Walk through

V picked me up from work today and we drove out to the acreage for our final walk through.  The owner was there moving out the last few bits of furniture that they had left.  V helped him move a shelf out of the kitchen.  After he left our realtor just left us there by ourselves with our assurance that we would lock up behind ourselves.  

So we took our time.  We did some of our measurements that we were expecting to do on Monday so we're a little ahead of the game.   We figured out where the new island will be going in the kitchen and discovered that none of the cabinets are standard sized (they were hand built by the original owners).  They're not even standard height, which isn't really a problem except that they had to cut into the countertop when they installed the dishwasher because it is taller than the cabinets.  We were planning to put in a new counter so we may have to play with spacers to raise it over the dishwasher.

I also had a good look at the spot I want to put my garden and the strawberries.  It's going to be lots of work to clear the weeds/grass and dig it up.  Oh well, I knew it wouldn't be easy.  

I did discover that there are hostas and peonies coming up as well as iris.  It's going to be fun trying to identify all the trees and shrubs that are out there.  There is one tree in the corner of the yard that I haven't figured out what it is yet.  It is just starting to bud out.  The bark and some of the old leaves still hanging on look like apple but the trunk is much too shrub like and we found no evidence of apples on the ground underneath.  Of course, it is possible that the deer ate anything that fell.  The deer have definitely made themselves at home there.  It is going to be interesting keeping them out of my plants.  I'm hoping that having people and a large dog living there will dissuade them from being quite so brazen.  The shrubs in front of the house have been nibbled down to stubs.  

It will definitely be an adventure.  I'll try to post lots of pictures as we go along.  I'm forseeing lots of digging and cleaning on Monday.  The mice have definitely been busy when there has been no one there.  The kitchen cabinets and drawers will need significant cleaning.  I noticed that the owners had set a few mousetraps and I have several that I will take with me.  Setting those will be one of the first things we do.