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So, how did it come to pass that we have gone or are about
to go from the magnificent rolling hills of southern Ontario’s Northumberland
County to the shore of the mighty Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Had you asked us
if such a move was in the cards even a few months ago, we would have said no.
But it was not a new idea. We have mulled it over periodically for several
years now after what has become annual September visits to this east coast
Province. The lure of the sea is real and compelling. But our practical natures
said that we were too old now to make such a change because: 1. we would be
leaving our hard won doctor and specialists here for very uncertain medical
care; 2. we would be leaving a vibrant community of friends and acquaintances;
3. we would be saying goodbye to the place we have called home for twenty-four
years and the vistas it commands; and so on.
Little did we know that a Saturday at the Annapolis Royal
market this past September, just before we were returning home, would be the
catalyst for incredible change. My partner was standing on the steps of the
theatre in the town when a stranger came up to him and asked him if he lived
there. He replied no, but that we loved the place. The stranger replied that there
was a fabulous house just across the water in a place called Granville Ferry that
he should consider buying. My partner, John, laughed. The comment was duly
noted but nothing was done about it. And we returned home with several bags of large
frozen Digby scallops for a dinner we had promised to friends at home.
We prepared a delicious scallop dinner for four of our
friends at home and as we sat around the fire, we talked about getting older, and
finding our large properties a little more of a challenge both physically and
financially. We all discussed the inevitability of downsizing someday and what
that might entail for each of us. Our friends, almost in unison chimed, “Why
don’t you move to Nova Scotia since you love it there so much?” The response
was that I would love to, but that John did not feel it was an option right now
for the reasons I have mentioned above and the fact that he was still working part-time
(at the age of 75!).
Yet some gnawing craving for new adventures kept eating away
at both of us. Unbeknownst to me, the next day he went to his office and went
on the internet to seek out that wonderful house across the water. He came
rushing into the house and told me I should look at it, that he had been
thinking we needed to put new zest into our gentrified lives. And on seeing the
listing for this house, I was captivated. We called the agent to make some
inquiries. We asked friends in Nova Scotia to go to view the house and let us
know if it was as wonderful as it appeared in the photographs. The ensuing
report was very favourable.
It was now the end of October. We must be mad. We arranged a
viewing for ourselves and secretly flew down to Nova Scotia mid-November for a
few days. We came, we saw, we were conquered. We immediately put in an offer
conditional on selling our home by February 28 the following year. We then
returned home, engaged a real estate agent and by the 21st of
November our house was on the market. Not a good time to be selling a house. And,
moreover, within a few weeks we would be flying off to Cuba for a month.
The next few weeks saw emotions run high. We realized what an
immense, almost unfathomable task it was to downsize from our very large home.
It soon became apparent to us that regardless of where we went, now was the
time to be doing this because in another five years such a mammoth undertaking
would be beyond our physical capacity and likely lead one or both of us
directly into the hands of an undertaker!
We kept all of this as much of a secret as we could. We were
not convinced our unique property would sell before the February deadline, or
before someone else gobbled up the house from our warming plate. Yes, people
knew we were selling. There was no keeping the very large signs posted at the
end of our road and at the entrance to our property hidden. There was no
avoiding the very active email and internet presence our agent engaged in. But
we did not mention to people that word: Nova Scotia. We merely said we were
looking at options, possibly closer to our summer cabin near Parry Sound.
On December 15, we flew off to Cuba, feeling somewhat
dejected that there had been no offers and suspecting that there would be no
activity in our absence or even during the dreary, bitter months of January and
February. To our utter shock, our landlady in Cuba came to us on the evening of
December 30 to say there was a very long and large email waiting for us on her
dial-up laptop. It was an offer. But it was not an acceptable one. The buyers
low-balled us and we felt insulted.
To make a long story short, we counter-offered at a price we
would not budge from. They accepted with a few conditions that they had to
realize by January 31. On January 15, we left for the airport in Veradero and
flew home, arriving at the house in the early morning hours of January 16 due
to winter storms and resulting air and road delays.
It was only the next morning while wading through my abundant
emails, that I learned to my utter dismay from a neighbour: “Congratulations on
the Sale of your house!”. We were gobsmacked! Yes apparently the buyers had
lifted all the conditions while we were in the air returning homeward. There
was still one more hurdle – Title Search. This had to be completed by January
31 too. Now our experience has told us that old rural properties can be riddled
with unpleasant surprises. We did not know of anything that would be a problem;
but that itself can be a problem. Alas, the title search was completed
successfully. So on February 1, we were able to waive the condition we had
imposed on the purchase of the house in Granville Ferry.
The closing on our house in Ontario is April 27. Then we
drive as fast as reason dictates to arrive in Digby, Nova Scotia on April 30
for the closing of the Granville Ferry property. At times this has all seemed a
dream, at times, even, a nightmare. But the excitement is explosive. We look
forward to a new beginning – a genesis.
