Settling In

Souvenirs of the move and recent work.

Last night all the work of late caught up with me. I went to bed at 8:00 pm and slept solidly until 5:00 am this morning. It felt great to finally get a long, deep sleep. It’s a sign of slowly believing this place is home.

And I’ve discovered the miracle of electric heat. I’m already sick of heating exclusively with wood. I’m going to use electricity during the days and the fire in the late afternoons/evenings. There are five baseboard heaters but I only use two at a very low setting. It’s so easy!

Yesterday my newly fixed guest toilet flooded and last night my plan was to chill with Netflix and Leon but my Netflix access was denied. Then this morning my email wouldn’t work after working yesterday. As Gilda Radner, whom I adored, used to say: “It’s always something.”

Everything is working now except the toilet and I’m going to try to fix that tomorrow. Today I’m stuck at home waiting for Telus to install a landline. I’m using my time to figuring out garbage collection — I’ve sent an email to the Regional District for instructions — and where to find and how to access my surface mail.

On the plus side: My bird feeder is hugely popular — particularly with Steller’s Jays. My yard is alive with birds — even a huge, gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker and his mate. I hung the feeder on the side of the house where I could see it every day; it’s away from the backyard where all my life will be in the summer. And this morning I hung my hummingbird feeder.

And I’m on my second pie from the pie lady whom the local government is trying to shut down.

I took the tangled and broken venetian blinds off the windows and cleaned the glass and what a difference it makes. To celebrate I’m on my second pie from the pie lady (whom the local government is trying to shut down).

I still can’t talk to strangers. I’ll admit to being a little disappointed by that. Perhaps I was naïve but I did hope there’d be an immediate improvement. Sigh. 

The Telus guy came and was as friendly and chatty as the Shaw fellow. I’m really impressed by the friendliness of everyone.

Paradise Found!

6:15 Sunday Morning: About Saturday.

I’m at my new desk. The move was huge.

I woke up at 3:30 am Saturday morning and I was fully engaged packing up my car with final stuff including, at the very end, Leon’s litter box and Leon. We roared out of the garage at 5:15 with Leon loose in the car. There was no room in the car for his carrying case.

We got to the ferry and discovered I’d reserved for Friday morning instead of Saturday so you can imagine how my gut churned, but I got onto the 6:20 am sailing anyway. Leon, was super stressed at first, howling and pacing, but I held him and stayed with him the whole time. Soon he was perched on the dashboard in the sun, calm and curios.

I got the keys from the realtor in Nanaimo; my brain was working at about 30% so I had trouble and had to cell her for help. And then we got in line for Gabriola. Et voila, we were here.

By the time I’d emptied my car and got Leon established, I swept the walk and just as I was finishing the movers arrived — and so did Todd.

Now Todd. He’s a man’s man and the dearest of friends; we’re perfectly compatible. He arrived at around eleven and went immediately to work to check the chimney and get the hot tub going. He’s a mechanical genius. Fuses were blowing, no switched were working and he just kept at it and got everything going — my water, my hot water, the hot tub and the fireplace.

I would have been helpless without him — truly helpless.

While we were working, Patsy, a long-time friend and resident of the island arrived with ratatouille and man were we glad of that a few hours later.

We worked hard all day, got pizza for dinner at nearby pizzeria and went to bed around nine.

6:40 am Monday Morning: About Sunday.

Monday I was up at 5:30 and I went straight to work. I emptied boxes and put things away — anywhere for now — while Todd got all the exterior lights working, put all the chemicals into the hot tub and he assembled all the beds, the patio heater and the bar-b-q.

We went for a break at lunch to get some great meat to bar-b-q for dinner and we went to the local pie lady’s place on Sea View Lane where you take pies and leave money in a jar. I loved that.

Then it was back to work as the place started to take shape. Rooms have definition and there are things on the walls and we both took great pleasure in it. Todd, a builder, is very impressed by the craftsmanship in the home and how everything has been constructed.

He found a burst pipe in the basement that the inspector missed and he went to the hardware store, got replacement parts and soldered in a new pipe. Can you feel my love for him? This move would have traumatized me without his skills and warmth. I absolutely love him and always have.

We found a passive (fake) Persian rug in the crawl space and its is fabulous in the space. It now looks great in my living room.

At 5:00-ish we stopped. And I wish I’d taken a photo but I didn’t. We had a hot tub and drank champagne and oh my God do I love the hot tub. Oh my God! I was so opposed to human soup makers, but tomorrow Todd is going to teach me all I need to know about maintaining it as I will never be without it.

I’ve always loved baths; I should have known I’d love the hot tub. It’s brand new. All the tags were still on it.

And then we cooked our dinner on my very fancy and spectacular bar-b-q. I’ve never had one before. And then we had pie for dessert, then some lovely downtime just chatting while Todd had some tea and then, just like last night, we went to bed early.

It’s truly my home now that my furniture, art and sounds fill it.

And Leon! What a cat. He has adapted spectacularly. His appetite is ravenous, he’s interested in the outdoors for sure but patient to experience it. He’s found his places he likes to sleep and my impression is that he’s as happy as I am.

I love my new rich rosewood desk. I’ve got to reorganize myself though and it’s going to take a while; I had a spectacularly efficient office in my condo.

3:15 pm Monday afternoon: About Monday with Todd.

The sun is shining and it’s beautiful outside; my cabin gets wonderfully bright exposure. And Todd’s just left. Now I’m on my own. As I sit at my desk to type all I see is forest out of every window.

There’re so many things to do that I can barely stand to stop working to type. But what a place I have. It’s looking absolutely spectacular with my stuff and all my new furniture. I’m going to keep at it tonight and tomorrow before Shaw arrives to install my Internet so that I can take photos to attach to this post.

I wish I’d done this ten years ago.

Anyway … I made Todd breakfast and that felt great. Then we set to work: He fixed a clogged drain in my guest bathroom and assembled my deck table. I continued to empty boxes. Then, just before his departure, we had a hot tub together. I’m a convert; I will use it every day.

I’d be in a very sorry state were it not for Todd. He got the water and hot water going, the hot tub, the patio heater and the bar-b-q. Plus he fixed a whack of things the building inspector missed. What a guy!

8:00 pm Monday Night: About Monday with just Leon.

I continued sorting and putting things away all afternoon and until now. My place looks like I’ve lived here forever but my storage area is chaos (and I could care less).

Part of one bed didn’t arrive but that’s been the only real problem I’ve had (thanks largely to Todd). And tonight I did a laundry. That felt good.

I’ve done an incredibly wonderful thing for myself, moving here. The quiet is something of which I am constantly aware.

My first experience with Ravens was astounding. There were six of them and you can hear their wings as the wind passes through them. They are huge birds and their call is haunting. Mostly I hear Jays.

And dark! Holy cow is it dark at night. There are no streetlights so it's really black.

I cannot believe my good fortune. Gabriola is all I hoped it would be. It’s even better. I particularly love the roadside vendors. I want to never leave.

I have a short list of missing things and a long list of things I need to get at the fabulous hardware store here. God I love this place.

At 10:30 I went to bed. When I get up tomorrow I will have things I can do but nothing that must be done. Everything is in order. Yowza!

5:30 Tuesday Morning: Internet Day

Today really feels like day one on Gabriola. The past two days have been only work but today is going to be my first “normal” day. A day not defined by unpacking and getting things working; a day to enjoy.

And I’m terribly excited about getting Internet and cable services today. I haven’t missed being connected but it will make Gabriola seem even more like home and I’ll be able to connect again with friends, know the weather predictions and to buy a new fridge. My fridge is shot. I use the outdoors.

And of course: Email! Yessss!

I'm Gone (for a while)

Goodbye. I’m signing off from Vancouver and I won’t be posting here again until Tuesday when I’ll begin posting from Gabriola! Yay!

My last day as a Vancouver resident began this morning at 5:00 am. I enjoyed the calm before the movers arrived at eight. And then it began….

It took a little less than two hours to get everything out and then the team went to the Rosewood warehouse to get up all my new furniture. Now I’m condemned to exist in an (almost) empty condo.

The buyer of my place took my bed and dining room table so at least I have them — and my Internet connection still works but I’m sitting on an inverted garbage can for a chair. At least I have my bed to sleep on here tonight and the table to use for a reading surface.

Tonight it’s early to bed so I rise bright and early tomorrow morning for the ferry rides to Gabriola.

Yesterday was all about home insurance.

BCAA rejected me and I walked out of place #2 in a bad mood. Both places rejected me because I wanted to insure a log cabin that was Canadian-made. But they were willing to insure Lindal Cedar log cabins that are American made. I was pissed, to be frank, so I contacted the builders and found an agency that will likely charge the earth but I’ll have insurance. I expect to be purchasing a policy later today.

Todd is coming to Gabriola alone. Hudson decided not to come but Todd’s fine with his son’s decision. He’s also very excited about us having three days together. We love to cook and he’s very keen to get my fireplace and hot tub running. I feel so blessed in his company; he’s a lot like Dwight in character.

Me: Hot tub: Log cabin: Fireplace; Studio. Pinch me!

Guests are lining up. There’s Todd, of course, this weekend. Then Bruce and Caryn come Oct. 26^th for the day and Ally and Peter are coming October 30^th to stay for two or three days. It’s like when I moved to Nice. When you move to idyllic places, people come to visit.

Finished Packing; Leon

I’m a little stunned that this move just keeps rolling on. Here I thought I was almost finished but dealing with the many “little things I’ll leave for later” turned out to be a seven-hour workout today. But now I'm truly done.

As dawn was breaking and I was fetching something from the fridge — yes, it was diet coke at 6:30 in the morning — I realized how much I’m going to miss my kitchen. I’ll particularly miss my spice rack. My new place has all the appliances I require but no spice rack like the two thousand dollar wall-length custom built beauty I installed here. Sigh.

But when I returned to my desk I decided to add the photos of my cabin to an email and as soon as I saw them all pining for my spice rack instantly dissipated. Instantly I was pining for a distant, passionately desired log lover. Three more sleeps until feeding the fire and checking my bird feeders are parts of my morning routine.

Leon’s going to make it but I don’t think he’s going to last long. His passing is going to be a calamity for me. I’ve never enjoyed such intimacy with a pet. He’s extraordinarily affectionate. He follows me everywhere and we “talk” constantly. It’s our bed, not mine. He used to be right beside my, close to my head, every night and morning but that habits declining with his energy overall.

What consoles me is the closeness; he could not possibly have found a more devoted Dad. He’s only been sick once and instead of wearing a plastic collar to keep him from pulling his stiches out, for two days and nights I lay on the couch with him on my chest.

When I was a kid a neighbour gave me a cat.  His name was Aleck and he was my first and sole experience with love during my childhood; he the perfect antidote to my absent parents. He died when I was thirteen and when I met Leon ten wonderful years ago it was as though Aleck had been reincarnated. This time, though, I’m conscious of his value and grateful every for second with him and it’s been this way since we met.

Two Great Short Films

I should not have gone out for dinner Monday night. Whoa! I felt sick all over again through the night and all Tuesday morning — I suppose it could have been from drinking champagne but champagne doesn’t give you a super-phlegmy cough.

I dreaded having to do all the tasks facing me on Tuesday but I persevered. I got up, did all the essential emails and then had a nap before beginning all my errands. I finished at 4:30 and had a bath, a meal and went to bed.

This morning I’m feeling decent and ready for the last of my packing. I’ve only a couple more boxes to fill. I can rest much of today and tomorrow my duties are light too. This afternoon I have lunch with Dwight. I see a lawyer at 4:00 and I go to bed early.

Tomorrow’s October 5^th. It was on September 5^th that I met with Dwayne to engage him to sell my place. The next day I saw the cabin I now own in an online ad. This Friday October 6^th the movers come. It’s happened so fast.

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Yesterday I happened on a couple of super-engaging videos.

Brian and Charles is super quirky. It’s about an odd and isolated man who builds himself a robot for company; it caught my interest because so many friends have expressed concern for me becoming isolated on the island. It’s incredibly low budget and low-tech but that only added to the charm of the movie for me. It’s ten minutes long.

Then there was this film about Josh and Scout made by an organization called Mutual Rescue about a returning US veteran suffering with PTSD.

Obviously the subject of PTSD interests me. Josh Marino has PTSD; he also has severe depression. I’m terribly lucky; I don’t have depression.

Dr. Shoja once mentioned that people with PTSD often get depression. I have C-PTSD and people like me tend to have more severe PTSD symptoms but a smaller percentage of us have depression. Josh Marino’s condition took him to the brink … and then he heard a meow.

I love the film, I love Josh and, of course, I love Scout, the kitty who turned Josh around. (Scroll to the bottom of the article to see the short movie.)

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