Only in these fall months does orange ever seem like a good colour to add to the décor. But I do. Add splashes of orange. Every October.
I have orange things, lots of them. Ceramic pumpkins and wooden signs and other fall stuff in all the fall colours, somewhere in a bin marked "Autumn" that's stacked neatly at the back of a storage unit in Waterloo. Not here. Because I've never decorated for fall at the cottage.
When I packed up that bin I fully expected to be decorating a new home for fall. But I'm here, decorating our mantle at the cottage for the first time with orange. It's one of those simple happy things for me, when I can collect a few odd and sundry items already at hand, and make it work. The orange leaves here are from the Dollar Store I think, and were not properly put in the "Autumn" bin last year, and so, in that last frenzy of moving out of the house, ended up getting tucked into a bin that came to the cottage. I said, "just in case" when I did that.
The small pitcher with the leaves on it, I found that by accident in the corner cupboard up here where we put things we rarely use. And the pine cones inside it I gathered from under the tree beside the deck.
A birdhouse, a bell, a lantern, and a sign. And a small random 'extra' -- the tiny house with the blue roof off to the bottom left. (More on that in a bit.) And there you have it. Our mantle all decorated for fall.
I have a few bins marked "Christmas" too. They are in Waterloo in the storage unit too. And while I won't be decorating the cottage mantle for Christmas, for sure -- we're not set up for four seasons here at all -- I won't be decorating a new house by then either.
We received our construction schedule last Saturday. Yay! The dig begins Monday, October 7!!!
But scanning our eyes down the document where each stage is laid out by anticipate date, we come down to the last line. Taking possession won't happen until January 11.
We sucked wind a little.
There is a component of all of this that is not entirely unexpected. Everyone knows that construction on a new build has set backs and delays. Our first delay didn't even have anything to do with our builder. It was how long it took for our house to sell. We listed on April 15. We signed back an offer on June 11. We closed July 18. That initial delay on our part put us to the back of the line for the construction season, so to speak. A big part of the dates we are being given now are a direct result of the timing of things last spring. Like a domino effect.
In the current plan, before receiving this schedule, we had everything arranged up to November 20. Now the question becomes, where will we live between November 20 and January 11? Like I said, the cottage is not an option for us.
Can I just say that there's something truly visceral going on when you're talking about where you lay your head at night. And the uncertainty of that piece can be, well, unnerving.
Good news is, we're going to be okay.
The plan right now is to accept the marvelous invitation of our son to come squish in with him and our grandson in the house that is already the primary dwelling on the property where our new home will be built. This was part of the idea in the first place -- although maybe not quite this squishy -- to live together as family. So that's what we'll do.
Okay, time for the close up.
The sign is a rather early birthday present for Ken from our longtime friend Bill who, along with his wife Celine, are really thoughtful gifters. (Never mind Bill is fully aware that Ken has a bee-sting allergy, just sayin'.) The little house there that I mentioned before? I have no recollection of where it came from or how it got to the cottage, but it's been a small random decorating 'extra' for quite some time. Not quite so random right now, though.
I don't love the delays. I don't love waiting this long and being un-nested for this long. I don't love not being able to settle in and decorate for fall and not even for Christmas.
But we took the first steps of this adventure in faith, believing we were being called to a more authentic way of life consistent with the simplicity inherent in partnering with our precious ones in Thailand, and the prudence of preparing for the next season of life and ministry.
That hasn't changed. Our resolve in that remains. We are not discouraged. Rather we embrace the uncertainties with resilience and joy, knowing that our true home isn't made up of bricks and mortar anyways.
Pictures over the next while might not be as pretty. I'm hoping to get some of the dig!
With gratitude to all who are walking this through with us.
