Our New (old) Neighbourhood.

For the entire time we have been together, hubby and I have lived inside the boundaries of the City of Victoria, despite having moved several times. Most recently, we lived in VicWest, right on the edge of the border with Esquimalt. Now we live in Hillside-Quadra, near another boundary (we are not far from the Saanich border).

We lived in this area once before -- from 1999-2001 -- right on Quadra Street, about 6 blocks from where we are now (or as one friend said "within mortar shelling range"). At that time, we were "renting to own" but it didn't work out. More annoyingly, the landlords kept our deposit and, even though we won it back through a residential tenancy hearing, they disappeared and never paid up. It's all water under the bridge now. Our time there had plenty of ups and downs but there were good memories and I didn't dislike living in the area.

That said, six blocks makes a HUGE difference. Our street gets a fair number of cars but they all seem to be residents so they aren't going terribly fast. Sirens are still audible but don't race past our front door (touch wood) and buses are nearby without stopping right outside.

There are oodles of cats in the neighbourhood (including a doppelgänger for our own cat -- so close we've actually had to double check our cat was still inside), a few dogs, lots of squirrels and birds -- especially crows. I suspect there are raccoons, too. I haven't seen deer, though they are never too far away in Victoria.

As the settling in continues, we have found the garbage collection and recycling pick-up schedules. It's hard to adjust to a single garbage can after having access to a dumpster for so long, but I set up a compost bin in the back yard and am being a recycling hard-ass in order to make sure we aren't overdoing the waste. (That said, we will have to head to the dump once we clean up after the renos... though Hubby is doing well re-using whatever is possible along the way.)

I think, once we find a sofa, I'll be able to relax -- both literally and figuratively -- but overall, I have to admit I am very happy with our change of address.