Condo Living

Take a right, then a left, and then a right again and soon you'll see the entrance to Forest Hills Condos. There's a small building into between the entrance and the exit with gates that close during the night to keep the onlookers out. So no pizza deliveries after nine pm. Actually, they could still get in by buzzing your home and keying in a code to open the gate. This is the life inside a semi-retirement community. I am most likely one of the youngest members of the association. There are no children living here - though I don't remember reading any rules about having any. It would be a great place to teach a child how to ride a bike - with all of the small roads and long driveways leading out from the condos. Plus all of the residents drive slowly down the lanes (well, most do). Some of the residents walk their dogs around the block. I was thinking of getting a mechanical dog just so I'd have something to walk around the block with, as it would be a great way to meet the neighbors - with or without a dog. Some people refer to the homes by their dog's name - oh that's were Lilly lives, or Prince lives over there. Kind of funny, really.

Maintenance free, but not free of charge. That is, we pay a monthly fee that pays for the lawns to be mowed; the leaves to be raked, blown and gathered; driveways to be plowed; sidewalks to be shoveled or snowblowed; outside windows to be washed twice a year; and even the cleaning out of the dryer vent every couple of years. Not bad living - though I do miss mowing the lawn on a riding lawn mower. I spent plenty of years mowing with a push mower. But when Barry and I were married, we invested in one of the zero turn mowers. That was a lot of fun and it made for great entertainment when family came over to visit. Now it's just me in a square building with three other residents. Thankfully, there are fire-proof and sound-proof walls between the units.

The trees are finally full of green leaves and the grass is mowed once a week (by someone else). The first condo you pass on your right is the clubhouse. This is where the monthly potluck suppers are held, along with other gatherings. Plus our mailboxes are on one end. You can rent the clubhouse for family gatherings, but not if you want to have a home-based business party. The only money collected inside the building is for the 50/50 drawings they have each month. 

After the clubhouse, you'll notice that all of the buildings look the same. All of them have four units and everyone has their own garage, with access into their homes. This is condo living. I never thought I would like living in a home that looked just like the one next door. But after being here for a year, it's starting to feel like home. As you drive along the roads, you'll notice that all condos have one unit with a fireplace. Those without a fireplace, have a huge window. My condo has a fireplace in it. Barry would have loved it here. Above the fireplace is his buck - the one he shot in 2008, but thankfully wasn't preserved in 2009 when our house burned down.

My condo cannot be located with a GPS because although my address is on Dawn Dr, my condo sits on a side street that has a road sign that says, to Dawn Ct. So I'm not on one of the main roads. They really should have named my street, as they have other short street in our complex with names. Maybe I'll suggest that. But not finding my place isn't always a terrible thing. It allows me to have some privacy, too. Also my condo is nestled in amongst some trees, so year round, I get to see some of the animals that live in the wild. Last winter,  I noticed some deer beds not far from my living room window. I had wished I had gotten up sooner to see the deer there. But I have seen them throughout the complex, along with rabbits, and raccoons. I am sure there have been some turkey sightings as well. Just this morning, I watched a chipmunk chase a squirrel in and out of the bushes and trees outside my bedroom window. I was surprised because the squirrel was so much bigger. Then when the chipmunk was out of sight, the squirrel circled back to it's original destination and soon ran out onto a branch and jumped onto the neighbors bird feeder. I was just about to take a photo of it sitting on top, when it climbed down to where the seeds were and hid from my view. Silly squirrel. I later told my neighbor that I would be glad to trim those branches for her, but she said she would get to it.

My condo has two bedrooms and two baths and an open concept living room, dining room, kitchen. Plus a small storage room off the laundry area. It's really just the right size or even a bit larger space than I need. As it's just me. So most of the condo stays clean (which is nice). But in my bedroom is currently where my desk is - with my computer, where I sit and type all of my stories into - to share with all of you. And out my bedroom window is a world of adventure for the animals. It's definitely fun to just sit and watch and imagine what life might be like as a small mammal. (That's another story yet to be written).

My repsonsibility of plantings outside are only those from the wood edging to the condo. If I want to plant a garden in the wooded area, I have to get permission from the directors of the association. And so there is a small garden left from a previous owner. That's good enough for me. But some of the shrubs are looking pretty sad, so I'll be replacing some this year, while others will just be removed. Last December, in attempt to place Christmas lights on a flowering tree outside my garage, I decided to trim some of the branches, and well, I trimmed too much. But thankfully, it is still alive, though it does look pitiful. One of my neighbors saw a picture of the trimmed tree and said I wasn't needed to help her in her own garden. I was thankful, too. I did enough weeding for my mom and dad when they lived in Blooming Valley - I'm good for a long time yet. So the only flowers that will come up outside for me are some lillies planted by someone else. I don't have the green thumb my mom had. It wasn't passed down to me, thankfully. Who has time to talk to plants anyway? haha.

My living room has my only TV, and once in awhile I'll relax in the living room in one of the recliners, putting my feet up and eating a bowl of cereal or a sandwich and watch some shows. My main channels are Hallmark and HGTV - for the show Love it or List it. Then when I want some background noise, I'll put on the music channel and listen to contemporary Christian songs - I'll put the volume up a little more so I can hear it in my bedroom. Speaking of music, one of the stipulations here is that you can't play musical instruments outside - or have radios on loud in the garage.  I was actually looking forward to sitting outside on my patio and strumming a few tunes on my guitar. They didn't say anything about opening up all of my windows and playing the drums in my living room. Oh, that's right, I don't have any drums. I do have a keyboard, though. I don't play very often - maybe just once or twice since I moved in last year. But when the grandkids come over, they love to play on the keyboard, espec some of the demo songs - so it looks like they know what they're doing.

So - that's about it - life in my condo. It's quiet and peaceful. No one really comes to the door much and when my phone rings, I let the answering machine get it, because it's usually a telemarketer and so I don't give them any money any more. Plus, I didn't even give out my phone number, except to the condo association; though I recently changed that with my cell number. Well, I guess I could go on and on, but then I'd have to wake you up at the end to say goodnight. And the sun is about to go down here, also. Sweet dreams - see you somewhere else as we travel around Robin Hood's Barn.