Walking In My Neighbourhood

This winter has been unusual for all the snow which we've had and for how long it has stayed--since December! On one of my neighbourhood walks I found this johnny-on-the-spot which proves we're living in a new area. The 'convenience' is right beside a traffic circle and that's an empty lot behind it, probably to be built on this summer. This blue blot on the landscape brings a whole new meaning to 'freezing your butt off'!

Just down our street is a man-made lake, frozen in this picture and hard to see, but it is a lovely spot none-the-less.

Here is our end condo unit the highest elevation on the block allowing us to overlook the small park opposite our front window.

Below I've tried to get a sweeping view opposite the front gate to our condos but I really only managed a glorious winter blue sky and glistening white snow. If you look closely you can see a green flag or two at the gates, flags which have been sorely buffeted about in the wild winds we've had a few times this winter.

I finished my walk approaching our condo from another angle. This end unit is ours with its back deck and trees suffering through winter.

So what do these pictures have in common? Three things, actually. They are all of our condo, there are piles of snow in every one, and--perhaps best of all--the sky is that welcoming, heart-warming colour of blue that is so well offset by snow. I love it! And you won't hear me complaining too much about winter, only about mild, rainy or overcast days. Never about days like I've captured above. Talk about a breath of fresh air!

A Winter Interlude

The weekend before last my husband and I accompanied friends to their favorite bed and breakfast near Midland Ontario. What glorious weather we had with sun shining and sky beaming blue the whole time. Perfect for snow shoeing and taking pictures.

One lovely surprise was the flock of skittish wild turkeys stealing food from the feeders by the house. I have seen these before a couple of times, but never in such numbers or this close. Very cool.

Here the turkeys sensed me and started to run off.

I love trees in the winter as their wonderful structures are so evident as they parade naked for all to see.
Not being a birder I don't know what this is but he/she flitted back and forth from another feeder on the property. The colours are very striking.

Finally here is the house in which we stayed. They have a separate wing for the guests with three lovely bedrooms, a breakfast room and a fireplace sitting area, outside of which is a private hot tub in a cute arbor-type arrangement. Of course we had a soak on Saturday night although the west wind chased us indoors fairly quickly.

Donna was the name of the chatelaine of this lovely home and she well deserves the title. The food was superb, the accommodations very comfortable and the setting very restful. A great weekend getaway.

She's Here!

This morning at 7 a.m. we got a call from our son-in-law with the wonderful news that our baby granddaughter has arrived. Chelsea Paige is her name and she made her appearance just after 12:30 a.m. today, February 27. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and a bit, a lovely weight for a baby as they're big enough you don't think you'll lose them in a pocket!

I hope I have the numbers relatively correct as I was pretty excited and may have muddled a bit. I so want to talk to my daughter just now but she is in Victoria and I am in Ontario so that isn't possible just yet. Having a granddaughter is pretty wonderful, especially now that we can put a name to her.

Last night I was working on finishing a cute little sweater for her but little did I know her mother was in labour as I was swearing over my knitting. I had purled almost a whole row when it should have been k2, p2 rib and I had to rip it out. Not a problem usually except the wool is a variegated colour with blues, greens and yellows as well as being very nubby. I could not see where the stitches were at all and ended up breaking the yarn inadvertently at one point. Ripping back about 40 stitches took me about 40 minutes. I did, however, finally get the collar ribbed properly while American Idols rollicked seventies music on the tv.

Today I will have lots of exciting things to do, calling people with the news, ordering a pink rose for my daughter and her daughter, to be sent to the hospital where they'll be for 48 hours. I am glad of that as she needs a little tlc for a couple of days, I'm sure. Anyhow, time to start the process. Hope everyone is up!

It's Happened Again!

Serendipity. It's happened again. Not to me this time but I heard about it almost immediately through the magic of worldwide communication.

I just got an email from my sister-in-law here in Canada and she told me she had just had a call from her erstwhile sort of son-in-law who is in Dominican Republic on a holiday. He was in a grocery store shopping when he heard someone call his name and turned around to meet my sister, also in Dominican on a mission trip for two weeks. What are the chances of them both being so far away in the same place at the same time?

Years ago after we had all graduated from university one of my residence friends took off on a year long trip to Europe and we all kind of lost touch for a bit. Remember this was before the Internet so when someone went on a trip we had no communication other than telephone, very costly, and letters, very slow. On her honeymoon one of my other friends and her new husband were in the Louvre in Paris when they turned a corner and there was Kristen, studying a painting.

And have you ever picked up the phone to call someone, found dead air, tentatively said "Hello?" only to have that person you were calling be on the phone already, calling you? It is a little freaky if you think about it. Is there another dimension out there where some master puppeteer is pulling our strings, enjoying himself, or herself even, chuckling away at our puny abilities? Makes you kind of wonder, doesn't it?

Musings

While I'm not really doing a year in review, I am giving up a few photos from the last couple of months of 2007. This was the view from our hotel window in Beckley, West Virginia, back in November when we travelled to Hilton Head. I just loved the rich variety of colour still glowing even that late in the season, and the early morning mist makes it look like I used some kind of a filter, which I didn't being not that great a photographer.

Here is the picture of my lovely piano sitting in our former living room. I had snapped this to accompany my email to friends and family of things I had to sell before the move.


And here is the same piano, same picture in our new condo. Oh, I had a buyer for the piano but a couple of weeks before the move my husband heard me playing and told me later we just had to keep that piano. I'm not sure which gives me more pleasure--knowing that my husband sensed the great loss I would feel when the piano left my life, or actually still having my beloved piano which I stripped and refinished when I was pregnant with Beth, oh so many years ago.

Back on the beach at Grande Ocean, Hilton Head, I was captivated by this forlorn chair left facing the sunset, empty in the cold, as though bracing for the long night to come.

In Sea Pines once more I crept close to this bird who seemed in a bit of a tizzy but never flew off.

He is on the edge of a lovely lake so rich in swampy stuff it looks like land in these shots. Nature is fascinating. How can my eyes see one thing and the picture show something else?

Today the sun is shining and all our snow has gone except for the old dirty pile across the street from my window. I look forward to the day when the large dumpsters that the construction guys have parked will be taken away and we'll just have a lovely little park to look at.

And here is the same view a few short days ago. The temperature soared to about 10 Celsius above freezing and all our lovely snow melted away.

Never mind. More is coming.

Our New Home

Today, my readers, I am giving you some pictures of our new place, and I hope you enjoy the visit. Of course those of you nearby should just get yourselves over and see us (and the digs) for yourselves!
Right outside our condo is this beautiful light standard, a beacon for friends to follow and find us. And we are the end condo so we have lots of yard where our future grandchildren can play safely behind the brick wall and the lovely shrubs.


Our back deck looks up the most beautiful street of very lovely homes. I tell everyone we live in the 'row housing'--poor cousins of these single family palaces.

Here is another view of the same street:

Inside we have the largest clothes closet we've ever had, a walk-in with room for all my shoes on wonderful sloped shelves I found a couple of months ago and just kept boxed till we finally moved here. I am proud to say today there are no more boxes waiting patiently for unpacking so the carpeted floor is clear. What luxury!

And, yes, this is my new office, a lovely airy space facing west and beautifully lit with the setting sun. We almost need to put a couple of easy chairs in here just to watch the day end, it is so stunning.

On one wall I have my keyboard watched over by one of my framed photos of Hilton Head.

Here is the piece de resistance where all my work (and play) takes place. Here I write, I upload photos, I reconcile my bank accounts, I compose music on my software, and--oh, I hate to admit it!--I play computer games to while away empty moments. You can see I still have some photos to hang and a box to finish emptying but really most everything is in its rightful place in the whole condo. I do like order.

I hope soon to have a great announcement of a secret project on which I have been working since last April. This is where I do it. Stay tuned for its birth!

Dreaming Up North

Yesterday I decorated our first 'real' tree in 25 years and a sorry tree it was, but not as sorry as what I found this morning. Grrr. Next year I'll go back to a perfect artificial tree, I think!

Here's our living room area in the new condo. We'll be getting blinds and area rugs as soon as we can but it looks lovely so far.

The main bathroom sports a shower and a large tub--haven't had a soak yet--as well as two sinks!

One day a couple of weeks ago I was sitting waiting for my husband and I spied this dog who looked for all the world as though he was driving that little Jeep(?). He sat there as long as I did never moving a muscle as I started up my car, drove closer, wrestled with my camera and finally caught him.

A few days before we moved, our daughter asked for a picture of the old post in the basement where we put our children's heights over a number of years, and after a few tries and some major Photoshop magic, here is the best I could do. I guess we'll remember the idea as much as the actual post writings as they are pretty illegible. Nevertheless, this one's for you, Beth!

As I lay in bed this morning I thought of my mother and how she always sang the verse of White Christmas on this day every year--

The sun is shining, the grass is green, the olive and palm trees sway./There's never been such a day in Beverly Hills LA/For it's December the twenty-fourth and I am dreaming that I'm up north....

--and how I loved that there was an actual song for this day! December 24th. Christmas Eve. Today I'll be cooking a lovely little turkey just for us two before we go to sing one last time in our country church Christmas Eve service. After this we'll be finding a new church, part of the new adventure here in the 'big city'!

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

Snow in Ontario

Here is the picture from our bedroom window last weekend when we were homeless and our son took us in:

Looking out the kitchen doors I saw the barbecue snowed in:

And here's some of the back yard:

How about a sunny destination now, eh?

New Condo Post--Finally!

Today's post will let you all know where I've been for the last two weeks. Yes, we've been moving but the story is unfortunately so much bigger.

As I sit in my new office gazing at the setting sun through windows without curtains, I am finally able to outline our travails. The last few days before moving we were lucky to be invited out to eat or to just go to a restaurant as more and more dishes and necessities found their way into boxes whose stacks began to threaten us as we did our countdown to M-Day. Three more sleeps, two more sleeps, last night, and inevitably the big day came.

Sunny it was in the morning as the four moving guys trekked in and out of our home, stripping it of our possessions and rendering it an unrecognizable space, a whole lot easier to say goodbye to! Finally they were gone, my husband was off to an important business meeting and I was left alone with my vacuum, my cleaning supplies, and my memories. One last time to shine up the space and I would be gone. A bit sad, but I controlled my urge to weep, left all the extra keys on the counter for the new folks, did a final walkthrough and slipped out the side door of the garage locking everything behind me as I went.

Where to go? I still hadn't gotten THE CALL from our lawyer saying all the deals had gone through and I could pick up the keys to our condo. I headed over to her office, talked her into giving me the keys with a solemn promise I wouldn't go in until I heard from them, and drove under darkening skies the 25 minutes to Woodstock and our office where I had things to pick up to take to our condo. Once I had the car loaded up I headed for our condo, confident THE CALL was imminent. I sat in the driveway a couple of minutes but didn't dare go in. Along came someone from the development who insisted I could come inside and wait--he knew me and thought the thing would be closed in a matter of minutes. By this time it was 3:45 p.m. and the clock was ticking down to 5:00 when the registry office would close.

I hadn't been inside long wandering around my new place when my brother-in-law called and I told him what I was doing and that the movers were sitting in their yard waiting to get the call from me that they could come and unload. Through my many calls to the lawyer, my husband, whom I picked up, our son, and my two brothers-in-law, the clock moved in its dogged fashion towards 5 pm and still no closing. We learned there had been 6 properties to flip that day and our sale and purchase were the last of the six. My husband was in contact with the lawyer and finally at 5:30 came into the front office-to-be room and told us the deal didn't close in time. What to do?

The lawyer was trying to contact the builder to get us in anyhow but of course everyone had gone home. By 6:30 we realized we had no choice but to leave, lock up the condo, sadly back out of the place and go to my sister's place for some wonderful chili. Of course we had several offers of places to sleep and thankfully accepted that of our son and daughter-in-law; back to Norwich we went and bunked up with them.

So already this is a bad story but it gets worse. We had both contracted a nasty cold, Ron about a week before me, and mine had moved to the coughing up my lungs part, especially at night, necessitating us sleeping separately. He ended up on the couch and I slept nun-like in the double bed, coughing ya da ya da ya da. Thank goodness for family, though, as we were warm and toasty when the storm of the year hit over Saturday night, although Ron had cause to bemoan the loss of his garage as several times the next day he shovelled snow off the three vehicles in son's driveway! (I stayed in the house, coughing .......)

Finally Monday morning was upon us and early in the morning Ron and I tiptoed out of son's house, loaded up our two grocery bags of possessions--Oh! I forgot to tell you we had nothing to wear, rub or change on our bodies, so Saturday had hit Wal-Mart for some trendy Eastern fashion items. (Read cheap, made in China stuff.) Anyhow we headed for Woodstock, ate breakfast of trucker-type early morning bacon and eggs, clog your arteries fare--we waited outside for the door to open--and then put in some time at the office till 9:30. By then we had heard nothing so gave the lawyer a call.

Her assistant was busy trying to get the bonus money for us that the other side had promised in order that we would let them into our former house even though the deal hadn't closed. I regret to say I did a little freak and suggested she would be wise to get us into our property immediately as I had already rescheduled phone, water softener, blinds, dishwasher people and I was not in a mood to reschedule again. She took the hint, I loaded up the car, did a couple of errands and drove up to our condo. By 10:59 a.m. I was once again parked in the driveway hoping to get the call, and the irony of being in the exact place where I had been three days before, and the outcome, made me a little nervous.

At 11:00 on the dot the cell phone rang and it was Judy. The deal was finally closed. I could relax. I turned off the cell phone just as the superintendent of the complex drove up in his truck. I told him the news before I even had a chance to call Ron. Finally the wait was over. I let myself into the front door and breathed in the air of our new home. Then I called Ron.

Of course the waiting was not over as the mover could not offload our stuff till Tuesday morning so we stayed with our son once more, ever so thankful to have a roof over our heads. In the morning the movers met us at the new condo and the claim staking began. Oh, not before I had a bit of a scare, though. Before the movers came I was in the basement, heard a noise and turned to stare at a strange man in my house. "Did someone let you in?" I asked. "The door was open so I just came in," he answered. And I lost no time telling him how unacceptable that was. He quickly did his little worker thing and apologized his way out the door again.

For four hours I stood at my new front door directing movers where to take things, freezing and hacking up my guts all the while. Then, in the afternoon, two of my best friends came and helped me attack the huge kitchen unpacking job. The place looked disastrous for a couple of days until we finally got the first floor looking like home. Today Ron has even hung some pictures, we have a Christmas tree (undecorated as yet) in the corner, and we've had a couple of lovely quiet meals in our new space. It is wonderful.

And so, our saga continues in a new space, a new place, a new home. Yes, it is home, now. And we have nowhere to go but onward. Yay!

Moving Week

Monday dawned at its dark December time this morning and I lay in bed thinking of this last week in our house. I thought I was great about leaving this spot where we raised our kids and spent so much of our married lives, but little niggling things poked at my thoughts as I watched the room come into focus with the first threads of dawn. The curtains parted ever so slightly as my eyes made out the romanesque pattern of my handmade drapes which I'll be leaving behind; the ceiling that we painted a shade or two darker than the walls to help us sleep longer in the summer months; the empty screw sockets in the walls where used to hang our joint pictures from 1965; and the burnished tones of our amazing dimmer light on the ceiling. All will be different in the new condo.

I blinked my eyes and tried to remember what the condo will look like. The great room is maple hardwood flooring, the kitchen has loads of cupboards just a little darker than the floor. The bedroom carpets are a soft shade midway between white and beige and the bathroom has a lovely ceramic tile. It is all very beautiful, but the first time in my life I have ever chosen beige in any of my homes. Who says we're too old to change?

My thoughts came back to this day, one of the last in our house, and I realized if I just got up and got started, soon I would be one day closer to being in the new place and I'd be unpacking and putting everything in its place, building yet another nest for my sweetie and me. We still have a lot of living to do and are pretty excited to be starting anew once again. Hold that thought, eh?

The Softer Side of the Year

Today is a short post as I celebrate with you the softer side of the year--the time when friends stop on the street to spread Christmas greetings, when neighbours share a cup of cocoa or some fresh-baked cookies, when we all have something to think about other than our busy rushing lives. The kids are cuter, the lights are brighter and the smiles are gentler. There's a softer spot in my heart, for sure.

Click on the link below for a lovely soft oasis of good feeling.

http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

A Bear-y Merry Christmas To All

Once upon a time there were three bears…no, wait a minute, there were four! And they lived in a lovely big house on a quiet wide village street in rural heaven. All was well with the bears as Mama and Papa worked at their teaching jobs and Boy Bear and Girl Bear played and learned and gradually grew into lovely adults, eventually going off to find their own bear fortunes, one just across town and the other way across the country.

Mama Bear and Papa Bear were happy for their bear children but couldn’t help feeling their lovely big house was a little empty, so they decided to sell the lovely big house and look for something smaller, just right for two. Eventually, after a long, long time, these things came to pass, and Mama Bear and Papa Bear began to clear out their lovely big house. Many things would go with them to the new, just right for two condo, but many others had to be sold.
The Bears held two huge garage sales, advertised several bigger treasures in the paper, sent pictures over email to many of their bear friends, and eventually their house started to look really bare. (ha ha!) Piles of boxes filled the corners, all labeled with strange coding: Fragile, basement. Odds ‘n’ sods, m.b., serving pcs. Kitchen, and so on. Mama Bear wondered where she had put many things, such as the theatre tickets and the bear passports, and she said a little prayer to the Big Bear in the sky that all would appear in the new place.

While Papa Bear was off working very hard and very long hours, Mama Bear planned for the new home. She got the address, the phone number, the Internet connection, the water, electricity and heat---my! Bears need a lot of things---and every night lay in bed hoping she hadn’t forgotten anything.

Finally the big bear moving van came on December 14 and Mama Bear and Papa Bear got up for the last time in their lovely big house, showered for the last time in their shower, packed up a few precious breakables into their bearmobile and welcomed the Moose Movers at the front door. The Bears were off to their new condo in the city, hoping to be settled just in time for Christmas.

A very wonderful Christmas to all of you bear friends. We have our first bear grandchild on the way—Beth and Rich—expected March 1. We are ecstatic! Please come and see us in our new home.

Maybe There Is A Plan!!!

We've all experienced it, we've all heard the stories about it. From deja vu to been there, done that, we've all used the expressions which have evolved to describe it. The theme of my piece today is serendipity, those moments that just seem to magically happen where coincidence is pushed to the limit.

This morning while we were preparing breakfast my husband and I were talking about what we would do with the remaining books from my 1500-book collection after our final invitation to friends and family to come and grab what they want this Sunday. We talked about boxing them up and giving them to charity or to the local used book store and hoped we wouldn't have too many to take. Imagine my delight a few minutes later when I opened my email to find a message from my brother who has offered to take all of them to a new used book store opening up in his area. Wonderful! First that the books are going somewhere they'll be appreciated and second, that we don't have to take them!

Yesterday we took a jaunt to Tillsonburg to a great furniture store to see about a new sofa--an idea we have since put on hold till we see how our stuff looks in the new place. On the way home we decided at the last minute to have supper in a remote little restaurant en route. Sitting waiting for our meal we were chatting about the Monday night visit from our friend who lives in Chilliwack BC and was here visiting his elderly mother. He told us about meeting some people out there who used to live here and they knew us. When we heard the names we marvelled at how small the world is. You might think that's the end of the story but the words had no sooner left my mouth when I looked up at the couple who had just sat down at a table nearby and thought I recognized them. I couldn't believe it. These people now live somewhere in Manitoba and we haven't seen them for years. I got my husband to turn around to verify and sure enough there they were--the people we had just mentioned not two minutes before!

Well I know we all have those moments but when they happen I really start to wonder about the power of thinking things into reality, as mentioned in The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. That idea that like attracts like as in positive ions--whatever they are!--is pretty magical and I have to think that our house sale is an example. From the time we got an unexpected offer, got excited about moving, and then through all the counter offers and waiting for conditions to be met, I just kept seeing that the deal was going to go through. And it did.

My word for today, therefore, is serendipity. Here's to magic!

The Pictures are in the Words

Lately I have not posted much at all, primarily because of our impending move and the mountains of extra things I've had to do in preparation, but also because I've fallen into the habit of only posting when I have new pictures and my camera has been lazy to be sure.

I find this situation surprising as the writing is what I have always loved--finding just the right word or combination of phrases, making up the occasional new onomatapaeic word--how clever!, and bringing tears to my own eyes with my heartfelt laments. So what has happened to Elaine the wordsmith? I think I discovered how easy writing about fabulous photos can be, compared to cutting, pasting, deleting, retyping, rewording, discarding it all and starting again. Lazy. I have become lazy and it's not a good thing. I wonder how many of my readers find themselves in the same position?

Also I find that when I use great pics in my blog many more people stop by, leaving me catering to the audience, I guess. And here I thought I was so original! A little introspection happening here, folks. Pardon me while I flush my vanity.

Driving the 401 the other day to a lovely lunch date with my oldest friend (read longest friendship), I heard an insistent blast of the horn and searched to see from whence it came. A yellow truck was so close behind me in the middle lane, I automatically tightened up my buttocks and pushed the gas to get out of his way, a good plan most of the time but all three lanes were solid and there was no place for me to go. Beeeeeppp! I heard the horn again, so loud and so close that I decided to sneak into the passing lane and push ahead even though I was already doing 120 kph (20 over the speed limit!).

I left the offensive one in the dust and traveled normally for about 5 minutes when, once again, the horn behind rattled me. The yellow monster was back. In the thick traffic I had nowhere to go but noticed him move to the inside lane and nudge up on my right. Of course there was no room for him to pull in ahead of me so I watched to see what he would do. You guessed it! He threw on his signal and cut me off so much so that I had to slam on my brakes to keep from hitting him.

I'm ashamed to say I laid on the horn, which caused him to give me the 'finger'. Now I was just a little angry and my mama didn't raise no coward girls! I threw caution out the window and pulled out and passed him, this time hitting 130 plus as I left him to watch my rear end diminish in the distance. I kept a close eye on him in my rearview but he left me alone and I reached London with no more problems. As I ruminated about the event I realized I'd just had my first encounter with real road rage. I'm lucky he didn't shoot me, I guess.

Thinking about it now I realize he won because I did speed up and get out of his way. Hmmm. Not such a great reaction. Now I wonder how many of you have had similar traumas?

Les Chutes du Niagara

For years we have been tripping to Niagara Falls--les chutes!--to picnic, to bike, to trek Clifton Hill, but mostly to gaze in awe at the ever changing, always thrilling Niagara Falls. Here are a few shots from last Monday's 1 1/2 hour walk (while my husband was giving a seminar at a conference there) around the area.
A cool but comfortable morning it was as I took the walk from our hotel, through the Marriott where we had stayed a couple of years ago, by the magnificent Casino Niagara and down the curving street to the centre of attraction.
Here is a view of the American Falls across the Niagara River. I loved the play of the red leafed vine on the old reservoir in the corner.

I liked it so much I tried a few more angles, the one below with lush green grass in the foreground.

And this is a landscape shot where you can easily see the American side of the Niagara gorge--this is the longest undefended border in the world, quite a feat today, I think.

This is the bridge to the U.S., a shot I've captured countless times but which still calls me with its suggestion of human conquering of a wonderful wild space. Magnificent.

So popular are the Falls, both American and Horseshoe that every day of the year sees tourists from all over the world lining up for trips behind the Horseshoe Falls, eating dinner at one of the many overlooking restaurants, or even up in the Skylon tower, and getting soaked on the Maid-of-the-Mist boat tour under the Falls. Here is one of the boats taking its passengers back to dock opposite the American Falls, having survived the biggest thrill under the Horseshoe Falls. The famous blue raincoats, hats and heavy rubber boots are required if somewhat stinky wear.
Turning away from the water for a moment I caught this blue sky dominated by the Skylon Tower.

Being fall the abundant flower baskets are overflowing with colour all along the Falls walkway as though trying to compete with the natural splendour just a few feet away.

This is the Niagara River before it races over the Horseshoe Falls; the water level dams which slow the water as it approaches the Falls intrigued me as I know that a number of years ago the water was diverted so that repairs could be done to keep the Falls flowing beautifully and I wonder if this is part of the plan. Interestingly much of the water is diverted from flowing over the rocky Falls in order to keep them from eroding, but still providing a stupendous roaring sight.


This is my favorite picture of the bunch, I think, with its splash of sumac making the scene vibrate. Nature is the best painter!

On my walk back to the hotel I paused directly across the road and soaked in the sight one more time. What a treat. I wonder if the people living there forget to be thankful?

Of course I have written about the Falls before. For more pictures check out this link.

Garage Sales

Yesterday we had a big garage sale but didn't have as many people as I would have liked, though we made about $200 for a morning's time invested. Not too bad. My nephews were here overnight and helped get everything out of the house for the early birds. As soon as you put up the signs people come, whether you have the stuff out or not. A bit of a pain to this organization freak actually.
The day was cold though sunny and we needed cups of apple cider and hot chocolate to keep warm. My friend, Donna, came and helped out a lot--I am sorry to leave her when we move. Two of my sisters came with family and that was fun. I kept giving things to their kids, happy to see their faces light up with their treasures. Another little girl came across the street with her Oma and Opa (Dutch for Grandma and Grandpa) and I gave her some little glass animals and a cute wee vase all of which had belonged to our daughter a long long time ago, and seeing her smiling eyes was rewarding. Reminded me of Glass Menagerie.
Our house is starting to look a little bare, an exciting thing to both of us as we have just too much stuff. We haven't moved in 31 years so there has been way too much hoarding and saving going on. Purging is good.
We have decided to have another sale next Saturday as we still have piles of stuff to get rid of, good stuff, too. I should be putting it on E-Bay or something but don't want to take the time. So. Next Saturday, October 20, we'll be carting goodies out bright and early for our eight to twelve sale. See you there?

Moving On--Finally!

We've done it! After two and a half years of on again, off again, we're selling, we're not selling, the house is finally sold. And we are jubilant. Smiling, singing, laughing--and planning a huge garage sale in a week. I am so ready to pare down and refocus. Maybe by decluttering (the new tv buzz word) our house, we can simplify our lives. Oh, we're not going to give up too much. I'll still have my beading, knitting, sewing and painting supplies, as well as a few of my favorite books, and hubby will still have a few tools and books, but a lot of our hoarded collections will go.
Below our realtor is as happy as I to finally be able to put up the Sold sign.


In the seventies--read MANY years ago--I had a wonderful subscription to the Canadian Author and Bookman magazine, and I still have all of the back issues, kept because I've always known I would write some day and would reread them. Imagine! Thirty years of saving them and Thursday I decided to put them in the pile of things to go.

Our many LP's will be in the garage sale, too, unless I can think of somewhere else to get a little more money for them. We have Sinatra and Louis, Coniff chorals and many other records that we used to love to listen to in the seventies. I remember when we were living up north in Schreiber and our son was a year old we would put on the records, pick him up and dance around the room, his little feet kicking for more whenever we would stop.

The basement is a treaure trove of memorabilia, Coke and old car stuff, sixties posters, funky art pieces--even a picture of old cars whose tail lights turn on when you plug in the cord. All of it has to go, I'm afraid. There is no more room in our lives for collecting--too many things to clean and dust.

Our garage sale is next Saturday and may even be worth a major trip from Vancouver, California, Scotland, Carolina--wherever you are! Well, maybe not Scotland!
Here are a few memories in picture format for me to sigh over: