Crickhollow

We are in a new apartment, as I have mentioned. We moved on July 1, but what with being out of town for almost 4 weeks, we didn't really get settled here until recently. I am calling it Crickhollow, which many of my readers will recognize as a Tolkien reference. Crickhollow was a little cottage Frodo used as his official destination when he moved out of the glorious Bag End. He didn't end up living there for more than one night, but it was his plausible cover, a way to transition out of the shire gently and without too much fuss.

Our Lee Street apartment, while it had many flaws and while we did outgrow it, was a place with which we strongly identified. We lived there longer than we'd lived in any of the previous three apartments of our marriage; it was our delightful landing place in the Elysium that Blacksburg seemed to be, and it was the only home that Miles or Adele remembered. Leaving Lee Street was hard. Also, we know that the likelihood is, someday Jon really will finish this PhD program, and most likely, someday he'll get a job that is Not Here. It seems likely to us that this will be our last Blacksburg address; it will, at least, probably be the last Grad School residence. It is cozy and comfortable, though we did have to get rid of a fair number of possessions in order to fit into it, and it will be our Crickhollow. "Whither then? None can say."

I was waiting for a time when the house was both unpacked and perfectly clean but I finally decided this was not going to be a combination we would see in real life. So here is the real-life apartment.

Living Room

Dining Room. (Also see, "Living Room")

Kids' Bathroom

Adele's room. Separate from Miles' room, for the first time!

New rug. Source: Ikea

Sidenote: See amazing board books from public library!!

Got this at Goodwill! Adele's current sleep strategy: counting herself to sleep.

Miles' room. Also see: NOT Mum and Papa's floor.

Birthday gifts: 8 planets (& 1 dwarf planet) for the ceiling-sky

Good times on Miles' playmats

Adult room! (See, "Not for children") (Finally)

Separate bathroom (and other marvels)

Loved ones in our hearts and on our fridge.

Small, messy kitchen from which we can see and hear almost the whole rest of the apartment. We love this. Hello Netflix while washing dishes!!

Laundry room (See, "Things NOT in the kitchen!")

Home sweet cluttered home.

Contained area for children & pets! Outside, covered from rain, and we have Miles' cooperation in not using his ability to scale it and climb out. Which  he has.

A new Ikea print to energize the space.

And, below my very favorite aspect of all:

Oh, the glory of wood floors! (See: NOT ancient nasty carpet)

We may need a dehumidifier for the basement-y atmosphere, but at least we're no longer living with decades of accumulated dust and pet hair. How's that for a happy thought!