Our House at the end of our Street (Finale)

After months of cleaning, packing and prep, Settlement Day was finally upon us (Settlement Day, like D-Day, is being written in caps due to the monumentality of occasion in my head). We arrived at the empty house only to find that our names had been removed from the mailbox by the mailman. "Indignant" is an understatement, but then it dawned on me. "Let it go. Relinquish the reins. Cede. Surrender and yield" (battle terminology courtesy of the above-mentioned D-Day analogy).

So hard.

I had a tome planned for the final posting on this particular house... but it became so maudlin, sentimental, I thought I would spare you. However, I do feel like I have lost a limb.

It has been said that...

You never really leave a place or person you love, part of them you take with you, leaving a part of yourself behind.

Our House at the end of our Street (XI)

I realized when reading my post from yesterday... that it erred slightly on the side of being random (given the image and the writing didn't quite correlate). Put it down to zero sleep and beside-myself-anxiety about the impending box 'n pack. Well, the packers arrived this morning in the teeniest truck I have ever seen... literally out of a scene from Noddy. I thought Big-ears may emerge and as I was about to simply faint in front of the foreman, he assured me that today was all about packing and wrapping. Tomorrow would focus on LOADING and then the mother of all trucks would dwarf the road. 

Alrighty then... as I ingest my 17th Advil to alleviate a packing-tape-being-pulled-and-snapped-induced migraine... and pour myself a G&T.

Couldn't have been nicer. Back again tomorrow.

Earnestly contemplating tissue paper for yet ANOTHER breakable

Not the clearest image, but look... boxes with legs and the red carpet.

This is the last night in our dear old dame (house). While she isn't photo-worthy this evening (will post the last few pics next week), here is a GORGEOUS vintage image of my Mount Vernon...

Not sure of the origin or date of this photograph (possibly via The Library of Congress)

Our House at the end of our Street (IX)

View from my bed this morning...

Our House at the end of our Street (VIII)

What do you get when you combine a terrarium and a kitchen? Sheer bliss. This is our favorite room in the house: our kitchen. Yet, when we bought our home in 2005, it was not fit for consumption. Fast-forward two years - floor-to-ceiling windows were installed to replace floor-to-ceiling vinyl (the latter being responsible for instant indigestion). And not a minute too soon. Today, this is where we eat, cook and do homework, plus discuss the day's trials and tribulations while enjoying a slightly voyeuristic view of the urban promenade...

And two gratuitous views into the dining-room, as the light was perfect....

Our House at the end of our Street

Unashamedly self-indulgent, I know - I am starting a new regular posting. A pictorial catalogue of my (our) house. Clearly, the house was a little annoyed with me this week (probably for not paying enough attention), so it and the main sewer line struck a deal. A flash flood of raw sewerage in the basement necessitated calling in the big guns (AKA Baltimore City department officials) AND, naturally my husband was on the west coast. The crap-whisperer triumphed. So, photographs of dry happy places it is... to abate-the-hate and forget the entire Mount Vepoopius/Flushing Meadows incident ever occurred...

Front drawing room - mirror and mantle detail

On Location: B'More

The upside of an economic downturn is having vast spaces at one's disposal for film production. Hidden Baltimore revealed itself in unexpected ways last week. Lucky to be a part of a commercials shoot (downtown and the environs), which gave me access to places normally kept under wraps. Like the Havisham-esque Brass Elephant, a once glittering and opulent hotspot which shuttered its elaborate doors a few years ago and has been a frozen time-capsule ever since. Here are a few clandestine photographs I managed to sneak in without disturbing the action...

Interior of The Brass Elephant

Our Dressing Room

The Tusk Lounge - complete with empty discarded wine bottles

Chandelier

Elevator details in the Bay Atlantic Club

Redwood Street

Wallpaper in the Coat Room of the Bay Atlantic Club

Coat Room Sign

Props

Lion at the Baltimore Museum of Art

Images by Philippa Berrington-Blew