Today's objective was to take possession of the new house, Barkwhistle, (aptly named by my husband) and the process was not without drama. Deeply buried in the fine print of the volumes of legalese we had to sign to get this far was a requirement for the house to have drinkable water. And -- quelle surprise -- the water test turned out to have failed. Probably because the house has been vacant for several months and the well relatively unused. And of course we didn't find this out until mid-morning, when I was in Owen Sound and Bob was en route with a van full of stuff to move in.

While the lawyers wrestled with this (and you can imagine the expense meter running), we spent a pretty comfortable afternoon with my mother, complete with tea and sandwiches, until we finally got permission to move in (after signing some pretty scary paperwork). There will be a water treatment system installed in a couple of days at the vendor's expense. It will take a few more vanloads and carloads before I really feel moved in, and of course I still have to sell the house I'm in at the moment.

All in all, it was a bit tense, but not too serious. It made me think of all the families there are who don't have drinkable water, and all the people who don't have a safe place to sleep at night. We are so lucky.