Divide and conquer!

Last week was a busy week.  Our offer on Misty was accepted, so now we're getting all the ducks in a row for all the inspections and such.  We have a home inspection scheduled for this Friday, and we're both planning to go over for it.  (Tip: if you plan to buy a house one of the most valuable - and free! - things you can do is go through the inspection with your inspector.  Ask questions.  Listen to what he has to say about everything.  Take copious notes.  You'll learn tons and have an even better idea of what your new house will need over and above what the inspector includes in his report.)  The philosopher has his grubby clothes all picked out, as well as his boots and a small notebook.  Me?  I have a sketch of Misty's interior, and will go armed with a tape measure.  Then when I get home I can take a piece of poster board, draw a scale drawing of the interior, and start arranging everything! (Yes, I'm a nerd.  Haven't you figured that out yet?)

These measurements and arrangements are critical to the Divide And Conquer Plan of buying a house.  We have some very talented folks in our family, and we will definitely be calling on them for help.  My dad the cabinetmaker will work with us to build some additional storage for the kitchen, and my wonderful mother-in-law is a whiz at custom curtains.  Since we have several very quirky windows, her help and advice will be invaluable.  (For example, when you have a 5' x 5' window - not frosted - situated directly over the bathtub, what kind of curtains make sense?  What kind of crazy exhibitionist designed this house, anyway????)

The yard is a different matter.  If you recall, I transplanted tons of plants from my grandma's yard when she passed away.  I want to take some of these with me, of course.  So I spent most of yesterday afternoon dividing, conquering, and re-potting.  Now I have several good divisions of green hostas, and striped hostas, and red cannas, and japanese ferns, and chocolate mint, and spearmint, and lemon balm, and sage, and rosemary.  I already have my sweetshrubs in two pots, and in order to minimize the shock to the roses I think I'll wait to dig them up until we have a place to put them in the ground at the new house.  My two japanese maples are still in pots, and may actually be large enough to plant this fall, and I've got two cuttings of our corkscrew willow rooting, too.  I'm also going to wait until the daffodils and lily-of-the-valley are done blooming before I do any divisions there.  What's really great about my plan is that I have a nice shady bed in the front yard that all shade plants will absolutely love, and at the far back, lower end of the property there's already a swamp willow, so our corkscrews will be quite at home.  Now I just have to keep them alive until I have a new yard to put them in!