Three Weeks In

Three weeks in! Our new house has been quickly settled, with furniture placed and looking like it has always belonged. However, shortly it will become unsettled again by reason of the installation of new windows and a spanking new kitchen. Of course the windows, although new, will replicate the old ones. The kitchen on the other hand will be quite contemporary, unlike the rest of the house, or at least the original part of this lovely 1844 sea captain’s home.

In the meantime, three dreadful toilets were quickly replaced with new, more efficient and age-friendly ones. The old ones were low, wobbly and somewhat stained - much like ourselves. The deck, which had been treated with a now peeling and uneven stain, is being power washed and will soon be coated with a clear protector. The trees encroaching on the house have been pruned back – by yours truly – with the aid of a rented long-arm chain saw, and a step-ladder lovingly secure by the arm of an attentive John. Apart from one limb that fell onto my head, on my head, on my head - head - head..., all went well. Many trips to the dump have cleared the basement of the multitude of broken down moving boxes and the mounds of bagged packing paper, not to mention the considerable debris left for us by the former owners.

The precarious and shifting “boat house” at the water’s edge has been secured on new foundation blocks and is about to be lined by a wonderful neighbouring contractor with wide plank boards on the inside, in readiness for our private Bishop and Barrister Seaside Pub. The name may be more fittingly altered to “The Boatslip and Mariner Seaside Pub”. A whisky or two will no doubt settle on the appropriate moniker. 

A variety of flowering shrubs has been implanted into the lawn in the hope of some semblance of a future artistic display.  And John has cleaned the dirt and mould off the front walkway and undertaken the arduous task of polishing the long neglected brass front door fixtures with a variety of both old-fashioned and new concoctions. There is some rotten wood to replace, but then the house is 174 years old.

A number of neighbours have brought us fresh eggs, asparagus and rhubarb along with welcoming words and helpful hints, and some not so helpful ones, for life in this part of Nova Scotia. The new chapter has begun.