Reply #7: The new house [View All]

[LWolf]

:rofl:

The new house needs work; A LOT OF WORK. So does the barn and the shop and the fences, and the well. It's a fixer; that's why I could afford it to begin with. The legal costs surrounding the grandboy have depleted all reserves down to bare survival, so we're not buying materials to do any fixing. We're living with it just the way it is, and doing what we can with 2 backs, 4 arms, and available implements. I still haven't unpacked and set up the house; we're "camping" here, while I work on the barn for my 2 horses, who are living in a tiny little temporary pen. You see, this was a goat ranch. That barn has years worth of goat bedding, manure, hay, etc. all tamped down and compacted in every stall, in the aisle way, and the pens surrounding it. I've cleaned one stall (2 feet of compacted rotten straw) and 4000 sq feet of pen area. I have a mountain of compost feet tall and about 10 feet in diameter. By this weekend, I should have a spot all cleaned up for the horses, and I can finish unpacking. I didn't do anything but wash the walls; no $$ left to do anything about the garish old wallpaper. Once I move my bookshelves and books in, it will be a big deal to even get to the walls; 5,000 volumes will cover all the available wall space, anyway.

Because of escrow delays, the place sat empty for about 6 weeks. So when we got the keys, we had 6 acres of grass and weeds that are waist high; you couldn't push a wheelbarrow away from the barn through the stuff. So I've been working on that, too. I've got about 2 acres cut down. I'm discovering muscles I never knew I had.

Yet, in case this sounds too dire, I really love this place. It's a peaceful, serene sanctuary, if you can believe it.

:hi: