When we came here we sold our lovely house on 1/4 acre outside of the city of London, Ontario. We could have family there (we both had family) and it suited where we were living. But coming here I really liked this carriage home where we live. No plans to entertain particularly since no family (close that is) in the area and it was close to NRC where Edward worked and near the highway once I started to work again proofreading for printers at home. Fortunately Edward tended to see socializing with friends as going out but I was still ill in those days and by 8:00 pm I was finished for the day; not going anywhere and that persisted a long time actually. I went in to work three days a week to touch base and pick up my work; it was the principle under which I was hired although when their proofreader retired they asked if I would take on proofreader in house and we compromised on my being there from 9:00 ish until 2:00 ish and the rest of the work I did at home. That worked for them, the print run was before 2:00 so everything in a rush was read and it was ready to go. Also, initially, the plan was that I was going back to do my masters when my daughter had settled into school and that was practical. I was never really into leaving my child with a sitter after we moved here. It just felt mean since she had left behind all of her grandparents, her cousins, aunts and uncles and to take her to a stranger just didn't sit well with me. The carriage home I loved from day one and although Edward and the girls did go looking at singles up on the hill as they started to get built, Edward was just never that enthused because the lots were too small. He wanted to move further out which didn't work well with my working at home - too much traveling and so we were here the entire time nearly that we lived in Ottawa. When we first came we rented in the south end until we found a place that we liked. We knew people near by as well from Library/PhD days. It was lovely and the years passed so quickly although it was actually 46 years since we moved here in the spring. Looking back coming here was a long time ago. I was young and now I am old moving towards 80. It was interesting thinking about this when the doorbell appeared to not be working. In the small town where we lived we actually didn't have a doorbell. Funny really. I think perhaps Edward cleared the doorbell mechanism here routinely but it is three and a half years since he passed and I never thought about it. It was pretty packed with more than the dog's fur - lots of dust! Easily remedied and I just happened to recall that he did do that. It actually sounds very loud now, perhaps one could turn it down, I will check that out next time I am climbing the ladder.
Basement all washed and the painting is next. I am just putting in time and occasionally like to write it down as I save my blog in case some one wants to read it some time in the future long after I have passed. I saved my mother's letters over a twenty five period for the same reason. She was an interesting person. Her father died when she was eight and it had a great deal to do with her attitude as an adult. He talked to her a lot especially about his mother (my mother did look quite a bit like her grandmother Grace (Gray) Pincombe). Grace's first cousin was Sir John Carling and they were part of the social circle in London when her father was young and he always said to my mother that his mother loved all of that special activity that she attended because Sir John was her first cousin. Interesting really remembering her saying that but it was actually more my grandmother (my mother's mother) who told me about Grace. She said that John (my grandfather) never really let go of his mother when she died (he was just fourteen years of age) and her death was followed a year later by his young sister at the age of thirteen. Sad times for John I suspect, I think it was a very hard life for him and my grandmother thought so too. He was one of those eligible bachelors that people talked about where ever he went my grandmother said and my grandmother was none too popular I suspect for capturing this very eligible bachelor. But they had a happy life although short my grandmother was just 38 when she was widowed. It was fun matching up our autosomal DNA with all of our cousins. I have hundreds of cousins tested that are 2nd, 3rd and 4th in my lines but particularly I have about 30 2nd/3rd Pincombe cousins.
Well enough reminiscing and back to the painting. I actually have done a lot of painting the last ten years as Edward found it difficult as his illness progressed. I mostly painted the entire main floor and some of the top floor. Edward always painted before that; he was very very good at it. I was passable and still remain in that state even with all that practice! He was a perfectionist; I just got the job done as carefully as possible.
The sooner that I get all of Edward's material organized and placed the sooner I can move is the real reality. I simply can not take 35 boxes of research material with me. I only have one box of my own but Edward researched through all that time of paper (mid 1960s to the 2020s) with my beginning in 2003 and I meant to have everything online and mostly it is but I do have one box (about half full). Edward did a lot of scanning but there is still a lot of paper to work through. Plus I need to check and make sure that everything is scanned and so there are four more boxes waiting to be shredded but need time to look at them. Fortunately I am a workaholic and can completely shut out the world and work for hours, days and weeks on end coming out for food mostly although I must replace some of my clothes because they are getting shabby. But then everything is expensive so I just sort of shrug my shoulders and continue wearing my twenty year old corduroy slacks and jerseys and some are even older.
Perhaps a snack of yoghurt and a piece of banana bread before I start.
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