I've moved into a mansion...well...

Here's the view of the back yard, an amazing park, from the rear deck.
part of the VERY large kitchen - I think I need rollerblades...
this is the front living room, since it was the only one with a fireplace, that's where I stacked the presents!
This Victorian has plenty of personality, such as leaded glass built ins.
The homeowner is a fabric artist and some of the curtains are hand done, such as this beauty.

As many of you know, I am a homeless homeowner with a sad, sad tale.
I bought a house in Machias early this year - 180 miles from here and two and a half hours away. It was a great deal and I love my house very VERY much and it has a full art studio and borders the town woods and is right next door to my daughter and her family. How perfect is that? I moved all my belongings up there in February, anticipating a March retirement by the news reporter currently covering the area. And then - she changed her mind and said she was waiting until September. And so I waited until September. And then she said she would retire in December. Well - you get the idea. I'm still waiting and everything I own is in Machias and I am here, in my office, in Pittsfield, waiting for her to make up her mind. ugh.
Meanwhile, I've been virtually living in my office since I have a little dog that is unwelcome by a BIG cat at my friend's home that graciously offered me a bedroom. I cannot leave my Emma by herself so I have been spending nearly every waking hour IN THE OFFICE when I am not lolling around at my Machias home.
My views from the office? The side of a building on one side, an office building across the street, and an ATM on the other side. Not to mention that an ice cream parlor opened at the rear of the building this summer and played JIMMY BUFFET music 24 hours a day, and when the town drops off the recycling container in the parking lot behind me, the entire building shakes and the BOOOOM it makes stops my heart.
Well, I bumped into my friend M the other day and she has moved away and started her own business - Fiberphelia, in a Victorian house where she and her family now live. She put her house - right here in Pittsfield - on the market. No one has even looked at it since JULY and so she was looking for a house sitter. VIOLA - two birds with one stone!
I moved in yesterday and I am so rattling around here. There are three bedrooms, a master suite, a sitting room, THREE bathrooms, a formal living room, dining area, kitchen, eating area, and a large family room with a deck overlooking one of the most beautiful parks in the state. There is a finished daylight basement complete with a cedar closet the size of Mt. Rushmore.
Since I only had to move my clothes, bedding and the food in the refrig, it took me like all of thirty seconds.
It's a big echoey (is that a word?) in here since M took most of her belongings with her (how dare she?!)
One of the rooms - the family room - is furnished and my friends are bringing me a kitchen table with four chairs tonight. I have wireless service and a projector DVD on the ceiling that shows movies on the WALL!!!
And what if it sells, you ask? The realtor said she has a dozen more that I could choose from.
NO MORE OFFICE FOR ME!
Last night was a bit freaky here at The Mansion. All those noises that a strange house has and you can't identify yet kept Emma and I awake a good part of the night.
About midnight, I thought Emma had trapped a mouse under a radiator and armed with a dish towel (I couldn't find anything else!) I went to...well, I don't know what I was going to do with just a stupid dish towel. Emboldened by my presence, Emma scratched under the radiator and dragged out : A PEPPERMINT..... It didn't look so scary, all stuck with fuzz like that, and so, after determining that the mint was COMPLETELY dead, we both settled down for some snoozing.
Anyway, we are having an ice storm today and here I am, all cozy in my new digs. Wish you were here...Oh, and if anyone knows of someone looking for a large Victorian home in central Maine with astounding views, let me know.