Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho....

.....it's back to work The Maven goes.  On Friday.

Nerves. Uncertainty. Apprehension.

And that's just me!

I decided since she is diving back into her work and living back at her studio that I better get myself in gear for this move. Well, actually I had two people ask me today how the packing was going....what packing would that be Orlando Grandma and CG?

Got some boxes which passed inspection by the uber-picky Bumby.

She really took her time deciding whether they would do or not.

Since she is "top cat" around here again, she's been pretty full of herself and just lounges about wherever she wants without a worry of being jumped by a young black and white kitty.

No cracks about TBL's toes, please.

Tomorrow I head down to Orange with Mr. T with our keys to the new rental.  Measuring, thinking, imagining will be the order of the day.

THEN I will be motivated to get this place packed up!

A Peek at the Next Rental

Mr. Tennis and I shuttled ourselves down to Orange, Ca. on Sunday to take a look at the condo we will start renting next month and get better acquainted with the surrounding area.

Walkway to our unit.

Yes, a condo.  

Orlando Grandma swears I will love it, but I'm skeptical about sharing my walls and about how the BTs will do without a "real" backyard. 

Courtyard out our front door.

When we were peeking around the small complex we noticed the sliding glass door off the back patio to our unit was unlocked. 

Front entry. Wooden fence surrounds our back patio area.

 "Notice" isn't exactly the word, I admit it, I tried it out and it slid open!  

View from sliding door off kitchen. Nice long space for The Bostonians to lounge around.

Lots of pretty plantings off the patio - Japanese Maple maybe?

Workers have been there laying wood laminate and other work and I suspect they were waiting for something to dry because a window was open too.

Mr. T by the kitchen entrance.

I can't remember the name of this one but I believe it originates in Hawaii. Anyone know?

Am I nosey or what?  While Mr. T kept a lookout I carefully slipped in and took some quick pictures of the rooms so I could share them with you and be re-arranging furniture in my head.

New laminate in the living room. I hope to do away with the dark curtains and make this a brighter space.

It's much smaller than our current rental, only 1100 SF.  Eeek!  What am I going to do with my "stuff"?

 Both bedrooms have great closet space and lots of light.

It comes with a one car garage, so that's where "stuff" will go until we figure it all out.  

Kind of a modern, yet throwback kitchen style.

Dining area off kitchen.  Pretty sure my dining table and hutch will fit.

This condo will give us a good launching point in the Orange area and it is only a few miles away from the historic district where I envision spending a lot of spare time.

Olde Towne Orange has a wonderful collection of shops, restaurants and civic organizations. Lots of old buildings.

We have the month of August to transition over to the new place and we will take advantage of that over several weekends moving small loads before the big move.

Park in the middle of the roundabout that forms the hub and the streets feeding off of it, the spokes, lined with pretty shops.

So.... will we like condo life? 

Will the dogs?  Will Bumby? 

 Will we get thrown out for barking and meowing? 

 Horseplay at the pool? 

Loud parties?

Stay tuned...

***NEWS FLASH*** Boston Manor Prepares for Departure of Maven and Successfully Relaunches Her Back to Her Apartment!

The last three days have been a mix of relief, happiness, some tears and then joy as we have prepared to move The Maven back to her apartment and as she settles in with her feline children and a few pieces of furniture from Mom and Dad's house that would have needed to be stored as the result of our next move. (Forgive the run on sentence, I'm slightly excited)

But First.

An IKEA nightstand needed assembling and all hands were on deck.

Some were supervising.

Others carefully laid out each part and read the directions.

And then goofed off.

And others inspected and criticized.

And judged.

Finally it was finished with the help of many paws and hands.

Mr. Tennis rented a trailer and we transported the brown sectional couch from our living room and a dresser to the Maven's studio which she rents from her brother and SIL, The Writer and Sammy.

There were skeptics amongst us who felt that neither would fit even though I had measured carefully and had envisioned this in my head for a long time.

The skeptics were wrong.

I was right.

Heh heh! Why do they even try to challenge my visions?!?

The Maven is back to her old/new studio and will have a pretty full week of "stuff to do" before returning to work in about ten days.

May I have a collective "AMEN"?

AMEN!

Thursday Thought

Thanks to my brother, Mr. Connor, for sending this one my way!

No Fair! The Bostons Have All the Fun!

 Sorry Dexter, but The Maven and I are on a mission with a deadline!  This Friday she and you and Darcy will be moving back to your place.  Now that she is finally feeling better, we are determined to explore a bit as we test her stamina limits.

In our quest to find some interesting and varied places to walk, out of the heat, we discovered a hidden gem, Lacy Park, in San Marino (near Pasadena)  (it's a private park, but FREE to the public during weekdays):

The day was overcast and that was fine with us as The Valley has been experiencing some pretty warm temps the last couple of weeks.  

The day we walked around Lacy Park it actually rained! Not a teeming Florida rain, mind you, but a significant amount enough to qualify as decent rainfall.

  Loved the green of this park and the interesting looking trees.

Bostons didn't come this day, but there were lots of canines here and I'm determined to get them and Mr. Tennis to this place before we move.

 Besides, look what else I found here that Mr. T would like:

Today, however, much to the cats' chagrin (relief?), The Maven and I decided to head for the hills with The Bostons. 

The Hollywood Hills and Laurel Canyon Dog Park off the well known Mulholland Drive.

A crazy, busy dog park on the weekends, we found it pretty quiet today. 

 There are always lots of Doggie Day Cares here and we saw about four different ones today. Anybody watching the Day Care wranglers with their dogs would be amused at the single file formation they adapt when heading back to their trucks and vans.  Then they wait patiently in a holding pen and wait for the word to board.  We watched one group of about eight dogs get into the back of an SUV, one by one, with nary a woof or growl.

Sadie and Panda made friends with an Italian Greyhound named Opie, who outran Sadie, a hard thing to do.

I think they all liked each other because of their similar markings.

Although Opie looked model-thin in comparison to the BTs.

As if The Maven hasn't had enough issues with vertigo, we took the slow way home so we could drive through the Hollywood Hills a bit.  I thought you all might like a chance to get seasick see the twists and turns and houses we saw along the way. Look away if its too much, or you can't take my driving techniques. It's a bit of a bumpy ride!

And don't worry, Panda lay down when we got back and told Darcy all about it.

Have a great week ahead!

Keeping Up With The Bostonians

While I do not admit to watching the reality tv show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" I must include them in today's post.  And yes, The Maven watches it, hence the mention. 

But there is more!

In fact there are just two degrees of separation between The Maven and The Kardashian Mob.  Mr. T and I found this out last night as she pranced into our room in hysterics. (See how far her recovery has come? She can prance!)  She was catching up with the Kardashian shenanigans and came across a recent episode where the head of household, Bruce Jenner, needed to have a hearing test. Imagine her surprise when it turned out to be at The House Ear Clinic - the very place she went for all her tests and ultimately had her surgery. Wait, there's more!

Bruce Jenner ended up in an examination room that looked familiar... and then in walked a doctor we are VERY familiar with!  Wendy's surgeon!  We are famous by association!  Finally we have our due!

And guess where someone has her re-check appointment tomorrow and with whom???  Hmmmmmm.  Can I keep my pop-culture-loving mouth from saying something....

Aside from THAT excitement, we saw a fun movie:

The Maven is back to being able to enjoy movies, has been driving the car-even up on the highway a couple of times.  She's even taken a couple of solo trips.  So, things are looking up!

She hopes to return to work the first week of August and go back to her apartment at The Writer's and Sammy's place in about ten days.

This weekend we ventured into our future part of California.  Orange County.  We met up with Stanley and his parents at Huntington Beach Dog Beach and he and the Bostons had quite the romp.  Especially Miss Sadie who made friends with another Boston with a BIG ball.  The other Boston's owner graciously threw that ball around for Sadie and his BT endlessly, pulling Sadie off the ball before she popped it.  

Please ignore the squeaky voice of TBL...

 She rewarded him by ripping the hem of his shirt when she meant to get her teeth on that darn ball.

Stay tuned for what's next for The Bostonians this week!

Everyone have a wonderful week.