Where we have been…

Where have you been, you might wonder?  It has been a while.  Well, let’s see.  We sold our house, bought a really old house, reno’ed the house, moved into the house, moved the chickens, reno’ed the house, tackled some of the yard work, enjoyed summer holidays, reno’ed the chicken coop, started school and currently we are finishing reno’ing the house.  And we have some more yard work to do. 🙂

chicken coop

The chickens new palace under construction.

You see, we haven’t really ever moved since we settled down in our little house once we moved back to Canada.  And there we settled, accumulated belongings, accumulated children, collected memories and collected chickens.

So moving was a big deal.  Now if you are thinking, what is the big deal?  Lots of people move.  People move all the time.  I totally agree with you.  I was with you all the way… until we moved.  I don’t think I had enough sympathy for people when they moved.  Now when I hear that people are moving, I put  my hand on their shoulder and give them the knowing nod.  And we connect on a mutual understanding of just how horrible it really is. There is something special about complaining to someone who just gets it.

And I had a hard time leaving our little house.  We loved our home, we loved our neighbours, we loved our neighbourhood.  We had brought all our babies home to that house.  It was the first house we owed, the only house we owned.  And now we were going to just pack up and leave it all behind.

come for tea

Pop over for a cup of tea.

So now here we are in our new house.  I have declared that I am never going to move out and you will have to pull me out of this house in a pine box.  But as the memories of the stress fade away, the strength of that conviction is less.  Just like after delivering a baby you swear you will never forget intensity of the curse of Eve in labour.  And yet, after a few months of baby cuddles, the memories of the agony lessens. Not saying I’m moving anytime soon though. 🙂

I have learned that a house is just a house.  The memories are in our hearts and head  (cue the violin music) and the people who we share the house with is more important than the four walls that surround us.  We like our new house.  It has more room (yay!), it has lots of character and is a little more in the country.  We have big trees, big spaces and big dreams in this place.  But I like the people I share it with; that’s what makes it so wonderful.

kids

Best of all, it has a big kitchen!  So here is to many more fabulous meals to be made and recipes to be shared! 🙂


9 thoughts on “Where we have been…

  1. Phew – glad you liked your neighbourhood and didn’t move because of your neighbours! 😉 Looking forward to having a Korean meal in your new big kitchen 🙂

    • Haha, of course we loved having friends walking distance away. We miss the pop over visits that would happen, the drive bys and the driveway conversations. We need to develop new traditions now… perhaps we need to start training for a 10km. Then the distance will feel short 😉

  2. Leslie, I love your words. You are such a natural writer and I really admire your heartfelt message. Moving is hard and it is difficult to close a chapter and start a new one. Thank you for sharing your heart, and sharing your “moving” journey with us. (The pun with the word “moving” is intended). Expect an email from me some time soon. 🙂

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