Dreaming of living in the country

Do you do it too sometimes? Dreaming of what it would be like changing your lifestyle and moving to the country one day?
Well, I have been for a few days now, I "blame" our recent trips to Almonte and Smith Falls for putting doubts about our current lifestyle in my mind.


I just couldn’t stop thinking about quitting the city and moving to a little rural town. I don’t know exactly where this idea is coming from. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we’re living in a mess, maybe it’s because of our noisy neighbour (oh, the reality of living in a semi-detached!) or maybe it’s simply because I want to try living out of town?

In any case, I went to the inspiration source of all sources - mls.ca and started looking. Just typed in our price range, the imaginary location and started browsing houses.
And this is the type of house I found myself most attracted to:

Just the right size...

with generous backyard.

A beautiful Century home with original moldings, hardwood and baseboards. With simple layout and a generous backyard. Just couple of rooms, a living room and a kitchen. No fancy add-ons or unattainable square footage. Something we could manage, beautify over the years but not too much, so it doesn't loose its originality. Most of all, a house that’s got character, history and personality that is so rare to find these days.

Love the floor, door frames and those wide baseboards!

Right after I found our perfect house, my imagination started working. I was imagining V working outside, building something or setting-up a little garden for us to grow our own produce. I was imagining myself cooking in the kitchen and old hardwood squeaking under my feet as I move around. I was imagining summer weekends when our family and friends could visit and enjoy the fresh air, fresh food and the quietness of the place. I was imagining falling asleep in an old house like that and listening to it slowly calming down by making little sounds. I was imagining meeting new people, learning about the town’s history from them, maybe making new friends?

Then I went onto dreaming about winter:)(See, at this point I was really committed:)) I was dreaming of the white landscape, wintery tranquillity and the snow quietly falling down outside and us sitting in the living room, lit up by the fireplace (a wood burning one!). I was dreaming of wild animals coming close to our home and me trying to feed them and “make friends”:). I was even envisioning V with a snow blower fighting the "never-ending-Canadian snow" in the evening so we could get out of the driveway in the morning. I even went on as far as imagining our kids one day growing up so close to the nature, learning and appreciating its value and fragility.

Then my dreams got derailed. My realistic self overtook my romantic self. And the “spoil-the-moment” questions started creeping in: why would WE buy out of town, when all of our peers seem to be settling down in the suburbs? how would we manage daily commute to work? what about winter driving? what about V’s business?

Very good questions that I had no answers for. I didn’t have it all figured out but it certainly made me rethink our expectations, our views on where we are now and where we want to be in the future. Truth be told, this type of planning/dreaming is constantly on our minds, because after all, there are so many possibilities, so many options out there open and waiting to be taken. I’m sure we would be able to figure it out one day and find a perfect place for us in this imperfect world.

Images source: 1-2, 3.