Anne agreed to chaperon her, so we made arrangements for a Birmingham departure, being closest to Oundle.
I met them at Toronto airport and we drove to Gwillimbury Grange, for a three week visit.
All the carpeting was complete and the intercom, so she could call if she needed anything.
We settled her into the master bedroom, with ensuite bathroom and a double connecting door to the adjacent bedroom, where Anne was ensconced.
Sandra kindly stepped into the breach and showed my illustrious guests around the places of interest.
She took them to the Black creek Pioneer village, where they where able to see examples of Canadian ancient craft.
She also drove them to Kleinburg, where they saw a binder festival, plus Upper Canada Mall and the Eaton Centre.
Mum always loved picnics, so we worked a few of those in, plus we drove out to Peterborough Ont, for her to see our namesake city plus the famous locks. Lunch at the Holiday Inn Patio there, was interrupted by an incursion of wasps.
Some evenings we would just sit around and chat. We had no T.V. this was something we had never thought of.
A.M./F.M. radio was available through the intercom, but other than that there never seemed to be a need for entertainment.
All too soon it was time for them to return, so I drove them back to the airport.
Interest rates had shot through the roof and there was no cash flow generating from this edifice we had created.
Although the house was not complete, we had to come to terms with selling.
The fact the property was hidden behind the trees, appealed to us. But most people would want to show the place off.
We gave the listing to a prominent Real Estate Agent and waited for the offers to come in.
There where a few showings, but nobody was biting. We tried another agent.
Same thing.
I felt the potential was insufficient to motivate the agents, so decided to go for a real estate license myself and unload this liability.
A couple of months later I was taken on by Natco Real Estate, and given a little space with a desk. Within weeks I sold a house in the beaches and another in Brampton, but not Gwillimbury Grange.
I got so tired of hearing, "there is still so much work to do"
We where now in danger of losing Birchmount, as well as G.G. I had borrowed money from Sandra and she was under pressure also. Things had become quite desperate.
Concerned about our liabilities if we could not sell this albatross, under advisement we went through some Corporate Restructuring and landscape/snow contracts where assigned to a new company Commerce Landscape.
The seasons came and went, before I eventually did snag a buyer. But the realized price was not sufficient to deal with all our problems, necessitating changes.
We rented an industrial unit to operate our now downsized business and considered living in a house trailer (caravan) that we had had on site.
Every negative is balanced by a positive. A few times in my life, I have hit rock bottom. But the good news is, going forward from there, the only direction is UP.
During my time with Natco Real Estate I made some useful contacts. One such individual was Arnold Molder, a mortgage broker. We worked on a few deals together.
Along with a lawyer, they had invested in a property on Broadway Ave in Toronto and they wanted out real bad, for their own reasons. We put together a private deal that was easy for us to slip into.
It was a detached two story,two bedroom home with a tenant in the basement. After awhile, as Gary and Rihana where getting serious, she also moved in. T.V. finally caught up with us.
Now free of other work obligations, we aggressively pursued more landscape/snow contracts. I started to show Gary some sales techniques and in a couple of years things where turning around.
We moved our business location to a more upbeat area on Amber St. in Markham. Our client list quickly expanded with many high profile corporations within Markham and East Metropolitan Toronto. We still cared for Volvo, Steelecase, Motorola, also adding such accounts as Honewell,(2 locations) Olivetti, Toshiba (2 locations) Holiday Inn, Raddisson Inn, Signature Inn (taken over by Howard Johnsons), Comfort Inn, Safety Supply, Hyundai, Johnson & Johnson, Blacks Camera, Enterprise car rental, Manualife.
With the expanded customer base more of my time was taken up with supervising and Gary was now taking care of P.R. and sales, at which he became very proficient.
In the Summers we continued to take care of Domglas and Mcdonnell Douglas in the West End, but not for snow. We where reluctant to travel right across the city during Winter, although we did eventually, to take care of a second Enterprise property, plus two very large distribution centres.
I removed all the lawn and beds, installing gravel over plastic sheeting, splitting the level with this small wall.
Meantime back in Toronto, further changes where occurring with our accommodation. Gary,Rihana and I got along fine sharing the house on Broadway, but I felt it would be more appropriate to each have our own living space.
Having now some real estate experience to draw on, we brought a bungalow on Winona Drive which had a separate basement apartment, that Moondog and I utilized.
We sold the Broadway house with sufficient profit to pay cash for a new Ford Front End Loader for snow clearing. I brought a new heavy duty 85 Ford truck with plow and Gary a Ford Bronco with plow.
We also used sub contractors that would be on call to plow with their own trucks on demand at $60.00 Hr.
After a couple of years, with the amount of snow contracts we had generated, I needed to be closer to our contract sites to watch the weather 24 hrs. so rented a house in Markham.
I was impressed with one young man's enthusiasm and potential "James Kearns". His parents had split up, he was at a loose end and looking for somewhere to live. I offered him two rooms in the house I was renting, which he accepted. Two other occupants where to share this house with us. Merchant and King.
Having recently lost Moondog, I really did not want to get another dog right away, but I was persuaded to give a home to Merchant the mother and son King. Only problem, if given a chance they would skip off and come back two days later covered in mud and stinking.