This is where you’re going to live
I've been saying it to a lot of people...2025 is a year of change. Our change is that Made by a Real Witch™ is relocating to Oakhill, Nova Scotia, summer 2025.
If you are surprised to hear that, we are too as this decision was not planned in advance. While my husband, Chris, and I were visiting our daughter, Natalie, and son-in-law, Conor, in Nova Scotia over the Christmas Holidays...there were no discussions about moving. Our trip was simply to spend some time in Halifax with the kids and enjoy some downtime - which we did. On the last day of our trip, the four of us decided to check out a property that was listed for sale in Lunenburg County (approx. 1 hour south of Halifax). Our house in Saskatchewan wasn't listed with a realtor...and we weren't ready to list. We weren't seriously looking to buy real estate...but we did know that we wanted to move to Nova Scotia 'at some point'. The property we saw that day didn't interest us. It was overpriced and the house was too small...but we fell in love with the area and we knew that we would end up there someday.
Rewind approximately 8-9 years. My spirit guide, George, had been telling in dreams repeatedly to move East. He told me not to go north of Halifax and said that I would be happiest in an area known as Bridgewater. I never forgot that. This was years before our daughter decided to move to Halifax for school. It was years before Natalie met her now-husband, Conor. FYI the town of Bridgewater, NS, is also located in Lunenburg County - just down the hill from where we are relocating to.
Fast forward to January 2025. After, Chris and I returned to Saskatchewan, we both went back to work and resumed our life. But Chris continued looking at real estate in Nova Scotia. He found a small acreage that interested him with an older house, but I knew when he showed it to me that - while the property and location were nice - the house itself was too small for our needs. I then started looking around at houses for sale in the area and came across a listing for a different house - just 2 properties over from the house that my husband liked - on the same street. The house I found had more square footage. It was built in 1979 - at a time when homes were constructed from quality materials - solid timber...not MDF and press board. Those houses were built to last. That said, the interior was dated to 1979. It would need ALOT of work to modernize it. But I looked at this house and I saw the 'potential'. I could tell by looking at the pictures that this house was solid. It had great bones. It was also situated on a small landscaped acreage and was far away from 'flood' and 'coastal erosion' zones plaguing the province - tying to climate change and rising sea levels. I showed the 1979 house to my husband and said, "This house makes more sense. While the interior needs gutting, no additions would need to be added on. This house is the size that we need and the land size is manageable." Chris agreed. But at the time, we weren't ready to list our Saskatchewan house...so we kept looking, discussing our options, and thinking about the 'possibilities' of where we might end up. Nothing was serious. It was all talk and daydreaming.
My husband has wanted to move for a while - mainly because he is unhappy at work and needs a change. There aren't a lot of job opportunities for him in small town Saskatchewan that compete with his current wages. Chris knew that he needed to leave Biggar (the small Sask town where we live) in order to break free from his place of employment. Chris also wanted to be closer to Natalie and Conor. As he put it, "If we end up with grandchildren, I don't want to be living 5 provinces away." He made a good point.
As for me, my business is rooted in western Canada...yet I don't have a physical retail location. Most of my work is online. I ship throughout Canada and the United States. My services are done through distance. Because of that, my business is fairly portable.
Chris and I discussed moving on many occasions. He needed this change and as his wife and partner, I needed to support him...yet we also needed to agree to the area we would relocate to.
After showing the 1979 house to my husband, I was visited in my dreams by a dead man for three consecutive nights…
This is the house in Oakhill, Nova Scotia that this story is based on. After coming across the real estate listing and showing it to my husband, I was visited in my dreams for three consecutive nights by a former occupant.
The man in my dreams looked like he stepped out of my childhood...a completely different era in time. Everything about him spoke of the 1970's. He wore a Lacoste style polo shirt with stripes across the front and light blue wide leg pants. His hair was bushy - how most men wore their hair in that era. In my dreams we were standing outside of the Oakhill house - the house that I had shown to my husband a few hours earlier. We stood in a garden area to the rear of the home. There were tall trees. I could hear birds. The air smelled sweet and I could see whisps of clouds dotting the sky through the branches of the trees. The property felt comfortable and familiar. I was safe. It felt like home.
In the background I could see my husband talking to a woman with short blonde/sandy brown hair and I knew when I saw her that she was this man's wife. She never spoke to me. She was always in the background talking to my husband...and the background was fuzzy. But in my dreams, I knew who she was. I knew who they both were.
"This is going to be your home, Ashley," the man spoke with a gentle smile. "This is where you're going to live. You and your husband will be very happy here."
In my first dream, this man and I spoke for a very long time. We talked about Nova Scotia. We talked about the house and different rooms in the house. It was a lengthy conversation.
"You need to get your affairs in order," he told me. "You need to get your house ready to list and you need to act fast. This house won't last. You have a real opportunity here and you don't want to miss it. You'll regret it if you do." I knew he was right and yet I knew that our Saskatchewan house wasn't ready to list...not by a long shot. My husband and I weren't ready to move. We weren't ready for anything.
That dream ended on a bit of a sad note. "Someone should have checked on my sooner," the man said while staring at the grass. A dog played on the lawn behind him. I knew that this man was referring to his own passing...and while it was a somber moment...I also knew that he was okay. He was simply sharing his story.
The next morning, I spoke to my husband. I told him about my dream and the conversations. "I think someone died in that house," I told my husband. "It was the father...the husband."
There was no mention in the real estate listing of it being an estate sale.
"The man told me that this was going to be our house and that we would be happy there."
I could see that my husband was absorbing everything I was saying. "Which house was this?" my husband asked.
"The Oakhill house...the green house built in 1979. This is our house, Chris. This is our opportunity." I paused. "If you want to move to Nova Scotia and you want some land in a good area with a solid house for a good price, then we need to move quickly. We can't sit and think about it. The house won't last. We need to act now."
My husband immediately reached out to the real estate agent for some information. We learned that the property was an estate sale. The man who lived there was named Roger (now I had a name). He raised 5 children in the home and lived there for decades. Roger and his wife spent most of their time outdoors. They loved gardening and landscaping. The Oakhill property was their sanctuary...their private oasis. The realtor also mentioned that he had 6 showings booked on the property in the coming days and that if we were seriously interested, we should act on it sooner rather than later. He didn't expect the property to stay on the market for long.
My husband and I looked at each other and we 'knew' that this was our moment. We 'knew' that my dream wasn't just a dream. We 'knew' that we needed to act quickly. This property was a golden opportunity...a gift...and I believed that Roger had come to me personally because he wanted us to live there. He 'chose us' and I felt a tremendous amount of gratitude in that moment.
Chris and I arranged for our daughter, Natalie, and son-in-law, Conor, to visit the property and take a tour for us. We asked them to make a walkthrough video and send it to us. They made arrangements to meet the realtor at the property a couple of days later.
In the meantime, I had two more dreams about Roger. We continued our conversations about the Oakhill home. We stood in the garden area for each of those conversations. "Get your affairs in order," he said. "Others are interested. You don't have much time." There was a sense of urgency in his voice. "The sellers are motivated. You can get this house for a good price - $350,000. An opportunity like this won't come along again, Ashley. Don't wait. You need to put in an offer."
Three hundred and fifty thousand was much lower than the listing price. It seemed too good to be true.
The next morning, I told Chris that Roger had returned and told me that we could get the house for $350,000. Chris raised his eyebrows - as if to say it was a nice thought, but that he didn't believe it would happen. I told my husband that I was told that others were interested and we needed to act fast if we wanted it to be ours.
That night, I had another dream of conversations with Roger and the Oakhill property.
"This room is where your store will be." Roger walked me around the perimeter of the house and pointed at windows. “It used to be a garage.” The room he was referring to was a long family room that ran along the west side of the house. I had told my husband when I first saw the photos that the family room looked like it had once been a garage. My husband didn't believe me, but the realtor later confirmed it. "And there's plenty of room for raising bees back there." Roger's arm stretched out and swept across the side of the land.
I could hardly believe my ears. I had always wanted a retail space of my own...and raising honey bees would be a blessing - something to definitely consider.
"Get your affairs in order," Roger insisted. "Get your property ready to list. Get your offer in."
I knew he was right and I absorbed everything he said. This wasn't a time to sit and ponder things. This was a time for action.
Before our conversation ended, Roger asked me one more question. "What is it that you want to do here?" he asked. "I would like to go clam digging," I responded. Roger chuckled and looked at me sideways - as if I'd picked the most boring thing in the world to do. He then said, "If you want to go clam digging, I will take you." Our conversation ended there.
Natalie and Conor visited the home and sent us a walkthrough video. It was a Wednesday night when Chris and I sat down to watch it together. The property was lovely - grassy areas, tall trees, mature bushes and shrubs, garden beds. It really was a personal oasis. I knew when I saw it that it would be even lovelier in person and in the spring - when the trees would be covered in leaves. The house was exactly what we expected - great bones...a very solid build...but dated. It would need a lot of cosmetic work inside...but we weren't afraid of that. I told my husband that this was a house that my father would have bought. He would have done the work himself and made it exactly what he wanted it to be. After watching the video, Chris and I agreed to put in an offer on the house for $350K. It was quite late - and there was a 2 hour time difference between Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia - so we agreed to call the realtor in the morning to get the deal arranged. Chris and I were both content with the decision we'd made. We went to bed knowing that we had made the right choice.
The next morning, I lit one of my Luck/Money/Success Ritual Candles. I had carved all of the appropriate words onto the candle - including the address of the house we wanted to purchase, the word sold, and $350,000. In less than an hour, the realtor informed us that the beneficiaries had lowered the price on the Oakhill house to $349, 900. My husband and I just about fell over. We looked at each other and smiled...knowing that the Oakhill house would be ours. We just needed to take care of a few formalities. It was a very good feeling.
Chris and I submitted an offer for their full asking price - based on what Roger had told me in my dreams and what we felt was fair to his children. We weren't looking to take advantage of them financially and it was important to me that Rogers family was treated with respect. This was the home they were raised in and I’m sure that saying goodbye to it would stir some emotions. Our offer was subject to a number of things, including a building inspection and water test. Within 24 hours we learned that our offer was accepted. A building inspection was scheduled for the following week. Everything was falling into place easily...oddly easily...but I knew that all of these details weren't merely luck or coincidences. Something much bigger was going on.
And as good as everything felt in that moment, my husband and I now had to face the reality of owning two properties...and paying the bills for both. We could do it, but it wasn't ideal. We needed to sell our Saskatchewan house. It still wasn't ready to list with a realtor. I told my husband to trust and know that everything would work out. Our home in Saskatchewan was a nice house. It would sell itself and it would sell quickly for a fair price. We just needed to get it on the market.
In the days leading up to the building inspection, I was busy decluttering our current home. I found myself sorting through a coat closet and getting some items ready to donate when a voice in my head told me to look in the pocket of one of the coats that I was planning to give away. It was a two-tone gray coat that I hadn't worn in years. I picked up the coat and, in the pocket, I found $715. I was completely dumbstruck.
"We need to come up with money to pay for the building inspection and the water test," my husband said. "How much is it going to cost?" I asked. "$720," my husband replied. "Here," I said - handing him the money that I had found. "Spirit is looking out for us," I told him - another Luck/Money/Success Ritual Candle burning in the background. Chris could hardly believe his eyes. "Did you find money in any other pockets?" he asked. "No," I said, "just a dime - which is my symbol for loved ones on the other side watching over us." As soon as those words left my lips, I knew that my father was with me. I also knew that my father would have loved the house that we bought. He would have been very happy for us.
A few days later, Chris boarded a plane to Nova Scotia to meet the realtor and building inspector at the Oakhill house. Our son-in-law, Conor, went with him. Chris and I felt strongly that one of us should visit the property in person before we lifted the conditions and cemented the deal. I was okay with staying behind to work and look after the animals in Saskatchewan, while Chris went to the east coast on his own.
The Oakhill house was exactly what Chris was expecting - good bones...very straight and solid...but needing a lot of cosmetic work inside. The land that the house stood on was nice and to our surprise we learned that it was larger than what we had thought. A survey of the land showed that we owned all of the land behind the house, plus a large section of land behind the neighbors house. That was wonderful and unexpected.
While my husband was gone, I continued finding dimes in the oddest places...loads of them...too many to count...too many for it to be a coincidence. I thanked my father and Roger for helping us. That night, Roger returned with another message.
"He needs this," Roger said to me...referring to my husband, Chris. "He has tunnel vision right now. All he can think about is leaving his employer. This change will be good for him. He won't have to carry all of that stress anymore." That conversation confirmed what I already knew. My husband really needed this change. We weren't meant to worry about where he might work next. He would find employment. We simply needed to surrender to the situation - rather than trying to control it. We needed to trust and believe that it would all work out.
I asked Chris, when I spoke to him next, if he had remembered to ask the real estate agent if Roger had passed away in the home. It wasn't a deal breaker for me if he had. I just wanted to know. Chris and I had been told that the property was an estate sale, but Roger had said that someone should have checked on him sooner...indicating that he had died in the house. I wanted to know if that was true.
"Yes," our relator confirmed. "Roger did pass away in the home." The realtor neglected to mention what room although he added that it was a peaceful passing, without tragedy. I imagined Roger waiting in the house for someone to find him.
In the coming days, I worked tirelessly to get our house ready to sell. I sorted through closets and bedrooms and cabinets and drawers. I swept and mopped and polished and scrubbed. I worked day and night to make our current home shine like a brand new penny. And while I was doing that, I burned another Made by a Real Witch™ Luck/Money/Success Ritual Candle. I burned that candle with the intent of manifesting a quick and easy sale of our Saskatchewan home. On the sides I carved our address, qualified buyers, quick sale, no conditions, and our asking price. I wanted the house to sell to someone who would appreciate the home and take care of it. I wanted the purchaser to be just as happy as we were.
In less than a day we were contacted by an elderly couple who wanted to buy our home. They had heard through the grapevine that we had bought a house in Nova Scotia and they were hoping that we would want to sell our Saskatchewan house. We knew the couple. They are friends of my husband's parents and we knew that if they bought our house, there wouldn't be any conditions on the sale. That couple explained that they had been looking for a house like ours for a very long time - modern, single level living, laundry on the main floor, double attached garage, etc.. It was everything they wanted...everything they needed. They asked how much we would be willing to sell it for, we gave them our price, and they wrote us a deposit cheque on the spot. It was that easy.
Chris and I were flabbergasted. The price on the Oakhill home was dropped to the amount that spirit had told me we could get it for and for what we were hoping to pay. Money for the building inspection and water test appeared to have manifested out of thin air. And now we had a sale on our current home for our full asking price with no conditions...saving us at least $15,000 in real estate fees. It was a surreal moment.
One interesting detail to note was that before the couple left our house - and while the husband was writing the deposit cheque - his wife reached down and picked up a dime off the floor. "Look,” she said. “I found a dime. I think that's lucky." She smiled and set it on the table. My husband and I looked at each other and smiled. We both knew what that dime meant. My heart filled with gratitude. Additionally, it was the last dime we found. I haven't found any since.
So there you have it, the story of why my husband and I are moving to Oakhill Nova Scotia, why we made the decision to buy and sell our houses so quickly, and how easily it all came together. It's also important to note that I'm normally very conservative with money. Risking one of the biggest investments of my life on conversations I'd had with a dead man in my dreams sounds insane even to me. If you had told me in January that I was going to buy a house - sight unseen - on the other side of the country I wouldn't have believed you. Nor would I have believed that I would let my current home go in exchange for a home that needs to be completely renovated. I'm not a gambler or risk taker when it comes to real estate or other large investments. But this...this was easy. The Oakhill house felt right. I just knew. There's no other way to describe it. I never questioned whether or not we were making the right move. I didn't worry about the what-ifs and the unknowns. I asked the universe to provide and it did. I trusted that the messages in my dreams were real. I surrendered to the uncertainties...and it all worked out. We are not unhappy and we have no regrets.
I'm looking forward to seeing the Oakhill house in person this May. I'm looking forward to drinking coffee in my backyard at dawn...when the sun is rising and the birds are singing. I'm looking forward to walking my dog, meditating, and casting spells in the woods on my land. I am looking forward to being reunited with my daughter, Natalie, my son-in-law, Conor, and Conor's family. I am feeling incredibly blessed and grateful. I can't even describe what a wonderful feeling that is. And I am also looking forward to having more conversations with Roger...hoping that the work we do on his house and the land will meet his expectations and make him proud. He is welcome to stay. I intend to coexist and share the living space with him.
When my daughter, Natalie, made the walkthrough video for us, she told me that there was a good feeling in that house. She said, "I can't describe it. You need to feel it for yourself. There's a feeling there. It's a good feeling...good energy. The property is lovely. They really loved living here...and you will too."
I finished writing this story at 11:11am.
Copyright © 2025 Ashley Wong
All Rights Reserved
Do you believe the deceased can come back to communicate with the living? Would you put an offer on a property you’ve never seen based on conversations you had with a man you met in your dreams? Leave a comment below.
