Signed, Sealed, Delivered: It's Ours

We closed on the new house today!

I'm still half thrilled and half terrified. We spent the whole day there, the hubby mowing weeds and me exploring nooks and crannies, airing the place out and deciding on paint colors. Now, at last, this is beginning to feel real.

There are some fairly major things that still need doing, foremost among them being pumping out the septic tank and putting in a radon remediation system in the basement. I'll need kitchen appliances, too, which is a whole other post. But I'm excited about all the possibilities of life in the country.


The really nice thing about this place is the variety. There are irrigated open spaces for growing things, a fenced pasture and barn, plus acres of woods and a pond.








Oh yeah. This is gonna be fun.

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OmigodOmigodOmigod....

We found it! We're making an offer on the bee house! We're really gonna do it! We're moving! ... Omigod we're moving. Omigod we're trading a paid off house in town for a mortgage and a commute ... But we're gonna have a vegetable garden and open spaces, and our very own woods, and fresh, clean air, and deer, and a dark starry sky! Omigod we're gonna have to buy a tractor to mow this place and snowplow the driveway. I may actually have to learn to drive a tractor ... would that be fun?? I dunno, I've never had a tractor. We're gonna have five bedrooms and a finished den in the basement! Omigod what the hell are we doing with a house that big? The place is steal at this price ... Omigod the price! We are never, ever going to able to retire! But what a wonderful place to come home to at the end of the day ... OmigodOmigodOmigodOmigod ...

House Hunt: 20 Acres and a Billion Bees

We've gotten pretty burnt out on the whole house hunting thing, having explored eight homes, driven by and rejected about three dozen others, and sorted through who knows how many listings. We've walked miles of property lines and Googled a gaggle of addresses, only to arrive at dead ends.

Everyplace is too far away, too run-down, too small, too big, too expensive. Too weird ... one place had an enormous master bathroom with the toilet set on a diagonal about a yard out from a fully mirrored wall. On shag carpet. With an aquarium with plastic fish in it over the spa tub. And a little door halfway up the wall that opened onto the old roof, which was now inside the attic.

The realtor, however, hasn't given up on us yet, and he just may have found us The One. It's out in the country, but only about 15 minutes away from here. It's been empty for a while, as you can see from the weeds. Bees have made nests in the eves, and there are swarms of them around the front of the house, so we only peeked in the back windows. Orkin can fix that, though, provided they're not inside the walls.

There is a long, long driveway through a wooded section of the property. The house is big and seems to be in good shape. There is a new barn on the property that would make a perfect woodshop for the hubby. There is way too much land, but most of it is woods and the rest is out back, where it could be left to be its own wild self. There is a pond, too, though it's stagnant.

It is, again, at the upper limit of our price range. But if it turns out not to need much work, and if they'll come down on the price, it's doable. We're going out this evening to see the inside. Wish us luck!

To Want or Not To Want

That is the question.

House hunting update: This is a nice one. We viewed it last night, and it's the first one I'm really excited about. It's three acres, but seems bigger. Beautifully landscaped, with a stream running through the back yard and a little wooden bridge over to the other side. AND, back in the woods there is a whole separate cottage, like a playhouse for grownups, that would make a fabulous writer's retreat. There's plenty of flat land on the other side of the stream for hubby's woodworking shop. There are four bedrooms, hardwood floors, a big formal dining room, and a kitchen big enough to rollerskate in, all newly updated.

Here's a view of the back deck.

Now for the bad news: The neighborhood is run-down, and the place is only two blocks off a brand new four lane highway. The traffic noise is awful, and it will only get worse once the highway is connected to another major road. There is a crawl space instead of a basement, with a sump pump full of water that never stops pumping. A constant stream of water goes from there through a buried pipe out to the stream. That can't be good. Fully an acre is in flower beds, and another is in lawn, which would take an awful lot of time to maintain. There's only one full bath. And it's at absolute upper limit of our price range.

I never thought this process would be so hard. We're waiting for a disclosure document about water issues. But even if that turns out OK, can I learn to ignore the noise? This one has so much going for it. But... again, I just don't know.

Almost Home

There's a reason I haven't been around much lately. Well, actually there are several. But mainly, it's because we've been house hunting.

You see, hubby has always wanted a woodworking shop. A big one. We're talking a major, stand-alone structure, with a log milling machine on the side. However, we live in a suburban development, where the homeowners association gibbers and drools if you stack your firewood in the wrong spot. It's been a great place to raise kids, but the kids are grown now. And we've suddenly reached the realization that at our age, it's now or never.

Personally, I'm OK with never. Twenty years ago, I would have killed for a place in the country. I'd look at old farmhouses on lots of land, and I'd dream about where my pottery shed would go; how the gardens would look; a little stand by the roadside filled with vegetables and flowers in French tin holders, with an honor box for the money. There would be a wooded section, cool and deep, and maybe a little pond. I'd fill the place with antiques and quilts, and there would be an attic room for writing. Now I look at these places and I think, Who the hell is going to mow all that?

So we're in compromise mode. I need a manageable house within easy driving distance of work and shopping. He needs acreage outside city limits. So far, everything we can afford is too far out, too expensive, or needs too much work. Which brings us to this little gem in the photo.

Isn't it pretty? It was built in 1900, and all the original wide-plank pine floors and woodwork are still there, never painted. It's in great shape for its age and has lots of quirks and charm. There are ten acres of land, a huge bank barn (we think it was for dairy cows), the original chicken coop and a couple of newer outbuildings. It's only fifteen minutes from where we are now. And it's in our price range.

On the other hand, the kitchen and eating area are very small, there's only one bathroom, and you have to climb a scary set of very narrow, steep stairs to get to the two upstairs bedrooms. Being in there feels like being home, but it also feels like being in a museum, which is both cool and weird. And while the kids are grown, they are not gone. Hubby and I could manage there quite well, but all four of us would never fit.

Still, I keep coming back to it. It would have suited my old dreams so well, and it would accommodate hubby's new ones. I don't know. I just don't know.

What do you think?