Our paradise

First I want to thank all of you who have left such thoughtful comments or have sent supportive emails.  They mean so much to both me and Mr. Cobblestone.  

 We are still enjoying our house hunting (house buying) experience, although it does tend to be a very long process.  There were so many lovely choices!  When we have the closing on our new home, I’ll post pics for you here.   

I know you will love it as much as we do.

Today I have some peeks of this area for you.   

I’m sure you will agree it is close to paradise.

These photos are from the harbor that, 

if all goes well, 

will be just one mile from our new home. 

Here are some shots from a peninsula called Owl’s Head.

 That's Mr. Cobblestone checking out our new surroundings.

 

 

And these last two are of Camden Harbor.  

I’ve let Mr. Cobblestone know  that it would be very acceptable to take me on a short cruise on one of these old yachts as my birthday gift his year.  A pamphlet for one of them just happened to find its way into my purse.  :D

 

I have of course done my fair share of 

checking out some local shops.   

More details coming soon!

The house not chosen

. . . . . yet.   

Although Mr. Cobblestone and I have placed an offer on another house in Maine, in real estate you’re never really sure it’s a done deal until , well, until it’s a done deal.  But today I want to share with you the house that has been occupying our thoughts for the past week or so.  

It is a grand 2500 sq ft federal style home built in 1885. 

Isn’t it lovely?  Well, maybe not all of it, not yet.  But can’t you just see its potential?  There is a big part of me that would love nothing more than to have my hand at this property.  Ooooo just think of celebrating the holidays here!!!  

But there are other parts of me that are scared to death of even starting the process.  One such part is my nose.  The house comes with a . . . hmmmm . . . let’s call it the George Washington slept here odor (yes, I know I’m about 100 years off, but you know what I mean .)  

Now I’m not saying that dear ol’ George was not a regular bather (though was anyone in those days?) or that he suffered from extreme flatulence, but there is a certain smell to things of that era, and  this house definitely has a unique aroma.   

Another unusual aspect to it are the closets which, although I did not test this, I doubt whether a modern day hangar would even fit in them!   And let’s not forget the blue tarps on the basement walls.  (I think it was this house that had the tarps, but honestly I’ve seen so many houses in the past week or so that I am really not sure.)

Despite all the things I’ve mentioned, and a few I’m sure I’ve forgotten, this house is still appealing to me.  We’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out in our venture into Maine real estate. 

    

For now it remains the house not chosen, 

but certainly NOT the house not loved.

Want to peek inside my house?

Although it has been a while since I’ve posted, let me tell you, to me it feels like a lifetime ago.

Mr. Cobblestone and I have been in Maine for just over a week and it has been a whirlwind!  While he has been absorbing the technologies of his new job, I have been dealing with everything that goes along with moving and selling/buying houses.  Needless to say, sleep still proves to be rather elusive for us both.

But, as promised, today I have the photos from our WI house listing to share with you.  As I look at them this morning, I have to admit to a slight tugging at my heart.  But that could be due to currently living out of  a hotel room. 

our house

front walk

living room

living room

kitchen table

living room

kitchen

dining room

master bedroom

half bath

full bath

bedroom

bedroom/tv room

my beloved garden shed

backyard swing

I’m happy to report that just after a week on the market we have received an offer on the house this morning!  And yesterday we placed an offer ourselves on a home in Maine. 

Things can certainly become even more frenzied very soon, so I am trying to take the advice we saw on a road sign when we got here last week.

Breathe easy, you're in Maine.

Smile for the camera

Had you asked me a year ago, I would have confidently answered that there are exactly 6 levels of house cleaning.  Ranked from min to max they are:

1. Having children pick up their rooms

2. Lick and a Promise

3. Regular

4. Company Cleaning

5. Spring Cleaning

6. Getting ready for a visit from my mother

This year I learned that there exists another unbelievably more stringent level ~ Getting Ready to Sell your House Cleaning!

I will admit that I fall closer to the Martha Stewart end of the housekeeping scale (with hoarders being the opposite end) and have even had one of my daughter's childhood friends tell me that what she remembers about playing at our house was how clean it was.  But I gotta tell you, these past few weeks have seen Mr. Cobblestone and me polishing our house as it has never been polished before.  We're talking Q-tips and toothpicks in all the corners kind of cleaning.  I even cleaned the inside of the hole where the kitchen sink sprayer goes!  Who knew you could fit a Q-tip in there?!!!

Did anyone notice I used past tense in the paragraph above?  Yes indeedy, that portion of the process ended this morning when the photographer took the pictures for our listing.  And now it feels a bit strange to not be looking at my to-do list and rushing off to my next chore. 

Maybe I'll sit with a second cup of coffee and enjoy looking at my clean house.  Never fear ~ I will be sure to plump the pillows back up and run my hand across the seat cushion of the couch to erase my butt print when I'm done.  But first I need to email Martha about that sprayer hole cleaning technique.  ;)

ps I will of course share the photos taken today when I can because I understand the fun of peeking around someone else's house.  But for today I will share a pic I took standing on our front porch a few days ago of our crab apple tree and tulips.

Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you . . .

FINALLY I can share our big news ~ and it is a fairy tale coming true for us! 

Those of you who are regular readers here know that Mr. Cobblestone and I are members of the empty-nest club.  Both transplants to the Midwest we have no strong ties to this area, so last Fall we decided to start taking some of our vacations with the intent of exploring places we might like to live when we retire.  (Well, when Mr. Cobblestone retires.  I plan on continuing with my mouse and bear work until I can no longer thread a needle.)

As I shared with you here, our travels took us to midcoast Maine in October and we simply fell in love with the region.  No where else on earth has given us that "we're home" feeling as much as when we stood on top of Mt. Battie looking over Penobscot Bay and all the tiny villages and harbors.  As we strolled through one of those villages later that afternoon we spotted a sign in a gift shop window that said "I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could!" 

Yep ~ that pretty much summed up our feelings that day.

As fate would have it, there is a manufacturing site (the only one in the area!) and they had an opening for an engineering manager that is similar to Mr. Cobblestone's current position ~ and he got the job!

So in a few short weeks we will be moving over 1200 miles to Maine!  And I must say it's pretty hard to not have a 'meant to be' feeling about this.

The journey thus far is not unlike the long slow jolting climb up the first hill of a roller coaster.  With each satisfying click of the chain, you know you are getting closer and closer and closer.  As we scurry about finalizing the primping and polishing of our house in Wisconsin, I sincerely hope someone else is doing the same for us in Maine.  New bathroom light ~ click.  Take donations to Salvation Army Store ~ click.  Paint hallway ~ click.  New front door ~ click.  Clean basement ~ click.  Take donations to Salvation Army Store ~ click.  Replace dented doorknob ~ click.  Take donations to Salvation Army Store ~ click.  Home inspection ~ click.  Scrape and paint eaves ~ click.  Spread new mulch in flowerbeds~ click.  Take donations to Salvation Army Store ~ click.    Well, you get the idea.  During the 22 years we spent in this house, someone has managed to sneak a lot of stuff in here.  If I find the little gremlins responsible, we are going to have words, let me tell you! 

We are approaching the first apex of our metaphorical roller coaster, and I am reminded of something our daughter said to me when I was a wee bit timid about riding The Viper at Great America a few years back.  "It's not going to kill you, so what's the worst that can happen?" 

Indeed. 

So I am holding on tight ~ one hand on the lap bar and the other clutching Mr. Cobblestone's arm ~  ready for the twists and turns, jolts and bumps, highs and lows as we take the plunge.  I am sure there will be some tears and many giggles along the way ~ I may even throw my hands in the air and scream with delight. 

Maine is waiting for us at the end.

Here is a link to if you'd like to see more about the region.

http://www.visitmaine.com/region/midcoast/