From now on

This is my first quiet evening since a long time. So I will take advantage of it to regain contact with my Opera gang.

Tonight I'm back at the camp after an exhausting week where I have worked 9 days in a row and move to Dalexia and I's new house. An exhausting move because we had a lot of stuff, Dalexia more than me, and with no truck but only are 2 cars and my trailer, we made a lot of back and forths.

But the most difficult part was not to really start the camp season with all the unexpected troubles associated with this task or moving the refrigerator up to the second floor, it was to deal with our new landlords who are, to say the least, a couple of strange specimens.

Firstly, you have to know that the house we have rented is some kind of camp that has been renovated over the years and is not in perfect shape. The walls of the basement are wavy, the floor too and the interior finish is mostly missing but the place is great. The huge windows on the front are amazing and the cathedral ceilings give air to every rooms. And when we have rented it, our new landlords told us that many more renovation would be done before we move in and that reassured us. They also told us the story of the last tenants who didn't pay the rent in the last 4 months and were at the origin of many broken things in the house. It seems strange to us that the charming couple who were living there when we have visited the house were that bad but anyway, all the reparation promised were written on the lease and signed by the landlords.

But at that time, we didn't know what kind of handymen they were...

When we saw the house empty for the first time, we realized that it was worst that it seemed when there was furniture in every rooms. Everything is unlevel in that house. I always joke that my level wants to runaway since I have bring it there!

But it's ok, the landlords will fix the kitchen floor, the basement walls, the two outside doors, the hot water tank, the shower, etc.

Yes they have changed the ceramic on the kitchen floor and they even have putted an extra plywood to put it straight but guess what? The result is worst than the old floor! If you spill a glass of water, you will have to run after the liquid to sponge it!

They only changed the hot water tank after Dalexia found 1 inch of water all over the basement floor. They have changed one door for an ugly green painted used door and we still have to slam with all our strength the second level door to close it. They have installed the gyproc on the basement walls without putting any wooden frame back. They also have changed the shower faucet because it was not working and guess what? The new one doesn't work either!!!!

And there are not only incompetent, there are also arrogant. The woman took the time to write us a note to tell us to keep the kitchen counters clean after she has found a piece of scotch tape on one of them!!! HEY! Every framing in the house looks like a roller-coaster track and when I take a shower the shower head is at my chin level and you take the time to write a note to complain about a piece of scotch tape left by the old occupants!

And speaking of them, we have met them by accident at the restaurant last week and guess what? Yes, they didn't pay the 4 last rents to the landlords but not because they didn't want but because a bailiff came 4 months ago to order them to pay the rent directly to the bank owning the landlords mortgage! And guess who we believe now...

But not everything is bad about this move, at the contrary. Dalexia and I are moving in a new place where they are no memories from our old lives attach to it and where we can start are own story with it all those misfortunes but also with all our complicity and love and that is wonderful and great.

Yesterday, Dalexia and I went dogsledding. It's something we wanted to try for a long time but since we were both jobless this winter, we didn't have the money to do it because it's a little expensive. And now even if I have a new job, I haven't received a full pay check yet and we can't afford a full day of dogsledding but my village has organized a winter festival this weekend and one of the free activities were short dog sled rides.

We couldn't drive the sled like we both wished to do but nevertheless, we had the chance to experience what it felt like being pulled by a dog team. It was interesting to see how they were tricky to control and we even had a smooth and funny crash that flipped the sled, and us as well, on the side making Dalexia's head hitting my camera lens but luckily no one was hurt.

This short experience has encourage us even more to try it again but this time not sitting in the sled but driving it.





More photos here