Our Move to the country

In 2016, we decided it was time for David to retire from Honda. He had been with Honda for 38 years, and a lot had changed in the last 5 years. He was no longer happy, and it showed. Since the kids were no longer home, we would downsize. We put our house up for sale in 2016, but the realtor had overpriced it, and it didn’t sell. After the 3-month contract was over with them, we didn’t list it for several months. I did list it on social media, but it was during the winter, which was not a good time for selling. It was just as well because we were busy with my daughters upcoming wedding.

One day, in the spring, I was working outside, and a woman stopped to ask if the house was still for sale. We had just relisted it with a different realtor, so I gave her his telephone number. If she had come a few days earlier, we would have saved the realtor fees because they were the ones who ended up buying the house. It was sold for $365,000.

We then had a couple of months to find a house. I had been looking, and there was little choice in our price range. We decided to try to find something up north in the Laurentiens. My sister lived there year-round, and we loved the area.

The first and second houses we found sold before we could sell our house. Once we sold our house, another house came up for sale, and it was exactly what we wanted. We paid $145,000 for a 4 bedroom (2 + 2) 1 ½ bathrooms.

In June 2017, we moved to the country. There was work to be done, but it was nothing urgent. Over the years, we have added many things and updated lots. Building a gazebo was the most important project that needed to be done as soon as possible. May is blackfly time, and I would probably never go outside without a screened gazebo. David was very understanding and built a nice gazebo the following spring. It’s all screened in and a real godsend. I enjoy spending time there relaxing, and a lot of this book was written there.

David also redid the entrance to go downstairs. It looked okay when we first moved here, but he realized it would need to be rebuilt. It was a huge job because he did everything himself. Mixing the cement to pour it into the forms for the foundation. He spent days in the heat and worked extremely hard. He ended up losing at least 10 lbs because of it.

He also redid the balcony and deck. In 2021, he built a chicken coop. That’s another story! There are always projects to do inside and out.

The downstairs was partially done, so we added flooring and a full bathroom with a shower. We are now set up to accommodate anyone who wants to stay overnight.

My only regret moving here is that it is about an hour and a half to visit the kids and grandchildren. My fibromyalgia and back issues do not do well with the drive. I sometimes stay overnight at my daughters, but since I don’t sleep well, I return home exhausted. I hope the girls will want to spend more time here without their parents once they are older.

I always managed to keep busy. There is always something to do when you own a house. I repainted most of the inside of the house. I did have some help from sisters and my oldest son. I enjoyed decorating it to our taste. Our style is a mix of sentimental old items mixed with modern. There is no such style! I only spend a little money on items because I usually get bored with them and change them for something else. The only expensive furniture we bought was our bedroom set when we married. I got bored with that, too, so part of it is in our guestroom.

David made me a nice raised garden in the backyard. I wanted to grow my own vegetables. It was much easier to maintain since it was about 2 feet off the ground.