Good night little house

Hard to imagine I haven't back to the little house. On closing day I mowed the lawn one last time, added more cardboard under the mulch where weeds were coming through, planed and hung the closet door (ran out of time, so the new owner has a bit more planing to do), put a second coat of trim paint on three windows. Dug a couple of dozen potatoes from the garden to bring home. Then off to work, no ceremony or celebration.

Handed over the extra keys yesterday and got the cheque from the lawyer's.

Took it to the bank ("you can take this to the bank" as they say) but couldn't
deposit it - ooops, needed both our signatures, and a week's hold on the funds. How come whenever I have to provide a cheque for this stuff it has to be certified or a bank draft, but we get paid with the crappy kind?

Anyway, it was great to receive congratulations from the circle of women there who helped make it happen - they figured out ways to get the financing for an amateur who usually doesn't have enough loose cash to buy lunch, let alone a house in need of a major cash infusion.
There is one woman in particular who has a kind of brilliant and creative approach to financing. She showed me possibilities and strategies I could not have figured out myself. Some time back she had been off work for awhile, for health reasons. I have been so grateful for her support.

I found myself uttering to her some observation about how this project went pretty well "according to plan."

Then on my bike ride in to work I couldn't help feeling stupid and smug, for saying such a thing when so many things in her life and the lives of other people I know and care about are so clearly not going according to plan.

Return to Fallingdowne

This is what I've been missing these weeks and months of rushed renos at the other house. It's so nice to just sit and look.

Sold

Didn't need the rugs after all. The new owner didn't see them before putting in his offer, but now I have more floor coverings for the pets to pee on at home.
Still need to complete many smaller tasks around the house and yard: Finish taping the plastic in the crawl space, caulking, painting and keeping the plants alive. It would also be nice to spend a bit of time just being there before turning over the keys on July 24th.

Change of scenery

Steve and Wynne's tree in it's new home. So far the leaves aren't shrivelling up.

The Anti-Austerity Program

Open House number three today. There's an accepted offer on the place, but it is conditional on this and that, so we have to keep up appearances...

Rob took his sofa, box spring and mattress with him so there was much scrambling this morning to find approximations of living room and bedroom furniture.

Haig and Ann loaned me their inflatable mattress, which has a slow leak, but held out for the two-hours. I dragged my formerly beloved and mistreated Art Deco armchairs out of the basement and screwed the loose pieces back on.

Vallee, who lives across the street had offered a painful assessment of the house a few days ago, when there had been no offers after a week and a bit. "Austere" was the gist of it. Too white, too bare, needs rugs, light the fireplace and candles, do some seduction. When the neighbor is an interior designer, I figure it's probably a good idea to listen.

So I went a bit rug-crazy. One from the rug store, two from the auction, one from a thrift shop, and I even brought over our living room rug. Vallee gave me the pretty candlesticks.

The result: lots of compliments at the open house and a couple of people very interested, I'm told. Will there be any more offers? Will it matter? Who knows? What do you think?

Why I love the dump and I don't care who knows it

Where else could you find a fabulous antique display cabinet like this, for free. Or slightly damaged tin ceiling tiles that will make great picture or mirror frames someday? Or a beautiful wool hall runner. Okay, the cabinet needs some work, and a place indoors really soon. But it was irresistible. Like the little derelict house. Is there a pattern here?

Moving violation

Here's Johnny and Debbie's Tree Service. Wynne and Steve next door offered us this beautiful weeping tree which had outgrown its space. It took a long time to dig up, and it was heavy. With tarps and rope and an old wooden wagon we got it to the car but this was the only way it would fit. We drove very carefully to the little house to avoid coppers and inadvertent pruning of branches or pedestrians' heads.

It looks stunning it its new spot. Pix to come.