help my parents

Full asking price, in cash.

Like so many of the other units in their building, it was sold to a someone in East Asia, who has a family member attending the local university. The place has entirely turned from when they first bought in from being homeowners to this sort of arrangement. Their son will move in to start spring quarter in a couple of weeks.

It’s this weekend. We’re going to the coast.

I went over to their old condo today. Here is the end result:

Two camellia bushes – really, one should be called a tree, as it is probably 10’ tall, and the other is 8’ – are sitting in front of our house in enormous pots next to the rhododendrons.

An iron plant rack from their patio is also along side the walkway leading to the front door. I lashed this rack to the top of my car, then unlashed it at home and set it into place. I have on that rack all my mother’s herb pots – sage, rosemary, and thyme (parsley left behind) on the lower tier; the upper tier has ferns and viney plants. Some of these were re-potted before they were moved.

My mother’s herbs gave me another wave of feeling of loss. My mother has always had little pots of home-grown herbs. It’s why I have oregano, mint, and parsley growing in my yard now, why I grow basil every year. I’ve had sage, rosemary, and thyme in the past, but they’re only semi-hardy and they’ve died off. I am very happy to have these pots of herbs now. But for her to leave her herbs behind is a real statement of her no longer really cooking any more. I took them, I acknowledge her influence on me, on my own cooking, and I don’t know, just want to recognize all those great meals she made for so many years with those wonderful herbs.

A large chrysanthemum was in a wooden planter that had completely rotted. I transplanted the mum into another large pot, which is also by the walkway in front of our house.

I put away in our garage many buckets, a watering can, a set of clippers from their place.

Two large garbage bags are in my parents’ condo’s garbage room, filled with items like broken pottery, empty plastic pots, the remains of the rotten planter, and other patio refuse.

My parents’ patio furniture is currently sitting on the back patio of my friend Geoff. He got the furniture in exchange for moving the camellia bushes in his large utility van.

My parents’ patio still has my grandmother’s bird bath, which I love dearly and would take in a trice, except we have a cat and I don’t want to attract birds to our yard. It also has another enormous tree-like plant that I just left sitting there. Also many additional pots of plants that I didn’t take, including a large and attractive ivy. If you like ivy. Which I don’t. So I just left it there. Also I left the hostas. They would have required repotting to move, and I don’t like hostas enough to make the effort.

Also still there on the patio – leaves, dirt – I just didn’t have the wherewithal to sweep it all up and deal with it. I think my parents should hire someone to do that. Also their hoses, and hose coiler thing.

After getting everything off of their patio and arranged where it needed to go, I came home. I took a hot bath, and set a Lush bath bomb in it. I rinsed my hair, then applied a fancy clay facial to my face. After the bath, I worked some rose-scented body butter into my hands that were roughened from working with all these plants in the cold.

They insisted that I shouldn’t come, but I did. I don’t know how they would have managed my grandmother’s tin-lined wooden crate. We opened it for the first time in god knows how long. It had mostly Chinese textiles: bolts of silk from the 1930s, pewter Chinese folk art figurines, kimono and cheongsams. I also loaded my car with patio plants and took those to their new place.

There’s yet more patio plants, which I will deal with on Monday. God help me, everyone wants this job done.

So I took a lot of it home. A Mexican screen that I always really loved, and was sort of jealous of someone who would buy it. The futon frame and futon. I should also have taken the leather chair and ottoman, but I didn’t have room in the car. I still might go into the city and get it.

The plants are still all there on the patio, but the apartment is nearly completely cleared out (how many times have I thought that already?) such that the walls can be painted and the carpets thoroughly shampooed.

Now have been put away, included a bookcase of books.

They say that they have completely cleared out the condo. But I know there’s all those plants still on their terrace. And the backroom filled with furniture to be sold. I’m not going to look at it until next weekend.

Then, I got them both 5 hours of concierge service at their retirement home. That is somewhat a present for me, as they can use that service rather than me running around for them.

Finally, I set up a trip to Kalaloch Beach for my dad’s 85th birthday. I will drive out there, they can just look out the windows. I got a good deal on groupon for two cabins – one for them, one for me and my daughter. (picture is from the National Park Service website of the view from Kalaloch)

The only room that has stuff in it now is the room that has furniture that they will sell.

The art was all sorted and dealt with. I got three or four paintings out of the deal.

My older daughter photographed all the potted plants on their terrace, and will make a Craig’s List ad for someone to take them away (free). Only three plants will go to their new place. I feel bad about my mom’s giant camellia bush, but I don’t have the time and the energy to hire someone and a truck to rip out our ugly laurel, pick up the damn camellia and its enormous pot, and then un-pot it in our backyard and plunk it down in the hole where the laurel was.

They have to be completely out soon, so the place can be cleaned and painted, and we can put it on the market.

Loaded, then delivered and unloaded the table and rug – this took most of the morning
I said that the kitchen was nearly done, but that wasn’t true. Today I packed up all dry food stuffs – how many tea packets can anyone have?
Packed up many kitchen items – dishes, cups, glasses; pots, pans, plastic ware; small appliances; dishtowels and trivets
Took home a huge stack of art books

My mom burst into tears halfway through. Confusion, loss, exhaustion.

• Box after box to Half Price Books
• Kitchen nearly completely empty now and moved
• Sack after sack of garbage into the dumpster
• Filled a grocery cart with things to the Goodwill
• Every painting and picture off of the wall. Since my parents were artists, had artist friends, nearly every vertical surface had a hanging, etching, photograph, print, painting, or something hanging from it.

Tomorrow, after yoga class, I am moving the kitchen table to my synagogue for donation, rolling up the carpets and moving those, too.

Got more newspapers and other packing materials, and more boxes.

Lots of vases, pottery, other decorative items – wrapped and boxed. Three or four of the vases had dried flowers that were so dusty. I had to throw these away quickly, before the dust scattered. Threw away partly-burned candles.

Made a box of things to go to my brother. He is getting the jade fish and the Tang Dynasty figurines.

China tea cups and saucers – wrapped and boxed.

Went through all the pots and pans, and cooking utensils. Many of these are to give away. I perhaps foolishly saved some – maybe for Rose when she sets up her own household in a couple of years.

Also, I showed my dad how to upload a photo to facebook, and attach it to an email.