Well thank you! It was a nice room which a few here have even 'heard', and I miss it.
But, onwards and upwards. I woke up this morning and was treated to this, which has me more in mind of new beginnings.
Possibilities and compromises, getting the good to outweigh the not-so-good; this part can be a real challenge but can yield big rewards, like that old listening room.
I wanted small city life close to work and a decent airport, but close enough to the good stuff (the mountains!), and this spot seems just right. A population of 70k surrounded by rolling hills, big farms and big skies might not have the live music I was used to, but we're 1/2hr away from downtown Calgary and 1-1/2hrs away from Banff, I'll be good.
This time around I have new needs for a home with 2 kids in school and wanted something 'newer', to avoid the endless list of home projects and major renovation needs I had with the 70yr old home I left. So those compromises kick in; new homes in-city carry the hurt of big houses on tiny lots – the polar opposite of my old tiny house on a giant lot. We looked (a lot!) till we found a good fit where the back yard had some space behind it making that tiny space more comfortable. Yeah, there's a street and more houses back there, but they are behind a simple open fence, walking/biking trails (many miles of them in Airdrie) and a pond – this is a smaller, lower maintenance back yard we can get comfortable with.
The un-finished basement made the house a little less desirable on the market but, this compromise I love! More affordable up front, with insulated & boarded walls, open 8 to 9' ceilings, rough-in for another bath and a big open space with a wall of windows and a walk-out to that nice back-yard. Compromises ahead for sure, but this might be my best listening room yet and hey, it might even have a view.