When I finally arrived in Caseville, I knew I would be confronted with a difficult time. Richard and I struggled with our packing up 12 years of memories, and pieces of our lives that represented so much special to us individually and together. We pitched, we donated and we packed...and packed and packed. We sold most of our furniture, knowing that the Florida furniture wouldn't fit our lifestyle or our house in Michigan. I knew we would need to buy new furniture and thought Richard understood this also. I was a bit wrong there!
The photo above is the large number of photos and pictures which need to be hung...and then, there are many that I wanted thrown away or donated while in Florida but they were packed. NOW I will have to get them outta here. Finding a wall to house these pictures, many hand painted in Ethiopia or Honduras will take some time. We have managed to get our bedroom organized...that leaves three more bedrooms to go!
Stressful is trying to take 12 years of Florida and incorporate those items into about 25 years of our cottage expansion and our memories here. Each item which was perfect for here or there...is now being questioned as to whether or not we need to keep it or should keep it. IF it was good enough for us in the past...why not now? Trying to explain that a home is where one lives and a cottage is what one visits has not worked too well yet. We have had years of wonderful weekends and visits here at the cottage and now, we have to start calling it home. Transitions are sooo difficult. And add to those the fact that we have not seen the sun in days and it is cold, dreary and rainy. And I miss my friends and have to make more up here.
We had a great surprise the other night when our friends, Dennis and Kat came over with wine in hand. They also brought some pulled pork and cheese and crackers and we sat and laughed and relaxed. A great start weaving new friends into our new home. And they were lovely and didn't laugh too hard and our disasterous decorations found around the house.
