HELLO EVERYONE!

It’s been a wild time for me since I left Maine in mid December. For sure. The time seems much longer than a month. But this time has also been filled with joy and laughter and FAMILY and the sale of a beloved Maine home and the purchase of what will be a beloved new home in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

I am still pinching myself that I am actually here and not just visiting. And there is so much to enjoy and to learn. There is also a lot to do to settle in here.

I have loved live oaks with their mossy draping since I was a child and went with family to St. Simons, Georgia, for a treasured week at the beach. Here’s a pretty live oak on Isle of Palms (IOP) where both of my sons live.

The IOP beaches are so lovely. Here is a picture just north of the inlet between Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. That channel is deep and the current is very strong; it’s a place where dolphins in deep water will drive schools of fish right up on the sand banks in order to eat them. Locals call this area “Breach Inlet.” The low-tide pools just above the breach provide endless investigation for children and adults.

Here’s a live star fish.

The sand dollar below is still alive. They die in a few minutes if they get out of the water. So, many get trapped by a retreating tide, even if they bury themselves in the sand.

I am looking forward to when I have more time to explore the beaches and the many parks and trails here. But as I said, there is a LOT of work to do with a major move. There is the packing and organizing what is coming, of course. And then there is the unpacking and realizing what is and isn’t going to work in the house. But there are mounds of paperwork and errands to do as well: setting up house utilities (power, gas, water), wi-fi, the ADT security for which the house is already wired, a local bank account, and switching to a medicare advantage plan that covers Charleston County. I had to organize the state taxes on the house, a SC driver’s license, SC plates for the car, and finding and making appointments with new medical people. I’m still working on getting all the house warranties in place. I’ve also had to learn my way around, which has been made easier by the WAZE app that pretty much takes me wherever I need to go–in traffic that is much heavier than what I was used to in rural Maine.

The HUGE moving van (90+ feet) came from New England last Saturday, and it held my possessions and the possessions of two other moves–one nearby and one in Florida. (The brown grass is Centipedegrass–it will be lush and apple green in a few months.)

Here’s my house–and it has all the spaces I need for my sewing/quilting passion. The upstairs has two rooms that will house my longarm, my sewing machines and serger, and all the fabric and sewing notions.

This floor plan mirrors my house, which has the garage on the right. And the internal organization of the rooms is slightly different, but all the rooms are there. That storage loft is, I think, where all the air-conditioning and heating equipment is located. I have 3 bedrooms (the upstairs one will be my sewing room) and the downstairs flex room will be a tv room. The smaller closet in the master bedroom is going to be a little office. There is awesome storage all over the house. I will put the longarm in the game room space.

My refrigerator, washer, and dryer come on Saturday, so Saturday night will be my last night with my older son’s family. I have so enjoyed my time with this family–and with visits to my younger son’s family. My bedroom is mostly ready for me to move into it–I still have a lot of pictures to hang or to store propped on the wall there, but there is no rush to decide where to hang pictures or which ones to store.

I’ll include some pictures of the inside of the house when things are more settled. The guest bedroom and the upstairs are a disaster at the moment. But I like bringing order to chaos. And I can’t wait to set up my sewing spaces.