On the Road Again (intermission #5)

Let me tell you about a 12 hour period in Sally's house......

 Last night (Friday) in her house, there were 2 people who rent rooms from Sally (one of whom has a lovely quiet dog), Sally's sister visiting for 3-4 days, a young mom with her 15 month old son who is staying here for a few weeks, a man who had a knee operation and is on crutches, Sally, Sally's dog and cat and of course me.  Next door, but still on the same property, there is a young family living who had 3 young children as well as a dog and a cat. The dog and cat wander through Sally's garden and house. Occasionally the children do as well. It sounds like the house would be in constant turmoil, and on occasion it is, but most of the time it is surprisingly peaceful. To achieve this partial serenity requires lots of work, almost constant dish washing, and people putting things away in the right place. Not everybody contributes equally and sometimes it feels as if my hands will be permanently wrinkled.

We had a nice meal together with lots of friendly chatting. The highlights of the conversation were Sally and her sister talking about their childhood in Toronto and the various houses they had lived in throughout their lives.

Once the dishes were done and the house sort of organized, Sally started to paint and and Sally's sister and I went out and picked some plums by flashlight. (Why we did it then is a long story in itself). The evening was pleasant and fun.

By 11:30 I and the other gentleman were bedded on the floor, Sally's sister and one of the tenants were sharing a bed, and the mom and young son were sleeping in the spare room (the one that I usually get). At some point after the house was in bed, Sally's son and three year granddaughter arrived from Vancouver on the last ferry. There were of course no beds left. So they shared Sally's bed (something that she loves).

Needless to say in the morning the house was in chaos. There were 2 strollers blocking the big door that lead to the ramp, Sally's power chair was being recharged in the living room, there were 2 little kids running/crawling around and people were lining up to use the one bathroom. Sally's sister wisely hid in the room she was using and Sally was slowly going through her morning routines with her worker.

I had planned on finishing the deck and ramp today, but there were far too many people needing to use the sliding glass doors that lead out onto the deck. The thought of trying to get folks to stay away from that part of the deck for 4 hours while the paint dries was just too much work to consider doing any painting. I suspect it will be Tuesday before I can get to it. It is Saturday - which means market day on Salt Spring. Sally and I, along with anyone else who wants to, will gather at the market and visit with old friends and meet new ones.

I wonder who will appear today?

 Just another day at Sally's!!!