Tuesday – Wednesday, at the Rabbit Patch

~ rabbitpatchdiary.com

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Today, started out beautifully.  It isn’t as cool as it has been, but it is pleasant.  It is July in the south, after all.  In the peace of a lovely morning, I got a phone call.  The home inspector would be here around noon.  There are tools and paint in several rooms and there is a spot in the floor, in the process of being repaired.  Of course, there is also the absence of any sign of housekeeping.  The grass needs mowing, too. 

I have never dealt with a home inspector.  I am sure he is a nice person, but he sounds mighty official to me.  Jenny says he may spend the afternoon and will look high and low for all sorts of issues.  That is the way she comforted me.  She said also, that inspectors were there to help.  I decided to take her word on that.  Brant moaned, when I told him and quickly called out to God.

Since, the rabbit patch was in total disarray, I started back on painting the kitchen.  It was the only course of action that made sense to me.  I had completed the ceiling around midnight.  With the ceiling such a clean, stark white, the walls looked dingy, so I decided to paint the walls-and that meant the cabinets, too. 

At some point, I had to laugh at the irony.  Just a month ago, I was quite proud of the rabbit patch.  Everything in place, closets and cabinets orderly-even all those wretched barns.  The lawn was tidy.  Flowers were blooming and birds were singing.  . . That was a short lived affair.

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Brant had an appointment and Christian high tailed it out of here, as he is every bit as terrified of official anything, as I am.  I was on my own -and I felt stranded.  I knew then and there, that we were having left overs for supper.

 

As it turns out, the inspector was a friendly fellow.  He was not wearing a badge and he chatted like a “regular” person.  He went his way and I went mine . . .back to painting the kitchen.  Hours later,  he drove off, telling me not to worry and that he “really liked this place”. . . .that I call “a Rabbit Patch”.

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I spent the afternoon finishing the kitchen.  It did make a nice difference and I was glad I had persevered.  When Kyle came in, I asked him to please remove that ladder from the kitchen and far away from my sight.  Now there was the clean up to get started on.

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It was drizzling rain at the early service on Wednesday.  It has been a while since it rained here and I was up for a rainy day.  Housekeeping sounded delightful to me, after climbing a ladder for two days.   Besides that, the rabbit patch is not “out of the woods” just yet,  as  this is the early stages of a complicated process. I expect more official visits in the future.  What a lot of business!   Selling a house is not for the faint of heart. . . in a lot of ways. 

While I scrubbed the kitchen floor, I remembered the merry days of times past at the rabbit patch.  Once upon a time, the many bedrooms were full.  The kitchen table was bigger.  The barn housed miniature goats and a miniature horse.  There were chickens and rabbits.  That was a special season,   but the sons grew up,(as sons do) Grandmama passed and a hurricane turned the chicken house  over.   One thing happened and then another, til at last the present circumstances prevailed. 

 Though, I love remembering,  I knew it best not to dwell too long on how things used to be.  It is an awful habit of mine.  I can not bear to look at old photographs for very long, for I will inevitably sink in to mourning.  Knowing full well, my typical behavior, I let my thoughts wander instead, to what might be next.  I hoped for a little cottage that would be lovely at Christmas.  I thought of a yard that did not require a tractor, to mow.  I wondered a lot, as I scrubbed.  One thing I knew, whenever and wherever I go, I will plant flowers.

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Eventually, the floor was clean and the kitchen was fit to cook in.  I did get a fair share of housework done.  As I was folding laundry, I thought,  the present moments were beautiful,  just as they were.   . . .They always have been.

   

 

 

26 thoughts on “Tuesday – Wednesday, at the Rabbit Patch”

  1. Oh rabbit…I just knew things were going to be ok. They just have to be . It seems like you have been painting the Rabbit patch for as long as I have been reading. there is areason for that. lol
    I wish I had your energy..Maybe I need to sell my house but good grief where would I go and there are still “problems” down the road that mean I’m not going any where. Not any time soon any way.
    love you and your little patch of earth. xoxo

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  2. A beautiful post Michele! I understand the feelings and the pressures of selling a large property…as you said is not for the faint at heart…I think that your place is lovely because you have put your heart in it, and someone will just fall in love with it as well,

    We also had a “secret garden” filled with bunnies were all the magnolias and roses grew. When we sold it, I remember waiting for the lawyer to call us, we were already in the the van all packed ready to move across the country, packed with dogs, gold fish and some precious (to me) plants hat I could not leave behind… the moving track was already on its way. What an adventure! LOL!

    In the end, you have to trust that everything will work out well! and all the stress will just be a memory… Then, (once you downsize) you will have so much more time to dedicate yourself to enjoy a garden with no tractors to mow, your new pretty cottage filled with flowers and love!

    Best of luck and prayers!

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  3. Those moments are bittersweet, when you know your time in a place you love is coming to a close. You hope for the best and move on, and make the best of the new surroundings and the new circumstances. The Rabbit Patch will remember you and you will remember it. And the new owners will surely find joy in many of the same things you have. And down the road, you will find joy in the next chapter, hopefully even as you turn the page into it. So much of how things go is predicated on how you look at it, and I find that you have a very grateful and graceful response to things, which makes me confident that you fill find good things happening for you in your next home. XO

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  5. I admire your energy, Michele. My husband and I worked together to paint the interior years ago. I was full of energy and proud of the detail work I had done. We needed to paint again last year. This time around, I didn’t help. He did all the work. When I read about all the work you’ve done, painting, scrubbing the kitchen, mowing the lawn – they are hard work. In a way, I’m glad you do it now when you have the energy. Some people wait until they are retired to sell their homes. I think it’s harder to do all the work at that age. In a way, I’m glad you do it now. Take care, Michele.

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      1. You’re welcome. I know it’s a lot of hard work. We try to do things by ourselves. As I said, It’s hard for me to do it now and thankful that he’s still energetic.

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  7. Aww. Your feelings on remembering are sobering to me. Just to enjoy and savor EVERY moment. That is amazing that you painted practically the whole kitchen in a day! Bravo. Your cottage plan surrounded by flowers sounds like a wonderful plan. ❤ Have you read Susan Branch's Martha's Vineyard: Isle of Dreams? It's sort of sad, because she is coming off a divorce, but she creates a homey little cabin for herself and starts pursuing her dreams of writing and illustrating.

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  8. I’m so glad the inspection went well! And I think you are right to focus your thoughts on the future, rather than the past. Your next home will be special to you in its own way, and it will be the right home for you right now!

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  10. Ma’am,
    Glad the home inspector’s visit went well. Though you felt the house didn’t look its best.
    With things going so well, I thought the dream of a smaller house had gone away and you planned to stay on the Rabbit patch for longer.
    Susie

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  14. Ahhh…. fingers crossed, knees crossed, eyes crossed, tried to cross the toes but failed miserably. Basically … I’m now looking my most attractive… but at least now I know why the prayers are required.

    Although, Rabbit, on one hand I don’t want you to leave your Patch, for lots of reasons which I won’t go into, but on the other hand I know the feeling of having a property for sale for what seems like for ever and ever, and then all of a sudden …. an offer has been made (or in my circumstance 3 offers in two days!) … and an offer accepted, and then the huge ball starts rolling. A ball which gains momentum and moves at a speed far too fast for my liking and before you know it …. it’s packing up and shifting out day!

    So yes …. I want your Patch sold because I want what your heart desires. I want you to have your cottage, without a mahoosive lawn to mow, but with enough ground to grow those things which speak to your heart. Those things which you love, and which love you right back.

    I want a big enough garden for Cash to be able to roll and scratch his back on the grass, but not so big that he gets lost in.

    I want everything that you want for yourself dearest friend. I will be praying for you and for the safe, uncomplicated sale of the Rabbit Patch. I shall put all my hopes and wishes in God’s hands. I’ve learnt that He’s the best at looking into hearts and doing what needs to be done.

    In the meantime, while we’re waiting for the news that we both know you’re waiting for … I shall continue you love the Patch through you.

    Sending you all my love, and now off to chat with God about The Rabbit Patch. He knows I’m on the way …. not sure how he knows but he always seems to be expecting me.
    Much love ~ Cobs. xxx

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