SETTLED

Yesterday was another milestone in our lives. Our house in MT. Ev settled so we don't have to worry about it any more! Yippeee!

There are many wonderful memories associated with the house. But we simply took them with us so don't feel we have lost them just because we sold the house. I have experience that in life. When you move on ... the memories come with you...they don't like to stay behind :-) . And I have also experienced that it takes only a very short time to feel "at home" in a new location. Even when we were living overseas in an apartment....when Dennis and I were together it became home very quickly.

I remember very clearly the day we bought the house in Mt Ev. At the time we were living in a 2 bedroom house in East Ringwood. There were 4 of us and we also had Helga and her 4 daughters living with us at the time. Dennis and I had one bedroom, Helga and the girls had the other, Peter and Michael each had a caravan in the backyard and our loungeroom had become an office with two computers set up because Helga and I were editing and publishing a book together.

One day I was meditating and reading the scriptures. I prayed about what to do with the house. We had thought about subdividing the block and putting another house in the back and then selling both to make a quick buck. I opened the scriptures and there was a reading which totally freaked me out:

"Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth" (Isaiah 5:8).

This made me think that for me it was not right to subdivide so we put those thoughts out of our mind. The street we lived in was already terribly crowded because most people were putting on extra houses.

Then another time that I had been meditating I opened the scriptures and this verse jumped at me:

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes".

So this particular Sunday I felt for sure in my heart that we had to look for a bigger house. Dennis and I, after church, drove into Lilydale, found an agent, he showed us several properties but when we saw the house at Mt. Ev we knew we had to buy it. We put in an offer and it was accepted. Then we quickly put our own house on the market and within days we had a buyer.

Settlement was over 4 months so we did not move in until Easter the following year (1989). By this stage Bill had moved to Melbourne and had rented a house in Kilsyth so Helga and the girls actually never moved in with us. But over the years we have been very happy to live in a big house with room enough to have people come and stay with us. On occasions we had Michael, Janine and Melissa, Susie and her family, Helga and her girls, Robert, Peter and Naomi living with us. Mum also stayed overnight several times when she was working at the Cuckoo restaurant.

And of course the most wonderful memories at Mt. Ev were the many times we were able to celebrate Christmas and other events. The many photos we have will help keep these memories alive!

Fitness report: not worth mentioning. Will start walking today.