Jumat, 26 Desember 2008

Saying Goodbye













There is always room for a little trepidation, and a little nervous anxiety is a good thing because it helps us to realise that change is afoot.
Change is good, non?
There is much to say goodbye to before we leave for NZ.
The first is the selling of our gorgeous mountains cottage. Our 101 year old weatherboard cottage that we have poured our heart and soul into renovating over the past 3 years. Add to that the huge garden which I have slaved in and transformed from over-grown and weed-choked to productive and colourful and well, take a look at the pictures and you will see what I mean.
From the first time we walked through the gate of the rambling white picket fence, it was love at first site for us. The whole place was painted in the most inappropriate colours, in some rooms even the ceilings had been painted the same colours as the walls and when the colours are khaki green and dark purple, you can imagine how dark this makes an old house seem.
The commencement of each new project was akin to opening Pandora's Box because with each new task we were beset with the age-old problem every home renovator faces.















1. The job is going to take at least twice as long to complete, and
2. The job is going to cost at least thrice as much as budgeted for.
All of which only added to the eccentricity of the house.















It is the garden of which I am most proud because it is the garden in which I have sweated the most, bled the most, been broken-hearted the most, and delighted the most. I have discovered the joy of the seasons, the devastation that snow and ice cause to most plants and the delight of seeing colour burst through the cold hard ground! The amazing change in the garden that takes place virtually over night as the new growth springs forth after months of freezing temperatures only delights me more and more each year. This year I planted my second attempt at a vegie garden and was not disappointed like I was the year before when constant unseasonal torrential rain destroyed all of my seedlings. To be able to show my girls where the vegies on their plates came from, to be able to pick and eat at will, such a delight I can't tell you! Carrots and leeks, beetroots and broad beans, strawberries and an abundance of herbs and rocket, yummy!















Another thing of which I am extremely proud is the new skills which my very clever husband has learned. Carpenter, plumber, brick-layer, gardener, painter and general handy-man skills he has all mastered during the renovation.

Three solid years of tinkering away at our house has left me exhausted however and truth be told, I am looking forward to not having to spend our weekends working on it. I am looking forward to not being broken-hearted when the dog digs up my seedlings or destroys established plants that have taken a whole season establishing themselves! I am looking forward to discovering a new country, camping with our girls and living in a house that doesn't require constant work and renovation! I'm sure one day when the girls have grown up I will long for those days, but right now I am happy to leave them behind, and to pass them on to the new custodians of our beautiful mountains home.

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