pup while she was on mission in Guatemala.
• moved our vintage front door knocker from The Glade to the Bay House. (My friends have told me I need a better name for the new place.) 
• ordered a book suggested to me by my tai chi instructor.  Unfortunately when I move I’ll be relegated to the Zoom version of the class — not the same as being there in person.
• read a play sent me by a young director — Love West of Dupont Circle — unfortunately I won’t get to see the actual production.
  

  A young director’s first production.

  The director sent me photos of the performance.  So special.

• thanked my tap dancing teacher for offering the class.
  

  These 50-year-old shoes have served me well.

  It’s the highlight of my week.

• visited my favorite art at the Baltimore Museum of Art and saw some new pieces that are destined to become memorable.
  

  Loved this heretofore unseen piece:  The Sorrowing Soul Between Doubt and Faith by Elihu Vedder.

Here’s what I actually did that was on my monthly list:

1. Celebrated the 4th of July.
   

   Fireworks from across the bay.

   We watched fireworks in various small towns on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay about 6 miles across the water.  Our house is on the eastern shore so we could see multiple displays taking place simultaneously.

2. Worked on Greek trip plans: hotels, places to see, things to do, where and what to eat.
   

   Our plan is to drive for 5 days counterclockwise from Athens and return to Athens.

   I have made refundable reservations at hotels and guesthouses for our self-directed tour of the Peloponnese.  Next I need to purchase timed tickets to various museums and archeological sites.  These are NOT refundable so I’ll hold off for a while longer. As for where and what to eat — I’m pretty sure the food in Greece will be delish — I’ll be researching and taking recommendations.

3.  Hosted a book club.  A group of us read The Alchemist and discussed it for 3 weeks on Tuesday nights.  My main takeaway is that I (and each of us) was created for a purpose to accomplish with love and enthusiasm — Personal Legend — which we should never give up achieving.
4. Moved some things to the Bay House.
   

   We brought an espresso maker and a microwave to get us through our first week.

   I took clothes, linens, dishes, small furniture, cleaning supplies, etc.  I borrowed a lawn mower and weed whacker from my son (the landscaper) until we could bring our own machines.

5.  Cleaned bathrooms at Bay House and set them up with shower curtains and bath linens so we could bathe since we get very grimy with all the cleaning, both inside and outside, that we’re doing.
   

   All 3 bathrooms needed shower curtains which I had to buy new since most of our showers at The Glade are glass enclosed.

6. Cleared out basement at The Glade.  Lots of paint cans, large and small tools, drop cloths, tile, old insulation, etc., etc.
   

   Over a dozen paint cans emptied and drying out so they can be set out with the trash.

   This was a huge job considering how small the actual space is.

7. Shredded old documents and papers.  Clearing up old papers, deciding which to keep and which to destroy is an ongoing challenge.
   

   A full bag and a full bin of paper.

   The fun part is that I get to revisit old trips and notes before the physical remnants are gone forever. It seems just as I get the area cleared a new pile develops.

8.  Attended a few  lots of concerts.
   

   Loved Carey Ziegler’s band at Lurman Woods on a beautiful Sunday evening — Bunky (playing guitar behind the conga drums) was my favorite performer.

   In addition we saw BellCurve, Deanna Bogart Band, Magical Mystery Girls at our local outdoor theatre and the Soldiers’ Chorus of the U.S. Army Field Band — plenty of summer fun.

9. Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: EXPLORE.
10.  Write a goal list for August, 2024.

Jo

Our new house on the Chesapeake Bay is quite a departure for Charlie and me.

We have only ever lived in traditional style houses — 1-1/2 story bungalows or farmhouses.  When I was a child I lived in a stone rancher and a Baltimore row house (sometimes called a townhouse) but never anything like this.

As we walk clockwise around the post and beam building we are stepping over the septic tank and drain field under the lawn.

The eastern corner profile shows just how structurally interesting the house is — kitchen on the ground floor with master bedroom above.  On the outside I’d like to add some more colorful landscaping after the house is painted.

The house is built over a crawl space that has been recently dried out and refreshed with a moisture barrier.  We live in a flood plain so all the houses are raised above a traditional foundation.  (Some we had looked at were 15 steps up to the front door from ground level.)

Rounding the corner to the back of the house is a deck that runs the width of the building and extends all the way to the water. (More on that in a later post.) Since every room (except the bathrooms and laundry room) has a bay view, the back of the house has 2 stories of windows and sliding doors.  Each bedroom has its own deck.

The western corner has both downstairs and upstairs bedrooms. All bedrooms have access to a private deck and a view of the Chesapeake Bay.

We haven’t yet figured out how everything works.  We think the white hose feeds a water spigot down the dock but we haven’t been able to get it running.  And the electric meter reminds me that the electric panel in the garage needs to be labeled better than it is.

Mostly everything in the house runs on electric except the hot water.  My ultimate plan is to remodel the kitchen to include a propane stove in place of the electric one.  We’ve been using a propane stove at The Glade for 27 years and have found it perfectly adequate.

That’s the full tour.  Lots to do:  painting, planting, pondering.

Lots to learn.  Stay tuned for the inside tour and the dock.

Jo