A challenge

What a challenge! After 19 years in our home, we have decided to sell and downsize. Our first chore is to interview realtors, attempting to find a good fit, someone who will recognize the value of our home's setting. The first interview was this morning with a woman realtor who has been in the Shuswap Real Estate business for many years. She has a proven track record, great energy and extensive knowledge of the community. We asked all the usual questions about commission, marketing and value. She will prepare a package and meet with us again tomorrow to discuss her evaluation. A second realtor will come for an interview this afternoon.

Realistically, we haven't updated flooring or countertops, the roof is 16 years old and the back deck needs a rebuild. Decisions have to be made about whether to spend money on these upgrades or not. Will we recoup the expense?

We have already decluttered and spruced the place up. Moving Adrian to a place of his own helped to remove a ton of stuff although there is still the question of 1000 record albums in storage downstairs!!

It feels like preparing for a divorce, a separation from a loved one. So many memories have been captured within these walls. Christmas dinners, summer visitors, writing potlucks, painting sprees, card games, reunions, birthdays and especially the memory of our marriage in the living room. We have loved the surprise visits of bears, skunks, deer, pheasants, robins, woodpeckers, flickers and chickadees. We have watched our crops of potatoes push up from the soil, tomatoes ripen, basil flourish, strawberries and raspberries sweeten. There is nothing like wiping the soil from a carrot and savouring that first tasty crunch and the enjoyment of a truly organic salad of arugula and greens picked at noon and eaten an hour later. Coffees and talks over the fence and on the deck with our dear neighbour.

Oh yes, we will miss this place.