My house is a mad house. There is no getting around the fact that it looks like someone has gone berserk, tossing anything and everything this way and that.
But let me assure you it is not me that has lost my mind. What looks like a bomb has hit, is actually, on closer scrutiny, barring all ifs, ands and buts, a very good example of organized chaos. I am sorting, selecting and packing.
The fact is I have just made one of the most major decisions of my life. I have accepted the gracious offer of my son Earl, his wife Kelly and my two teenage grandsons, Jeffery and Alexander, to share their country home. It is a beautiful spot, a corner square 50, in the outback west of Markdale. A little further north, of course, but still within the climes of southern Ontario.
The carrot they dangled that edged my decision is a very large, L-shaped bed-sitting room with a cozy cove where I slumber and a large walk-in closet. In addition the upper hall, with lengthy wall which angles around the stairwell, is also at my discretion. There is room there for my computer on its unique antique oak desk, a filing cabinet and shelving for several hundred of my books of reference. This nook is blessed with a skylight. My large thermo pane window faces east towards the morning sun, overlooking the husky dogs’ kennel, and the new barn is in full sight as well as three quarters of the rolling acreage.
It is now nearing three years since the love of my life, my Little Lady, passed on to the Heaven in which she strongly believed. Though I live alone, in the vine-covered stone cottage we once joyously shared, I do not feel lonely.
Though there is no head on the pillow beside me and no answer when I occasionally call her name, my memory of her is constantly with me. It is though she was still by my side. The many, many pictures she took, framed and displayed on our shelves among knick-knacks from near, far and yonder, are reminders of our life as it was daily lived. Though I do not feel lonely with my Little Lady gone, I also feel that nothing in life is more important than family.
So I am packing, selecting, sorting and getting ready to depart. I have my sights set on an initial humongous big garage sale slated for the May 24 weekend. It is a simple fact folks; I need to get rid of 52 years of collecting in one short weekend. So be prepared to bargain. For those who collect things, there is ample from which to choose. For those who collect antiques there are quite a number of items handed down through the generations that belonged to my Little Lady’s grandparents. These will not be displayed on the street, they will be shown by individual appointment only.
In part: there is a beautiful oval antique table, a curved glass china cabinet with overhead mirror, a round oak dining room table, four chairs and a hand crotchet circular table cloth to go with it. There is china plates, dishes and crystal, a sewing machine in good condition and much more. If you are a member of the Horticulture Society and showing flowers, you will think paradise is at your finger tips. The great number of display baskets and dishes, holders of winners at many shows, are unexplainable. So mark your calendar. Come one, come all, bring friends, bring cash. Be prepared to spend. See you then.
Take care, ‘cause we care.
Barrie@barriehopkins.ca
519-843-4544