LITTLE TUDOR: UPCLOSE AND PERSONAL (PART I)

Packing for a trip always reminds me of the old children’s memory game, “I’m going on a trip and I’m going to bring with me a [name item],” whereupon the list grows longer and longer as items are added and recited in order.

As Mike and I began to pack for our trip to Seattle to visit daughter Hallie and her husband Nick, we started with:

a small mahogany bookcase

five boxes of white dishes

a little mission rocking chair

a storage box filled with miscellaneous items leftover from Hallie’s high school days . . .

. . . and ended with two pure-bred German Shorthair Pointers.

Our trip was calculated to avoid holiday traffic on this Memorial Day weekend. We left Thursday morning at 7:30. Now, travel to anywhere from the Lewis-Clark valley is not like traveling from city to city on the interstate. Our first objective in traveling to Seattle is to get to the interstate, which is achieved by motoring over winding country roads until eventually – three hours later – we come to I90. On the country roads, slow-moving traffic brings challenges. On the interstate, the challenge is traffic – period. But then, you know that.

So, we arrived at our destination, the cute little rundown Tudor, at 1:30 p.m. Nick was there – and Hallie was on her way. The house looked great – all neat with newly waxed floors and the dining table ready to be set for dinner. The tantalizing aroma of a pot roast cooking in the crockpot wafted through the house. We began to unload in reverse order (last first), starting with the dogs and ending with the bookcase.

 

This was Hallie’s last day with her previous employer. She begins as an MBA Recruiter with Amazon (yay!) on June 2. Also, on June 2, Nick begins as Marketing Studio Manager with Olson Kundig Architects. They are excited for this new phase of employment.

And – it’s totally true that the little Tudor is a project house, but I observed that this neighborhood (Ballard) is old but upward bound and a good place to be. Hallie and Nick’s eyes sparkle when they talk about their house and their plans for it. They’ve already fixed the kitchen so that it’s fresh and workable. Their next project is the main floor bathroom and the front bedroom (their room). Their neighbors live in similar houses in one stage or another of being brought back from the edge. One neighbor remarked that the house is already ten times better since Nick and Hallie moved in. It has new windows and roof, and Nick has replaced exterior boards at the roof line. They are in the process of painting the trim tan.

But – for this weekend, their goal was to reupholster the used dining chairs they bought. Mike thought that in light of other issues the chairs could wait, but as we’ve discussed, sometimes a smaller accomplishment along the way gives one that necessary boost – and for Hallie, that was fixing those chairs. They seemed to think I would know something about reupholstering, but I’ve never done that. Not to be deterred, they found online instructions.

To be continued . . .