market this

we are in throes of the last.....oops, that metaphor has been (mis)used fairly egregiously not so long ago. it is wednesday evening as i write this. tomorrow is the realtor's tour of new listings. our agent will arrive by 8:45 am. we will clear out, to return at noon. so in the previous week we have neatened and weeded and painted and etc, etc, etc......ad infinitum. we are such slobs. the place does look good tho.
the new hi-tech way to spread bark mulch is to have it blown in. kinda like insulation. this huge, pristinely white truck pulled in today about 9:30 am. it was drizzling then. the delivery guys unreeled a bunch of 4 inch flex hose and in an hour and a half sprayed out fifteen yards of mulch, which covers a goodly area 2 to 3 inches deep. we could have paid a bit less to have that much mulch delivered and dumped in a pile. my wheelbarrow holds about a third of a yard. forty five times loading the barrow and moving it, dumping, and spreading the mulch. oh, as we say, my aching back.
the business end of the mulch blower.
robin cleaned all the windows, inside (obviously here)and out. some required a bit more agility than others.

so, the plan for tour day, for us, is to go to the corner cafe (this is a rather hip sorta rurality) for croissants and eggs and free wifi. there goes more than an hour. then into town to the great used book store. a bit of food shopping at the coop. wine from safeway (the evil capitalists offer a very nice discount on a six-pack of mixed wine). then back to our normal life of hyper-vigilant cleanliness and neatness so as to be ready for prospective buyers to ooh and aah at our good habits. is my attitude showing? we're tired.

i posted a few days back about first impressions and many of you left such encouraging and complimentary comments. i did essay a reply early in the day to many of you; alas, i failed to copy and haloscan failed to record. my thanks to all. to address some points: we are hoping that someone who appreciates the greenhouse and the gardens and birds will want to live here. we enter and leave quite often thru the garage. we are humbly proud of our work shingling the exterior. the recipe is from (sorta, robin is good with indian spices) one of our madhur jaffrey cook books. our VeryNiceRealEstateAgent doesn't do staging. i did not recognize the name carl larsson, but i did immediately remember the pictures. a style i like. mmmmm. pesto. we have 7 batches frozen. and the basil is again overgrown. FC is the datil go to guy. see above---no staging. what? us think? we are honored. we wouldn't think of being here when prospective buyers come to look. that's what agents are paid to do. junk? clutter? us? we will require garden space wherever we go, and look forward to trading garden lore with more of you. we will take our frozen food with us. don't know how yet, but we will. we're heading to humboldt county, ca to rent. then check out the area for a proper home. maybe up into oregon. somewhere on the coast. oh, dallas. probably not. we want to repeat the finding but not the leaving. try madhur jaffrey for recipes. not sure about old shoes. maybe as planters. we are honored to spread the datil tradition. herbs add to the taste of veggies. love the yellow squash. oh yeah. we will have to move. i'm off to check the fridge for goodies.

i did get a bit cryptic above. check the comments in the first impressions post for decoding my obscurantism.