The Changing Seasons, August 2019
It’s official. This has been the hottest and wettest summer more than a hundred years. The hottest days and hottest nights. Until it cooled off a week ago — and we went critical on E.E.E. (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) mosquitoes, so now that the weather is decent, we can’t go out anyway.
Not a great summer.
Meanwhile, one side of our house is rotting. It’s the south side. Somehow, during one or more of the storms that we’ve had, water got in under the siding and turned the underpinnings to muck and mold. We have to find a way to fix it. It is unlikely the insurance company will do anything. As the adjuster pointed out, they don’t actually fix anything unless your house burns down.
They don’t do it for you. It’s to protect your mortgage holder.
So, we haven’t been outside much. We did take some pictures, but mostly, we have stayed inside. My current entire mentality is trying to figure out how to come up with a few thousand dollars to fix the wall. It’s ironic, really. I was just reading about somebody who spent more than a million dollars to redesign his garden and I was thinking “There really isn’t any justice, is there.” I commented to the adjuster we would be better off burning the place down.
He agreed.
Photos are by Garry and Marilyn Armstrong.
When we were young, we took each other in if someone got into trouble. We just did it. Of course, we had parents who could help us if we really got desperate. Now, we are the parents. Hell, we’re the grandparents.
There’s nowhere to go. Our kids don’t have houses, our parents have passed on. C’est la vie, eh?
About The Changing Seasons
The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.
If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:
The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):
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- Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
- Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
- Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them
The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):
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- Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
- Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
- Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.
If you do a ping-back to Su-Leslie’s post, she can update it with links to all of yours.
Share this:
Categories: #gallery, #Photography, Weather
BIRDS IN THE STORM 
LOVE IT, HATE IT – IT’S WINTER IN NEW ENGLAND 
STORM AND FLOWERS 
ALL THE BIRDS 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Su Leslie is right in everything. We are trying to sell our house and it proves terribly difficult. Also, we will lose 1/3 of our investment, because the house was in a bad state and the sellers were lying through their teeth. But it’s a beautiful home with a huge garden and all we now wish is to get ‘rid’ of it so that we can return to our home country.
The one lesson I learned from all this is that we will (forcefully, as we won’t have any money) only rent a flat/appartment (whatever you call it) and that it will have to be on the ground floor or on the top floor of a building with an elevator. No more stairs, no huge overheads, if repairs are needed, they should be a phone call away…. And we, who had always several beds ready for our visitors, won’t have that any longer. Partially because I am fed up with playing hotelier, delivering bedding, food, entertainment, outings, guided tours for all and sundry, and also, I’m not getting younger and if our friends want to visit us, they either will (then….) come on their own, because we will always have a bed for a friend, or else go to a hotel. We just CANNOT do it any more. When we visit the UK (just to take one example), we rent a studio and visit everybody from there. Others can do the same. When I visit my son, it’s either for a day-visit or if overnight, it’s just for me.
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Our friends never stay with family or friends, they always stay in a hotel. There’s a lot to be said for that and just visiting. We often happily volunteer to be the ones in a hotel if there is a full house for family get togethers!
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I’m so sorry to hear about the house. I wish I had something constructive to offer, but T and I (who are still young enough and pretty good at DIY) are a just little bit far away to join in the working-bee.
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I know. And it seems I only know people who are struggling, just like us. I don’t feel I can ask them for help, so somehow, I’m going to have to work this out. I’m just not sure HOW yet!
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I understand that. I dread the time coming when T and I aren’t able to do home maintenance ourselves. I know how much we’ve saved over the years and that T does a better job than a lot of tradespeople.
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We all get old. I think what’s really important is to know your limits before you reach them. We should not have bought this house when we did and we should have sold it as soon as Garry got laid off. I wanted to, but I got overridden by everyone else. And now, it needs too much work to sell easily, but we’d be a lot better off in a smaller house without steps. There’s nothing i can do about what we didn’t do 19 years ago. There’s nothing to be gained in looking back, but we all get older and often poorer, too … so it’s good to know when it’s time to let go of the high maintenance house and find something easy to manage.
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I agree, and I think I’m probably like you — willing to think ahead and be prepared. T doesn’t seem to have the same facility and keeps suggesting lifestyle changes that aren’t practical. This despite watching his parents do the same sort of thing and seeing how that turned out ☹️
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I’m sorry to hear about the headache of the house repairs. I hope a miracle lands in your lap soon!
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We are doing the best we can. But you know, this changing weather is going to hit everyone eventually. The world is going to get VERY interesting.
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Those are beautiful pictures, Marilyn. Sorry about the house. That sux.
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And the thing is, we ALL face some version of this. Unless you were lucky enough to put away a pretty big nest egg … and you don’t outlive it … and your house doesn’t do something really bad. We all get old and houses need repair and we have less and less money to take care of all the things that come up.
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It is unfortunately true!
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Don’t burn the house down. You’d never get away with it, and do you really want to write your posts from inside a jail cell? Maybe with a 300-lb girlfriend looking over your shoulder? I think not.
Have you considered setting up a Go Fund Me campaign? I’ve seen people collect money that way for silly things, like vacations and fancy weddings – surely, a falling-down-house while on fixed income is a valid reason to ask others for some help. I could roll up all that lose change and help some (there’s maybe enough to buy one of the nails!). You definitely need to get the problem fixed before you get mold. Mold is extremely costly to remediate.
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I know. I thought about it but I would absolutely 100% get nailed. I’m just not a born bad guy. I don’t have talent for it.
I’m trying to avoid setting up a page but i may have to. I really don’t want to. I mean, how many times can you do that?
I don’t think I’d be all that popular in prison. I’m too old and wrinkly.
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That sounds like a good and feasable idea. Marilyn, do tell if and when you go that route.
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Hi Marilyn, try this site for your Chinese pottery. https://elimmuseum.org
Leslie
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I don’t think my pieces are at that level. I’m one of those buyers that bought the chipped pieces, the ones with worn colors, the imperfect ones. In the collecting biz, only wealthy people can afford “perfect” or even “fine” pieces. And since China finally woke up to what a cache of valuables they have, the prices have zoomed way up. There was a time when they were literally giving them away, but those days are gone.
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I wouldn’t underestimate them….they”ll be increasingly rare…
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Most of us don’t crave castles, palaces or a second home of any sort; we are happy with one home, thankful we have a home; BUT we do want our one home to stay safe, be our cosy refuge, the tiny point on planet earth that we can always return to. It is devastating to lose your home or not be able to fix it. I hope you find a way.
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I’m doing everything I can think of. The worry is that even should I find a way to fix THIS problem, there will be another one right around the corner. It never ends and when you’ve gotten too old to do the work yourself and even your kid has gotten too old to handle the heavy work … what then?
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