Hi y'all!

We're back,

More to follow I imagine. Saw family, that was lovely. My BIL is a chef in Paris, can I just say the food was divine when it was his turn to cook.

Very little sailing. A couple of hours in fact is about all, got a bunch of motoring in. The wind kept blowing the wrong way.

Can I just say that it is freaking COLD here!

Saw a bear swimming from a cottaged island yesterday, never seen the likes of that before.

We did get some great sailing in, indeed we were doing over 6 knots which with our little boat is honking along.

Chuck the dog is not a bad boat dog. No barfing!!!

He got more relaxed as time went on, though he did tend to stare morosely and whine what sounded a lot like, "Land HO!!!" whenever we came near an island that looked appealing. (read all of them)

He loves the dingy (takes him to land) and has gotten used to most aspects of the whole thing.

All told pretty successfull, though I could have done with a bit more sailing, warmth and sun and a little less rain.

Boat is laid up, knee deep in laundry and the to-do list is growning again.

So looking forward to getting to Spain in many ways. Warmth for one.

All I have to do there is finalise buying a house and renovate it, in two languages.

Should be a party!

An alarming 324 blog posts in my reader. Thinking of you all...may be a while to get through all that.

Cheers and a shiver,

O

What's wrong with HER????

I am now moving so fast, and talking so incredibly fast I am afraid someone is going to hand me a diagnosis of some kind.

I went out last night with a friend. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, she hung out in the car with me while I ran errands. 10:30 last night we finally rolled into an all night grocery store and bought something for dinner. Went back home and watched Slumdog Millionaire.

Good movie.

I kept listening to myself and thinking that I just had to SHUT UP!

Could I talk anymore or faster?

Boat inspected. All well except the flare gun doesn't open. As it is optional, no problem-o.

The engine guy called to ask where the prop is. Pretty sure it ended up in storage. Blasphemous language.

He found a fix.

The poor man got my hyperactive negative response when said we would be launching tomorrow.

I. Don't. Thinksohoney.

Sling that sucker in.

Heading up tonight and I'll be off the air for a bit.

Have a great time everyone!


Cheers,

O

Update,

Warp speed continued.

I found myself carrying a book around this weekend. Not that I really had a chance to read it. I haven't had a chance to read a book in WEEKS, but I carried it around with me optimistically.

Sure, I can use large and super sharp knives without any problem while reading, don't you think?

Not.

I have abandoned the man up at the boat, sweaty and itch doing fiberglass repairs in this terrible heat, the kids are up at the cottage with the rest of my family including my sister who is in town.

I am at work trying to accomplish anything between moving furniture for the cleaners. Glad to have them, wish they would let me shut up shop before they came.

Word with the building manager is in order, no?

I am going out of town tomorrow for a week and a half, so there may be tweets, and I may blow out a post tomorrow, but I doubt it,

Have a great end of Aug,

Plan to sleep and read, then read and sleep. Rediscover who my kids are...

You know, the good stuff.

Cheers,

O

gory details

OK, here's what happened.

The tenants wanted to buy the house, but clearly thought we were stupid and offered (initially) about 250,00 below market value.

We declined.

They came up about 125,00, and were disappointed that we wanted market value for the place. You know, they weren't bad tenants, but every interaction with them was somehow irritating. How they would think that I would be happy to sell to them well below market value and they did not spring from my loins....I just don't understand.

Blessedly they opted to move out at the end of July, not without the return of their Aug and July rent. (Fat fiscal ouch there)

I was however happy to see them go and cheap at the price.

We finally got the house on the market after getting three estimates of the value from three different agents at three companies. Something I would highly recommend.

I paid a neighbourhood teen who is a wizard with basic carpentry to do some handiman stuff, he tore up and replaced the back porch, as well, he took out some broken glass and removed the 1 by 4s the tenants thought would make a nice curtain in the bathroom bolted horizontally over the window. (WTF?). He touched up the paint, removed the window the tenants broke on the way out yadda yadda yadda, I drove over there every night after the kids were in bed to give him more money for wood etc...he also hauled all of this to the dump....I am working full time here too.

Then we finally got it on the market. The agent did a great job with the ads, and we decided to hold back offers, which means there is a fixed time for bids to come in. We set it a little less than a week after the house went on the market.

We got three offers, one WAY below asking, but that was still OK, a little competition is a good thing, the second was only just above asking and their agent made it sound like they really couldn't afford the house, plus they were definitely going to put in parking, so they would cut down a lot of the trees and ruin the garden.

Yes, I know. It's not my house anymore, let it go. But still.

The last, which we took, was well above asking and it is a single woman around 30, she seems very nice and excited. Hope she takes good care of the house.

It was an 8 day closing. My lawyer nearly pitched a fit. Tooooooo bad.

I had to get all the stuff out of the basement. If you ever do anything in your life, don't accumulate junk.

We packed up originally on the premis that we were going away for a year. We kept a lot. Imagine: 7 hours to go through everything you have accumulated in your life, with 4 twenty year olds waiting and watching to be told where to put things, and a deadline that is absolute at the end.

Plus everything is filthy and some is mousy so your wearing a dust mask the whole time. Humidity about 100%.

Half your stuff is headed out to the lawn for the neighbours to pick over, and they are having a great time!

Half in the truck and half in the bin.

Goodness what a day.

Some of the stuff that had to go into storage didn't and some that didn't matter so much did, so the man and I were over at the house at three in the morning or something else horrific like that the other night bringing it to where we are staying. The next night we were there in the wee smalls to sort garbage, which we had to haul to the neighbourhood we're in.

Then we had to call the gas folks, and the water, and the hydro, plus the insurance and the bank. No cable of phone for years anyway. Find all the paperwork. The man (bless him) found the title papers in the garbage pile around midnight one night. Why they weren't in the filing cabinet I don't understand. Whatever.

Sat morning around 6:30 am I'll be there to haul away the paint cans to the hazardous waste disposal, and Wed around the same time I'll be doing garbage. Fun WOW!

It is mostly done now, except moving all the stuff into the storage, and taking some out for goodwill. That'll happen in Sept.

Have to contact the insurance again, and the bank again, plus contact our new accountant around capital gains taxes....eeeeek

All that tomorrow, because on the weekend we are all going up to the boat. The girls are going on to a cottage with my folks, the man and I will work on the boat in the hopes of launching on Tuesday. There is a bunch of icky fiberglassing kind of work to do there to.

I have to work Mon and Tue, we have to get the boat fixed and inspected, and then launched, the man will stay up there and I will go back up on Tue night with the dog, drive back down around 4:30 am or so on Wed, do the garbage at the house, return the rental car and take the bus back up...then off to the cottage as well, and some sailing.

I'll try to post again before we go.

Hoping you're all doing well and thanks for your tolerance in my very very sporadic postings.

There's my story.

It's been an adventure. Kinda sad to see the house go. What can you do.

House is sold, got the cash! Sort of....

My sister is in town, too busy to see her....we'll see her later.

House is sold, got the money!

Apt is full of stuff, the lovely guys I hired managed to pack a bunch of stuff that didn't matter and not pack a lot of stuff that did....so now it is spread out all over my house being handled and spread further by my kids.

Fun fun fun!

Love ya all,

Someday I'll be able to blog, getting on the boat on Sat and I'll be off the air for two weeks....

May get the occasional post in anyway.

Nothing brilliant to say....

Ooooh, I had a big fat sushi pig out for lunch.

Life is SWEET!

Now, about that red bull.....

Send me energy, m'kay

I've got 6 more days till I can relax...

Send me all the good energy you can!

Blogger's making me mad.

OMG,

I just wrote a huge long post about the whole saga of selling the house and blogger just lost it.

It is too late to do it again, and I am too tired.

I am so sorry.

I had even saved it an it didn't go.

Rage.

Further report

OK, here's what happened.

The tenants wanted to buy the house, but clearly thought we were stupid and offered (initially) about 250,00 below market value.

We declined.

They came up about 125,00, and were disappointed that we wanted market value for the place. You know, they weren't bad tenants, but every interaction with them was somehow irritating. How they would think that I would be happy to sell to them well below market value and they did not spring from my loins....I just don't understand.

Blessedly they opted to move out at the end of July, not without their Aug and July rent. (Fat fiscal ouch there)

I was however happy to see them go and cheap at the price.

We finally got the house on the market after getting three estimates of the value from three different agents at three companies. Something I would highly recommend.

I paid a neighbourhood teen who is a wizard with basic carpentry to do some handiman stuff, he tore up and replaced the back porch, as well, he took out some broken glass and removed the 1 by 4s the tenants thought would make a nice curtain in the bathroom bolted horizontally over the window. (WTF?). He touched up the paint, removed the window the tenants broke on the way out yadda yadda yadda, I drove over there every night after the kids were in bed to give him more money for wood etc...he also hauled all of this to the dump....I am working full time here too.

Then we finally got it on the market. The agent did a great job with the ads, and we decided to hold back offers, which means there is a fixed time for bids to come in. We set it a little less than a week after the house went on the market.

We got three offers, one WAY below asking, but that was still OK, a little competition is a good thing, the second was only just above asking and their agent made it sound like they really couldn't afford the house, plus they were definitely going to put in parking, so they would cut down a lot of the trees and ruin the garden.

Yes, I know. It's not my house anymore, let it go. But still.

The last, which we took, was well above asking and it is a single woman around 30, she seems very nice and excited. Hope she takes good care of the house.

It was an 8 day closing. My lawyer nearly pitched a fit. Tooooooo bad.

I had to get all the stuff out of the basement. If you ever do anything in your life, don't accumulate junk.

We packed up originally on the premis that we were going away for a year. We kept a lot. Imagine: 7 hours to go through everything you have accumulated in your life, with 4 twenty year olds waiting and watching to be told where to put things, and a deadline that is absolute at the end.

Plus everything is filthy and some is mousy so your wearing a dust mask the whole time. Humidity about 100%.

Half your stuff is headed out to the lawn for the neighbours to pick over, and they are having a great time!

Half in the truck and half in the bin.

Goodness what a day.

Some of the stuff that had to go into storage didn't and some that didn't matter so much did, so the man and I were over at the house at three in the morning or something else horrific like that the other night bringing it to where we are staying. The next night we were there in the wee smalls to sort garbage, which we had to haul to the neighbourhood we're in.

Then we had to call the gas folks, and the water, and the hydro, plus the insurance and the bank. No cable of phone for years anyway. Find all the paperwork. The man (bless him) found the title papers in the garbage pile around midnight one night. Why they weren't in the filing cabinet I don't understand. Whatever.

Sat morning around 6:30 am I'll be there to haul away the paint cans to the hazardous waste disposal, and Wed around the same time I'll be doing garbage. Fun WOW!

It is mostly done now, except moving all the stuff into the storage, and taking some out for goodwill. That'll happen in Sept.

Have to contact the insurance again, and the bank again, plus contact our new accountant around capital gains taxes....eeeeek

All that tomorrow, because on the weekend we are all going up to the boat. The girls are going on to a cottage with my folks, the man and I will work on the boat in the hopes of launching on Tuesday. There is a bunch of icky fiberglassing kind of work to do there to.

I have to work Mon and Tue, we have to get the boat fixed and inspected, and then launched, the man will stay up there and I will go back up on Tue night with the dog, drive back down around 4:30 am or so on Wed, do the garbage at the house, return the rental car and take the bus back up...then off to the cottage as well, and some sailing.

I'll try to post again before we go.

Hoping you're all doing well and thanks for your tolerance in my very very sporadic postings.

There's my story.

It's been an adventure. Kinda sad to see the house go. What can you do.

Groan

My plan for the day had been to chiefly lie around and groan.

Some of that was done. I am feeling better now and didn't need to take any pharmacuticals to make it happen.

These thunderstorms are kind of getting in the way of some of the stuff I need to get done. They are spectacular though. Goodness.

The man has arrived. Snoring now, but what can you expect poor thing.

Time to groan my way off to bed. More moving tomorrow night, and a funeral tomorrow morning. I'd be amazed if I made it on air.

Cheers,

O

We all own far far far too much stuff.

Moved things all freaking day!

We all have way too much stuff. MUST PURGE OFTEN!!!

I am sore now, and going to be more sore tomorrow, and it ain't even finished....

Mostly, but not all.

Then there is the garbage. The horror.