I have been SO happy to get home – to be home! Travel in retirement they ask. I am really liking being home. And Philip has and does SO much work – hours and hours – to make this a lovely place to be. And it is a lovely place to be! So, yes I really love home.

And look at our arctic poppies – they are doing so well and there were four of them to greet me at the door as I arrived home.

But let’s get on with “news from the Villa”.

So we’ve got a daughter of one of the residents moving in while she looks for an apartment she can afford – and clearly, her parents are concerned for her and about her. Her Dad came to talk to me about it and to share his heavy heart. I promised to pray for them and I made an inquiry regarding a job nearby where I thought she might apply.

We are working towards our new kitchen. Philip took us to Richelieu, the best place in time to buy accessories.

They have some amazing products and Wendy was thrilled to spend some time looking through them.

And in other kitchen-related news… we ordered and received our kitchen cabinets from Ikea! I did phone my good friend Paul to see if he was available to come put them together since I know he has experience in doing this. Somehow being 3500 km away is a barrier! Too bad because I believe that he is likely very talented in this endeavour!

In more unfortunate news I arrived home to discover that a screw was in our front tire. Not the worst thing, but I decided to move up the date of our snow tire installation as the summer tires are now 100,000 km old and need to be replaced next spring.

Winter tires on – though it is not yet that cold. We’ve had a few nights where it has been 4 or 5 degrees C but for the most part autumn continues.

I did decide to take off the garden hoses – front and back – and drain and store them for the winter. The AC is switched off too, cleaned out and the cover is on!

The impatiens had a good summer – under the apple tree and near the deck is a handy place for these flowers that love shade. The grass had not grown here for years (it appears) and I’ve got that re-established. Next summer it should be much better.

And finally in news from the Villa. Our neighbour Merlin who had loaned me The Missleman to read brought out this book to show me when I returned his book. He’s currently reading it and so I have put a request in at the library to get a copy to read. Merlin is of course of Ukraine lineage so he’s most interested in these things.

Merlin is a gentle Christian gentleman and is more and more engaging me in conversations about God and our response to Him and our world. At 86 he feels old, or he speaks to this often. But he has a bright mind and an easy gait when he walks. I hope to get to know him and Doreen better in the months to come!

And that’s the news from the Villa.