Before

When we first came to Lunenburg a bit over a year ago we moved to the bottom floor of a house site unseen. Turned out to be the most perfect little neighbourhood. Dusty would sit on the stoop and chat with all the neighbours, greet every passerby and enjoyed the thrill of crossing the street by himself, stopping halfway to look both ways a few more times. The house next door was vacant. The old man who had lived there with his mother had died before we moved to town. That fall, the heirs to the property came to clean out the house and we got a sneak preview. It was filthy, dilapidated, moldy, and smelly. There was no bathtub or shower in the house and had never been one. The house was built in 1890 and it’s safe to say it was never painted. We knew this was the house for us. We spent a year trying to talk ourselves out of it, but the darn house refused to leave our thoughts. In August we resolved to try everything in our power to buy the house. For the record, Tony is an amazing carpenter, so we are only mildly insane. I will spare you the gory details of the actual house purchase other than to say that we are eternally grateful to my parents for their help. The whole experience was beyond stressful, but as of one week ago the house has been ours. At the moment it only needs heat, electricity, plumbing, a kitchen, a bathroom and a few walls knocked down, but love is blind. Tony is working there everyday and we hope to be in there early in the new year. I wish I could do before and after pictures, but right now the after pictures are only in our brains. I guess we’ll start with before. Some of the walls in the photos are already gone. I’ll have some better photos soon, but it’s a beginning. Wish us luck. Anna