We’ve Moved! Welcome to the Tirabassi Farm

I’m not sure how many of you have noticed, but I haven’t posted since Thursday.  I’ve had a good reason though.

We’ve moved!!!  On Friday we closed on our new house and started shuttling our stuff over (it was only 3 miles away from our other house).  On Saturday, movers came to haul the furniture and we spent Saturday and Sunday schlepping our stuff in 2, sometimes 3 cars.  My sister and our two very best friends generously committed their time, backs and muscles to helping us.

We have moved 5 times over the past 7 years.  This move was very different from the last 4 though.  Previously, we moved a minimum of 1000 miles each time.  The moves were coordination nightmares.  Packing up the whole house, figuring out how to get the stuff and 3, 4 then 5 kids with assortment of pets to the same place at the same time gave me headaches.  We arrived in places where we didn’t even know how to find the nearest grocery store and I lost many hours trying to find doctors, dentists, schools and childcare.  It was also emotionally hard knowing we would have to find new friends, start new jobs and establish ourselves (again) in a strange place.

This move – none of that mattered.  We literally moved through the woods (as a bird would fly) to an older, but recently renovated, house on a wonderful piece of land with a small barn, pasture and woods (complete with its own brook).  I am almost giddy with how much I love the place.  I had no emotional trauma associated with this move. As Spouse likes to say, we are going to die in this house.

Physical trauma, however, was felt by all.  Because we were only moving 3 miles, we decided to move our “stuff” ourselves.  We have a lot of books – heavy, medical textbooks and boxes and boxes of kid books.  We also have just about 5 of everything a kid could own.  And food, I didn’t realize how much food we had crammed into the cabinets.  Did I mention that it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the move?  I am physically spent as I stare in delirious happiness at the piles of stuff that needs to be put away.

We have managed to enjoy our home already.  We have seen hummingbirds, turkeys (mom, dad and babies) and lots of bunny rabbits. We hear turkeys gobble frequently. We have 2 bats living on the outside of the air vent in the attic.  I thought that was really neat, but Spouse just kept mumbling rabies.   And even as I write this post, Number 2 ran over excitedly to have me hear the owls hooting in the yard.

We also have so many new dreams.  The spot for the garden picked out.  Plans for fruit trees.  Goats promised from a friend.  Horses eventually.  Maybe even (gulp) chickens.  (Early childhood trauma has given me a strong dislike of chickens). More outdoor living for the kids.  More time to appreciate nature.  For me this is especially important – I think growing up in a similar way is why I love science so much.

Nature seems to agree – she presented us with a lovely double rainbow right outside our door after the last box was brought over.