my cup runneth over.........

"Well, stranger, here you are all safe and sound;
  You're now on shore. Methinks you look aghast,–
As if you'd made some slight mistake, and found
  A land you liked not. Think not of the past;
Your leading-strings are cut; the mystic chain
  That bound you to your fair and smiling shore
Is sever'd now, indeed. 'Tis now in vain
To sigh for joys that can return no more."

Susanna Moodie

Day 3............on this morning all seems well.  Duncan goes off to work and I set myself to the task of unpacking, hanging pictures, general nesting.   By early afternoon I begin to notice a sound from the basement and discover that it is the water pump.  Not thinking much of it I carry on with my tasks and at about 4pm decide it is time for shower.  I turn the on the top and it is dry, we have no water.  I call my husband and thankfully he is on his way home from work.  He thinks its a problem with the water pump and spends hours trying to get a prime.  He is unable to do so and we go to bed without showers, without water.

The next day we discover that the well has run nearly dry so therefore we decide to implement the back up system, the cister.  I ask a neighbour as to whom one calls for water and he gives me the number of 'The Waterman'.  They come quickly to fill our cistern with as much as it will hold and put the remainder into the well.  Duncan once again returns to the basement to get to the pump going and while there hears a glug glug sound followed by a steady stream of water.  The cistern LEAKS!  What a nightmare!   

We call again for help, help arrives but is unable to fix things that night and we once again go to bed without showers, without water.

Our cup is dry...................

there's no turning back.........

Our first morning in our new country home should have been full of promises, sadly this was not the case.  We awoke to a freezing cold house as the furnace had stopped working at some point though out the night. It was -15c outside and only 13c inside.  My husband, Duncan, was frantically pushing all of the buttons on the thermostat but to no avail.  We had no choice but to call a technician to come and have a look.  Later that afternoon someone came only to tell us that the 'mother board' in the furnace had died.  Who knew that a furnace had a mother board, we didn't.  He also informed us that the levels of carbon monoxide were so off the charts that he had to come up from the basement for fresh air as he was feeling light headed.  I immediately went off the store to purchase one as I was not going to bed that night without it.

Being Sunday we couldn't get the mother board until the next day.  So he left us with a couple of space heaters pointed at plumbing so that the pipes wouldn't freeze causing another disaster.  Our furnace was finally fixed at about 8pm on Monday night and heat was once again pumping from the vents.  We were once again on the up swing, surely this was the worst of it.........or so we  thought!

goodbye city, hello country.........

Our Country Home

'Tis well for us poor denizens of earth
That God conceals the future from our gaze;
Or Hope, the blessed watcher on Life's tower,
Would fold her wings, and on the dreary waste
Close the bright eye that through the murky clouds
Of blank Despair still sees the glorious sun'..........Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie



February 1, 2010..........

Moving day have finally arrived, excitement is in the air, we are finally emigrating from the city to the country.  What could be more blissful than our first day in our new country home.  The air is cold and crisp, the sun is high in the sky and friends have arrived to help with the emigration process with the promise of beer and pizza awaiting them at the end.  We say goodbye to our city abode with no regrets and we are off to begin our new life in the country.  

How could we have known what was lurking beneath this sweet exterior.  Her beauty had fooled us into believing that nothing could go wrong.  And so it begins....................