Moving the Homestead

Over the last several weeks, I have been having to come to terms with the fact that we will likely be moving this homestead within the next 5 months.  There are various reasons for this upcoming transition, some of them being the buyer-friendly housing market, as well as personal, financial, and long-term reasons which I won't get into here.

I have lived in this house for nearly five years.  That's a long time for a renter of my age, I must say.  The homestead didn't really get started until Shawn moved in almost 3 years ago.  But since then we have worked on this home as if it were our own and have really come to know it very well, flaws and all.  We always knew that it was a rental and it wouldn't be forever, but also wanted to make the most of it and our very lenient landlord.  We refinished the hardwood floors two years ago, and have made major improvements to the yards by taking down dead bushes, planting new plants, and in general cleaning it up to make it functional for our needs.  Needless to say, all of this hard work will stay here when we move.

Will the new place a have a chicken perch?

Which makes me kind of sad.  We've made a ton of memories here and this place has taken really good care of us.  Our old neighbors next door were good friends with Al and Doris, the old couple who lived here until they died, and they always tell us about what they were like and what they did with the house and yard.  I always felt their presence here and would occasionally wonder what they would think about the improvements we made.  We were talking with a friend who is a reiki master once about how productive our garden was and he said that the spirits of Al and Doris were thankful of our work in the home and were thanking us in this way.  Now I'm not a spiritual person or anything but I think there is some truth to it.  By maintaining the house and garden, we were essentially taking over where Al and Doris left off, and by respecting their legacy, we reaped the rewards of their years of hard homemaking.  Kinda cool.

So why don't we stay here?  To put it bluntly, this house scares me.  There are a lot of elements that have been jury-rigged and we don't know how sound the plumbing or the electrical system is.  The kitchen needs a major update and the layout is a little weird.  The house is fine as a house for young renters, but it doesn't fit our needs as a new soon-to-be-married couple who is thinking about starting a family in the next several years.  Basically, it's time to move on.

So what does that mean?  The first thing is the most tragic: I will likely have no garden this year.  We're still not sure about the timeline, whether we'll move before or after the wedding, and what the garden situation will be like in the new place.  I'll still start some seeds in hope of finding a place to plant them and have a lot in moveable pots.  But the uncertainty of when all this will happen leaves me feeling panicked about possibly not having a therapeutic garden getaway this summer.  BUT, knowing me, I'm sure I'll still find a way to plant stuff somehow.

Mabel's ashes are in the garden bed as well.

The other big issue is the chickens.  It is likely we'll have to build another coop (that makes #3,) and I'm a little stressed about that.  But hey, we've built two good ones already, so who says we can't build a third?

In the end, it will all work out.  We're looking forward to upgrading to a home that we can call our home for real.  It will be nice to make improvements to it knowing we'll be able to enjoy them for a long time and I will welcome the feeling of permanency.   My sadness of leaving this place will pass and will quickly be replaced by the joy of a new beginning and a new life with all the creatures and elements that make me the happy person that I am.