Tuesday, July 3, 2012

40' containers and all....

So before I post all the house pics, you readers have to go tolerate the "move and unpacking" pics and prose.

Let me backtrack a bit here. Our container left Mumbai port - after a one week delay due to some strike - on the 22nd of April and around early May we got an email informing us it would get to Seattle on the 31st of May. Hubby, myself and pooches moved from our rental home into our new (empty) house over the Memorial Day weekend on the 26th of May figuring we'd have to rough it out for....mmm....max. a week! Sort of roughing it out - we had 2 air mattresses between the four if us (dogs included) with some bedding we brought from the rental, a washer, a dryer, a TV, our suitcases with clothes, 3 borrowed plastic chairs, one skillet, one pot, one pan, 6 spoons, 2 teacups, 4 glasses, 2 plates. And all kitchen appliances of course.

Well, the air mattresses were not that much fun. They'd keep deflating during the night and when any one of us moved, the other three would roll off onto the hardwood floor. I had to wash dishes after every meal to recycle the one pot, one pan...4 spoons...you get the picture. The chairs were too hard to sit on to watch TV so the twin air mattress doubled as a divan sort of thing and the whole deflating/rolling off process would start! But we kept saying.....ok, one more day..one more day.
Believe it or not - our container did get to Seattle port at 3pm on the 31st. Amazing how they can track that sort of information and stick to it!!! But it got stuck at customs for a WHOLE WEEK and finally they delivered it on the 9th. My back still hurts after 15 days of "air mattress issues"

The container was driven to our house - this thing is massive. It took the guy 30 minutes to parallel park it which is an amazing feat!
This very container with all our worldly possessions, with all my favorite things that will make my house a home...made it all the way from Hyderabad to Seattle, across seas, for 40 days. Quite unbelievable when you really stop and think about it.

Once it got parked, they laid cardboard down on the floors to protect them. Neat huh?
Lucy - not a very happy dog....she wanted to be in on all the action, not corralled in a corner for 8 hours. Junglee sort of settled down and went to sleep. 
We had 150 items, and as they brought them and set them down on the driveway, we had to check the number off on the sheet. Painful process.....
Slowly the house started filling up and I was so happy to see my things. Even the dogs got excited when they started smelling their old familiar "India smells" on the furniture. 
Mountains of wrapping paper and cardboard piling up on the driveway. 
Well, anyways, by about 4pm the guys had to leave cos they were on overtime. By then they had assembled all furniture that needed to be assembled, unpacked about half the boxes, so the next day Raga and I unpacked the remaining 40-50 or so. It got to a point where if I saw a box marked "showpieces" I was ready to throw up! Honest to goodness, I had no idea I had sooooo much stuff! 

So before we show you the rest of the pics in a couple of days, here are a couple more sneak peek pics.

I might have another blogger show you guys the house pics. I feel funny putting my own house pics on my blog....! I'll let you know soon. 

Happy 4th of July all of you!

18 comments:

Anu Gummaraju said...

Wait for your posts! And this one is so enjoyable too.. Whatay job it all musta been, am sure blogging about it some weeks after it is all past, is the best thing! Home looks absolutely gorgeous, of course :).

The Ketchup Girl said...

It's your place, why feel funny showing it ? And such a jaw-drapping space at that. OK, who ever blogs first, please do it soon. :) K, what a fab dining table..i want to steal the table legs!!

Anonymous said...

Nothing excites me more than shifting houses. Its physically & emotionally very tough to move cities and countries but worth it none the less. House hunting, visualising your fav furniture pieces in your dream house, exploring local markets !! I only wish my husband was in foreign services or something so I would get to do this every 3 yrs ! Le Sigh !
Good luck with the rest & we demand house pics soon.. Shweta

Anonymous said...

The house looks lovely, Kamini! Ahem..may I have the honor? :)

Sudha said...

lovely!! i m so looking forward to more pics...and no, we are not tired of seeing your house pictures here..however, i d bemore than glad to share it on the DE. :)

Unknown said...

wow! That was definitely a great feat..to stay without much furniture for so long and then to have so much unpacking to do!! Looking forward to the whole house tour!!

Anonymous said...

my gosh, this is turning out to be so exciting for us readers... but i empathise with your sore back... lovely to see your home again kamini

My Dream Canvas said...

Superb!!! Will hopefully see it in person:)

Unknown said...

I can SO relate to all that shifting, did it myself some months back but did it locally so just took 2 days to settle down. Love your place already :) looking forward to more pics :)

jyoti kumar said...

You know what Kamini this is why I visit your lovely blog-there is never a slacking or casualness about you.You love your blog and give your 100% attention and time to it whenever you do.Now about you guys I will never get tired of telling how brave and bursting of life you people are...simply amazing and inspirational.Tons of kudos from my side now and always...Take care of yourself a midst all the changes.

Shalini said...

Great photos....loved seeing how it happened. And wow, that's a lot of stuff! Yes, until one moves, one never realizes how many things one has. When we moved locally in Dubai two years back, the packers told us that they didn't realize how much stuff it would be, and that the estimate they gave us was too low! Looking forward to the full home tour.

Shilpa said...

Wow such a beautifully ventilated home. Love your rug collection, it's gorgeous with the wooden floor.Can't wait to see the home tour !!

SumathiMadhavan said...

Good to hear that u are back in seattle and always regular reader of ur blogs...I still cherish my days in Seattle and we too moved our things to chennai from Seattle thru container...

Moving/settling up is such a pain and I am sure u will make the new home a beautiful one too..

anuradha_mostlyharmless said...

The whole air bag routine was laugh out loud, though Im sure it wasnt funny living through it. Love the house, its looking warm and cosy, has your touch!
Anu from Nagpur

A CaT Production said...

Hi...plss dont hesitate to show ur home once u have arranged...in fact i was waiting for this particular post of urs...i was totally in love with u hyd home...so i am sure this home wud be even more better!!!soo,pls pls pls do post the pics of ur home...

Anonymous said...

But Kamini nobody will be able to do justice the way you spin a story around those pictures. so lets have the joy of those pictures by the owner and the storyteller herself

Anonymous said...

what a gorgeous home! Absolutely inspiring! thanks for sharing your beautiful space :)
e2d

Anonymous said...

Hi, the dog will do right fit into Seattle! Best! it sure is a beautiful city. Enjoy it!