Just call me Olive.....

Had our book club meeting this week. Our book this month was Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout; I read and reviewed the book here.

For the most part all the members enjoyed the book, a couple didn't but that's not unusual, not everyone likes the same thing.

The main character was Olive.  She was a no nonsense, crusty woman, who spoke her mind, didn't suffer fools gladly, but underneath had a softer side that occasionally peaked out.  I said I could so relate to her and thought I saw a lot of me in her.  Turns out a few others felt the same way.

So now if someone is grumpy, we're going to call it an "Olive" moment.  Turns out there was an HBO series as well that was based on this book, which you can read about here.

Have you ever read a book and thought "that character is my twin?"

Our November book choice is "Ru" by Kim Thuy

Unsettled, uneasy, maybe a bit of both..........

Went for a walk after supper last night and bumped into a few people.  What should have been a 20 minute walk turned into an hour.....LOL

The builders are still building houses on our subdivision/estate.  In fact the houses are selling like hotcakes, both the brand new ones and the previously lived in ones/resales.  I think the builder is building too fast, and I am sure down the road it may affect the quality of the product.  I have no proof of this, it's just my thoughts, as I have lived in a home where the builder was overwhelmed and closed two phases at once and the houses suffered from this.

We have been watching the resale prices carefully and are surprised and shocked at how much they are going for.  Now for us the higher they go the more money we make on our home.  If I haven't mentioned it before I will now.  This is not our forever home, I want to move.  I LOVE, LOVE the house, and would pick it up in a minute and move it out into the country onto an acre or two tomorrow if I could.  Realistically though that's not going to happen.

Back to why I am unsettled, uneasy or what ever.  The builders are in a heck of a hurry to finish one particular house that backs onto the golf course, just along the road from us.  It turns out the couple have paid over $900,000 CDN for this house.  This is not gossip, this is a fact.  As I said I love my house but would not pay that amount of money (couldn't afford too) for a house with basically no land, that you have to pay a condo fee on top of that, and have semi-detached houses opposite you.  

For that money I would expect a lot, lot more.  It shocked me to say the least when I heard this.  It also made me question whether or not we are "good enough" to live amongst these kind of people.  They obviously have money, but what will we have in common with them?  There are a number of people who live on our subdivision who do have money as the house on our subdivision is their summer home and they winter down south in the States.  Some even have a cottage up north, so the house on our subdivision is their "in between" home.

The majority of the people on our subdivision are great folk, but I have never lived anywhere in close proximity of others where houses can be worth close to $1 million CDN.  We are your average middle class type of folk, worked hard all our lives; dh is still working hard.  Paid our bills on time, paid for everything we own, and enjoy the once a year vacation and the odd treat here and there.  I budget, I use coupons, I try to save a buck or two as much as possible, as far as disposable income we don't have much.  

We have always lived in subdivisions where we are all on a level playing field, everything felt right with the world.  Here I am not too sure?  I am feeling a bit unsettled right now because of this.....

Thanks for listening.

Couple of things to mention:

We finally found a piece of art for the stairs:

 It's a good size at 60 inches wide and 40 inches high.

Pig to hang, but pleased with the look.  Got it at Pier One Imports.  Ordered a piece of furniture from there at the same time, will be here in a couple of weeks.  Sucks how much more we have to pay here in Canada.

Got a baby set finished.  A gnome and a newborn hat.  Knit with Bernat Softee Baby; which was a pleasure to knit with.

I have at least another two sets to do, but have a more urgent project to do that involves this colour yarn:

Yep that's Bubblegum Pink.  I hope this works out as it will be a fun thing when it's done.  I will show you more as soon as they are done.........yes there are plural of them, and they have to be finished by the middle of November!

Thank you

for all your replies.  Your comments have given me food for thought.

On a more cheerful front I got a lovely parcel in the mail this week:

I am making a baby quilt for a baby due in April 2016 in New Zealand.

I got this lovely lot from Fabric Spot a great Canadian company.  They have a super selection of fabric at great prices.

Mind you I am busy with a knitting project at the moment, so not sure when I will get around to doing this.

Decisions, decisions..........

I am up and down about my blog at the moment.  Should I continue with it or should I say goodbye to it?

From my lack of posts recently I have been leaning towards saying goodbye.  I am finding it more of a chore than a joy at the moment.  Writing a blog should not be a chore, it should be done with joy and because you want to do it.  I think you can tell when a person is writing a post because they feel they "have too," and I can even see it in my posts.

I still haven't come to a decision whether or not I will carry on, but would love to hear how you feel about your blog and if you have had those times when you say enough.........

P.S. Life is good, busy but good.  Got a lot going on though.