Since we got home..

Well, we arrived home from the trip of a lifetime. 

And then life became messy again, almost immediately. 

The day after we returned home, the sewage pipe in the 2nd floor wall suddenly burst. Actually it let go. It had held itself there for 40 years without complaint, despite never having been glued when it was first installed. And suddenly, on December 29th, it decided it had had enough. It let go.

And my kitchen below was filled with a spray of sewage, covering counter, cupboards, table and chairs, floor and walls.

The insurance took over. They spent 3 long months ripping out the whole ground floor, and opening up holes in the 2nd floor walls. We felt like refugees, living through it all with a toaster and a microwave.

It's finally done, and the world is back to a new more beautiful normal! 

Also this season, the sale of my old cottage has gone through, and there will now be a lull for 6 weeks, until the new cottage is finally mine! Life is getting more and more exciting, as the deadline approaches. I've been waiting since last October!

Miraculously, the insurance people packed up all the bedding and belongings that were waiting to go to the cottage, so the house has been cleared of clutter, -16 years of clutter! 

So now my new business venture begins. Instead of living with tenants and having the stress of feeding other people's kids all summer (and cleaning up after them, and chasing them to pay their rent, or bugging them to take out their garbage at the right time, or clean up their garbage when the raccoons have tipped it all over the alley before the bitchy neighbours start ranting about it to me).. I  have found a new system of landlordability. 

I am renting out both my house and my cottage. They will bring in enough money to cover my expenses and perhaps some left over to take a summer holiday!  

And when both buildings are rented out, I travel. If only one is rented out, then I have a week in that location. Week at the cottage, week in the city, week at the cottage again. 

And so, my new freer life begins! 

So far, 7 bookings have been set for the 2012 summer season. I have covered my summer expenses now. Things are feeling more comfortable already!

There are some new furniture items in the house, sitting waiting to be moved to the new cottage. There is a stone counter still not here, -it will soon be installed- and there is a cottage waiting to have it's frills and clutter removed. It will all happen in good time. 

Patience is gradually becoming easier to find!

Oh, and there have been 5 students living here this winter, through the renovations, and 2 large landscape projects have suddenly popped up to be considered. And a new ESL in the Home job has been accepted.. So the summer might be a lot busier than initially anticipated. But ti's all good. 

My