Best news

A text ping yesterday afternoon announcing the arrival of this photo.

Georgie! On the ferry heading towards the dock on the island! Yes, Georgie and Joe are home. Best news in months.

Joe’s massive undertaking has been completed. His 91-year-old mother is now residing in an assisted living flat – which, after so many years of resistance, she actually loves. The basement and garage of the family home, stuffed from floor to ceiling with clothes and appliances and bric-à-brac acquired over decades for garage sales that were never going to happen, were cleared out and dispersed to various charities. The house cleaned and painted and sold to a lovely young family. 

Several weeks ago he posted this cartoon.

Followed by this photo, taken halfway through clearing out the garage. 

As I said, a massive undertaking.

And now he and Georgie are home. Just in the nick of time, as far as I’m concerned. The days are getting shorter, we’ve had twice the normal amount of rain in September (good news for the folks who rely on cisterns for their water) and it won’t be long before winter. I have never needed Georgie more. 

Normally this would be a walk day, but that’s been put off until tomorrow so Joe and Georgie can have their first getting-back-to-normal walk just the two of them. Tomorrow I get to see my (his) girl!

God, I’ve missed those four hours a week.

I swore I’d get off my backside and go for walks while they were away. I’ve managed four (none particularly long and two of them in the three days my friend Catherine was visiting). 

I have no sense that the anti-depressants have kicked in yet, but this has certainly cheered me up.