The most comforting feeling is that of the familiar. 373 days had passed since we last entered our home and the emotions ran high... curiosity, excitement, and serenity, a sense of achievement, a sense of completion, and a deep inner sigh! Family, friends, and neighbours welcomed us home and the celebrating began.

We are thankful for wonderful renters who, as my brother-in-law so lovingly pointed out, kept our home better than we did! Now, however, the arduous chore of moving in and going through all the STUFF we had stored before our journey began, looms before us. If we have learned anything in our wee little house-on-wheels, it is that less is more! And so we sort and resort, evaluate and re-evaluate, unpack and repack, in the hope that we will eventually get settled and feel at home once more.

As you can imagine, the moment the kids saw their big empty house the Invasion of 2012 began. There was space to occupy, bathrooms to dominate, and bedrooms to conquer! In all my years of moving, I have yet to experience the annex of a home in any manner less than assault. Chaos reigns and it inevitably gets worse before it gets better.

To add to the chaos, the weekend we arrived home was the 50th Reunion of the NPMB Church where we had attended for many years. There were a lot of old friends we had not seen for years, some of whom we visited with amongst the anarchy of our upside-down home and some of whom we visited with over meals at the church. It was like a double reunion for us - coming home to both our past and present friends.

And so the chaos lingered while the celebrations continued: A trip up the river with family, coffee with neighbours, breakfast with friends, a Holdstock family gathering, another boat trip with friends, an impromptu bar-b-q, and people popping over... once again the front door is always open and it is as though we had never left.

Home at last and even amongst the chaos there is something strangely comforting in the familiar!