Thursday, July 5, 2012

New territory

Gosh, how long has it been? It seems like an entire summer's passed by us since we posted about I heart Guts! Thanks for the funny comments on that btw. Things have been happening here that prevented all recent posting. Big things. I no sooner promised you all a new adventure than the adventure turned on its heels and tried to hijack me into a whole new blog. I'm trying so hard to resist it too because as you all are aware - I have a few too many in the wings already. The original story was this: Stella and Gigi (the tail-free cat) and I went house sitting this summer. In the middle of May we moved into a house in east Nashville that was built in the late 1800's. It is a grand place and we love having all of this extra room not to mention the amenities of a top-notch bed and breakfast. I'm doing the cooking and cleaning of course but it far exceeds our former crib. When we moved here I put all of my things in storage and the plan was that I would look for a house to buy over the summer and move out when my friends return at the end of October. Thanks to my dear mom, who decided I should inherit something of hers without her having to die for it (brilliant) I'd been looking online at houses for almost a year. At the beginning of June she gave me the go ahead to look seriously and not realizing what was about to happen I called a super smart real estate guy named Roger and gave him a short list of things I wanted. It went something like this: screened-in porch, fence, lots of light and maybe a little garden I could reinvent or tend to. No knotty pine. Then I said a little prayer that made reference both to an "oasis" and the "Garden of Eden."

And you know what happened after that, right?




I bought a garden. It came with a house. 
It's a cool house but the garden is mind boggling. In fact, if I had a couple of hens and a little goat I might never have to leave there again. In the photo just above -  those are raspberries. There's an herb garden, fruit trees, a family of state-fair-sized bunnies and a Wisteria draped carport that may actually have me for dinner some dusky evening. What a way to go though. I'd die a happy woman, especially if that broad was in full bloom. 

We haven't actually moved in yet but Stella seems to love it over there. I promise we'll return shortly with some more relevant d.o.g. type stuff. Hope you all have some wild excitement in your life as well.

9 comments:

Lori Stewart Weidert said...

Wonderful! Congratulations! Can hardly wait to read more in the future.

Susan Rose said...

CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a homeowner!!! Your garden/yard is beautful. I'm sure that Stella will be a huge help with the yard maintenance. She can be in charge of digging holes while you're mowing, trimming, pruning, and pulling weeds. Gigi will enjoy sleuthing around in all the flora. (Look out, bunnies!)

My feral cats finally understand that my yard is "their yard," and they lounge around like a pride of lions every evening.

Beth said...

It IS the Garden of Eden, but with raspberries instead of apples. And I don't care what havoc Wisteria can wreak. I love it.

I wish we could magically smush Pensacola and Nashville closer together so I could bring you and Stella some move-in icy gazpacho and shrimp cocktails.

Your Mom must be so pleased. Now you can enjoy that inheritance together and you won't have to say, "Oh, I wish Mom could see this." May she live a long, long time.

SusanA said...

Thanks all, it is outrageous fun even in light of the gritty homeowner-type stuff that I didn't pay that much attention to at first. My new old plaster walls for example are so rough that when the home inspector shined a flashlight down the wall I nearly passed out. Made him turn it off in fact! Thankfully even that didn't trump the raspberries or the Wisteria. Apparently I've established priorities whereupon bunnies come before level floors however ridiculous that may seem. (Now that I'm thinking about it, I sure hope those real estate agents didn't truck those bunnies in. hahaaha)

And Beth, I've seen your culinary work and the distance between us is getting shorter by the minute :)

Beth said...

Oh noooo -- NOT the bunny stagers!

Beverly said...

I am soooo happy for you, and even happier that you are 2.2 miles down the road from me!

Good on Betty for doing this now. She is a wise woman. It's easy to see where your smarts come from. xo

Sarah Shoesmith said...

Yay! I LOVE a big project and I look forward to reading more. Congratulations! Wishing you lots of happiness in your new home.

SusanA said...

GS: Thanks for the visit. I so wish I could invite all the gardeners over for a field day. I'm thinking I will have to offer them a lot more than peaches and mint tea but I could probably use some supervision :) I've already caused the wisteria to commence blooming again (which seems like a gift but...)

Susan Rose said...

I keep checking for a new post, and when I see there is none, I'm reminded that you're house sitting, setting up a new home, dealing with mega-Wisteria, and also trying to make a living. So...I WILL be patient. :)