You might want to grab a tea or coffee, this is a bit on the long side.
I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, but living around people was starting to annoy me. We lived in a small village, maybe 100 people. It was getting noisy though...kids screaming, lawnmowers, cars and 4-wheelers roaring up and down the streets. Just couldn't enjoy sitting outside at all.
I have a very stressful job and the constant racket was not helping, I wasn't getting my de-stress time. Just taking the dogs out to do their business was a hassle.
So I decided to sell the house. It was way too big for us anyways. A duplex. Both sides each had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Mom on one side and Hubby and myself on the other. We were wasting more space than we were using....and Mom was getting lonely back there all by herself. We decided we'd buy a house just big enough for the three of us.
As soon as I got the for sale sign up I started looking at houses we could by. What fun that is!!
I found one we all loved...problem was we hadn't sold the one we had yet. Being me, I couldn't take a chance on it being sold so I went and bought it. Hubby and I moved 2 three bedroom houses in 2 days...just the two of us...never, ever will I do that again!
It was built in 1809. Under those bricks is 2 feet of solid stone. It was originally the local 1 room school house. Somebody turned the school house part into living room, bathroom, 2 bedrooms downstairs and 1 bedroom upstairs and then they added on a kitchen across the whole back end of it. It's perfect.
It even has the old original "his" and "hers" outhouse...which is perfect for the geese. It also has a nice sized workshop.
It has lots of trees but it didn't have a lot of gardens. Most of you know we had beautiful gardens at the old house and I couldn't bear to leave behind my cherished plants. I rented Hubby a rototiller for half a day.
before:
after:
after:
It's amazing what a motivated man can do with a rototiller in 4 hours!
Then we rented a 17 foot truck, drove back to the old house, and filled it as full as we could with all of our perennials. Mom had already dug every single bulb over the course of the Spring and early Summer.
Turns out the farmer in back of us is as thrilled as we are, he's tickled that we are taking the time to pretty the place up. Previous owners hadn't cared less. He helped hubby line up the outhouse and a fishing hut that was left behind. It's level, my picture taking is crooked :)
Behind the garage there was some funny clumps of earth. Hubs asked the farmer if he could level it a bit. That's when we discovered that he previous owners never went to the dump...they buried everything. Had to rent a 15 cubic yard garbage bin to haul it all away. Lawnmowers, mattresses, propane tanks, fencing, typewrites, shingles, tires, you name it, we found it buried. But we got it leveled by golly!
Hubby noticed some unusually shaped lumps on the other side of the back of the yard. Yup, you guessed it...more buried crap! Hubby had to dig it all out by hand this time.
But he got this level also!
He built me one of these with some rocks that were buried:
On one side of the house there is a triangle of three trees, an apple and two 50 yeard old spruce trees. We dug our new pond under there.
Then Hubby got bored one afternoon and decided we needed another garden.
The farmer out back gifted us with a rock shaped like a chair....because our other gardens all had rocks in them too. How sweet was that!
We have no close neighbours. When I step outside all I hear are birds and nothing else. It is heaven. Granted, it took a couple months for the three of us to get used to living together, didn't think I would survive that! Now we've all settled in and life is once again fantastic!
Some random shots of the peace and quiet that surrounds us.
Bernie and April hatched 3 eggs this Spring. One of the goslings was a wee bit smaller.
When they got to that gangly age when their wings are too heavy to hold up this little girl couldn't, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't hold up her wings. You can also see that her neck is very short for a goose.
Almost a month ago she went lame, then she couldn't move at all.
Everyone said we should put her down but we just couldn't. As long as she wanted to live we'd deliver her food and water.
We put her in the playpen propped up with straw. Every day Hubby took her to the pool for a swim, and to clean her, and watched to make sure she didn't flop upside down and drown. If she tried to get up at all she just tumbled over on her side. She's been living in the playpen ever since, and Hubby has had to check her every hour or so to make sure she didn't flip over again, which she did, many, many, times. Mom and Hubby picked her tons of grass every day and put it right in front of her in the pen with her water dish.
Well, today he put her in the pool and she stood up! She got out of the pool and actually walked around with her parents and siblings! What a good little goose and Hubby is my hero.
She walks like she's drunk and can only walk a few feet at a time before she has to sit, but, by golly, she's up!
I'm a firm believer in that saying. If the company I work for has done something wrong, then a credit is no issue.
All day long, though, all I hear is "I demand a credit".
customer: "My 1 year old watched a porn movie, I want a credit for a months services for the inconvenience and mental anguish"
me: "did you have the parental controls set up on the remote?"
customer: "no, that isn't my responsibility, give me the credit or I'll have your job"
customer: "I just bought a brand new 60 inch tv and can't get a channel to come in"
me: "sorry, sir, you've been disconnected for non-pay, we haven't received a payment in 4 months"
customer: "I want a credit! you've got no right to disconnect my services!!"
customer: "I was shooting a squirrel and shot the cable box at the pole. I demand you get someone here right now to fix it"
me: "sorry sir, we're booked solid until tomorrow morning."
customer: "I want you to credit my account for the time lost"
customer: "I just got back from a 3 week cruise in Europe and I have no tv"
me: "sorry sir, you've been disconnected for non-pay"
customer: "you can't do that! you didn't warn me"
me: " yes sir, we sent multiple e-mails and made numerous phone calls"
customer: "but I was on vacation in Europe, I didn't get them you imbecile, you turn me on right this minute or credit my account for the past 3 weeks!"
me: "but sir, I'm sorry, but we haven't received a payment in 3 months. I can't turn you on until you pay the balance due."
customer: "I can't pay that now, you moron! I just paid for my vacation! Are you stupid? Turn me on right now or I'll have you fired!"
customer: "there's charges on my bill for over $100.00 in porn movies, I didn't order those, you credit me back for them right now!."
me: "ma'am, I'm sorry, those movies were ordered from your remote control."
cusrtomer: "I didn't order them!"
me: "is there anyone else living there? kids, husband, company?"
customer: "I have 3 teenage boys, but they sure wouldn't watch that smut!. I am not paying for that! You credit it back to me or I will have you fired!"
me: "did you have the parental controls set up on the remote?"
customer: "I shouldn't have to do that! It's your company that shows that stuff!"
customer: "my computer got a virus, it cost me $150.00 to have it removed, I want you to creit me for that."
me: "sir, we only provide the internet, is it working?"
customer: "yes, it's working, but it was through your stupid internet that I got the virus, it's your responsibility to reimburse me for the damage it caused!"
I could go on, and on, and on. These are real, actual calls I've gotten.
Sandi
July 4, 2005 - August 22, 2013
Mommy misses you Princess.
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April 24.2013 1 week old. |
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April 29, 2013 |
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May 03, 2013 |
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May 08, 2013 graduated into a playpen. |
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May 13, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 |
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June 02, 2013 |
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June 26, 2013 |
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JUly 04, 2013 |
