Home At Last

For at least a year, we are in a home.



I looked at this place many times before we said "yes". Old crappy carpet. Ancient furnaces. Creaky floors. Questionable neighbors. Windows from the bedroom to the living room and too many doors.



Not only were we not finding "the perfect place" but this quirky little place kept bringing me back over here.
But there were these WINDOWS all along the back wall. I loved the way they faced East, the beginning of each day, the garden that is to be, the cherry tree. They face the future. They face the direction of inspiration, communication and creativity. Even when on the INSIDE, I can look to the OUTSIDE. The sun shines in. The cold stays OUT.



A simple little bedroom with room for a dresser and a bed and little else keeps me hopeful that it will stay cleaner.
A kitchen with storage enough for ALL my doo dads and nick nacks and APPLIANCES... 2 waffle irons, a wok, a fondue maker, a fry daddy, an ice cream maker, 2 crock pots, a crepe maker, a rice cooker, a blender, a kitchen-aid mixer... ALL with a spot to sit. We even have room for dishes and food.
A "back room" that is still unspoken for, 'cept for a tiny seed in a tiny pot in the greenhouse window there. Perhaps one day, a useable room, this day and for days to come, it's a staging area for the multitudes of boxes that need to be emptied and or thrown away.
1/2 acre. ONE HALF OF ONE ACRE in the city... how often are you going to find that in your budget?



Room to spread out. Room to garden. Room for chickens. Room for a goat or two, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. ;-)
Are you renting or buying? Renting, of course. I have a husband that doesn't do "handyman" and a landlady who will send someone over when something needs fixing, in a timely manner, at no extra cost. I'M RENTING.
Equity never, veggies if we grow them, no HOA's or neighbors who frown on our yard, seclusion, privacy, a huge yard, and never having to replace the roof....
RENT RENT RENT thanks. Maybe if we had a couple of Mr./Ms. Fix-it's in the house, or unlimited supply of money to get things fixed, but for now, WE ARE RENTING!!!

All the things that "bugged" me about this place is quickly dissolving. We didn't die in the lighting of the pilots. The floors are quickly being covered with furniture and stuff. The "questionable neighbors"? I was laying in bed, attempting to get Ms. EmberLotus to sleep last night, and I hear a "BUMP BUMP BUMP"ing of an obnoxiously loud bass getting obnoxiously louder. "BUMP BUMP BUMP"
I think to myself, "Jesus, some neighbors we picked. Here they come, with their loud stereo, WHAT KIND OF PERSON PLAYS MUSIC THAT LOUD?!" I hear it RIGHT NEXT to my house. This car then obviously wants to be heard: "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! Beep beep beep BEEEEEP!"
"CRIPES! I should have known it was gonna be like this. SOME PEOPLE'S KIDS! Oh well, if I was on the East Side, my rent would double. I just hope nobody gets shot."
Then I hear, "KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! HEY! WHAT YOU GUYS DOIN'?" As Bayleigh slams through the door for a not-so-subtle visit. Ironic, I know. My own daughter was the "bad neighbor". Bayleigh was "some people's kids". Embarrassment commence. We ARE the bad neighbors. Go figure. lol.

We got a wall plaque for our wedding 2 years ago that says, "Home is where your story begins." And it really does...
Again and again and again.

Next goal? To start a "community garden". I'm not sure WHO the community will be, but that is the goal I set in the ground to rest and prepare for spring and the coming year. Food and friends for those who want to work the land, even without any of their own. They call it "Urban Homesteading", I call it using what you have.