La Mia Vita...

At what point does a house, become a home?  What does a home mean to you?  Is it just a place to lay your head and hang your hat?  Or does it mean so much more?

I've lived in many houses and apartments over the years.  But very few actually felt like "Home". Of course the home I grew up in had the "Homey" feeling.  And out of the 10-12 residences I've occupied since, I would have to say only 2 gave me the warm fuzzies.  One, was a raised bungalow basement apartment in Guelph, where I lived through 2 major dusty renovations and the other place, an almost new townhouse in Whitby.  Dreadful neighbours on both sides of the townhouse, but loved the home. My present day place, is NOT one of these warm fuzzy homes.

Allow me to elaborate, this "unit" is owned by Fab's brother. (one of "those" landlords) We live 2 doors away from him, with wonderful neighbours inbetween us.  It's a corner lot, with a transit stop on the busy street side.  The lot size is about 60-something by 90-something.  But, the whole back part of the property (which would make a lovely fenced garden) is used by his brother.  It's called "The Compound".  I call it the Junkyard because that's essentially what it is.  Grrrrreat!  The front of the lot is open and fronted with 2 large maple trees. (1 Silver & 1 Sugar)  Great shade on a hot summers day and heaps of leaves in the Fall.  The larger silver maple tends to shed branches & twigs whenever the wind is higher that say 30km/h.  I'm a self-professed Tree Hugger, so I tend to be more forgiving of it's issues. Fab would have it cut down tomorrow.  Honestly, it needs the gentle carass of an Arborist.

But I digress, back to the "Shack". (my term)

The Shack, I'm guessing was built sometime in the 30's.  The quality and the workmanship declares that it might have been built by men on a chain gang.  Those, who were forced to do manual labour in exchange for crackers, water and a toothpick.  There's no basement, but a scary looking crawlspace.  That, I fear if I was ever to enter, I'd pack my bags, grab Jabby and vanish.  There's an archaic old gas furnace down there too.  I hear it banging and it's shifts the floor when it comes on.  Scaring the crap out of us all from time to time during the winter months.

The Shack is about half the size of the townhouse we were living in.  So, we went from 1500 sq ft to about 800 sq ft.  Aaaaaagh  There is an attic-y type room upstairs that was probably a couple of children-sized (maybe trolls?) bedrooms at one time, but we only use it for storage.  The stairs to reach it are as steep or steeper than the stairs at the Roman Coleseum.  With little to no headroom and I'm only 5'4".

OH, and the bigger issue is the electrical or lack thereof system.  Fuses, only 3 of them, for everything and I believe it's 30 or 40 amp service.  We lost the bathroom outlet over a year ago, never been repaired and like the rest of the promises, we won't likely get the electrical panel upgrade either.  Needless to say, you can't run the dryer and say, the vacuum cleaner, or the oven at the same time.  My God, what century is this kids?

Before moving in 2 years ago, I had to strip off old wallpaper, paint, clean carpets and nag his brother to deal with a mold issue in what was to be our closet (room).  Our bedroom is the living room and our dining room is the living room. It, the mold, was back a year or so later, anyone say BLEACH?!

The floors here are something out of a carney ride (lol) they go up and down, along with the walls and the ceilings.  It's like the centre of the house has sunk or something like that. The galley kitchen, well, it's a converted lean-to..shhhh, do you hear the banjos too?

I've attempted to make it "home-like" and have put a some effort into the outside by developing flower gardens, improving the lawn and keeping things neat and tidy.

His brother had replaced some flooring, windows and had reshingled over the old shingled, wavy roof, the year prior to us moving in. 

Interestingly, the garage is new!  (brotherly love perhaps?) Fab's brother built it for him before we moved in.  It's nicer than the house.  Except, the first winter, with freezing and thawing, water came in through the block.  It's a major thorn in Fab's side.  His brother doesn't seem overly concerned, then again, it's not his stuff in there is it?

In reality, I think the biggest blessing for the Shack would be a High-Ho and a Dump Truck!