Moving Day at Last!

Posted On December 4, 2013

Stephanie Kelley

Finally…The end is nigh for the latest Great Flood Relocation Program!
 
After months of delays, set-backs, game play changes and excruciating waits on everything for everybody, the last two inhabited homes will be moved in a couple of days as I write this.
 

This is my own personal home being moved up onto Perth Terrace from its former lot on East Riverside Drive.
I loved my spot on the river, where I had shared a driveway with my wonderful neighbours Nancy and Rick for the past 17 years.
 

But, I now have a whole new assortment of wonderful neighbours!
 

Relocation was the only sensible option for me, as opposed to flood proofing, and I’ll now have a dry and useable basement. As the river has risen due to silt build up, my basement got a little damper and gloomier with each passing year. Jack McPhail told me that when his family lived in my house years ago, that basement was dry enough to be used as a bedroom. Just another example of how the rising water level in the river has affected our riverside properties… not as dramatic as a flood, but the ground is becoming saturated at ever higher levels along the river.
 

I was amazed and thrilled to discover that my home could actually be transported up that twisty, narrow lane onto Terrace Street. I really wanted to stay in town, and I feel very fortunate to have landed in my new neighbourhood.
 

My home was moved during some very sloppy weather… an overnight snow storm morphed into drizzling rain in the morning. The move was supposed to be postponed if the weather was bad… but apparently 3 inches of slush and a freezing downpour did not qualify as “inclement”! (We’re Canadians after all, eh?)
 

My house was plucked from the foundation it had rested on for over 100 years and began its slow journey up Main Street. I stood on the hill overlooking the turn onto the terrace to take photos, and to keep my fingers crossed that my home would make it!
 

Because of the extreme corner and incline my house would be traveling up, everything inside had to be packed for safety. I heard tales of house moves so smooth that drinks left on counters were still standing when the move was completed, but that was clearly not going to be the case in this instance!
 

This gave me a chance to discover just how much crap I have accumulated since I moved to Perth. But I also found cool stuff I had forgotten I owned, although I was a bit bemused to discover that I have 2 copies of several books. That’s what happens when I hit used book sales and think, boy, I really should have copies “Brave New World” and “1984” in my library… forgetting that they’re already there!
 

There was a little excitement when the truck got stuck in the slush on the turn, but a second truck was standing by to help out. And then, the truck got stuck in the mud as it began backing into the lot, and had to rock to get out… definitely unnerving to watch! However, my house was eventually unloaded successfully, and everything survived.
 

Thanks to the movers and contractors and my family and everyone who helped, everything went pretty darned smoothly.
 

Many thanks also to the Irving Mainstop, Clark’s SaveEasy and NB Liquor for all the boxes they provided… Those banana boxes were great for unloading my book shelves…. With some luck I should be back in my home with my menagerie in another week or so!