Goodbyes suck...more often than not. I would be more than thrilled to say goodbye to plenty of things, Asthma, headaches, and #45, but I am not terribly excited about this upcoming goodbye. 41 Ashlee Dr. has been a tumultuous home filled with ridiculous challenges and wonderful memories. I hate that there is no easy way to get in this house that does not involve either a steep hill or a flight of stairs...but that's pretty much my biggest complaint! Yeah, we have a tiny master bathroom and very limited closet space, but those are really silly, first world problems. This house really is pretty great. The property has been nothing short of relaxing, calming, and wondrous the entire time we've lived here. I may be romanticizing things a bit but so what, it's my prerogative! Sitting on the deck and hearing nothing but birds has soothed me countless times. Watching wildlife right outside my window has filled me with awe Every. Single. Time! No matter how many times I see a deer or turkey in the yard, it is still exciting and beautiful. So I will miss this home and I wanted to give the new owners an idea about the wonderful place they will soon be calling home, so I wrote them a letter. I'm not sure if I will leave it for them but it was important for me to at least put it down on paper.
To the new owners of 41 Ashlee,
First, welcome to your new home! I wanted to give you a little run down of all the intricacies about this house and its' property that we have discovered over the years.
It is a warm, inviting and cozy house. By warm I mean in the general sense, not always the literal! The floors get pretty chilly in the kitchen in the winter, so wear some fuzzy sock or slippers!
The kitchen is pretty darn near perfect in size and layout and really has more storage than I ever needed. Many wonderful conversations happened around that kitchen island, I hope you experience that as well.
The great room over the garage is my favorite place in the house. In winter it is warm (literally, this time...hello, wood stove!) and can lead to some epic winter naps. In the summer you can get a lovely cross breeze and beautiful views off the deck. It's large enough for a giant kid sleepover and the best part is when the door is shut the sound is almost totally deadened!
The deck is the most relaxing place of the house. Birds would flock to the feeders I put out; juncos, chickadees, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, redheaded woodpeckers, nuthatches, tufted titmice, and more. If you are quiet and still enough they will even land on the feeder with you sitting right there! The squirrels like the feeders too but if I threw seed into the grass they would tend to leave the feeders alone. Beware though, the area bear(s) have absolutely no issue opening the fence gate and sauntering on the deck to devour any seed left out (seriously this just happened the other night) So be sure to take the feeders in every night if you feed throughout the year.
That swingset has been used by birds as a place to nest more than a play place for our children but it too has seen its' fair share of daring acts of acrobatics! I hope your girls enjoy it thoroughly!
The driveway and circle at the end of the road is the perfect place for kids to ride their bikes while staying close to home when they are young. The wonderful thing about this neighborhood is it's so quiet you can hear your children playing at the circle from the house and they can hear you call to them! Speaking of the circle, it is a wonderful place to look for frog eggs, tadpoles and frogs! The trail on the right side of the circle goes all the way back to Cavender road which is Greenfield and a lovely place to walk and explore, even in winter!
The woods behind the house has many treasures as well, you can find animal scat, places of rest and all manner of garter snakes, toads, and newts. It's also an excellent place to put up game cameras. Those woods are a hot travel zone for all kinds of creatures...we've even had a moose go through! You will hear Bard owls, coyotes, fox, bobcats and fishers, regularly. It can be eerie at night but so incredible too. The neighborhood bats have been our favorite thing to look for every spring, we keep hoping that the population will increase to help with mosquito control. They are fun to watch too.
At certain times in the spring and summer you will look up and see hundreds (well maybe not hundreds but a LOT) of dragonflies swooping around and eating bugs. It's really neat to lie back in a chair and watch them zip around.
Walking this neighborhood is magical, every time! There are wonderful, friendly people and most everyone has a dog! It's 2.1 miles from your new home to the horse farm on Burke rd. and back. The sunset over the house at the end of Burke is beautiful and the sunrise over Monadnock at the horse farm is too!
So, you see, you are not just getting a house today, you are getting a whole new life, full of adventure and beauty and I hope you find as much happiness here as we have. It truly is an exceptional home.
All my best,
Erica Marshall
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