Beaconsfield, Quebec it is!

Happy Happy Sunday to all!  It is overcast today but otherwise it is not a bad day weather wise.  The snow is all gone but the trees are not budding yet.  I think we need rain and more warm weather.  I did notice though that our daylillies are growing nicely.  We also heard last night, for the first time this season, the chirping of the Spring peepers.  What a lovely sound.  Soon, the hummingbirds will make their way to Huntsville.  Russell has been following their path online and they should arrive North any day now.  Tomorrow, we will put the feeders up and watch for them.

So, this past week marked our trip to La Belle Province in the pursuit of the perfect home.  And we found it, in Beaconsfield.  We arrived in Montreal on Tuesday and we had 8 houses lined up starting Wednesday morning.  We fell in love with the first house that we saw.  Although we did see a few others, our mind was made up and we made an offer at noon.  It was accepted just a few hours later, with no issues whatsoever.  What a concept, having the ability to make an offer knowing that there are no competing offers in the works.

The home we found is a complete turnkey.  It was redone from top to bottom in 2015. Nothing to do except two things:  we need to put up a fence to keep the Coop safe and we will add shutters to the windows. Other than that, the house is ready to move in.  We will take possession on May 16, a little sooner than we had planned but no big deal.  We will most likely move to Quebec the third week of June.

We came back home yesterday, feeling extremely relieved and happy.  Lots to do between now and the move.  I started making a list this morning and realized that I needed a bigger piece of paper.....but we'll get there.

Today, we are relaxing.  Tomorrow, we start tackling our "to-do list".  Russell has a nice fire going right now, Coop is playing with his chew and I'm day dreaming about where everything will go in our new home.

I leave you with just a few photos, a couple taken by Darlah while Coop was playing his heart out at Talemaker Camp, and a photo of our new home.  I wish you all a great week!

The Coop and a few of his buddies mucking it up!

Cooper in full play with Pepper and Scruffy! Hey, not
fair, two on one.

Our new home in La Belle Province...at long last
the search is over!!

It's been a week!

What a glorious weekend we're having!  Sunshine, temperatures in the low twenties and the snow is virtually all gone.  I think that Spring has finally arrived for good.  The three of us are enjoying a relaxing weekend.  After the week that we had, we felt that we both deserved some down time so we did nothing except go to the gym, a little bit of cooking and a walk with Cooper today.

This past week brought our fourth trip to Burlington, in as many weeks, in the pursuit of trying to find the perfect home.  No luck once again.  We continued to play the bidding war game but we didn't win.  Needless to say that anyone playing that game needs nerves of steel and insanely deep pockets. We're not cut out for this. On Thursday, we faced the reality that the only way to win is to spend more than we want to....and we are not prepared to do that.  So, we decided to think outside the box...and that we did.

This coming week, we will be going to Montreal and explore the real estate market in the West Island area.  I know, a huge decision but one that we have thought about seriously.  More on this in my next blog.

I guess it's safe to say that not much else is going on in our lives....we never anticipated that house hunting would turn out that way.  Perhaps things happen for a reason.

That's it for my news this week.  We will spend the rest of the day on the deck, pondering life in general and thinking about what this week might bring.

I hope your weather is as nice as ours and that you are enjoying it to the fullest.  I leave you with just a couple of photos...don't have much time for photography these days. I wish you all a great week!

King Cooper on his throne at the dinner table.

Ice is still on the lakes on April 17th, 2016.

It was a quiet week

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope you're all having a nice relaxing day like we are.  We don't feel like doing much today.  Russell has a nice fire going and we're all just taking it easy.  This house hunting business is keeping us on our toes and it is a tad tiring.  So, today we're taking a break from all this.

This past week brought our third trip to Burlington.  So far, we looked at 15 houses and, other than the one that we loved, made an offer on and lost, we haven't found "the" one yet....but it's out there somewhere.  Every week brings new listings. We will be browsing "Realtor.ca" once again tomorrow, and every day this week and perhaps we will make another trip down South.  We still have some time, although each week that passes is one less week that we have to find a new house. No pressure, just saying...

Other than that, not much is happening.  Life is normal.  We continue to go to the gym and it is actually a nice stress reliever.  I did hurt my knee during Bootcamp last Wednesday so I'm kind of nursing it at the moment.  I can't do any lower body exercise as it is too painful but I'm still managing to work out.  Hopefully in a few days all will be good.

This past week also brought an April Winter storm. We got a dump of about 25 cm on Wednesday but it was followed by some rain during the night so half of the snow is now gone. Another 5-10 cm on the way tonight, they say.  It's been pretty cold too.  I hear that warm temperatures are on the way for later this week.  We'll see.  

Cooper, as always, is loving the snow so he's a happy camper. I think, if it was up to him, Winter would last all year long.

I leave you with just a few photos that Russell took while I was out shovelling.  I wish you all a great week!

Anne....done shovelling for now!

Russell safely in the Muskoka room...took this photo of Anne and
Cooper through the window screen.

A vey snowy back deck!

A new journey has begun

Happy Sunday to all!  Not a Spring day for sure in Huntsville and in most of Southern Ontario, where I gather there is quite of bit of snow on the way.  As for us, it is sunny but a cool -7 celsius.  We did get about 5 cm of snow last night and I heard we could get up to 20 cm by Wednesday.  Will April snow bring May flowers?

All is good with us and it's been a very busy week.  On Thursday morning, the SOLD sign on our house went up. Nothing like the red sticker to make it more real.  Shortly after, we left for Burlington for another round of house hunting.  Friday morning, we found the perfect house, made an offer, and we lost it.  There is nothing we, or our agent, could have done more.  That's just the way the real estate game is played.  Some people loose, some win and we are learning how to win this game.  So, our journey to finding a new home continues. It is stressful but we will get there.  Two things are for sure:  first, June 28 is the closing date on our Huntsville home so by then, we have to be out of here.  Second, we have no regrets whatsoever about selling our house.  We are doing this for all the right reasons and we look forward to a new adventure. The right home will come along, it's just a matter of when.

Meanwhile, the Realtor.ca website has become our new best virtual friend.  Whenever we have some free time, Russell and I are both searching and looking at houses, although photos and videos of houses can be very deceiving.  We have a very good agent who is doing her very best to find us the perfect home.  It will come.

As for Cooper, he is just going along with whatever we're doing.  He has been at Talemaker Camp quite a bit for the past few weeks and he's been having a good time.  We are grateful and so lucky to be able to rely on Darlah and Nathan to take care of him whenever we have to pick up and go. As our search continues, timing will become more critical and we will need to drop everything we're doing in Huntsville and head for Burlington, as potential new listings come up.  Knowing that our Coop is well taken care of is a big relief for us.

Not much else is going on ....... looking for a new house is plenty.  It is our primary focus at the moment, then we will start thinking about the move itself.

That's about it for this week's blog.  We will spend the rest of the day....looking for houses.  Just kidding, almost.  I wish you all a great week!

31 Forest Hill Lane....SOLD!

Brilliant sunshine and a fresh coat of snow make for a
winter wonderland in April...no joke!