We were at the lawyer’s office before 9 this morning, signing a pile of papers. This is closing day. Our keys are turned in, the sold sign has been up for a couple of weeks.
I hadn’t mentioned anything sooner, because it has been a whirldwind of emotions and roller-caster action, and a whole mounting pile of stress and debt, with details that somtiems changed daily and made my head spin. In the end though, I am not sure how I feel overall. I’m glad to be done with it. Glad the Sword of Damocles is no longer hanging overhead. The expenses were a killer (like I said), the dramas dealing with buyers were ulcer-inducing. And even I, who usually sleeps just fine, had trouble sleeping over it at some point.
But we lived in it for six years. Made it a home. Loved it and fixed it up. Made the house happy, I think.
There are so many things I want to say to the new home owner, stuff she needs to know. At least to me, woman of the house to new woman of the house.
Clean the kitchen counter with bleach every so often - the pots will mark it up. Keep the attic door closed in winter and open in summer. Wash the original hardwood with water only. That cabinet door sticks. Keep this window locked - oh, and you can flip them down to clean, see? But the windows facing the road dust up horrible in summer from all the traffic. It’s almost a losing battle to try and keep them white. Polish the woodwork with Orange Glo.
Did you find the secret cupboard by the window seat? That glass sign was there when we moved in. We left it for you to find. Same with the extra tiles in the attic. I know the only place they are is on the hearth. There’s a couple loose tiles around the edges. Don’t vacuum them up by accident.
When the snow melts you’ll see the garden. Did you see pictures of it beforehand? There’s a stargazer lily off by itself. It comes up after the other daylillies. My friend Sylvia gave it to me. (I must call her.) Oh, there’s a stray purple pansy that comes up by the walkway, near the chives. It keeps coming back year after year. We planted the chives, the irises, and the daylillies. The delphiniums were there when we got there. We planted the pear tree and all those strawberries too, when we cleaned up the yard.
When you’re there, wave over the fence to Rose. She’s nice. And she makes great strawberry jam. Behind you are the other neighbours - Pauline and Jake - you can count on them in a pinch. They’ll be driving by often. Across the way is Agnes, who is a sweetheart, but if you can spare a minute for her, make sure it’s at least 30. She’ll talk your ear off.
Go up in the trees behind the house - the shade is wonderful in summer. Watch out for the starlings in spring, they’ll buzz you. By the big maple tree is a rock with a name carved in it. That’s my boy. You may find at the base of a few trees some small bits that look like fairy houses. That’s my girls.
The hedge grows like a weed. The shade garden in the corner there is all whites and purples. The roses out front along the porch is also our doing. The light pink ones need extra care. We found them at the corner of the yard, half-buried in road debris, so we cleaned them up and replanted half of it. The other half is technically on the neighbour’s side. Frank knows a lot about the neighbourhood - talk to him.
Oh, and the street cleaners and plows put a lot of dirt and crap on the first six feet of lawn along the main road. I wouldn’t plant anything nice there. The french lilac bush out front should be nice this spring. It flowered last year for the first time.
There’s a framed picture in the living room that we left. It’s an arial shot. You’ll find the house near the bottom - it’s white and the yard is nothing but lawn. Well, it was taken over thirty years ago. We bought it at an auction when another neighbour died. She was in the little green house on the corner. We felt the picture should at least stay in the neighbourhood.
It’s just a house, but we loved it, despite its flaws. We hope you’ll love it too.
Goodbye Green House.
Poor house. So we bought it - rescued it really, loving it and now fixing it up. Admittedly, we haven’t got very far yet and there’s still boxes everywhere. But look at it now.
