TITLE: “Still Life With Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea”
AUTHOR: Catherine Goldhammer
Moving from the house that her 12-year-old daughter knew as home was the hardest things Catherine ever did and this is their story about moving on after parents were divorced.
The new house was only five minutes from the old one and only 900 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. Daughter Emma convinced her to buy six chickens that were more work than either expected. The new house they bought was old and needed a lot of work. Who could help? Could she herself build a chicken coop for the growing number of chickens? First week in the house the basement flooded twice, and she dropped 200 pounds of drywall on her leg. Ouch!
Was buying this dilapidated house with no toilet, no electricity, no sink a good idea or a big mistake? After three months of cooking on a hot plate things were finally coming together for Catherine and Emma. Carpenters, plumbers and electricians were becoming like family.
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Catherine’s rules for Emma included: no tattoos, no permanent hair dying and only ears could be pierced.
Rules were necessary since Emma was only 12 and had no fear, was impulsive, and liked to change hair color every week. They tried gardening with seeds and raised beds. Life went from chaos to grace with hope for a new start in life for both of them.