Letters from “The Old Manse” #3(Jan 20/14)

Howdy everyone,

Its amazing how quickly the week has gone by…..no snow storms…just a little dusting today…..but I just don’t know where the week went.

So its been busy and we have had some very mild and muddy weather.  We finally had the old excuvator removed from the driveway back to its home down the road…..I think I may have mentioned that last week.  As well we had the dumpster dropped off and we are starting to fill it with junk from around the house, barn and yard.

You wouldn’t believe what people discard in their backyards…….an upright piano…..but it took us about 20 minutes to figure out what it was as it was behind the barn in the backyard……rotting……the board that holds all the wires had bent flingy wires all over the place…..unbelievable…but believable as we found it……. and piece by pieces in a bucket I discarded the pieces of the past musical item in the dumpster……

Going through the crap the previous owners left behind is well….in some cases interesting and head shaking at the same time.  We have come across just about everything you can imagine….old deeds to other property’s  death notices…..menu plans….budgets…..recipes…..who gets what when one dies lists….junk….old kids toys….tacky Christmas decorations that could scare you have to death….nuts, bolts, screws, nails….car stuff…..even an old engine block…..seriously stuff  that you stand there look at and say to yourself…..why did you leave this stuff behind and what on earth could you possibly use that for….lol.

On the other side its been nice to be out for hours on end getting fresh air and cleaning up…..and planning what we are going to do.

Well, I have become rather good at building fires these days as you have your early morning fire, your toasty fires……hot coals fire and goodnight fires…..I never thought I would be doing that like those who pioneered before us…..its refreshing and kind of a beautiful change from what we have been used to.  This simpler lifestyle is very desirable.  I sometimes sit or stand and think about the people that preceded us here in this house, what was there daily life and routine like…..everything from who got up first to stoke the fire in the morning…..how early was the lady of the house up and making bread….muffins…cakes whatever they ate.  But anyways I like building fires….cletus and daisy will often lay down on the blankie mat in front of the wood-stove….enjoying the heat…..its very cute.

Often when we get up in the morning this week….we find the cats sitting on the chairs in the bathroom watching the birds at the feeder.  Speaking of the feeder….we had a pair of american golden finches…..I am so happy the different birdies are coming.  We found one bird feeder in the barn that is usable and a huge bucket of bird seed….I put it out and the birds, the chick-a-dees found it.

I was looking forward to attending Summerside Community Church today……I really enjoyed the worship, testimonies and the word.  We got to know Jim and Connie they specialize in new comers….they even invited us over for lunch today….I love the friendliness.  It makes going to a new church not feel that way at all, that is new and awkward….NOT .  The church service is set up different from what we are use to but I love it…..I feel like we have been there for a long time:)

I have so enjoyed watch Russ getting back into drafting….I see the enjoyment he gets from being creative….the new floor plans are turning out really nice…..I can’t wait….I feel the same way about entertaining new people we are meeting as well…can’t wait to have them over:)

I have really missed doing nails…..I can’t wait til i can start seeing clients again and being creative with designs…..i will probably have to dig my stuff out and do my nails some time this week.

We have been busy working on our blog site….we have the bones together for it set up and we are just updating it with some stuff we are working on…..I am very excited about getting it published so that you can all read about our old island home and life:)  This blog will be linked to the main log…..its gonna be really coolio site:)

This afternoon we went for a drive to Tyne Valley ……. it is beautiful!  Its just a small little town, Rusty tells me the oyster pub is recognized as an amazing place to go and eat……which showed for the cars outside the establishment….for such a “out of the way” place.  I look forward to see what the dam and the streets and houses look like in the spring and summer.

So with the new snow, we are looking forward to see what footprints will be out and around the house…..Murdoch has been sniffing out the yard like crazy….he cracks me up…..he chewed an old soft ball that we found in the barn….tail wagging hard and smiling I am sure.

We ll I look forward to you comments and replies….love you guys…..hope to hear from you soon

Love
Rusty & Vanessa
xoxoxo