My Last Home

Here's the story of our last home. It was our 2nd home since we married. Our home was always in a state of one renovation.  Let's say that there were 3 phases to what we did. The first phase was purchasing and gutting the home. It was the worst house on an otherwise, lovely street. We were looking to move from a builder, cookie-cutter home after (what was suppose to be one year) four years. I was so motivated to move! I hated looking out my bedroom window to see row after row of fence with no sign of mature trees.

The real estate agent actually apologized to me before we entered our soon-to-be home. The street seemed to have been plonked into the midst of a forest, beautiful mature trees and yet, we were only 15 minutes from downtown (with no traffic). But be warned, these photos are NOT pretty! Here are the "Befores" and I will soon add the "Afters", one by one.

BEFORE:

Check out the Rubbermaid steps! I know...there's more to gape at!

The house is a 1950's home that was, sort-of, a duplex, but not rented. There was a kitchen and living quarters upstairs. The lady of the house had Alzheimer's and I imagine that made things easier for her. The sunshine coming through the back is lovely. I can understand her being there; ladybugs and all. The man of the house was the Fire Chief of Port Credit. You can't see it, but the was a huge emblem shield hung beside the front door outside. We gave it to a neighbour who was a fireman. They don't do it anymore, but once a year, we would see a fire engine drive slowly by the house, to pay respect to Joe. He pass away after trimming a Maple in the front. There are many stories about Joe, who was quite the character. He like to sit on the roof and call down to the kids playing on the street.

So, we had the infestation of Ladybugs (not so horrifying), but also Cluster Flies (HORRIFYING!). I suppose it could be worse. One thing to note here to others contemplating the same thing: note the tree growing under the carport (the lattice we added). You can see it in the background at the right middle of the photo (not the Peach tree in the foreground). It was about 4 feet high and looked like a Maple. We replanted it about 6 feet into the back yard. It was a Maple. A Male Norwegian maple that now stands about 30-40 feet and I wish I never planted it. Helicopter galour each Autumn. I will explain more later.

And here is the backyard view (not necessarily an improvement from the last house, but full of potential)...

This is early Spring, so the tree and bushes haven't filled out yet. The back is filled with Forsythia, Duetzia, Mock Orange and mature tall cedars.

Next time: the inside....