Home

“is where the heart is” blah, blah, blah.  It’s more than that.  It’s a home base, a refuge from the world outside.

My husband and I have been sent out in the US and overseas and we always retained our home base.  Then we came out to the mountains on a 6-month contract and packed up all our belongings and put them in air-conditioned storage.  We’ve been here 2.5 years!

Our home base is gone and we live in someone’s vacation home with all their furniture, even a family photo.  It’s lovely, and while it was freaky at first I got used to it.

We love it here.  But here’s my ideal.  We have a home and have the ability to go abroad for work for a few months at a time.  Last time we did that was Scotland for three months and we didn’t bring the dog.  She was eligible then, and still is seven years later, for the British Travel Scheme (DEFRA) but our posting was supposed to be half the time and it would have been too much for her to travel so we left her with a friend.

I want my stuff back.  I want a home again.  And we don’t want to have to justify the fact that we have a dog, no matter where we go.  We raised this pup from six weeks, had her hips taken out as a pup and she grew fake hips from cartilage.  We’re not letting this girl go no matter where we live.

Home is where my husband and dog live, but we spent a life furnishing a small home and like what we chose and it’s a shame to keep it all in storage every month.

My cookbooks are in there, at least 100.  I steeled myself against taking them with me.  Now I see new things, remember old things and look some things up online.  Oh, and I got a library card so have Julia Child’s second  “Mastering” book on my coffee table right now, due back next week.

We each got to bring one special thing in the fully loaded cars (including dog) and my husband chose a PlayStation III and I chose my KitchenAid food processor.  Both have served us well but I’ve had to buy a lot of kitchen equipment that we have in storage half a country away.

There’s nothing like walking in the door, hanging up your coat, taking off your shoes and knowing the sights, sounds and smells of stew, over egg noodles….

We lead a non-conventional life because we have no kids so are mobile.  Now that all our stuff is in storage we’re more mobile than ever, except for the dog.  Right now we have a home, it feels like home and we are treated by all as if we are home.

My first rules on foreign postings are No Burkhas, No Compounds, No Armed Guards, No Civil War.  Oh, and Plumbing is Required.  Cheers! Dee