Things seem so much nicer this morning. The crisp, cool air and the colors of trees which umbrella above and crunch underfoot seem to have brightened my spirits.
We went back to the rental house yesterday, to find that the tenant had moved most everything out of the house and garage, leaving, what looks to me as if it would be one more truckload of stuff. Hopefully, she will be completely vacated by tomorrow, and we can begin the task of painting, repairing and cleaning the interior and getting the gutters cleaned, the bushes trimmed and yard raked. At the moment, it seems fruitless to clear the leaves, as they aren't finished falling. Maybe that should be the last job on the list, and yet, we are trying to schedule the outside work while the weather is cooperative. Hopefully we can get another pair or two of hands to help and we can get this work done 'pronto' and get back to our own home's work.
Before we can leave, however, we must get a tenant in. I really don't like having to choose a tenant, and since we've had little interest thus far, I'm not sure how quickly we can find an acceptable new resident for the little house. Always, in the past, we've had multiple people respond to ads for the house(s). That required interviews, reference calls, etc. and a final choice was made. These days, with the economy what it is, there are more homes available and less tenant choices. I've just got to trust that someone will appear 'out of the blue' as an answer to my prayers. We have had two parties that were interested, but one had a budget which might rent them a room, the other was able to locate another house while our tenant delayed her moving date. Back to square one, I guess.
Houses are always a chore, but it's especially difficult to accomplish a feat when the decisions are not yours to make about anything. Complaining about the frustrations does little, and so we'll move along, one step at a time, until we're happily back at home and diving into the 'catching up' of holiday preparations.
