and so it goes

 how many different types of mis-matched fencing
do you see in the photo above?

how about this one?

4 foot white pickets,
weatherd pickets,
new pickets...

new 6 foot privacy fencing,
old weathered 6 foot privacy fencing...

barbed wire fencing,
plain old regular wire fencing...

all to try and contain our dogs.
and it still wasn't enough.

no, after bringing the two dogs over 2 weeks ago,
our two beautiful Siberian Huskies,
it became immediately apparent that the several
4 foot tall stretches of fencing would not contain one of the pups.

he became panicked and anxious when my husband drove off the first time,
just as he has done in the past, and successfully began
to work his way over, under and through the fence.
not completely, but he was well on his way.

i've watched this pup scale fences before,
so i had a bit of an "i told you so" moment
when i witnessed this.

**sigh**

long story short ( too late, right? )
until we can get yet another fence put up,
a uniform, 6 foot privacy fence all the way around,
my husband is living 30 miles away in our old home with the dogs,
and i'm living here in the cottage with the cat.

a few days after this living arrangement went into place,
my husband left for a week in Portland, Oregon to help
his mom get the family home ready for sale.

and so it goes here, as well.

now that he is back home, we are still living apart, reluctantly so.
things are tense and stressful between us, i have to confess.

we must finance the building of yet another fence,
even though funds are low.

we must get the new cottage organized and more livable.
getting it ready for potential magazine and/or book photo shoots?
doubtful.

and most importantly, we must, must, MUST
get the old house prepared to list and sell.
it's a financial must.

houses simply aren't selling right now, so i've had
more than a few anxious, sleepless nights over this.
all of this, actually.

i'm not looking for sympathy here,
i'm just trying to explain why i've been away
the past couple of weeks.

nobody put a gun to my head and forced me to buy
the new cottage, so any hardship we are experiencing
is of our own creation.
strike that. it's of MY creation.
having this new home was my dream, and the mr. indulged me.
i find him blameless in this whole mess.

but still? still?
i am blessed.
abundantly so, i do believe.

in spite of it all, there are some wonderful things
happening in my life...in our lives...if i can just see
beyond the present circumstances.

that's hard to do, but it's what i must do.
i say, as i sit here and type this post, as my husband
resides in another home, with the other two-thirds
of our fur kids.

i'll share more of the good later this week.

until then,