looks like its a big week for people making life changing decisions all round. after all that back and forth last week between me and landlady and mortgage brokers and real estate agents, at first landlady reconsidered. i will give Troy The Teenage Real Estate Agent some credit for possibly at least being honest with her about what she would need to do to get the house up to scratch. earlier in the week she sent me an email saying she was reconsidering. and then on friday, i finally got the ‘i’ve decided to sell, i need you to move out in 90s day’ version.
so thats it. my almost 5 years here comes to an end. her timing is interesting, the 90 days takes me to 7th of june but i will be in the US then. i have two options, to either run around frantically and find somewhere else to live before i go, or pack up everything and put it in storage and find somewhere when i came back. my inclination was the latter, especially financially and stress wise, but it meant i would need to rely on having friends willing to put me up for a few weeks when i got back. as is always the case i think, you find out who your friends are when you’re in need, and i had plenty of offers of support, so i think i have an arrangement worked out that takes a lot of stress off.
to be honest, im a bit overwhelmed with peoples generosity and a bit surprised at my own ability to ask for help and graciously accept when its offered. i dont usually do that, but i have people in my life i can rely on now, people that i’ve helped who now want to help me. its a nice feeling, especially when there’s no family safety net. this morning, trent made a bit of grand gesture that made me cry, and reminded me that family are the people who love you no matter what, no expectations, no demands, and not necessarily the blood in your veins.
so i was walking around the house yesterday already thinking about what i wanted to keep, what i could throw out. at first i was a bit sad and freaked out, i love this little house and am really comfortable here. and i’ve never (not in the last 19 years anyway!) moved out of one place without another place to go to. also, ive never in 19 years had this much stuff. once i could move from couch to couch, or floor to floor, with my worldly possessions in a garbage bag. not anymore. so its a good time to do some clearing out, and have faith that something amazing is waiting around the corner. i have to admit i’m a little bit excited about what comes next. its like the universe read my last post and said you want an adventure? you want to be free? here you go.
in the spirit of decluttering, i decided to cull some knitting projects. i havent been feeling the knitting love lately, and i miss it, because with work as full on as it is, i really need something to help me relax. last week i didnt sleep properly a single night, and i didnt knit a stitch either. so i sorted through the basket and dragged out the things i havent worked on in ages, or that are annoying me,
and then i frogged them. ruthlessly, cold bloodedly frogged. i felt better straight away. i usually like to have three things on the needles: socks, a cardigan and something lace. so the frogging opened up a lace spot. i pulled out the lace books and the yarn i’ve been dying to use (madelinetosh lace in ‘tern’ bought at knitty city in nyc about this time last year)
and i contemplated some fairly complicated travelling vine type designs, but i ended up going back to the original pattern i matched this lace with, which is nancy bush’s ‘stones and stripes’ from brooklyn tweeds Wool People 5
it has a lovely knitted cast on using the yarn held double so it took me ages last night (while rewatching true detective because is there a better show than that on tv at the moment i dont think so).
im calling it ‘stars and stripes’ because its another american project, and i will probably end up taking it with me, and i probably wont have finished the bloody striped hoody in time to take either. i dont know if i will need it, is it cold in banff in late may? i know it wont be cold in philadelphia or new york in june/july thats for sure!
speaking of the weather. rain, anyone? i must admit its been lovely to have these proper summer thunderstorms at night, just like it used to be before The Drought. everything is very green and tropical and i guess at least with moving out the garden isnt my problem anymore. you can see the storm effects down at the beach
the sand shifts almost daily and there was heaps of seaweed and driftwood and dead birds down there this morning. it was grey and threatening
and the water had a slight chill in it, but the girls had a good swim
and now theyve had a bath and are asleep at my feet. i’m hoping to be able to come back and find somewhere we can be together again, i’ve thought about an apartment in the city or closer to the beach, and that has attractions, but i think i would miss these faces too much (thanks for the Blue Steel, lila)
anyway, its sunday and im meant to be revising a chapter for a text book, so i better go do that. maybe i might just knit a bit first….
k xx
