survive « Robin Writes

Sorry this is late today, but we FINALLY GOT TO SEE THE NEW PLACE! Sorry again, but I thought that deserved all caps!

It’s been three weeks since we made an offer and it was accepted, the day we were first supposed to see it and it snowed. It snowed every other single time we planned to go down there too.

What was the first thing I saw as we drove up the county road? Chickens. Damn chickens. On our new property. Argh! Not ours, thankfully, but the neighbor’s. Someone’s going to have to train those things to stay on their side of the road. Probably me and Bob. 😉

Anyway, we pulled in, right by the barn, and drove past, rubbernecking the whole way, back to the house. Just about the time we got out and started walking around the outside, the seller pulled up. Good thing for us—the listing agent was out of town and our agent was tied up today, so we hadn’t planned on going inside. Mr. C was very gracious, unlocked the house and barn, gave us a tour, and answered all our questions.

So, a few unusual things we discovered:

The “older house” is in much worse shape than the pictures showed. Much. Worse. But hey, that’s okay, there might be some salvage, or maybe eventually we’ll work on it. At least it’s not leaning . . .

There are homemade doghouses near the main house, three or four. Hmm. Mr. C. said that a lot of people dump dogs out there, and his wife used to take them in; so he built the houses for them. And kept them. Hmm.

Here’s the best part: I’ve been planning an irrigation system for the garden we’ll put in, starting this spring, but get this—all along the drive, between the barn and house which is where I was thinking to break ground, there are spigots! Woot!

Here are few pics:

So here’s the revised plan:

SEE the property. In person. Thanks to all this flippin’ snow, we have yet to make the drive down there.
Go to the seller’s auction in a couple weeks. There was some nice stuff in the midst of all the junk.
Close. You know, do all the paperwork and hand over a lot of money. That sort of thing.
Build an outhouse and a shower house. Not that the bathroom in the house doesn’t work, but we’re building the campsite first so we can work on the house over the summer and fall. It doesn’t need a lot of work, but does need cleaning and a few additional walls. Plus the decking needs to be repaired and sealed and re-worked. And a few other things.
Host a work weekend. This is where we invite everyone we know—including YOU—to come down, camp out, and build the kitchen shelter at the campsite. And drink beer, ‘cause, you know . . . it’s a campout, after all. Might even have time to build out the storage units inside the barn. Definitely have time to hike and explore!

What ELSE could we do? Ideas? A dock on the pond comes to mind, and of course, we’ll need to assess the older house and see if it’s fixable and/or what to salvage. Good thing I’m a list-maker!