Last Full Week - part 1

This is our last full week in our home here in Canterbury.

I am going around and enjoying all the lovely things about it - making the most of the quirky things I love about my house. Why is it that we women get so attached to our homes. I do feel as though I can understand Lot's wife in the Bible. You know - the one that turned back to look at the burning city - she was turned into a pillar of salt for her disobedience, but I often wonder if she felt that little hankering for one last look at her home.

Nobody wants to buy our house yet. We've had quite a bit of interest in it, but no buyers. We don't feel worried about it - there will be the right family at the right time, and in the meantime, we may have to rent it out which we hate to do, but it might be a necessity. I dont think we should have any difficulty getting tennants. Have you seen how many houses there are to rent in the entire Waimakariri district at the moment on realenz.co.nz as of yesterday? Wanna know this staggering number.....

1. One house.

So I have been looking at my house with appreciative eyes these days - and taking photos of the things I love, like this room - my quiet little sitting room. It's the room which is always tidy - no kids' toys allowed in here!

In many ways I hate to leave the South Island. It is the land of my birth and the land of my ancestors, both Maori and European. In the Maori culture, family heritage and ancestry is inbred in our psyche and stories passed down through the generations of long-dead forefathers. It's part of who we are.
So I feel some sadness at leaving the land that y ancestors loved and called home. I always wanted to walk the Bridle Trail over the Port Hills one day, where my great great grandparents walked after their ships pulled into Lyttelton harbour in the 1800s, but the earthquakes have done away with that dream. Maybe one day in the future we'll be able to walk over those hills again.

I will miss my lovely bedroom with the colour scheme that I was talked into. The interior decorator told me I would come to love it, and I have. In fact, I love it so much that I will be painting that unknown new bedroom in Tauranga the exact same colour.

I love my curtains.

We had some people come and view the house today privately. It's always a mad scramble to get the house presentable, especially with a 'nor-west wind blowing and making everyone irritable. But I am so grateful to my dear friend Noni for allwoing me the use of her flower garden. Don't these flowers look perfect in my dining room.

This little picture that hangs in my dining room used to hang in my office in Chicago, USA. I love it so much. I think it is my dream house - if I didn't have 4 children.

One of the features of our family living area is the massive fireplace surround, and of course our lovely wood fire. There is nothing I like better than a cosy winter's evening sitting around the fire with friends, or a good movie or a good book, or just a nice husband to cuddle up with.

This is the first view of our family living area as you come in the front door. Isn't it nice? It's such a sunny room and very light and airy, which is fairly typical of a New Zealand house. Good light is not in short supply in these parts.

And I will miss the wide, long hallway. It's a great thing to have on 'indoor' days. And I will save the rest of the house for another post - part two. The hallway takes us down there.