Two by two

So.  In case you’re wondering, I don’t actually live in the Old Stone House yet.  My husband I and bought it and now find ourselves the petrified proud owners of TWO(!), count ‘em TWO houses!

Keep breathing.  Just keep breathing.  (Do you hear Dory from “Finding Nemo” singing that?  I do)

And we’ll own two houses for at least two weeks.

Breathe.

So what would possess two lunatics normally sane and rational people to commit to something like this?  I mean, that’s two mortgages, two gas bills, two hydro bills....

Did I mention two mortgages?

Did I mention this is a stone house?  Built in 1824?  It’s got one of those enormous fireplaces that you could put an entire pig in and still have room to bake beans, simmer soup and boil water for tea.  The walls are a good two feet thick – they might actually be two and a half.  There are three stories to the stone part, plus a modern extension that is larger than my current house.  It sits on just under 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares if you like metric) and has two barns and a large circular driveway.  The land slopes down from the front of the house towards a creek that runs through the property.  There is lots of room for me to have a freakin’ enormous modest vegetable garden where I can grow food to put away for the winter.   Chickens are a possibility as well - can't have that in Ottawa.

And this is where it really gets idyllic – it’s on a new road with a gas line.  I know – the romance brings a tear to my eye.  A country home on a paved road with natural gas.  What truly captivated me is this  - this house is in the middle of what is going to become a “rural residential” community.  Each lot is an acre in size and is serviced which means that not only is the road paved, but it will be ploughed in the winter!  There is garbage pickup at the end of the (quarter mile) laneway.  There will probably be herds of kids for my 10 year old to play with. 

I know that this isn't the usual picture of country living.  It’s going to be country living with training wheels.  And right now, living in the heart of a major city, that suits me just fine.