Tags
Camping, fashion, Humor, moving, Musings, Nature, Real Estate, selling houses
I feel like a squatter in my own home. But what else makes sense? I have power (heat), a gas stove to cook on, hot showers, and a dandy new blow-up bed. What else do I need? A buyer, maybe. But, hey–you would be amazed at how much less housework there is to do. There’s something to be said for this minimalist lifestyle. Style-wise it isn’t my cup of tea, but I kinda like the limited housework.
A refrigerator would be nice, of course, but at the moment the whole outdoors is a fridge, so all I have to do is make sure the food box is possum-proof. That’s not as easy as it may sound. Australian possums are clever little buggers, and very determined. Nothing like the o’possum of the northern hemisphere. They remind me more of a squirrel in terms of problem-solving skills. Just ask anyone who has tried to outsmart a squirrel that wants to get to a bird feeder. Tonight we’re having flooding rains, which I’m hoping will deter the possums from assaulting my make-shift fridge until I have a chance to secure it better.
Another thing I could really use is a washing machine. At $5 a load (just to wash) it wouldn’t take long to pay for one. Which brings me to ask–Has anyone tried putting clothes in a dishwasher? I don’t suppose so.
I could also use a T.V. I can watch some stuff on my iPad, but it isn’t quite the same, somehow. Of course, if I had a T.V. I would need a chair or a sofa. And so it goes…if it takes long enough to attract another offer on the house I’ll have it redecorated!
I haven’t been camping since the early 1980s. Before then I did quite a bit of it in Idaho. We backpacked into the mountains, slept under the stars, strung our food up in a tree some distance from the campsite so the bears wouldn’t be attracted to where we slept…ah, those were the good ole days. Who would have thought all these years and miles later I’d be doing it all again? (Without the climbing)
i don’t mind roughing it, but I do feel it’s important to keep up appearances in these situations, so yesterday I had my nails done. The color I chose was ‘Russian Navy.’ I think it conveys a bit about my current lifestyle: a certain ‘basic’ comfort level, a sense of not knowing from day to day just where the dickens I’ll be tomorrow, and wearing the same uniform clothes day after day.
About the clothes: I had expected to go to Wilmot the day after settlement on my house, so had taken nearly everything up there a few days earlier, keeping only a very limited wardrobe with me. It’s wintertime, so everything is heavy, bulky stuff. Not an easy pile of laundry to hand wash.
Don’t misunderstand me– I’m not complaining, just reporting (and having a laugh at myself). I know that there are millions of people on the planet who lack the comforts I have. And I don’t think for a minute that ‘Russian Navy’ would begin to capture the essence of starvation. MM
The Meandering Matriarch 
Ah the joys of real estate. Real estate? Is that some sort of ironic joke …. real estate. perhaps redecorating might attract a different buyer? Then again they get to seethe palce now ‘au natural’ a canvass on which they can paint.
But no fridge!! woo hoo what excitement, though I guess it might mean lots of take outs!!
Went the occasional camping holiday years ago – not ideal in Scotland. Too much rain, too many midges. Fine for a couple of weeks in your climate, but after that I’d definitely start going crazy. Hope your house chess resolves itself soon.
Thanks…me too!
The raccoons are little buggers here. I had to put a lock on the compost bin, fer goodness sake!
Hope things switch for the better soon.
I gave up on a compost bin and opted for a compost pen, wherein I dump my compostible refuse and the night critters can just help themselves. They would anyway…
I would too, but our neighbours (the human ones at least) can be a little … ahem … passionate about such matters.
I have plenty of space so my neighbours don’t even know I’m here…
As I’ve mentioned, we are camping inside our house – the fridge is in the laundry room, along with an electric kettle and a toaster. Those are the appliances. I’m not really complaining since my husband is working away at renovating the kitchen.
Speaking of my husband, he likes to outsmart 4-legged creatures without hurting them. Raccoons eat the plums on his plum tree every year. On our last trip to Australia we visited the cottage of some friends. They had resident possums. My husband installed a one-way door at the suspected point of entry to the attic, similar to that he installed to keep raccoons out of our unused hot-tub deck. The idea is that the animal can exit but not enter. The only problem is that if the parent exits and leaves babies inside, there might be some distress and the possums might destroy the cottage, trying to get back in.
We haven’t heard from the cottage owner, so have no idea whether this was effective or not.
My always-mature Husband also keeps a slingshot at the kitchen window to fling cherry pits at marauding raccoons. He tries to aim for their tails and not their heads.
I hope your adventures soon move on to a move!
If you can do it, so can I! Your husband sounds like my kinda person too. But I think he might be better off using the plum pits–more of a Cautionary Tale for the raccoons–and plum pits wouldn’t go as far or as fast as cherry pits…
That would be more poetic. The problem is that the raccons eat the plums first, as they ripen, so our pit supply is limited.
Sod’s Law…