Rain, rain, go away - the weeds won't quit growing!

First things first - the house is SOLD!

Second, Cheryl was correct.  That weird contraption in the photo from Wednesday is a homemade gumball/jellybean machine. I did a Google lens image search to learn this fact, as when I took the photo (at Value Village - good catch, Kim), I had no clue. How they arrived at a price of $7.99 for the item, is beyond me. For the record, I did not buy it. 

Our weird weather has continued. On Sunday morning, we woke to near freezing weather. The airport just on the outskirts of the city registered -1.1C (30F) sometime overnight, though it was slightly warmer in the city proper. The day warmed up nicely, and I spent a couple of hours in the back yard. I got the debris and weeds I'll pulled raked up, sprayed the weeds that were left behind, and started the clean up of the area between the house and garage. (No photos yet, it's still a mess). Argghh...I found more garbage back there, pieces of metal, wood, broken bricks and pavers, hiding under the a/c unit and behind the gate, most of it covered by leaves. I also managed to move the remaining stones out to the front yard. By noon, I was done and ready to enjoy an afternoon of baseball, football and later in the evening, hockey. 

Monday, started off sunny, but clouded over by 9:30 a.m. and then the rain started. In just over an hour we'd had a 11 millimeters of rain (about 4/10ths of an inch). It continued to rain and by day's end we had received 27.4 mm - just over an inch of rain. My attempt at creating a river to run the rain off the front flower bed wasn't quite right, so I had to go out and move a couple of rocks. Note: most of these rocks were moved from the back yard. Just a couple minutes outside and I was soaked! I was so glad I'd gone out early in the morning, and made my grocery run. I spent the afternoon knitting dish cloths and starting another kitchen towel.

On the other hand, Tuesday started out cool'ish and warmed up steadily through the day. I couldn't get out in the back yard, as it was again, a mudpit. I bet you can guess what I did instead. Yep, I went shopping. Now, in my defence I needed to find a bathing suit for later in the week. When I had gone to D's ahead of the listing, I'd taken my bathing suit with me. Since I'm planning to spend July and August with her and Eli, I knew I'd need it for pool and beach time. Well, I was talking to my friend S on the weekend; she was travelling to Saskatchewan on Monday to visit family. We made tentative plans to meet at the hot springs at Manitou Beach later in the week. And then, I realized I had no bathing suit, or at least not a complete suit. I wear two pieces and do have a spare skort. 

I'm finding that trying to live in two places may require duplicates of some things. I'd thought I'd managed to divide my clothing between the two, but it seems some duplicates are going to be needed. That includes some toiletries as well, since I forgot to bring my toothbrush and deoderant when I returned to the city. The former I had extras of and I've raided my travel sized items for the latter. But I did pick up deoderant since the travel versions won't last very long. Question: has deoderant skyrocketed in price where you are? The least expensive version at Walmart(!) was $5.97 on sale - it is the larger size but really?

I chatted with S on Tuesday evening, and we made arrangements to meet at the hot springs Wednesday afternoon. That night I went to bed with a long list of items that I needed to do before I left the city. I'm not certain why, but I feel the need to ensure that everything is tidied and put away before I leave, even for one night. 

Realtor Rob sent me a text asking if we could chat on Wednesday morning. "Oh, oh", I thought - something has come up. In actuality, Rob had received the form to lift the conditions, however the seller's realtor had delivered the deposit cheque one day late and as a result there was another form that needed to be reviewed and signed as well. They have asked, and I agreed, to have the sewer line clean before possession date. D has contacted the local plumber and it will be completed next week. Can I just say how much relief I feel at knowing that in two weeks, I'll be finished with the property? 

Around lunchtime, I drove out to Manitou Beach Resort and Mineral Spa. It was a windy day, and the radio kept announcing the possibility of severe thunderstorms with conditions that might result in tornados - though nothing of the sort came to be in the area. I arrived ahead of check-in time, but they had a room ready so I was able to watch the end of the Blue Jays game and read some of my book before S arrived. She dropped her gear, we got into our bathing suits and headed for the pool. 

I've stolen this photo from the internet as I didn't take my phone. There are three areas to the pool. The one in the foreground is the hot pool, with a temperature of 103F, in the background on the right is the warm pool, temperature 100F, and on the left is the cool pool, temperature of 93F. I'm not sure how they manage the temperatures but there was certainly a noticeable difference between the three areas.

The water is pumped in from Little Manitou Lake, known as the "Dead Sea of Canada". According to an article I found, the waters are high in sodium, magnesium, and potassium salts. I can confirm that one floats very easily in the water, and a shower post soak is necessary to wash off the salt! We spent about and hour and a half in the pool, before heading upstairs to clean up for dinner.  We climbed back into our bathing suits and went for another soak later in the evening. 

According to locals and other visitors, the waters are beneficial for joint paint, arthritus, and skin conditions. I did feel very relaxed after our visits, and if nothing else, we both slept very well that night. After a leisurely breakfast, we headed back to the pool for another good soak. Then it was time to pack and head in opposite directions. We had a wonderful visit, catching up on family matters, travels - past and future, and recalling memories. We realized the last time we'd seen one another in person was our trip to Las Vegas in October, 2019. We won't let that much time pass before our next visit.

I drove home under cloudy skies, and ran into rain off and on, occasionally quite heavy. It was raining as I reached the city, but it had quit by the time I arrived at the house. Saku was happy to see me, and I simply dropped my bag and settled in on the couch. The sun came out by evening.

There was no yardwork completed on Friday. Again, with the rain, the back yard is far too wet. Instead, I caught up on some housework, knitted while watching old episodes of NCIS. So far, I've completed three kitchen towels and four dishcloths - decided to take a break from knitting and picked up a crocheting project. Not sure I like it, so I won't bore you with details at this point. There was baseball and football in the evening to watch as well.

Today, I'm planning to weed the front round flowerbed. Two of the bugleweed perennial ground cover plants are doing well and flowering, while the two darker ones seem to be stuck. The weeds are coming back though nowhere as many as were there before I weeded last. I'll try to keep ahead of them while I'm here. Speaking of weeds, this is a photo of one of my pots of pansies that D sent me. I asked her if she had noticed the weed in front, she had not. :) 

The peonies haven't yet bloomed, but the poppies are about to, and my garden spot is full of small weeds. My work will be cut out for me when I return at the beginning of July. 

I've no other plans for the weekend, though expect I'll entertain myself with baseball and football, and maybe even the final of the Stanley Cup series. I'm not expecting the Edmonton Oilers to win the next game, and they are currently down 3-0 in series, a best of 7 games.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Selling, shopping, and a conditional offer!

Yahoo, the old house was finally listed! The realtor arrived about lunch time on Sunday, and we did a walk through, ran through the numbers, settled on a price, and I signed the paperwork. By mid-afternoon Monday, the house was on the Zillow and Realtor websites. I'm not keen on the write-up the realtor provided, but I decided to withhold judgement for now. 

After lunch at home, D and Eli headed over to the local park while I watched the Blue Jays game. I followed them when the game ended. Eli had a great time running around the park with friends, and then climbing the tree near his mom and me.

I got away about 8:30 Monday morning, heading back to the city. I had decided that there would be no yard work done - I was ready for a relaxing (and quiet) afternoon.  I did run out to pick up a few groceries, and prepped rice and marinated chicken for fried rice for dinner. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, watching television, and catching up on blog reading.

We had a decent rain overnight here in the city, but nowhere near what my daughter had in town. We had less than a half inch of rain, she had close to 2 inches! She'll be happy as she won't need to water for a few days. The backyard here was a bit of a quagmire, so I immediately gave up my plans to work outside and did what I do best. I went shopping! It was senior's day at Value Village, and I do like a bargain. My best buy was finding four large balls of Bernat Handicrafter cotton yarn; these are currently sold for $12.77 each at Walmart (before taxes). I paid $8.75 for the four balls. 

The sky was threatening rain by lunchtime. I decided a good way to spend the afternoon was hanging on the couch with Saku, the cat, and knitting. I'd done laundry first thing in the morning, and though the floors could use a good scrub, I decided they could wait another day. The rain fell off and on throughout the afternoon, and we had a short thunderstorm in the evening. My son and I both remarked that watching the storm from the front windows is not nearly as good as watching from the sunroom at the old house.

Wednesday I woke to a sunny sky, but that didn't last long. By 8:30 a.m., it was overcast and the wind was a'blowin. A wind warning alert came through from the Weather Network. Wind gusts of up to 90 km/h (56 mph) were expected throughout the day. It was definitely not a day for working in the yard. I couldn't put off housework any longer. I washed and dried my bedding, vacuumed and washed floors, and cleared the kitchen table and my end table. Both tend to become dumping grounds (or doom piles as my daughter would say).

We lost a few branches in the wind, these are hanging on but will need to be removed. The neighbour, two doors down, wasn't so lucky. He lost a Lombardy poplar. It certainly made me happy that I had the four in the backyard removed in April.

The morning got very exciting when the realtor called to say we'd received an offer. To add to the excitement, he explained that he had also been communicating with a potential buyer from British Columbia who was prepared to make a cash offer, however would not be able to view the property until this weekend. The local offer was slightly lower, so using the potential buyer as a guide, we countered at the higher price. By 3 p.m. the counter had been accepted. The sale is conditional on a house and sewer inspection and conditions must be lifted by June 15. Possession date is June 28. I had said to D that morning, that I wanted to have the house sold by the end of June, so I could enjoy the summer. It seems I may have gotten my wish. 

The wind was up again on Thursday, again putting the kibosh on spraying. My mind turned to indoor projects, so I ran out to pick up some dry-wall spackle and a putty knife so I can fill holes and cracks. I've had a conversation with my son and decided on a potential color but won't make a final decision before I bring home some paint swatch cards for him to choose from. He's on the same page as I am, something lighter than the current colors, and no beiges, yellows or pinks. I'll like start the patching this weekend, and hopefully the wind dies down and I can get outdoors too.

Friday, I decided to visit a few garage sales that I'd found on our local FB site. Despite having posted they would be open by 10 a.m., I only found one open for business. They had jigsaw puzzles - I got five for $20. That should keep me busy during the cold months this winter. (I don't do puzzles as quickly as Patsy does!) The neighbourhood sign indicated it was community garage sale weekend, so I drove around until I found one more, where I found a hoop for stitching, just a $1. At this point, it was nearly noon, so I headed home for lunch.

I did some knitting and then went out to tackle the back yard. Everytime I work out there I'm reminded how big the project will be. To start with, I moved rocks, I think about 8 wheelbarrows of them, to the front yard. Note: I do not fill the wheelbarrow - it would be far too heavy for me. Some will go into the circular bed with rocks, and the rest will go in the bed under the front window. There are still a few loads to be brought out but I'd had enough so turned to the driveway where weeds have grown up through the contraction joints. I dug these out as best I could and used Weedex to hopefully knock down the rest. Then I turned to the area between the driveway and neighbour's yard. Sigh....this is going to take some time as no one has bothered with this area for some time. There are leaves and debris that has blown in and grass, thistle and dandelines have made their home there. I filled the garbage can three times and added these to the compost bin and only finished about 3 feet. We only have pick-up every two weeks, so I'll have to bag and store the yard waste and have my son get rid of it over the summer.

Today, I'll head back out again to move rocks and work on the weeds. I may try finding a few more garage sales too, and perhaps take a walk in the park. It's not supposed to be very warm here, just 16C (60F) but it is sunny and isn't as windy as it has been. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Back to the city

Finally, the painters arrived on Monday to start the job of transforming the old house from worn out and drab to fresh and slightly less worn out. We are talking about a house that is nearly 115 years old, after all.  I met them at the house and walked through with one of the painters to confirm the work we needed/wanted down. I also mentioned that I was adding to the scope of work as I needed them to paint the ceilings in the kitchen and living room/dining room because the repairs CT made were obvious. Let's just say those ceilings turned out to be a real pain in the butt!

I walked down early in the afternoon to meet with the guys who were making a dump run to get rest of the crap out of the garage. Stepping into the house briefly, I was pleased to see the progress and the lighter colored walls. Caleb had met with us Sunday to test the color and I liked it then, and seeing several walls with their first coat had me liking it even more. Out in the garage, the guys first cleared out the cardboard boxes that I'd found in one of the old sheds and took it to the owner's blue bin. They returned with two vehicles and took away the rest of the stuff, along with a pile of yard waste. I was cringing at what the cost might be...I shouldn't have been as the price was more than reasonable in my mind. I sure wouldn't have hauled it all away for what they charged me.

Tuesday was a quiet day for me, as the painters were busy working, and I stayed away until late in the afternoon. I went over and walked through, and failed to notice that the ceilings were still an issue. D noticed it though, they had cut in the ceiling with one color of white and painted it with another. It looked terrible. She reached out to Caleb and he agreed they would return to make it right later in the week. (Not sure if you can see it, but the pink on the underside of the window sill is the spackle I was using for fill. It starts out pink and dries white).

Meanwhile, back at the new house, the heating/plumbing company was there to install an air conditioning unit, and a cold air return and heat vent in the basement. Eli's play area is set up in the basement, and it is quite cool down there despite a couple of vents on opposite walls. Part of that is likely due to the lack of the cold air return, and there has been a noticeable difference since the installation. It doesn't look like we'll need the a/c for a few weeks yet, but with a second story, it should help keep D and Eli's room cooler in the hot weather.

I spent the day Wednesday, painting window trim and the stairs, hand rail, newels, and spindles, as well as the baseboards in the upstairs bedrooms. D came to help clean up some paint spatters on the floors left by the painters, but mid-way through the process she called Caleb and he agreed they would finish this job as well. With my hip still grumbling at me, I came home exhausted and in a lot of pain. After a shower, I climbed into my pj's, ate dinner, and was in bed and asleep by 7 p.m. 

Thursday, I returned to finish the painting, including touch-ups, and second coats on a baseboard in the master bedroom that had, for some reason, been painted gray by the previous owners. All of the other baseboards were white. D came over in the afternoon, and she took apart the stove door, as there was a spill a few years ago that never been cleaned up.  I scrubbed that while she did some vacuuming, but the mess was cooked on. We took a drive to Canadian Tire, where she bought some oven cleaner, and I talked myself into buying a couple of hanging containers. At $19.99 a piece, I just couldn't resist. I knew I'd left two shepherd hooks in the city, and will take them back with me.

On Friday, I returned to my son's place for a couple of weeks. I've got yardwork to do in the back yard - he'll have to help me with it as there is some heavy lifting to be done. Meanwhile, D has been left a list of things to do to finalize the preparations for the house sale. She met with the painters that morning, and they re-painted the ceilings. Neither she nor they were satisfied with the results, so they'll be back on Tuesday to try again. She's since told me it looks better but still streaky. They also took the time to clean the floors of the paint they dripped.

I had planned to return to the city for an appointment with the autobody shop to replace the side mirror that I broke last winter. The operative word here is "had". I first visited the autobody shop in February, so they could determine what they needed to replace the mirror. My appointment was scheduled for early March, however the night prior to the appointment we had about 6 inches of snow. I called and advised I wouldn't be able to make it due to the heavy snow and they rescheduled me for the next available appointment, May 21. I managed to tape the mirror to the side of the car and have been driving it since. However, with the recent warmer days, the tape I used came loose and while the mirror didn't fall off, it was clear it wasn't where it ought to be.

On Tuesday, I received a call from the autobody shop - I assumed to confirm the appointment, but no. The clerk advised me that the mirror had been lost in transit. When I questioned how that could be, as they'd had the part in March, she advised that they don't have space to keep parts in stock, so it had been returned in March. What? It's one mirror! She could not give me an estimate for either the availability of the mirror or an appointment. 

My daughter called the local autobody shop who had replaced a mirror for her a few years ago, and I went down to their location Wednesday morning. Within 20 minutes, the part was on order - it should be in within 10-14 days, and the job will take about an hour. Better still, the quote was about 50% below what the city shop had quoted me. The owner Paul, also taped the mirror back on but wasn't sure it would hold (it did not).

Meanwhile, the exhaust pipe on my car gave up the ghost. The noise is annoying as all heck, and I'm sure other drivers are surprised to see a gray haired old woman driving when they'd expect to see a teenager. I was able to make an appointment with a muffler shop here in the city for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Hence the cartoon on Friday. I'm not sure what the repairs will cost but I expect it will be more than my last muffler repair - on a different vehicle about 30 years ago.

This is our May long weekend and I plan to relax for much of it. My hip is getting much better, unless I sit too long, and I'm tired. It has been a very busy few weeks and I'm ready to curl up on the couch with Saku and watch television. It rained overnight and we're expecting showers for much of the weekend. My son has plans for the evening, so I'll have the peace and quiet of the house to myself. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

A long time coming

Well, we made the move from one house to the other successfully. I am forever grateful that the move was complete before the snow that arrived with a vengeance on Tuesday morning. The movers arrived on Monday by 8:45 a.m. and had dropped everything at the new house shortly after 12. They were fast and efficient and having the boxes in the garage was a good thing. We had them drop the boxes and bins in the new garage, though my organization didn't work quite as well on this end. The charge wasn't much more than I paid 13 years ago, when the three of us (D, C and I) moved into that house. Of course, there was quite a bit less now than then. But either way I was happy. M

We did some unpacking (mostly items from our vehicles and a few necessary boxes with dishes/glassware, towels, and bedding) and C went off later in the afternoon to pick-up the mattresses and bed frames. Of course, there had to be another hiccup with the Brick. Though he had the invoice, his last name is the same as mine, AND he had his identification with him, the fourteen year olds who rule the warehouse initially argued with him as I wasn't there. He had borrowed a friend's truck - she came back with him, and we had dinner together and visited for about an hour or so. We didn't get the bed frames put together so the mattresses were simply put into their respective bedrooms and made up. By 9 p.m. I was done and had crawled into bed.

Awake at 3:30 a.m., I stayed in bed until nearly 6 before heading upstairs. Poor C heard all the noises through the night (fridge, furnace, etc.) while I slept through it all. Then he heard me as I moved around upstairs. I may have to offer him my ear plugs. :)

By 7a.m. Tuesday,I was on my way over to the old house. I packed up the food from the fridge and freezer, and loaded it with the packaged food items that hadn't been moved the day before. I'd thoroughly cleaned the fridge a week or so ago, so it didn't take much to ensure it was cleaned. For some reason, I didn't think to eat before I left here, so was happy to find a piece of pizza in the fridge and a banana on the counter. It made a good breakfast!

I wandered around the house and made sure nothing was left behind. There was a box left in the garage with small propane bottles - I'm assuming the movers wouldn't/couldn't move those- a night light, a mat, a some cleaning supplies and my carbon monoxide detector. Just after I finished packing the car, the cleaners arrived. We did a walk through and while they got to work indoors, I swept up debris in the garage.

By this time, the snow was coming down in earnest! My realtor arrived around 10 to do a quick walk through and mentioned that traffic was moving slowly. Not long after he left that the garbage haulers arrived. and filled their trailer. My work there was done, so I found a spot to sit out of the way until the cleaners finished up about 12:15. They did a great job and I hope that having the house cleaned will make up for the fact that the driveway didn't get cleared! We got close to 5 inches in just a few hours.

The route that I take from the east side of the city to our new neighbourhood has a train crossing. We've been stopped a couple of times since we first saw the house. It happened again on Tuesday. I groaned when I saw the train actually stopped on the tracks...it was a wait of over 10 minutes before it started moving again. 

Wednesday started early again at 3:30, when the noise from the water softener woke me. I caught up on some news, read blogs, and then managed to doze off until just after 6 a.m. I heard C moving around upstairs. I'd parked behind him on the single driveway so I got dressed. YUCK, more snow on the driveway! I moved my car out in front and he took off for work while I cleared the couple of inches that had fallen over night.

Then I tackled the pile of boxes in the garage. I took four boxes at a time into the house and made four or five trips in total. In addition, I organized the boxes that will remain in storage in the garage. The kitchen and bathroom boxes have pretty much been emptied and everything in its new place. I may not remember where I put things for awhile though!

The fellow who leased the garage from the old owner, came by to remove a few items left in the garage. I think he'd hoped we'd keep them, but they were heavy metal tables, and old desk, chair, and a filing cabinet. Nothing we need nor want. (As a result I wasn't able to get to Stitch and Chat that afternoon.)

Meanwhile I received an email from the lawyer indicating the sale was complete and the cheque would be deposited to my bank account that afternoon. When I had a chance to check it at 3, the money was there. BUT, the bank had put a 7 day hold on a lawyer's trust cheque, or at least 90% of it. I was able to move some of the funds over to pay off the line of credit, and to put a bit in savings, but the balance was sitting there looking pretty but inaccessible.

I had an appointment downtown on Thursday so made a stop at the bank branch to discuss this with someone there. At first, there didn't seem to be anything they could/would do, but when I explained I had a small loan (from the renovations) to pay off, and I would be asking them to pay the interest for the extra week, they acquiesced to my request to release more of the funds. I walked over to the other institution to drop off a cheque, then headed to my appointment. While I couldn't make the deposits that day, arrangements have been made to move the funds when they are released next week. 

From the appointment, I went to do a bit of grocery shopping on this end of the city. I've never lived in this area so it was a bit of treasure hunt walking around the stores. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home. No unpacking...I was still tired from the day before.

Friday I tackled more unpacking, though most of it stayed in it's boxes in the store room downstairs. These include extra glassware, some small appliances, and extra bedding. There simply isn't enough room in the kitchen for anything else, and to be honest, most of it isn't really needed. I vacuumed the basement, used the dry mop on the walls to get rid of cat hair and cobwebs, and washed the bathroom floor and the back door landing. In the afternoon I did a quick run to Walmart to get a new rug for the landing - the old one shredded when I pulled it up to wash the flooring. It was stuck down...I'm wondering how long it has been since that floor was cleaned! (I could say that about much of the house, to be honest). 

On a happier note, curling is being broadcast this week (Thurs-Sun) so I've been able to watch several games, with more to go. It's been nice to take a break, from unpacking and cleaning, to curl up on the couch with Saku, and watch the draws. There will be more of that today, but we have some things to get done today too. The bed frames need to be assembled, the rest of the boxes of clothing and bedding need to be brought indoors, and I want to get the living room vacuumed and floor washed. I haven't been able to do that just yet. Those boxes contain the unassembled bed frames. Far too heavy for me to lift!

I'll be taking a moment this morning too, to remember those who fought for our countries in the world wars to allow us to live in peace. In particular, I am thinking of my uncles Wilf and Bob, who went overseas in WWII. Neither came home unscathed, though they did make it back. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Wordy Wednesday

We're less than three weeks from moving day, and a full three weeks to possession date for this house. While I'm thrilled to be moving on, as this has been in the works for nearly five years now, I can't help but think of all the memories we've made here and the things I will miss.

We moved in on July 15, 2010. This photo was taken shortly after we'd moved. I laughed when I saw it, as the furniture wasn't yet in place, the room is full of boxes, and yet the cable television is up and running. Sami, one of the four cats who moved here with us was helping hold down the boxes.

This was the spare room then, it obviously had been used as a nursery. The windows in the two bedrooms had been ordered by the previous owners but not yet replaced. (They paid for the windows, and I paid for the installation.) It took me a few months before the wallpaper was removed and the room painted a more neutral gray.

The kitchen had wonderful oak cabinets, as did the bathrooms. I liked them, but knowing that someday I'd want to sell, I decided to renovate. Here's how part of the kitchen looked before:

If I remember correctly, by this point (2013) the dishwasher no longer worked. I'm amazed at how much stuff I had loaded on the counters. After two attempts to sell, I've grown accustomed to keeping the counters more clutter free.

After the renovation, which included re-facing the cabinets, adding new drawer fronts and doors, replacing backsplash tile and countertops, and adding a new dishwasher and over the stove microwave, the kitchen looked like this:

I note the over the stove microwave hadn't been installed just yet (not the one on the counter). Sadly the first one lasted just beyond it's warranty date and I had to have a second one installed. (It really isn't that dark - just a bad photo).

I will miss this kitchen; compared to one in C's house it is huge with lots of storage. I suspect some less used items will end up in the basement storeage area. However, I'm hoping a smaller kitchen will be easier to keep clean and tidy.

Another one of the rooms I'll miss most is the sunroom. It was a big reason I purchased this house, and there were several years we were able to use the space well into winter.

When we moved in, it was a blank space, with only the window treatments. I added a set of wicker furniture, a couple of rugs, towels on the furniture to keep down the cat hair, and a small space heater. My small stereo was also kept out here.  The best part of the sunroom was watching the summer thunder storms, the second best part was grabbing a book and reading in my recliner even in January. One needed socks and sweater but with on a sunny day it was quite lovely out there. On the other hand, using the room on July and August afternoons was often out of the question. A metal room with large windows heats up quickly, despite the new room darkening curtains I purchased. Oddly, I cannot locate any photos of the sunroom in it more recent iteration, but if you saw the listing photos you'll have seen it. I sold the furniture shortly after the listing was up.

More changes were made in the front yard over the years. As you can see there was originally grass between the evergreen and the house. It was in bad shape (and even worse in front of the evergreen). I hated the scrub bush that took up a corner, and the front bed had little more than lily of the valley.

I had hired a local garden center to give me an idea of what I could do with the space. She suggested a circular patio, but after meeting with the landscaper, I chose this fan shape instead. The patio was another wonderful space to spend time outdoors. It got the sun in the morning, but was mostly in shade in the late afternoon. When it was too hot to be out in the sunroom or on the deck, it was my go-to place. 

The ferns really took over this year, and there are several hostas, bergenia, Jacob's Ladder, bleeding heart, lamium and many more perennials in the bed. I'm glad I was able to see the results, at least for one year.

There is a front patio at C's house, and a large raised bed made of stone. He's informed me I'm not allowed to grow anything, but I may just need to add a few perennials when he's not noticing. At the moment there are two or three lilies. I'm hoping he'll be amenable to adding more. 

I won't bore you with the more recent changes as those have been posted in this blog over the past five years or so. That included replacing the shingles, several windows, renovating the basement to finish what became my craft room, new flooring and basebords. This year, it was the main floor that received new flooring, a new railing to the kitchen, and new baseboards. 

I do love this house, and it has been a great home for us over the past 13 years. But I'm more than ready to let it go, and move onto a different stage of my life. Not having the responsibility of a house and the associated bills feels a little odd, but definitely exciting. Like C did here, I'll provide a certain amount of "rent" each month to him to help cover a share of the costs. That's a simple e-transfer each month. For practical reasons, my name will appear on the utility bills (in case I need to call in a reading or advise of a disruption in service). But otherwise, beyond the expenses for my car and cell-phone, I'll be bill and debt free. That, in itself, is incredibly exciting!

I'm sure there will be a few tears shed, the day I walk out of this house for the last time. It's where my grandson took his first steps, where my three angel kitties (Sasha, Sami, and Silas) spent their last years, and where I was able to play in the dirt to my heart's content each year. But I'll take those memories and so much more with me when I leave.

What I won't miss is this:

At least I hope the city snow clearing will be better at the new house!

The finish line is in sight

No, my son did not buy the house from Wednesday's photo. In fact, we didn't even view the property. I had contacted the realtor about it to ask if he'd check with the seller's realtor with some questions. He offered to tour the property himself, as he lives and works nearby. The photo was one of several he sent me. His comment "It's a house of horrors. Lot value only." I suspect it may have been tenanted, or alternatively the property owner passed away. One of the photos clearly showed dirty laundry on a bed, in another it appeared the toilet had not been flushed, and in one there were cracked and broken windows. The property is listed at $275,000...lot value would be around $130,000. I sincerely doubt it will sell. Oh, and it comes as-is, where-is so whoever buys it would have to deal with the contents too!

We did see a few more properties Sunday and Monday. None had what C was looking for, so the hunt continued. We saw another two properties on Wednesday. Both had been on the market for some time, but appeared to be more what he was looking for. Sigh...appearances can be deceiving. Both had badly completed DIY renos, both basements were disasters, and in the second property the front door was sticky to open, while the back door could not be opened at all. Can you imagine how much that house had shifted on it's foundation?

I went to Stitch and Chat on Wednesday, with five of us in attendance. C hasn't been there since last fall before she left for Arizona. Sadly, her mother passed away in the spring, just before she returned to Canada. She's spent the last few months clearing out her mother's 4 bedroom house. According to her, it was full of stuff. They did sell it in August and most of the possessions have been disbursed. Some to family members, some sold, donated, or tossed. 

We'll soon say so long for a few months to C and to B as they are both planning their departures for Arizona at the end of October. S is still deciding when she'll leave, as her daughter and son-in-law will be driving down to stay with her. They've just retired. That will leave I and myself - her husband R is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, so I suspect her attendance will be infrequent. Hopefully some of the ladies who dropped in last winter will return. I've no plans to travel until February at the earliest, and that is dependant on my friend S and her husband. They are scheduled to be in Yuma for a month, and I've invited myself to join them for a week if I can make it happen. Their plans, however, are up in the air at the moment so it's not a certainty.

I haven't yet booked my hotel in March for my cruise but I have flights booked. I'm planning on flying in three days ahead of the cruise...I don't a repeat of last January! Even flying in a day early, almost wasn't enough due to storms and cancellations. Of course, it takes a full day to get there from here so I'll arrive late on the first day and have two full days before I board the cruise ship. 

Of course, I can't help looking at cruises especially when a sale is offered. Princess had a 50% off, 50% deposit sale recently for certain 2023 and 2024 cruises and I've booked a 14 day British Isles cruise for late August 2024. If you've been here for long, you might remember that I had a similar cruise booked in June, 2020...we all know what happened with those plans! I e-mailed my friend J and she's offered to have me stay with her for a few days before and after the cruise. (Thanks J! I'm so looking forward to visiting with you and a return visit to the Gardens for certain.)

Because we've had such bad luck with viewing properties with the realtor, C and I took a drive on Thursday evening to look at a property. We figured there would be no point seeing the inside if the neighbourhood wasn't great or the exterior was a mess. It wasn't either of those things, so I called the realtor to ask if he could show it to us on Friday. We made arrangements to meet later in the afternoon.

On paper, the property was perfect. A decent size with three bedrooms up, a finished basement, and a large garage (which means a smaller back yard). We arrived ahead of the realtor, and spent a few minutes looking at the exterior. Shingles look good, there is a small patio out front, and a raised flower bed. 

The realtor arrived a few minutes later and we made our way in the front door. The house is about 1040 sq ft on the main level. On entry there is a closet and beyond that to the right is a decent sized living room. To the left is a large dining area with a galley style kitchen in the center. It's a bit of an odd layout, as you can reach the hall from either the living room or through the kitchen. Off the hall at the back of the house are three bedrooms and a recently renovated bathroom. One of the bedrooms is set up as a laundry room. As you'll see in the photo above (stolen from the internet) there is a ramp on the front exterior of the house so I assume the laundry set-up is for the convenience of the current owners. Back in the dining room, there is a door that leads to the side entrance and down to the basement. 

In the basement there is a den with a large closet, a living room space, a three piece bathroom with a stand-up shower, and a large storage area (which also contains the furnace, hot water heater, water softener, and built in vac). That storage area also has the hook-ups for the laundry, a set of kitchen cabinets and sink, as well as a small freezer and fridge. At some point, it would be an easy conversion to set up a separate suite in the basement for rental, though some work would be needed to update it. 

Out back of the house is a patio area and beside the garage a sadly neglected garden space. It would take some work to get that in order but I told C that would be my project. But the pièce de résistance is the garage. It is huge, the interior insulated and finished with lots of room to park two vehicles plus a space we assumed the current owner is using as a "man" cave. My son was excited about that - he could do something similar and have a space to hang out with friends. We learned later that the garage is actually rented to someone who runs a business out of the space.

The offer was written and submitted about 5:30 p.m. and shortly thereafter we learned another offer had come in. As a result, C's offer was revised a bit, and resubmitted at 6:24 p.m. His offer was accepted at 7:42 p.m., although they could have held off until morning. They even agreed to a move-in date of November 6. And btw, he paid less than the asking price of that dump from Wednesday's photo. It just goes to show that house prices are just made up numbers. 

In the meantime, there are still the conditional periods on both properties to get through. The conditions on my property are to be lifted by next Wednesday, for C the date is the following Wednesday. He'll have a busy week ahead, meeting with the mortgage broker to finalize financing and arranging for a house inspection, as well as working. 

The property isn't perfect. But it is above and beyond everything else we've looked at. The size is great, the basement is finished and would offer a space for me and allow my son his privacy, and the garage is especially a bonus. When I'm travelling, I can park the car indoors and leave it where it will be safe. There are a couple of pink walls that will need to be painted...funny, my son doesn't care for them. The back and one side fence need to be replaced/built. The back garden space is a project as it has been covered by landscape fabric and leaves and debris allowed to accumulate. It is, however, move-in ready and the work I've mentioned can either be completed over the winter or wait until spring.

Oh, one other thing - out in the front flower bed in front of the small patio on the right), are a few lilies. Back in 2018 when we were looking for my daughter's place, we found a bed of lilies out front. My mom loved lilies and had a large flower bed with numerous varieties. We always said the lilies were a sign of her approval. Apparently, it has happened again.

Today, I've got some yard work to get done. It's time to start pulling the annuals and cleaning up the containers. The house needs to be tidied a bit in anticipation of Monday's inspection. There is baseball to watch, and curling has started too (You-tube) so I'll keep myself busy. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

It was good while it lasted

Edited: The back-up offer was rescinded today.

I am so tired of the rollercoaster. 

*comments off

In just 48 hours! Shortly after I hit the publish button on my last post, I had a text from the realtor. I initially assumed that it would relate to the viewing we had scheduled for the afternoon. But, it wasn't....we had a back-up offer!

The realtor sent over the paperwork for me to review. It was a low'ish offer, which I knew I would counter since the orginal offer was higher. I'm certain the potential buyers were testing the water to determine what the other offer might have been. The sticky part was the possession date; Oct. 5th! That's a mere 3 1/2 weeks away!!

We met the realtor shortly thereafter at the house (more on that later), and he and I agreed, I'd counter at an amount slightly higher than the original offer with a possession date of Oct. 24th. 

There was some back and forth later in the afternoon, as the buyers were willing to pay slightly less than the counter, but the Oct. 5 date was a must so they can take advantage of a locked in mortgage rate. After some discussion, it was agreed they will take possession on the 5th and I will lease the property until the 24th. The nominal rent I will pay is worth the peace of mind of knowing, I'm going to have the time needed to pack up for the move.

Should the first buyers manage to come up with the funding, we could be moving by the 16th. Either way, it's time to get some boxes, and start the packing process.

Onto the property we viewed. I'll refer to it as the Stinky house. And when I say stinky, I truly mean odoriferous. Entering the front door, one is almost overwhelmed by the sickly odor of sweaty, dirty socks. It is worst in the living room, but prevalent through the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen/dining room area too. We headed down to the basement first, as we wanted to ensure it is a solid basement. While we could only see one portion of the concrete wall, it looked good. There were no doors that swung out/in when opened. All good signs. There is a couple of areas, one with a couch, one with a dining table (poker table perhaps), a room that likely was used as a bedroom at some point, and a renovated small bathroom ensuite. There is work to be done down there; removing the panelling on the walls, insulating and adding drywall could be done over time. 

Upstairs, the u-shaped kitchen is dated but functional, the dining area opens out through sliding patio doors to a small deck, two of the three bedrooms are a reasonable size, and the third would make a good office space for C. The biggest issue is the odor, which can be resolved by removing all the furniture, carpets and flooring, window treatments, and repainting the entire main floor. 

Out back are two decks, the smaller deck and a lower deck currently holding a metal gazebo form. The lower deck truly needs to be removed, it's in rough shape but the smaller deck simply needs to be sanded and either stained or painted. There is a large garage (20 x 33 ft) that will easily hold both vehicles with lots of room for storage too. The yard needs some work, especially back beside the garage but for now, a lawn mower would keep the weeds down. 

It's a project house for certain, and I wasn't sure what my son would think as he's been more prone to lean towards houses that are more finished. BUT, he loved it! We went home and talked about it, and he decided to put in an offer. After some discussion we decided on a price with a possession date of Oct. 10. That would give us either a week or two before we'd have to be out of this house, depending on the successful buyer. The offer was open until 6 p.m. on Sunday.

About 2 p.m. Sunday, he got a text from the agent, that another offer had been received. The seller's agent had asked if we wanted to change the offer at all. Again, after a brief discussion, C revised his offer to a few thousand dollars below asking. Then we sat and waited...and waited...and waited until the 6 p.m. deadline, when the realtor called to say that he didn't get it. We have to assume the other buyer gave them the full asking price or above. It was disheartening to say the least, but we'll regroup and start looking at other properties. In fact, we've got another viewing set up for this evening. Time is of the essence.

Wish us luck!

Sun, blowing smoke, and still waiting

Wednesday's photo is of a mourning dove, which had been posing nicely in the sun at the top of the small shed. However it decided to fly down to the bird bath just as I took the photo, resulting in the shadow. I didn't want to move from my chair to take another photo as I was certain it would fly away. It splashed about in the bath for a minute so and then did just that.

Before I get into the house sale and weekly round-up, I'll share this photo of the sun one evening.

It was taken about 6:30 p.m. when I happened to look out as I was doing the dinner dishes. We've had a lot of smoke in the air this summer. According to a local news outlet, we've had 223 hours of smoke so far this year, and have been under special air quality statements many times as a result. On this day, the air quality index was a 10+ (7-10 is considered a high health risk). On those days I keep the windows closed in the house, and try to avoid being outdoors as much as possible. Thankfully, I don't have asthma or allergies, but find that my throat often feels irritated from it. The provincial authorities are saying that the fires in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories could continue until the snow falls. I'm beginning to think that winter will be a good thing...at least this year.

Back to the continuing saga of the house sale: Sunday's showing was short and I assumed the worst, that they had smelled cat, or decided the yard was too small, or for some other reason. My realtor touched base with the other realtor on Monday and discovered, despite the short period of time, the party did like the house. He was returning to Calgary and would know for 100% certain whether he would be moving to Regina by Friday. The other piece of good news was they were considering whether to make a back-up offer.

In the meantime, the current buyers were running out of time to get a conditional offer in place to meet the deadline of September 15. My realtor received a message back from their realtor, stating "we have had lots of action and offers that have not worked out yet. Did an open house yesterday (that would have been Sunday) and some possible activity from that tomorrow." We both had a good chuckle over that text, as he would have notified my realtor had their truly been an offer. In any event, Tuesday came and went with no indication they had "activity" from the open house.

I spent Tuesday morning grocery shopping with a trip to Value Village and the Salvation Army thrift store. I did well on the groceries, most items were on sale and I was able to find everything I needed. V.V. was a bust, it was Senior's day, and I suspect someone else beat me to the bargains that day. The S.A. store offered up a rubber tote, a watering can, and a book for $15. I've been gathering up the totes to use for packing, especially for craft materials and decorative items. The watering can is plastic and a much needed item as I managed to trip on my old one, ending up with my foot in it and breaking the top of it. I've continued to use it, with less water in it, but I'm happy to have this newer one that is much bigger.  

The book is a novel written by Lisa Scottoline,"Every Fifteen Minutes". I've read several of her novels and this one looks quite frightening to be honest. It involves a psychiatrist who has been targeted by a psychopath. This appears to be the overarching story line, though there is also an ethical decision to be made regarding a patient who is obssessed with a young girl. I likely won't be reading this one late at night. :)

I spent the afternoon out in the backyard reading in the sun. It wasn't particularly warm, only 16C (61F) but in the warmth of the sun it felt terrific. I finished reading Jeffrey Archer's "Paths of Glory", a fictionalized story of George Mallory and his life long goal of climbing Mount Everest. It's a good read, and though we'll never know if he actually reached the summit, one can't help but hope he did.

My realtor called that evening to tell me about a second potential back-up offer that may be coming our way. However, nothing was forthcoming and I spent Wednesday feeling sorry for myself. I didn't make it to stitch and chat, just hung out on the couch and watched baseball. 

On Thursday I went out and did some yardwork - picking up pine cones, deadheading flowers, and pulling up the petunias. The latter were looking past their prime, dying back, and straggly. I managed to get things cleaned up before the green bin was picked up that afternoon. Just being outdoors made me feel good.

I spent the rest of the afternoon out on the front patio reading my new book. While I was out there, my realtor texted to say the current buyers have lowered their asking price on their property "too little, too late". He also let me know that the fellow from Calgary hasn't let the realtor here know yet what his plans are. However the second realtor has requested a copy of the PCDS report (property condition disclosure report), which may be a good sign. And now, a third realtor has popped up indicating he has clients who may be interested. 

Later in the evening, I had a text asking if the third realtor could bring his party through on Friday at 5:30. Of course, I said yes. Fingers crossed and all that. That meant housework was a priority on Friday. I hope I'm not giving the impression that I don't keep the house clean and mostly tidy in any case, it's just not necessarily ready to show. The items that stay out on the counters or end tables are put away, and I also make sure that the rugs are freshly vacuumed, floors are washed (or spot washed depending on when I last washed them), clean towels are put out, laundry is done, etc. I mean, who wants to find someone's dirty laundry when one opens a closet door? I also walk through the whole house checking for evidence of the cat (think hairballs). After that experience of spilled water that the agent/clients assumed was cat pee, I don't want or need any more surprises.

The showing started on time and unlike so many before, they were in the house for at least 35-40 minutes. We'd returned home, and I'd brought Saku into the house and turned the oven on to cook a pizza, when my phone rang. It was my realtor - they were interested in the house, but aren't certain if they'll be making a back-up offer or simply wait until the 15th. He reminded their realtor that a back-up offer would ensure they'll be first in line. However, no back-up offer was received by the time I headed for bed. 

Today, we're meeting the realtor at a house that just went on the market on Friday. It isn't perfect (nothing is in my son's price range), and it would need new flooring throughout the whole house. But the price looks reasonable, and with a little help from mom, I know that C could get the work done reasonably quickly. It has three bedrooms up, a full basement (partially finished) with a newly renovated bathroom downstairs, and an interesting garage. I suspect the owner was a backyard mechanic, as there are doors at either end of the 20 X 33 ft. garage. This could be a good thing, as I'd have indoor space to park my vehicle when I'm travelling. One thing we'll be looking at is the basement to ensure it is solid and dry. The one possible drawback is location. It backs onto commercial property, though there is a fence between that property and the back of the house. 

Now that we have three potential buyers in the wings, and despite not having a back-up offer (yet), I'm feeling more positive that the house will sell soon. It's less than a week from the last deadline. Patience is a virtue I don't necessarily have much of, but I'll just keep busy - perhaps even start some packing this week.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

A slight reprieve

The paperwork was finally completed on Tuesday, after my agent received the back-dated document. Initially, I had decided not to sign it, and let the deal die, but after some discussion about the legalities, it was decided I'd best sign and let the matter run its course. The buyers have until September 15 to sell their house - which means they'll need to have a conditional sale agreement no later than September 8. If they don't they won't have enough time to complete the process. 

C did not make an offer on the house we saw on Monday, as he'd found another place he wanted to see first. It was a smaller house but with a basement, with a yard that would require less work, and space to build a garage. He contacted the city on Wednesday to verify that a garage could be built in the future. We went to look at it on Thursday and discovered two things: it has a concrete block basement and the furnace was originally installed in 1995. Although it was cute, it was a no go. He's decided against the other property too, now that he's seen that the funds he has can get him something nicer. Unfortunately there isn't anything in the area he wants to live so we'll continue to keep looking.

It's been a quiet week with no showings. I've been keeping up with the housework, watering the containers, and doing a bit of knitting. I pulled all the tomatoes this week as they were looking past their prime, and cut back the ferns in the front flower bed as they were dying back. One can readily see the hostas now, though the bergenia takes center stage. 

I did get out to Stitch and Chat on Wednesday, there were just the three of us there. I took along a small plate of zucchini loaf. My SIL had given me a small zucchini and a cucumber on the weekend. I grated up the zucchini and made the loaf earlier this week. It tasted so good, that I was eating far too much of it, so I thought I'd let the other ladies help me with it. (They didn't eat much agreed it tasted good.)

After the disappointment of Thursday's viewings, C had spent some time on the realtor website looking for other options. He told me about one property that would need quite a bit of work - mostly painting, but is a decent size. He couldn't recall the address though, so I spent an hour Friday morning, looking through the various listings. It took me awhile but I found it, along with several other properties. 

I decided to do a drive by the list of ten properties, and was able to cross off five of them for various reasons, either a bad location or too run-down based on the exterior. In a couple of cases, both issues were true. He and went through the remainder and reduced the number to three or four.  Of those, I think we'll try to see a couple next week. It's the long weekend here, and with the need to wait on the buyers for my property, waiting a few days won't likely be an issue. As three of the properties have been on the market for over 90 days, so there might be a deal to be had. We'll see.

Earlier in the week, my realtor had mentioned about talking to other realtors who had clients who had been through the house, or who were interested in seeing it, in the hopes of a possible back-up offer. Basically, that simply means, if the first deal falls through, whoever has the first back-up offer in place has first dibs. I didn't hear anything more, so assumed that wasn't likely to happen. However, on Friday evening, he texted me to say a couple from Calgary would be in the city this weekend and wanted to view the house on Sunday afternoon. Of course, I said yes! Apparently they lived in Regina previously, in a house with a similar lay-out. I'd love to post on Monday that we have a back-up offer, but there is no guarantee. Their nostalgia for another house may not translate into liking this one enough to make an offer that might never come to fruition. Time will tell.

This morning, I've got more housework to do, a lawn to mow, and a good watering of it to be done. We're back in the heat (33C/91F) today and only slightly cooler on Sunday. I'll do the outdoor chores early this morning before the heat gets too much for me. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

#(*&#*!$^#

It's after 7 p.m. here and the buyer's realtor has yet to respond to my realtor's request for a response on whether the conditions on the house sale can be lifted. As you can tell by the title, I'm not happy.

Let me back up a bit. As of Friday, I had done everything I needed to do, and they had arranged for and received the information on the house inspection. Our/their last hurdle was financing. Sunday evening I had a call from my realtor saying he'd heard from Josh (the other realtor), and an offer had come in for their property.

Woohoo, that means the financing should be a slam dunk! They wanted to know if I would agree to a change of the possession date to October 1st, rather the the 16th. I said no, because that would only give us a short window to find a place and arrange the move. As my realtor said, he didn't think that would affect the offer they were getting, they'd simply need to counter with the date. They did, and by the time I headed for bed, we'd heard they had a conditional offer in place.

But the morning brought the news that their buyers were unable to get a mortgage. As my realtor said, "how does a realtor sign an offer on Sunday night and then Monday find out his client has no money?" 

The deadline for lifting the conditions remained the same, that is today. So, at this point they are in breach of contract, and the offer they gave me is void. I can walk away now, or sit on it and hope they get another offer soon. They do have a nice property and there has been some good interest but.... 

In the meantime, we visited three more properties this evening. The first was alright, it's an older home that has been fairly well maintained. The electrical panel would need to be updated, there is no flooring or insulation in the basement - though it is a good solid basement - and, something I've never seen before, the eavestrough are drained into a pipe in the basement. On the other hand, the house is elevated and the likelihood of water is the basement is low. However, it has a huge yard and is a corner lot. More than C wants to take on.

The second property was a dud. We looked at it because it would have been a short walk to C's work, and has had a number of price drops. We found out why - the basement is a mess, the upstairs has serious structural issues, and that's as far as we went.

The third property is a contender. While it has no basement - it's built on a crawl space, it is a decent size, the kitchen was updated in the last 20 years or so, and there are three bedrooms. There are also two bathrooms, though the second one is simply a two piece tucked into the laundry room. It appears they moved the laundry to a stackable pair to put in the sink and toilet. It's a wee bit odd, and would be something C could have returned to the former layout. The bedrooms are a good size, though someone tried to be creative with the paint colors. Out back is a single garage that needs shingles on one side - it's clear there was an issue at some time because the plywood has been replaced. It needs eavestroughs too. For storage, there is a large new shed that was built not long ago. With a window and proper door, it reminds me of your bunky, Patsy. I think it is smaller though.

Again the yard is a bit bigger, but it wouldn't take much to remove what grass (and weeds) currently exist and have it xeriscaped. It does back onto a commercial building, so the chain link fence needs to be changed out for a better privacy fence. What really captured C, was the neighbour's homes are well maintained, it's in area of the city he likes, and there is a Tim Horton's within walking distance. :)

He's going to think about it overnight, and I have a feeling we'll have the realtor look into a valuation for the property, as we think it is slightly overpriced. I won't be surprised if we aren't into an offer by this time tomorrow night. Unlike the buyers for this property, we have a realtor who knows how to do things right.

Still waiting

Last Sunday, I took a drive out to my brother's acreage to drop off some camping gear. It's been in my car's trunk since early July! I stopped for a tea on the verandah and a visit. The little gnome from Wednesday was a gift they picked up for me on their trip to Iceland. R said he picked this one because of its knitted cap. Isn't he adorable? Iceland is on my bucket list and someday I'll get there...maybe I'll remember to tuck this little guy in my bag so he can visit too.

Monday was fairly quiet though I did have the appliance repair tech out to fix the refridgerator. It had begun leaking water into the bottom mount freezer and making some strange noises. With my recent string of bad luck, I was afraid I'd be buying a new fridge, but thankfully, it turned out to be an easy fix. The drain line had gotten plugged and frozen up. I'm not sure how that leads to water getting into the freezer but it did, and once the line was cleaned out and thawed out as well as the interior of the freezer, all is good. He used a small steamer, so everything was dealt with quickly, and the frozen food stayed frozen. It wasn't terribly expensive, but I did chuckle because the majority of the expense related to the service call. I would likely call around for a better price, if it were to happen again. I just remembered my brother had this same company out to fix the fridge at his son's home not long ago.

Tuesday, things were a little more exciting. I ran out to do some errands and when I got home there was a text from the realtor. The home inspection would not get done in time to meet Wednesday's deadline. However, the buyer's property is finally on the market (I think it is over-priced), and it seemed financing was not going to be an issue. I told the realtor, I was prepared to grant a short extension...perhaps the other realtor ought not to have gone camping this past weekend, and ensured their ducks were in a row. 

There were several text messages between the two realtors, one of which read: "to be honest for doing the home inspection as a formality we know that house is you see what you get so we're just really working on the other things but we will get you the extension and a couple hours I'm just driving right now." My realtor and I had a bit of a chuckle, over the lack of punctuation. This was in response to his text: "What's up? Seller is getting upset with the situation and lack of communication. She's considering not granting an extension at this point." 

Well, they did eventually get the paperwork to me, I signed it, and now we wait until Monday. The inspection was scheduled for Friday from 9-12. I am not looking forward to being out of the house that long with the cat, but at least the weather will be on the cooler side so I won't need to be running the a/c in the car. 

I got some housework done, and then pacing the floor decided to run out and drop the recycling off before hitting up Value Village to see what bargains I could find. I found a rubbermaid tote like the ones I use for cat litter, three pretty t-shirts, and a set of two shelves and brackets. All for $17 - I did well. 

My son made the call to a mortgage broker and made plans discuss the application with him on Wednesday as well. He attempted to complete the form on his phone but ran into issues, so we sat together after dinner and got it done. 

It rained on Tuesday morning, and I woke to more rain on Wednesday as well. It's nice to see, as I won't need to water the containers or the new lawn. But, the lawn certainly needed mowing when the sun returned.

I spent Thursday cleaning and tidying the house, and doing a bit of yard-work. It wasn't really necessary for the inspector, but I do know that the buyers will be here for a conversation with him so wanted the house to look good. Then, I got a text from the realtor - another realtor had been hounding him to let her clients see the house, and "may be willing to put in a back-up offer". I agreed to a showing at 5:30 p.m. They arrived late and were in and out in less than 25 minutes so I anticipate there will be no back-up offer. 

The house inspection was carried out on Friday morning. I left the house shortly before 9 a.m. and was able to return at 12:30. My son, C, has been having some second thoughts about the property that we viewed so we had made arrangements to see two additional properties on Saturday. However, I've had to reschedule, as our cousin Morley passed away this week and my brother and I are driving out to the funeral in a small town about 90 minutes away. 

Before I head out, I need to water the containers and do some deadheading. It's a bit cool out there at the moment, just 10C (50F), but we're expecting a high of 27C (81F) later in the day. I realized this morning, that it is nearly the end of August and we've yet to have an overnight frost. That's pretty unusual for us. Though we may not get a killing frost, we almost always have a chilly night or two. 

Since I've no photos from this week to share, I'll add this one that showed up in my memories from 5 years ago. He was character then, and still is!

Have a great week ahead everyone!