Apparently we have awakened the party animal in Mist!
Yesterday there were eighteen of us here, celebrating my Mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day (my Mom was also Grandma, and Great Grandma yesterday). Mist wandered through the crowd, garnering some small attentions here and there, the odd petting, and conversation.
When the last car drove away, after we waved goodbye, and began to prepare the house for the realtor’s next visit, that is when Mist suddenly realized that the party was over. She was inconsolable!
Mist yowled at the top of her lungs, as she visited every room in the house, searching for all of those jolly visitors. When evening fell, and we closed the sliding glass door and the blinds, she sat staring at the blinds, yowling again at the top of her lungs, waiting for that door to open once more and the for the party to continue. She wanted her people!
She yowled off and on through the night, thinking perhaps to wake our visitors from their sleep, forcing them awake, forcing them to return.
She must have exhausted herself, for this morning she is sleeping peacefully in her chair.
It rained yesterday evening, after everyone had left. Attila decided the rain provided a perfect opportunity to burn the scrap wood pile, the remains of many a project. It was ugly, and it certainly detracted from the gentle feel of the house. He stayed up until midnight, tending the fire. It rained all night, so the fire is well and truly out now.
The new stairs to the second story deck are rock solid and quite attractive. They are not yet complete, but will be soon. The spindles still need to be added, and the whole structure painted.
My arbour is on hold, as I will not work in the cold and wet, but will wait until the weather clears in a few days time.
The house was easy to prepare for the realtor, but there is more to be done! I will now focus my attentions on the screened in porch, which needs a thorough cleaning. The weeds in the yard are thriving, weed spraying is banned in Ontario, so we can’t kill them with spray. The driveway is long and there is a lot of gravel with weeds, so I am contemplating how to proceed.
Another issue that has emerged is that Tank is sporting a soft tire. It looks like a new tire is in order, perhaps more than just one new tire. We knew, when we purchased a used vehicle, that these regular maintenance issues would come up, but like everyone else, we hoped for later rather than sooner. We have to decide whether to address the issue here in the north, or to wait and address the issue at the little house in the city. We have a Costco membership, so that is a possibility. Attila has a compressor, so we can pump up the tire, and see how long it holds firm. If it softens quickly, we will need to address this issue here in the north.
Here it is, the end of the day, and the realtor did not get back to me today. Neither did he respond to my email message. Tomorrow, if I haven’t heard from him by noon, I am trying my luck with someone else. That would make two realtors who have more important things to do than list our house. Sigh
I cleaned the fireplace “clean outs” today. What a messy job, I was black up to my armpits! Charming. And it is done! Now all that is left is to clean out the ashes in the firebox, and then the masonry heater will be ready for another winter, and hopefully another owner.
The thunderstorms have come and gone, and in spite of the weather, Attila finished the spindles on one side of the stairs to the deck. Right now, since the rain has abated for the moment, he is outside fixin’ things up for the house sale.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
18°C
Date: 7:47 PM EDT Monday 11 May 2015
Condition: Mist
Pressure: 100.9 kPa
Visibility: 6 km
Temperature: 17.8°C
Dewpoint: 17.1°C
Humidity: 96%
Wind: E 8 km/h
Quote
“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)
Fifteen seconds after I posted this entry, count them, fifteen little seconds, an email message arrived from the realtor. I am so RELIEVED, because I kind of liked him, and would have been disappointed if he hadn’t bothered to get back to us. He promises to get in touch soon. Time will tell.
Poor Mist, who knew she was a social butterfly! You’ll just have to have visitors more often so she can get her people fix, Maggie. 😉
Glad you heard back from the realtor. I hope things go smoothly with him from now on.
Whew, glad you finally heard from the realtor.
We had a couple of cats who became more social in their most mature years. I wonder if perhaps they reach a point where they have done all the important cat aloofness thing required and can finally relax and enjoy the party.
Let’s hope for some hustle in that young man–and that his efforts result in a well-qualified buyer.
That’s funny about Mist! But sweet.
I have a great tip on how to get rid of weeds in the driveway -pour a concoction of white vinegar and water all over the weeds. Maybe go online to see the ratio… but that will gently and naturally (?) kill the roots and won’t be illegal ( I hope! )
Maggie,
18 people is a houseful! What a nice celebration that must have been. I’m sure Mist would agree. What an interesting reaction she had to the celebrating and people charming.
I’m happy to see that the realtor got back in touch. Hopefully all goes well.
Attila finished the stairs to the deck. One less thing to do! The house sounds lovely. Is the deck in the back?
Teri, the last time we had the gang all here was five years ago, and if the house sells, then Sunday was our Swan Song. If we do get to move to the little house, it looks like a housewarming party would be in order, Mist would love that.
Right you are Joan, it was such a relief to hear from the realtor! And he got in touch again this morning to run a price by me, which I agreed to because it was exactly the price I had been thinking. So far we are all on the same page, which bodes will I hope!
That is an interesting observation Wendy, I wonder! This is the first time Mist has taken much of an interest in visitors. But when I think about it, over the last five years the only visitors have been Luna, Janus, and the Grandbabies, who visit maybe twice a year in a good year. The thing that is different with this particular visit is that Luna’s dogs were not in attendance. Mist HATES dogs, can’t abide them. Luna’s dog Benny passed away last summer, and Bim was left at home as they were only here for the day and not overnight.
So Mist may have been a social creature for quite some time, and we didn’t notice because we haven’t had dogless company during that time.
We are hoping the realtor can get things hopping! He says he is quite confident that he can provide really good exposure with a photographer and a video tour. Sounds good to me! Now all we need is a buyer.
Kate, it is sweet about Mist, I try to remember that as she is yowling at the top of her lungs. 🙂
Bex, we must have super weeds, because I tried vinegar, and in places pure vinegar, and it didn’t phase them one bit! I used more than a litre of vinegar in a small area, I can’t imagine how much it would take to kill those weeds, or how much it would take to kill the weeds on the entire graveled drive, our driveway is long!
Nora, my Mom was very happy! My sisters and I were there, and we each had one daughter in attendance, and of course the Great Grandchildren were the center of the known universe for everyone for the entire affair! We have a picture of my Mom, surrounded by daughters, granddaughters, great granddaughters, and one great grandson. Elf, the great grandson, sat on his Great Grandmother’s lap for the picture. Something for the kids to remember when the rest of us are all gone!
I am feeling optimistic about this realtor at the moment. He is a busy person, and doesn’t respond quickly to my messages, but he does respond. I hope he keeps himself just as busy selling this house!
The deck is huge and on the side of the house, we own over five acres so things are very spread out. The deck stairs are at the front of the house, a grand entrance!
When we needed to replace the original deck stairs, we put it off. This was because one day, while I was here alone, working away at the computer, I heard a noise at the sliding glass door, which was open. A man stood there, to my surprise, having come up the stairs, onto the deck. He stood there staring at me. He said he was selling chickens, I said I didn’t want any chickens. He left. I called the police, who tracked him down to find that he was from Elliott Lake, north of Lake Superior, a very long way away. The police suggested to him that is was inappropriate to enter private property in order to sell chickens, and asked him to leave the area.
When the stairs were removed for replacement, I wasn’t in any hurry to have them installed. Without them no one could easily gain access to the deck, although they could, but I would hear them.
But the stairs are a great bonus in a lot of ways. They make it easy to move furniture and big objects from the lower to the upper floor, and from the upper to the lower floor. Attila has built them very strong and sturdy!
Okay, that’s a scary story about the chicken man. Thank goodness that’s all there is to the story. *hug*
Love the story about your picture of your mother with all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren! What a wonderful picture!
Teri, country life isn’t all that much safer than city life, in fact, there are few eyes on the street, and strangers in vehicles abound. I’ve lived in Muskoka before, and have a few stories about break and enters, all creepy, but not at my house. We take precautions, as I am well aware of the area and the issues. We are “slim pickins” by comparison to the cottages that are just across the road from us, and anyone who would break into our house would be considered dim witted, given the situation. The cottages cost from 1/2 million dollars near us, and into the millions and tens of millions in the area. Thieves have much more lucrative opportunities in this area, than our very modest, puny little property.
My Mom had six children, and raised them virtually by herself, her assistance was the harassment from my abusive father, so she had quite a time. She rose to the occasion, full of love and determination. She wasn’t perfect, she made her mistakes early in life, she was a mere girl when she married my father and then things in her life became intense. She did her very best though, and she loved us. I could not ask for anything more! She was the eye of the storm for her children.
She is quite a person!
Maggie, even here on your board, it’s interesting how many of us have survived mistakes in our early relationships and turned things around to be happy in our later lives.
Teri, an able group!
“Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them.”
Charles de Montesquieu
1689 – 1755