Great Progress In Probate

Well, it looks as if we're very near to closing probate. We're past the 60 days after notice to creditors, we've transferred everything that needs transferring, and we're going to wind it up now. Because we didn't get the house sold, it will just be put in my name until it gets sold. There'll only be one remaining thing, which is income tax returns. My mom died on 15 January, so we have to file a return for her in 2008. The lawyer has to file a return for her estate, from when she died to when probate ended. In both cases there will be a small refund or payment, but nothing much.

We've really made progress with the house. My friend and I got everything we could out of the house and into the garage on Wednesday. All that was left in the house was the bedroom set, a dresser, a cedar chest, a couch, a love seat, and a dinette table. Oh, and the solid maple hutch. On Thursday a team of cleaners came in and did a wonderful job cleaning it. I asked the cleaners if either of them would like the bedroom set and one accepted. Encouraged by that, I asked if either wanted a queen hide-a-bed and the other one did. That really makes my life easier and I'm glad to see the bedroom set go to a good home.

The guy with the stake-bed truck (with tailgate lift) and his helper will show up at my house Monday and load up the hide-a-bed. We'll take that over to my mom's house and unload it. Then we'll load up the couch and love seat and a bunch of boxes and take the boxes to the storage space and the furniture over here. Then back to my mom's house for all the rest of it, except the bedroom set and hide-a-bed, and over to the storage space to drop it off. Then we pick up the last furniture and take it to the cleaner's house at about noon. Then my friend and I go home and collapse. I don't know what the mover and his helper do.

I'm going to send my mom's cedar chest to my goddaughter in New Jersey, so I have to get a mover to handle that. I'm going to go through my cedar chest and dig out a bunch of crocheted doilies, etc, that my grandmother made and gave my mom and me. These go well with my cousin's decor (and don't go with mine at all). I'll pack all that into the cedar chest and ship it.

I'm finally going to take the paint chips over on Monday and pick the paint color. I've left a message for the painter. The current weather makes it likely that he'll want to paint it fairly soon. We've got a cut-off low with enough moisture in it to make painting exteriors a bit chancy, so a nice little one-day interior job should be convenient for him. As soon as the paint goes on the walls, the house goes on the market and I go to Palm Desert.

Well, we're not going quite as quickly as that implies. I've got to pack up some stuff here first, including yarn (the rest of my knitting stuff is always packed in a rolling crate), knitting books, and other books. I have to take a bunch of clothes down, too. My summer clothes here in Lancaster double as my winter clothes in Palm Desert. I remember commenting to a fellow shopper in Palm Desert on Christmas Eve 2005 that it was wonderful to live somewhere that wearing shorts and sandals that day was a good idea. I also have a limited number of dressy clothes, mostly that slinky rayon and Lycra fabric, and that has to go each way each time, too. And I have to pack my twelve pairs of sandals.

I'm almost back where I was when I ripped back the Bigfoot Shawl. I've got some new yarn to knit a stole for a friend and I've done a little swatching on that. I'll get some photos soon to show you what I'm thinking of. The yarns are Lion Brand Incredible bulky ribbon yarn, Yarnplace Vivace DK banana, and Blue Heron Rayon Loop heavy worsted. I think I'm going to do chunks of garter in the rayon loop, blocks of netting-like lace in the Vivace, and narrow garter stripes in the ribbon. I'll also use the ribbon for long heavy fringes. This friend needs a stole with drama.