Time for a new chapter

I have been contemplating the move to Port Dover for a couple of years now. When I viewed a house there last fall I decided that if it was still on the market in the spring, I would offer on it. It was, I did and it was accepted. So now I must sell the Long Point house. It has all happened rather fast but my house goes on the market on Friday.
Nicola came down Thursday night and we have spent the last 3 days; purging (dump, thrift store and kijiji), packing, moving furniture, storing stuff in the upstairs of the garage and staging.

On Thursday evening a Blanding's Turtle got stuck under one of the Yucca's. We left her alone and an hour later she was gone.

While we chatted and drank wine Rasta was also totally relaxed. He had no idea what the next couple of days would bring.

I had to post a picture of the Amaryllis as it is 2' tall and has 4 beautiful blooms.

Above the garage,

its hard to believe how much "excess" furniture I have.

One of the great things about Long Point is "the end of the driveway recycling system". At the end of the driveway we put; 2 lamps, 4 side tables, 2 old chests of drawers, 75% of the tools, a bathroom sink and cabinet, a small piece of bathroom linoleum, a huge empty bottle of Rye (it will make some people cry but I poured the remaining half of the bottle down the drain. I don't know anyone who drinks Rye and George won that bottle about 25 years ago)and  a cat bed and climber. All that remains is one of the chests and the roll of linoleum. Better than taking it all to landfill.

The "Coming Soon" sign went up on Friday, the photographer will be here Thursday and hopefully it will be up on MLS next Friday.

Dave came on Friday and helped Nicky with some of the heavy lifting that I cannot do. Nic and Dave have moved 13 times. That is a lot of house sales and this is their "Patron Saint of House Sales", a very old, bent card of Capt James T. Kirk (quirky sense of humor, these 2).

I don't know when their tradition started but they bury it/him at the entrance to the house, so he/it is buried next to the gnome that Heather gave me, so they keep each other company.

I am going to post pictures of the house as it is now, over the next few blog posts, so that I have a record.

People coming to see it now

will get a great show of Iris.

Last fall, my real estate agent sent a "house stager" and we followed some of her suggestions (too much furniture, take down the shelves in the basement)

But we didn't take down all the pictures

because it looks bare enough already. Just the family pictures.

We removed most of my rug hooking ; pillows and rugs.

My coffee table has never, I mean never, been this empty.

The coffee table needed something more and I couldn't put a plant on it as Rasta would chew it (at night, while I was sleeping), so the large cup and saucer that Lynn M. gave me, with a candle in it, fits the bill. Poor Rasta; no cat condo, no table behind the couch, very few cushions. He's lucky though, we were actually discussing taking out the top bunk, his favorite spot to hang out.

I'm sure I will get used to it but it doesn't feel like my house right now. It doesn't feel homey.

Of course I could lose the Port Dover house if someone comes in and makes them an unconditional offer (which is what we did when we bought the house in Paris), then I will just have to accept "it wasn't meant to be" and look some more.

I like Christine's optimistic approach. She said, to Jason, "Yes I'm sad Mum is selling the cottage but we will have fun at her next place too!"

It's all about the birds

Victoria Day weekend. "The unofficial start of summer". For at least the last 10 years Christine and her group of friends have been coming to the cottage to launch summer. One year there were 18 of us. It was a tight squeeze and each meal meant moving furniture, but George was in his element. This year. No-one! And I heard from them; missing it.

Saturday was a beautiful day but there were comparatively few cars at the parking area. Most, not all, respected the "Beach Closed" signs, and walked on the road or bird watched in the park.

Simon came and dug up some plants for their garden in Port Dover and we had coffee on the deck. I did some gardening, including starting to get the pots replanted with Geraniums and on the beach side deck.

But my big entertainment (and Nicola's when she came to visit on Sunday) has been the birds.

This is one of my favorite birds and he only stuck around for a couple of days. Red Headed Woodpecker.

The Baltimore Oriole joined the battle for the sugar water (with the Humming Birds and the Downy Woodpeckers)

The first Rose Breasted Grosbeak of the season.

Sitting, reading on the back deck and a Bald Eagle flew over.

When I went for a walk I saw this bird in a large puddle on a lawn. Larger than the wading birds we usually get on the beach. Looking him up in my bird book he may be a Baird's Sandpiper (considered scarce)

On a walk with Nicola, we saw Swans with cygnets,

 Goldfinchs (though this was the palest one I have ever seen, almost white)

and Indigo Buntings (lousy picture but he flew before I could zoom in )

The other entertainers are of the 4 legged kind. A Chipmunk foraging under the feeders,

 attacked by a Mourning Dove, not prepared to share the territory

and the amazingly gymnastic Squirrels

who manage to get to the feeders wherever I move them.

Meanwhile, I finished hooking the second lady. The one on the left is drinking coffee, she's the designated driver. You can't see the hands of the one in the centre but I have decided she was hot, out shopping, and is drinking a tall gin and tonic.

Speaking of hot; in Pissouri they are complaining about the heat. This shot, taken off Face Book, shows the village square at 8:50am and its already 37 degrees!

Yippee! Out of quarantine!

The last couple of days of quarantine were spent doing much the same as the previous 12.

In the garden. This exotic

looking plant

is just a Horse Chestnut, ready to leaf out.

Bird watching. Chickadees and Nut Hatches are back.

Squirrel watching. They think they own the place and chatter angrily at me whenever I am walking around the property.

Watching TV. It was very weird to watch the Voice with the judges and contestants using Microsoft Teams and staying in their own homes. Kelly Clarkson with a glass of red wine that she used to cheers a good performance.

On the Internet. I found a Face Book post by Dominique of one of my patterns ready to be shipped to a customer. Very professional looking.

Rug Hooking. One of my three "Ladies do Coffee" is done. The second one just needs the window and bar behind her done and the third needs her hat and shopping bag and the background stuff.

And then today, I actually got into the car and drove out of the driveway!!! Muttering to myself "stay right, stay right". It feels like forever since I last drove and it is 41/2 months since I last drove on the right.

The first stop was the feed store to get more sunflower seeds. Yep, that's a squirrel trying to get into the feeder in the background.

Next stop; Hometown Plants Garden Centre. I had a list but I also just wandered through the greenhouse because it felt so good to be there.

Tomatoes, Rosemary, Kale, Lettuce. For the pots on the posts on the porch, Portulaca and Lobelia. For the pots on the beach side deck, Geraniums (I finally threw out the ones that had been growing in them for the last 8 years). I forgot to buy the bush bean seeds (I will have to go back).

Then I drove up to the farm where I usually get asparagus but it was closed. I am hoping that it was just because it was cold last night and the plants spears didn't grow much. I hope it isn't because of problems getting their seasonal workers. I have been reading about the rules for their isolation and accommodation due to the virus and some farmers just can't afford to bring them in.

Driving back into the village I saw this carpet of Trillium

and had to stop to take pictures.

Then it was a quick stop at the grocery store, check the mailbox on the way back and ferry everything into the house before going for a walk along Beach Ave. Along the way I noticed a little bird repetitively darting off a branch and then returning to it. It had rusty stripes down its side and I thought to myself "probably called something like a rufus sided warbler".

I looked it up, it was a Chestnut Sided Warbler. This is not my picture, its off Wikepedia, I didn't have my camera with me and he was probably too fast for me to get a decent picture of him anyway. They winter in Central America. Poor thing, having to deal with the cold now.

Guest Photographer; Rob Woods, Cyprus.
Jimmy sent me these pictures from a walk that he and Rob took.

They went on the Pine Bay walk. The grasses are really brown now. Everyone there is complaining about the heat.

To the little chapel that was closed when I visited it.

Cyprus is loosening some of its restrictions, so it was open and this is the interior.

Back passed the goat farm.

In Cyprus now you can go to the beach to swim but not to sunbath. You can go to the hairdresser. You can leave your house up to 3 times a day and walk further afield than when I left. I think the restaurants are opening too.
Kay commented that she enjoys the time "between the fireplace and the fans", best of all. They are now needing to use fans and then it will be the air conditioner.
I agree, March and April were definitely the best weather. Windows could be open during the day. You didn't need the heaters on. It wasn't too hot to walk. There was little rain but there was still some. Plants were thriving. Sitting outside was comfortable.