Our Easter Miracle.

On Friday, my dh flew out to the coast to help 

our younger son move home with his family. 

After three years, they were finding it too hard 

on their budget and wanted to be closer to our

family. We are thrilled and look forward to seeing

our little granddaughter grow up in real instead 

of on Skype.She's precious and sweet and so 

much fun as this age. A true dream for all of us.

He landed, son picked him up, they went and got the

truck, older brother arrived and together they packed

up their home and life. Out to the pub for a goodbye

drink as older brother and his family will stay on the

coast and then off to bed for an early morning. They

were up early and drove to the mountains on Saturday.

Up early again on Sunday and by lunchtime, they were

all home, safe and sound, with all their gear in tow.

Our younger daughter and grandson came along 

for the ride with me. We brought Easter muffins 

and pussy willows. It took a few hours to unload 

their stuff but much faster then we all anticipated. 

Then home we came to a warm Easter dinner. A 

miracle for us this special weekend as they were 

quite certain they would never be back but here 

they are. Back in our lives for real, safe and sound!

How was your Easter weekend?

Any little miracles in your life?

Surprise!!

When I packed this box last fall, I walked away to do

another task, then couldn't remember what was inside.

My sarcastic side ~ always witty.

Finally opened it today after many guesses

of what could possibly be inside.

And what was inside? This sweetie!

My favorite woven heart & a shell from the sea.

Earthy & fragrant pieces for our bookshelves & pots.

My tiny bunny.

A "pregnant" bear.

And the color inspiration for our entire house: 

light lavender, sage green, pink & ivory.

An even 20.

At the end of the 20th day until we

move, we're now 1 day closer to home.

Are you counting down to a special event?

Is there something you are anxiously waiting for?

Possession ....

.... is just a month away!

We got our "Possession Letter" today. And

the date we can move in is May 20th, 2015.

A full 10 months from when our construction

started & within the 6 to 12 month timeline.

So very excited!!

But first I need to sleep. A whole lot of stress

came off my shoulders today, with more to come.

I Hurt.

It's crunch time! We have just a short time before

our new house will be ready. Won't you be happy

when we finally move & I can stop talking about

the build process? Of course, I may then launch

into the next phase of the new house: landscaping.

Until then, we have lots to do. I'm thankful that

we've been working on our move since before

we started the build. But now we're speeding

everything up to get the old house sold & packed

up. For the last two weeks, we've been painting,

packing & purging. I'm so tired of the whole

process. Tonight, this is how I feel inside:

And below is how my body feels: I hurt from

head to toe. Everything aches. Pain in spots I

didn't know could hurt. Everywhere. Ouch!

The only thing that helps is knowing that

all this work is getting us one step closer

to the country. Every box, every donation

bag, every paint stroke .... worth the effort.

Just wish it didn't hurt so much!!

Today ....

.... boxes are gone! The ones we need are tucked

away in our storage room for moving day, the ones

we didn't need were recycled & the ones someone

else could use were donated. Feeling free & light.

Feet up for a few more hours, 

then back at it again tomorrow. 

How was your long weekend?

Did you relax or use it to get caught up?

Yesterday ....

 .... surrounded & crowded out by boxes. 

Packing is well underway.

I'm Going In ~ Wish Me Luck!!

Hi everyone!

The time has come. (Cue dramatic music). We have two rooms in our house that have suddenly, with all our renovating, sorting, purging and packing, become the place to "put" things that need to be out of the way. All of us have contributed to the clutter and yesterday, it got to me! We've not lived with stuff out of place to this degree. It actually totally embarrasses me to even think of taking a picture and posting the mess. But after reading someone else's blog, where they posted a spot in their home that had become cluttered, and then she posted a week later with the incredible progress, I became inspired to do the same. Because if I post, I have to purge it, right? You, my faithful blog readers will be my coaching team. I can hear you all now, shouting to the rooftops "Go Chy Go!!"

This room used to be our youngest son's room. Hence the "sports" wall paper border. After he moved out, we kept it pretty empty for a while. At that time, all our kids had moved on, except for our youngest daughter, so it was really a wasted space for a while. Then we were gifted the huge dollhouse peeking out on the left. A few months later, we bought the purple couch for $100 ~ brand new and still had the tag on but the family was transferred and had to sell it quick. It was a $1400 couch! So we put in the metal shelves for books and dollhouse reno tools and it became the "dollhouses studio." Now it has become a spot for boxes for packing (empty), piles of "stuff" to sort to donate or sell. A few items from renovating as well, including four boxes of flooring we still need to lay, paint for the walls and the blinds that need to be hung up. Good thing we're still here!

Same room, expanded view. 

Scary, isn't it?

Here's the second room that has caused me so much stress lately. It was our "nursery" and then my art studio for the last few years. But again, with all our sorting and purging, it has become a different studio of sorts. Maybe more like a "packing warehouse!" I'm happy we can see the floor but so stressed by the stuff we need to pack. The rest of the house is so neat and orderly, and then you come up the stairs and here's what you see. Ugh! I can't wait for it all to be gone. 

A secondary view.

So my dear blog buddies, will you encourage me to get this finished? Yesterday, I cleared out a lovely section in the art studio, with items meant to go back to work (why are they in my house?), items for donation now tucked away into my car for drop off at the charity shop and items for packing that are now in the intended box or sitting on the table to be wrapped. It's a start and I'm tired and sore today, so I know I made a good dent. I will post pictures as soon as it's all done. We have a strict time limit as our oldest son is coming home for Christmas and he'll be sleeping, snug as a bug, in the "sports" themed room on the purple couch. His arrival is set for early on December 21st. Can't wait!

Do you have a spot in your house that you avoid?

A place where things pile up and the door is shut?

No! Not Yet!!

Hi everyone!

 

My favorite time of year is fall. I love the cooler temperatures and the crisp air, the color of the leaves and the warmth of our home, comforting and cozy. We are lucky here to have long fall days as a transition to winter. Days to do some late fall gardening, time to harvest our lavender and fill the pantry with the items we need to start cooking warm, filling meals on cool, winter evenings.

 

 

We've had a cool and rainy day here. No storm, just a light rain that has brought some welcome relief from the many hot days we've had. Our garden is loving the mist and the drizzle, drinking in the moisture. Lovely! But as I drove home in the rain, I suddenly had a vision that caused me to literally slam on my brakes! And what did I spy with my little eye?  A single yellow leaf on a large tree. No! Not yet!! We need a much longer summer this year, followed by a really long fall. A single yellow leaf will soon turn into a cascade of color, with leaves dropping from their perch on the limbs of the trees, falling softly to the ground, covering our landscape with crunchy vegetation. This is, for the first time ever, not the sight I wanted to see this year. Especially not this early! Our house is slated to be done by November 1st but only if the weather holds out and all deadlines are met. We truly want to move in before the snow hits. It would be a bonus to get used to driving in the country before the roads are covered in sleet and ice. Please, please, please let the summer reign and our fall show up late this year! It sounds like a selfish plea, when so many world events are catastrophic right now. I just want to move when it's safe to drive, so we can settle in for the winter. Fingers crossed it's all okay!

 

What is your favorite season?

Have you ever moved in the fall or winter?

Is it normal to be scared?

Although our new house build hasn't officially started yet because we're still working on the price and a few small changes, I've started to lose a bit of sleep. I realized this morning after waking up from a night of bad dreams, that I'm scared. 

Of what, I'm not exactly sure. 

Maybe the fact that we'll go from being 4 minutes from everything to being 10 minutes. Maybe the fact that we've never built before and have heard so many horror stories about builders and shoddy work. Maybe the fact that we are almost mortgage free and we may now have a mortgage, even just for a short time. Maybe the fact that we've lived in this house for 22 years and know every nook and cranny. Maybe the fact that we can literally walk around here in the dark and no exactly where everything is. Maybe the fact that some of our kids were born here and some even died here. 

We know we've outgrown this house. We know that with our oldest daughter living her for at least the next 5 to 6 years while she finishes university, we all need our own spaces and our grandson will need his own bedroom as he gets older. We know that any debit we take on will be easy to pay off within a short time. We know that the frustration we feel now with literally two households in space meant for one will disappear. We know that we will enjoy landscaping from scratch and having space for a large vegetable garden to feed our family and reduce our food costs. We know that moving into a house that won't need any renovations for many years will free up time for us to enjoy living instead of always trying to make this house work. 

We know in the end, it is the right move. 

So why, oh why, am I so scared??

Changing Plans

We just arrived home from our "new home" out on an island. 

As my husband declared to our family & I'm saying to my colleagues, we're here "on an extended visit" until we "go home again"!

Now the big work starts, trying to figure out how to change our plans to move there, instead of out to the country. It's a huge move, one that would involve a lot of planning around our current professions & one that would mean leaving some precious family & friends behind. We still might build in the country if that will net us more than selling our current house & then selling our land here to buy land there & build a new house there. Need to chat with a realtor to see which is the most efficient both in time & in dollars.

The chance to live out the next part of our lives in paradise is too tempting to not act on our gut feelings. 

A change in lifestyle would be in order. 

Actually, not a complete change, just a "getting back to the real us in a natural way".

Right now, we live a life that is orchestrated to adapt to all around us, to fit in, to measure up, to be "normal". 

Reality is, we're unique & really need to stop being who we are not & go back to being who we are!

And if that means moving to an island, wouldn't you? 

A couple of pictures to make my point!

Our sunset each night!

Wine to complement our daily activities!

Fairies & buddhas every where you look!

Sea shells by the sea shore!

Daily view from the hot tub!

Our yoga & meditation space each day!

We're pretty sensible people & realize that being on vacation is vastly different than becoming an islander. However, we've spent enough time on this coastal oasis to know how we would work our lives to be there & we know there will be stresses. We truly "live" there while we are there - we stay in a cottage, secluded in the woods, cook our own meals, do our laundry, stay connected to our work & shop as the locals do. 

We feel like islanders already! We know the lay of the land, how the system out there works & what is different. Having lived on the west coast already, we know the ups & downs of the rain & are not concerned at all. Seriously, I'll take 2 weeks of downpours over 2 weeks of -40 thanks!!

So very happy that the commitment we've made to live here will be a true commitment. 

Now we just have to figure out how to do it!