Slugfest

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you so much for the wonderful treat in the mail! I lightly sauteed the snails and Gus said they were delicious! I’m starting to think that Gus is short for Gusto. For him and me. He has made me feel like being engaged with life again. I’m starting xylophone lessons next week! You know, I should, just to punish my downstairs neighbours for their endless fighting and renovating. Whenever they start yelling, I should play “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the xylo.

But seriously, I have (again) bought a home. I started looking, in a not-so-serious way, and found a gem of a place. It’s a lot like the place I was going to buy, but significantly cheaper. My mortgage will be less than what I am paying for rent.

If you want to hear a bit about it, I’ll give you a bit of a description. If not, feel free to skip this paragraph. It is the top two floors of a 3-storey building, set back from the street. It has a great kitchen. The building was built in 1900 and although it was renovated quite a bit, they’ve kept a few of the charming old details, such as a door that’s set on trestles along the ceiling for the kitchen. Tons of counter space and shelves, a built-in island, double sink, and all appliances. It doesn’t have a gas stove, but a cooktop and wall oven. There is one big room downstairs, that’s a diningroom/livingroom. The living room has a fireplace – yay! The kitchen has a grey slate tile floor and the main room has a very new oak floor. There’s a deck off the living room, and a pretty big laundry room with lots of storage and a sink and toilet. There’s spiral stairs to the upstairs (I’ll be replacing these with a straight oak staircase, as the spiral stairs are a deathtrap.) Upstairs, it’s one big room, loft-style. It used to be 2 bedrooms, but they tore down the dividing wall, but left a built-in bookcase that runs halfway down. Off the bedroom, there’s a lovely, secluded deck with built-in flower boxes and a pergola. The bathroom was surprising; I wasn’t expecting anything this good. It was recently renovated with a plafform tub, and a skylight. It has a separate shower enclosure, and is a big room.

The cats are going to love it. I’m going to be returning to work soon, teeth clenched, but with a counsellor who is helping me navigate the snakepit.

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