The run up.
Updated: Feb 28, 2023
In a small north facing backyard, there is a large, gnarly fig tree. It's been there for I'm guessing 40 or 50 years. It's covered carefully with a big net, to help protect the sweet fruit that it lovingly bears. Standing nearby, two beautiful silvery olive trees, with large knotty trunks - family heirlooms. The tops of them glisten and sway in the morning sun.
I can see these trees from where I stand, looking out the kitchen window of the home we currently live in. I am dreaming of what will one day be.
What a beautiful opportunity. The most generous gift a father could give.
A little background. Pete and I previously lived at his house in East Geelong. A lovely comfortable 1950's red brick home with north facing living areas, an abundance of natural light and a beautiful green outlook from almost every window.
Outside in the big backyard we grew lots of beautiful fruit and veggies. It is something that brings us great joy and that has always been a priority for us.
Pete also built the most epic pizza oven in that backyard. It was a labour of love and I was so proud of his efforts. He used recycled bricks sourced locally - originally from an old chimney in a Geelong home or warehouse.
He made a big push to get to the finish line but well worth it. We hope the next people enjoy it as much as we did. We really weren't there long enough to enjoy it.
As most people would be aware, homes built in the middle of the century are quite often lacking in insulation. They're usually hot as hell in summer and ghostly cold in winter. We did quite a few modifications to make it more comfortable, including increasing the amount of insulation in the roof. But a house this old has limitations and unless you want to gut it and put in in-wall and underfloor insulation, you're almost resigned to having to blast the split systems for at least 6 months of every year. Probably not the most energy efficient, cost effective way to live. We had a vision for our future and our current home just didn't fit into that vision.
So Pete and I worked hard to get things ready for the sale. Fortunately, he maintained his home really well so there weren't many maintenance jobs needing to be done. We repainted some rooms and polished the original floor boards and most of the other work required was just finessing what was already there.
We got a couple of agents through the house and signed up with the lovely Stew. He first saw the house when we were knee deep in paint and had stuff everywhere! Pete put a huge effort into painting the inside and outside of the house as well as a million other jobs and I put an enormous effort into styling the house. I used existing pieces of furniture and decor items and sourced other things on marketplace and at the op shop. I really enjoyed this process and I know how much difference it makes when selling a home. When Stew saw the house for the second time he was gobsmacked! "An in house stylist" he said! I was quietly very chuffed.
The sale happened in record time, as you would expect in this current market. So we began packing up our lives and thinking about what might lay ahead. We chose to remain open to what may come along in the future, rather than having a rigid mind-set about what we wanted and where. That way, you allow the divine grace of life to kick in.
And that's exactly what happened.
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