Thursday, February 17, 2011

Why am I so happy.......

The dog goes tomorrow to her new home.  In the three weeks she has been with me I've managed to train her not to pee in the house, not to jump up on the furniture or to jump up at people.  No thanks you's for that.  I've fed her, I've walked her, I've loved her. 
To be quite honest she's a sneaky little bully of a dog who has been spoiled rotten, treated like a human rather than an animal.  I will miss the walks though, my little Poppy is going to have to get used to being dragged out from under the bed in the future for early morning walks down by the lake.  I had told the owners family that I couldn't afford to get her vet-checked, chipped and de-sexed if I took her, so we went back to the original plan of a friend of the home-help taking her.  The family offered to pay all the vets bills for her cos she couldn't afford it.  The family have stripped the house bare, dumped half of it, given a whole heap away to their friends and then asked me if there was anything I wanted out of the crap that was left. 
That was before the old man was dead and now the old lady is still alive in hospital, totally out of it though.  They are not having a funeral, he's going to be cremated yesterday, today or tomorrow, who knows.  They are all squabbling over who's getting what. I don't want a thing.  I watched out for their parents because they couldn't be bothered to, they were quite happy to stand back and let me do it.    My boys are upset because the old man was like a grandfather to them. So I think we'll have our own ceremony to farewell him at the weekend.  I'm just so mad how his family have treated him and are now treating his things. Theres no respect.   In a way its a blessing that their mother is not with it at all.
It has made me think that in future I will not be so helpful and nice.  Not so eager to be the good neighbour.  The house will probably be sold to someone who wants it as a holiday home.  Pretty soon nearly all the houses where I live will be holidays rentals.  In fact on my street I think there are only 3 people that can say they have lived there over 18 years and I am one of them.   I think now it might be time for me to pull out and sell up.  Move to a smaller place with less garden, closer to the hospitals and shops.  The rates here are sky high and we have less amenitites than everywhere else. Its been yuppified, everything has been taken over by boutique motels and spas, its all geared up for the tourists. 
I need to downsize, get rid of a few things, have less clutter around.  Even though I have had major declutters in the past couple of years there still a lot left.  I have half a rainforest under the house and a toolshed full of tools nobody uses.
I might check out the realtor websites and see what is available.

Jan

2 comments:

  1. I'm sure that the things you did to help your neighbours were appreciated by them, but the family sounds like a right piece of work! I think a little private memorial of your own is a really good idea.

    Are you really thinking of moving? I'm kind of lamenting changes to the village where we have our NZ house too, but it's the exact opposite of your situation. It used to be mostly weekenders and for the 4 years we lived there full time (and the kids went to the tiny school for a couple of years before going off to high school) we were one of only a handful of 'permanent' families. Now almost everyone lives there full time, a lot in fancy new houses. I liked the quiet before, now there always seems to be someone coming and going. Oh well, that's life I guess.

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  2. I hope that the childrens lack of appreciation and respect won't keep you from being the wonderful neighbour that you were. You seem to have a natural tendency to be helpful and caring; it would be a shame to let the remaining "un-grates" keep someone else from reaping the benefits of being your neighbour and friend.

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