Deciding where I go from here

The second offer on my condo has been withdrawn.  And I have taken it off the market until the issue that caused this is resolved.  Something else also came up, was not an issue in the potential sale, but a surprise; my furnace is no longer safe to run.  Found this out when I was going to have it serviced.  The prospective buyer and I had reached a satisfactory agreement about this.  

Now that there won't be a sale my number one priority is getting the furnace replaced.   I don't feel it is safe to run it and am pretty sure I am going to want heat come November and after.  With the aid of my wonderful plumber (Burke & Sons, Groveland, MA) and MassSaves I will get a high efficiency furnace for less than simply replacing what I now have would cost.  While I continue to live here, I will get the benefit of lower heating costs and this will add to the value when I look to sell again.

The problem that could not be settled has to do with significant structural work needed and involves the Condo Association.  Reaching a satisfactory commitment to how this would be resolved simply did not happen within a time frame acceptable to the buyer.  I don't fault the buyer, extraordinary patience was given with delays and extensions.  It just was not getting resolved.

So, I find myself not selling and not moving for I don't know how long.  The scope of the structural work required needs to be defined.  Who is responsible for paying for what needs to be determined, that is the really big problem.  And then it is a matter of waiting for the selected contractor to be available to do the work, a 2 to 3 day job, probably Spring at the earliest.

So, I am here, in my home for the rest of the fall and all of winter and then who knows how long.  But, right now it doesn't feel like my home.  For purposes of staging I took down so much art and decor that pleased me so that it presented as very neutral hotel rooms.  I also put away a lot of stuff, including some furniture to enhance the spaciousness of the rooms.

These changes have been a real impediment to my living in my space as I like.  And, always having to have it "ready to show" effected what I did, when I did it, etc.  I don't want to continue to not live in my home as if I am a temporary guest any more.

But, if I may be putting it back on the market come Spring, I don't want to just put everything back where it was knowing in not that many months I will have to put it all away again.  

So, I have to decide what to put where and what not to put anywhere. This is feeling very overwhelming.  I think mainly because these past weeks trying to reach agreeable sale terms has been very stressful.  I know I am exhausted.  I feel like I was dealing with something of major importance relating to the sale everyday.  

So, my immediate plan is to not do a whole lot of anything.  With the stress of this potential sale over, no surprise I have gotten ill.  I will use this present time to rest, get well, to sew, quilt, embroider and not be concerned with keeping things in "showplace order".  

I have been working on a few different quilt projects, some of which are surprise gifts.  Once they have been given (early November) I will post pictures, am quite excited about all of them.  This creative outlet has been the balm to my sanity during all this and will, I am sure, be the activity that sustains me over the next months.

Word is out

I moved into my present home in Nov 1999. I moved in with my daughters and our two cats, Muffin and KoKo.  By the end of that year we had added JoJo and SouSou to the family.  So for these past 19 years this home has always had cats in attendance.

Living on the edge of a state forest I have enjoyed the assorted bird and wildlife that wanders by.  I've become comfortable with the variety of insects that can wiggle through the tiny holes in screens and want to stay.  Mostly I capture them and send them on their way.  If they we offering to chip into the mortgage payment I might be more welcoming!

I am also used to field mice looking to take up residence in the crawl space.  Not at all welcoming there.  Think they are a bit like rabbits and would soon have an army in possession of that space.  So, not quite so kindly, I have an exterminator lay bait traps.  Mostly the mice have been gracious enough to partake of the bait and wander elsewhere to end their lives.

Only once in these years did I have a field mouse inside the house.  And I am pretty certain it hopped in when I would leave one of the doors ajar so the cats could come and go as they pleased.  I became aware of it when, while watching TV, I thought, oh, how cute, all of them are playing with the same toy!  Then "the toy" squeaked and I recalled, they don't have any toys that make "that noise".  Checked it out, sure enough they were tormenting a mouse.  Was able to capture it and set it free, far from my doors.  That was over 10 years ago.

I have now been without any cats for over a week.  Yesterday morning I came into the kitchen as usual, turned on the lights, and went to make a coffee.  I glanced at my sink and there sitting upright, looking a little confused and concerned was a field mouse.  In the sink!  

Now, I happen to think they are really the cutest little things.  Big pink ears, big pink nose and tail.  This one was a brownish grey, hence the color "mousey brown".  He just sat frozen watching me.  I put a glass over him, slide some paper under it and took him outside and set him free.

As I was waiting for my coffee I thought, well, the word has gotten out to the natural world, no more cats in this abode.  What they never realized is, mine were never mousers.  Rather, if they found a mouse, or any other critter, they would have wanted me to adopt it also!!!!