Thursday, December 23
The day was spent doing, well, pretty much nothing. It was a good day! I did make an extremely weak attempt at straightening up the storage room. After shifting some empty canning jars around I ran out of motivation so that was the end of that. The biggest accomplishment of the day was cleaning the seat cushion of the victorian couch we brought home the other day.
We had the fireplace going so it didn’t take too long to dry. Other than that it was a pretty non-eventful day.
Friday, December 24
It’s CHRISTMAS EVE!!! It’s also the day we are celebrating with our adopted family. Right after I finished my coffee I made the banana pudding. After breakfast I made the Mediterranean Orzo Salad. After that I cross stitched until time to head over to our friend’s place to celebrate Christmas. CountryBoy was in charge of the dinner rolls so he got them in the oven just before we headed out. Around 2:30 we loaded the gifts, the goodies, and the traveling Nertz cards into the truck and we were on our way.
The large, beautiful log home was full of family members and delightfully decorated. We stuffed ourselves with all the goodies everyone had brought then we got down to business – opening gifts! This year there were FOUR trees. One tree was for the kiddos who made quick work of opening all their gifts and were soon playing with them. The second tree was for the ‘young adults’ (who not so long ago were in the kiddo group, unbelievable!). The third tree was for the ‘middle age’ group who are always fun to watch because they enjoy pranking each other and you just never know what might be underneath that beautifully wrapped box, haha! And last, but not least, is the fourth tree for us ‘seniors’. CountryBoy and I are in the ‘senior’ group but at least we’re the youngest of that group, whew! The latter three groups draw names at Thanksgiving and each person provides a brief list of gift ideas. I LOVE that! It makes it much easier to shop and you feel good knowing you’re getting something that they are wanting. Even though we weren’t able to attend the Thanksgiving gathering our names were put in the drawing and we kept our list simple with gift cards.
After the gift exchange of all four groups was complete we broke out the playing cards and got down to some serious games of Nertz. There were only six of us at one time playing this year but several people rotated in and out with each game.
We always look forward to the holidays shared with our adopted family and a wonderful time was had by all. We love this family dearly and are so thankful they have taken us ‘Kentucky strays’ in and willingly accept our intrusion on their family gatherings.
Saturday, December 25
Christmas Day is here! Since our Christmas celebration was yesterday and CountryBoy and I opted out of stocking stuffers this year today was just like any other day. I did turn the Christmas tree lights on, put some Christmas Spirit blend of essential oils in the diffuser, and I lit the three oil lamps over the fireplace to create the cozy Christmas vibes in the farmhouse.
As it turned out, we weren’t even in the house much during the morning or early afternoon. It was a warm day so CountryBoy stiffened up one of the nightstands he made a while ago then I sanded it and put two coats of black paint on it while he trimmed some bushes and cleared away some brush. After a quick bite of lunch on the front porch we finally came back inside. Eating lunch on the porch on Christmas Day – crazy! The rest of the day was spent cross stitching, lounging on the couch, and watching movies. I did manage to get off the couch long enough to do the afternoon barn chores and make a dinner of Almond Crusted Cod with Seasoned White Beans and brown rice.
Sunday, December 26
My great-niece and family were coming over this evening so I went in to work a couple hours early. We haven’t seen them in a while so I wanted to make sure I was home sooner rather than later. They brought supper with them – which was awesome and delicious! We enjoyed visiting and catching up while supper was cooking. CountryBoy cleaned up the kitchen (bless him!) then we played one game of Nertz before they headed home. It was SO good to see them!
Work was good. There weren’t too many sheets so I washed the napkins and tablecloths and got them all ironed and put away. While I waited for them to dry I worked on a computer project with the boss. It was a productive and smooth day.
As I was pulling into the drive I noticed a strange truck at the house that was getting ready to leave. Come to find out, it was a realtor who had just finished showing the farm to his clients. Wait, WHAT? The showing was supposed to be on Tuesday! Something told me to vacuum, finish straightening up the storage room, straighten the house up in general, and make the bed upstairs before going to work. Luckily I listened to myself! I’m not sure what happened or why the showing day was changed but CountryBoy said the realtor called to say they were on their way and three minutes later they were there. So now we only have one more showing this week. People coming from Texas. In fact, our realtor called the other night right after she hung up with them. She said it was deja vu because it was basically the same conversation she had with us seven years ago. We were working in Texas at the time, had been looking on Land and Farm for several years, had prayed about the property, and felt good about looking at the property even though there were no other similar properties on the market for us to look at if we didn’t like it. The SAME conversation! So, we’ll see what happens. They headed this way today so I imagine the showing will be in the next couple of days. Either way, we’re not excited; we’re not getting our hopes up; and we’re taking it one day at a time.
Monday, December 27
I went in to work today to help with a special project. While there CountryBoy called to let me know that the showing for the Texas people would be at 2 o’clock this afternoon. I barely finished in time to get home by 2 however it was all for naught. The people were already running late then they took a wrong turn and headed 30 minutes west instead of east. Apparently our address is also in another town and they unknowingly chose the wrong town. The showing was re-scheduled for tomorrow morning. Which brings us to two showings tomorrow. Yesterday’s showing was a last minute request and was NOT the people from Tuesday’s showing as I had thought. AND… while the realtor was here waiting she received another call about the farm. Of course she didn’t have a good signal here so she was calling them back tonight. AND… just before she headed over here she had received an email from another person wanting to make an offer and wanted the particulars on the place. Can you believe it? I’m just floored at the sudden interest immediately after deciding to take it off the market at the start of the new year.
Also today, we got three confirmed bookings which start tonight and go through January 2nd. Good thing the cabin was pretty much ready. We told tonight’s guests about the showings tomorrow and that we would just drive by but we wouldn’t disturb them. They were OK with that.
Before the showing I managed to get two loads of laundry done and while waiting for the guests I put a coat of polyurethane on the nightstand.
While I was at work CountryBoy handled all the correspondence with the bookings; unpacked and put away the downstairs bathroom stuff; thawed a banana bread; and finished up the cabin. Needless to say, what he thought was going to be an easy-going day didn’t quite go as planned!
Tuesday, December 28
Wow, what a day! We slept in till 7:45, did the morning chores and finished our coffee a little after 9 o’clock. The first showing was scheduled for 10 o’clock so CountryBoy made a batch of mini banana bread loaves for the cabin while I vacuumed upstairs. By the time I finished he had the loaves in the oven and the kitchen cleaned up. Shortly after that the people and realtor arrived. It was supposed to rain off and on so since it was only drizzling we chose to show the outdoors first. After that CountryBoy drove everyone up to the cabin to have a look around. Since we had guests in the cabin they could not go in but at least they got the feel of the place and got to see the farm from another vantage point. Before they came down the people for the other showing arrived and shortly after that their realtor arrived. The first couple decided to go grab a bite to eat and come back later to finish looking at the house provided that was OK with us. We had nowhere to be or nothing on the agenda so that was fine by us.
We started the next people indoors then ventured outdoors then we walked up to the cabin and, again, just looked around so as not to disturb our guests. I’m glad we warned them when they checked in. It wasn’t ten minutes after they left the first people came back. During that ten minutes we each grabbed a quick snack since we didn’t have any breakfast. It filled the void and we went on about the showing with the interior of the house.
It’s rather unconventional for the buyer to be an active part of the showing but since our property is not your typical property on the market the realtors are usually appreciative of us being there so that we can answer any question the potential buyer may have. And with a property like this there are usually a lot of questions as there very well should be. During the six hours between the two showings we did a lot of talking, answered a lot of questions, and thoroughly enjoyed showing our farm and all our hard work we have put in to get it to its current state.
Shortly after four o’clock everyone was gone and I quickly got started on supper. I was hankerin’ for some type of seafood stew so this morning I found a recipe in the Mediterranean cookbook our daughter got us for Christmas that looked good and that would satisfy my hankerin’. It took less than thirty minutes from start to finish and we were enjoying a delicious bowl of Cioppino which actually originates in San Francisco and is an Italian-American dish but it fits perfectly into the Mediterranean diet so it was included in the cookbook and I have to say that I’m glad because it was truly delicious! I served it with a couple pieces of lightly toasted artisan bread that CountryBoy makes sure we always have on hand. After supper we spent the evening relaxing and listening to the rain.
We have no idea whether today’s efforts will bring any offers. Time will tell.
Wednesday, December 29
Work was easy peasy today. The only thing I had to do was tend to the sheets and there weren’t that many. I even enjoyed breakfast with the girls and was still outta there by noon.
It’s unseasonably warm here as it is in many places. In fact, I wore a short sleeve t-shirt to work and wound up turning the fan on as I kept getting hot to the point of breaking out in a sweat. Crazy for this time of year.
I came home to the delicious smell of banana bread baking in the oven. CountryBoy whipped up another batch of breads for the cabin today and he readied the cabin for tomorrow’s guests.
We were taking some friends out to supper this evening to celebrate their birthdays. Since I got overheated several times throughout the day I decided to take a bath before we went. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to soak in the tub and I had forgotten how much I enjoy a nice, hot bath. Another incentive for today’s soak was for detox purposes. A friend’s recent post on social media reminded me of the importance of weekly detox baths with Epsom salt. Being cold and flu season a good detox bath couldn’t hurt.
We enjoyed the time spent with our friends over a tasty meal and the birthday girl even got a free dessert! Before we knew it our plates were empty and it was time to go making the time together too short. We decided we didn’t need a special occasion to get together so here’s hoping for more get-togethers in the future.
We had to stop at Walmart on the way home for some spring water, matches and spoons for the cabin and sugar for the banana bread. A few more items wound up in the cart such as a couple warm pajama tops for me, some unmentionables for CountryBoy, a package of earring backs and a large crochet hook (size N/15-10MM). After that we headed home to find a message on the answering machine from the realtor. Mercy, I don’t even know where to start. I guess the bottom line of our conversation with her was this… one of yesterday’s people are interested in the property but it will be a couple years before they are able to move in. They were wondering if we would be interested in staying here and renting from them. We wouldn’t have to do any maintenance and we would be here to ‘supervise’ any work that the ‘new’ owners had done – like whether or not contractors showed up or did a decent job, etc. They also wanted us to continue running and cleaning the cabin and would pay us to do so. At first I didn’t know what to say. I mean, it’s not a bad idea but it was very unexpected. There are also a lot of other things to take into consideration and as far as not having to maintain the place I just don’t see how we’ll get around that. But, we told the realtor we would consider it IF the offer was decent. Our biggest concern is not being taken advantage of or getting the raw end of a deal. For some reason that happens to us a lot and this time we hope there’s a win-win solution where all parties involved are satisfied. Oh, and we have another showing Friday at noon so there’s that.
Thursday, December 30
You never know what you’ll find when you check the mail…
I found this note on a napkin in our mailbox. They had signed their name and left a phone number. We weren’t quite sure what to think about it but we were thrilled and thankful that someone else sees what we see in the place.
Friday, December 31
It’s New Year’s Eve!!! You may have noticed that I missed a day of journaling. I was so aggravated by the end of day that I knew I couldn’t even write about it. Even today I don’t really know how to describe the events of yesterday and how it all wound up aggravating me so I guess I’ll just start by saying that we both woke up not liking the idea of staying here and renting the farm. Yes, we do love it here but the whole reason for listing the farm is to get away from the maintenance and the stresses of the maintenance and even though we wouldn’t have to physically DO the maintenance we don’t really want the stress of contacting the new owners or handling the scheduling of the maintenance or finding someone to even do it. With that settled, first thing this morning we were presented an offer with the purchase price of the house, the rent we would be charged, and how much we would earn taking care of the cabin. We didn’t like any of it so we turned it down. A counter-offer was not made.
Also during the morning we called about a property we really liked. We were told that a realtor would get back with us. As of yet, she has not. Aggravating I tell ya. So, as I worked on another baby blanket (this one just using leftover chunky yarn) I pondered the day and was completely beside myself by days end. Thankfully CountryBoy was able to calm me down and I felt a peace as I once again put this whole ordeal back in God’s hands which helped me get a good nights’ sleep.
That was yesterday. Today has been a completely different day, thank goodness! We had a simple breakfast of yogurt with some granola then we tidied up the house for today’s showing. We weren’t really making much of an effort as we were both still reeling from all the showings we just had. Even so, it went really well and the potential buyer seemed very interested however we’re competing with another property down the road that he looked at prior to ours. He mentioned financing to our realtor and the next thing I knew he was talking with our local bank. I reckon it all depends on how that turns out as to which property the buyer chooses.
Tonight being New Year’s Eve we are headed to a friends’ house to eat some foods we shouldn’t eat and play some games. I’m sure a few rounds of Nertz will be played as well. It will be fun to ring in the new year (or maybe almost ring in the new year since we’re not too good at staying up very late anymore, ha!) with our friends/adopted family.
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Happy New Year!!!
We had a wonderful time ringing in the new year and yes, we made it past midnight! We laughed, we ate, we played games, we sipped our homemade wine and before we all knew it the countdown had begun. It’s been a LONG time since we’ve been up that late but time flew by and thankfully we had no where we needed to be today so we slept in a bit.
Backing up just a bit, last night we called and ordered some pizzas to take with us and no sooner’n CountryBoy hung up the phone it started ringing. It was our realtor calling to fill us in on the events that took place after she and the potential buyer left our place yesterday. Long story short, he made an offer and we accepted. We were, quite literally, in shock the rest of the evening and even throughout today but what a way to end and start the new year! Of course, we’re still not getting too excited or getting our hopes up until all our names are on the solid line. Looks like we’ve got to come up with a plan and/or find a place to live.
.
The first day of the year brought with it lots of rain. So much rain that the Kentucky River that runs through town flooded again. Thankfully, it did not rise as high as last year’s historic flood but it was high enough to cover several roads heading to and from town.
The boss called and asked if I would come in early tomorrow so I could help her with breakfast. I’m the only one that lives on this side of the river (six miles from the B&B) and wouldn’t have any issues making it in. Of course I said I would however I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’ve been there at breakfast time and I’ve seen what all the girls do but I don’t know HOW they do it. I figure I’ll just have to be instructed on each and every thing and we’ll get it done and it will all be OK.
.
Our guests checked out early today. They had a long drive back in the rain. When the rain slowed to a drizzle CountryBoy went up to strip the cabin and brought the dirty stuff back down. I threw the sheets and towels in the wash while he washed up the dishes. After that we ate our traditional New Year’s Day meal of black eye peas, hog jowl, greens, corn and cornbread. When the sheets were dried we headed up to finish getting the cabin ready for today’s guests. It was only drizzling again so we decided to wait and wash our dishes after the cabin was done only to come back in and find that our water was off. Oh boy, that’s not good. Since the temps were above freezing we knew it was a serious problem and sure enough, there had been a break in the main that affected our area.
As the day wore on and we still had no water I put my muck boots on and sloshed my way to the rain barrel to pump some water out so we could flush the toilet. Thankfully we had stored tap water and a few gallons of bottled water that we had stocked up on for the cabin to use for our drinking water and for making the mornings’ coffee. Gotta have that coffee!!! The water was still off by the time we went to bed. Not good as I needed to wash my hair. I wash it once a week and today was the day. oh well!
Meanwhile the rain continued, roads were starting to flood and our guests were trying to make it here. Long story short, they cancelled and we refunded their money. It’s always better to be safe.
Overall, it was an unusual start to the new year.
Sunday, January 2
Between the rain and hoping I wouldn’t oversleep and wind up being late for work I didn’t get a very good nights’ sleep. I should’ve known Creamsicle would’ve gotten me up in plenty of time. He likes an early breakfast so he sits and hollers at the front door either until he gets in trouble or he gets some food.
I was up in plenty of time to drink a cuppa coffee and discover that we still had no water. I got dressed, sprayed some Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood Hydrosol in my hair and headed to work praying the whole time that I would be able to do what needed to be done correctly and efficiently. I also had no idea how long my day would be. If no one was able to get there then that meant I would be needed to not only help with breakfast but cleaning the cabins then sticking around to help with supper as well. In between all that I would work on the laundry and ironing. As I left for work I told CountryBoy “I’ll see ya when I see ya”.
I was pleasantly surprised when my boss said that the girls were coming in. They would be a little bit later as they had to take the long way around to avoid flooded roads. Hallelujah! I emptied the dishwasher and started setting the table. After they got there I offered to clean up the kitchen since I knew how to do that and before long breakfast was served and we all went about our normal job duties. It was a much easier, earlier day than I had anticipated.
Since I was home so early (and our water was STILL off) I asked CountryBoy if he wanted to do a drive-by of a house for sale we saw online and check out the area this afternoon. He was more than ready to get out of the house so we snatched up LizzieBelle and headed an hour and a half south of here to the town of Williamsburg. We liked the town, the location of the house, and what we could see of the exterior of the house. We decided we would call a realtor tomorrow to see if we could schedule a showing.
We headed back home and decided to stop at a restaurant we enjoy on Lake Linville. Unfortunately they were about to close and even though they would’ve served us the only thing they had left was pork. We decided to pass and stopped at Cracker Barrel instead. By the time we got home our water was finally back on, yay!!! It was spittin’ and sputterin’ and after running the water for a bit in the shower I hopped in. I was never so happy to have a shower. We spent the rest of the evening browsing homes for sale online and I finished the chunky baby blanket (after I had ripped it all out and started it again using a different stitch and with the larger crochet hook)…
Monday, January 3
As soon as it was a respectable time to make a phone call CountryBoy called the realtor to see about scheduling a showing for the Williamsburg house only to find out that it was pending. What a disappointment. We were already imagining our lives and our belongings there. I really wish realtors would be better at updating their listings. I know they’re busy but I’m pretty sure it would lighten their call load if they did and it would surely not get someone’s hopes up.
We spent most of the day looking online for houses. At this point we’re looking anywhere for a house with a pool and/or on a lake. There’s quite a few out there but very few in our price range. We’re starting to wonder what our future holds here in the next month or two. We’ve never been at such a loss as to what our next move will be as we are now. I guess when the options are many it makes the decision process more difficult. At least for us it does.
In between looking at houses I did some cross stitch and CountryBoy watched a movie – both help the mind regroup. We’d covet your prayers for direction.
We had a load of gravel delivered this morning. Coverage began at the road to our bridge and almost to the barn. We’ll get another load after CountryBoy does a little work on the part of the road by the barn. It’s washed out so he’ll have to find some large rock and fill it in a bit.
This evening we finally got around to counting the change we’ve collected throughout the year. We typically count it on New Year’s Eve but since we weren’t home it didn’t get done. Then we forgot about it until tonight. We wound up with $111 worth of coins we could wrap and take to the bank. woohoo!
Tuesday, January 4
With all the decisions we have ahead and the unknown future surprisingly we’ve both been able to get a good nights’ sleep and for that we are grateful.
This morning we took all the Christmas decorations down and packed them up. After that I spent some time reorganizing and repacking some of the already packed boxes. (Part of the reason for that was looking for the packing tape and later on remembering that it might be upstairs. sigh.) While I worked on that CountryBoy went to town for some penny wrappers so that we could get the stacks of pennies off the dining table.
The buyer had emailed us yesterday and had a few questions for us. We couldn’t answer some of the questions because we still don’t have a plan. Looks like we’d better figure something out!
We spent the afternoon browsing some more. It’s exhausting. I did some cross stitching then made supper – Creamy Tarragon Chicken and sautéed asparagus. While CountryBoy washed our supper dishes (I had already washed all the prep stuff) I went to the barn to get whatever eggs the girls decided to grace us with and to lock them in for the night. When I went in to Mabel’s pen to get the eggs out of the nesting boxes I found a pile of feathers and what I thought was part of a chicken carcass. oi. As I tried to figure out what I was looking at and what had happened I began lifting the part of the chicken that I could see and discovered that the chicken was whole but had been partially covered up with hay. ugh. She didn’t appear to have any wounds and we haven’t had any sick chickens so I can only think that maybe it was old age. I carried her out of the barn and deposited her in the woods. I have to say I won’t miss that part of farm life. Oh, and we had three eggs today.
Wednesday, January 5
Work was fairly short and sweet. There wasn’t a lot of laundry so I did odd jobs while waiting for the sheets to dry. I spent the afternoon and evening cross stitching. I think CountryBoy worked harder today than I did. He got most of the washed out road filled in with large rocks and he graded the road. Thankfully the weather was warm enough so that the tractor started.
This evening we looked at more houses online and I did some more cross stitching.
Thursday, January 6
Inspection day. At 8:55 this morning the inspector arrived and began a lengthy and thorough inspection of the ol’ farmhouse. CountryBoy said he felt like he was being graded for the work he’s done ’round here. The house is being sold AS-IS so hopefully there’s nothing majorly wrong that would make the buyer back out. From start to finish the inspection took two hours. At that point snow had started to fall. We were supposed to do a trash run for the B&B hopefully before the snow started but the inspection took longer than we expected and the snow started much earlier than forecasted. Nevertheless, we headed out as soon as the inspector left. We enjoyed watching the snow fall as we traveled to and fro and just being out in it.
By the time we got home several inches had already accumulated.
And I finally get to see my black fences and arbor against the white snow.
Just as I had envisioned!
I had filled the feeders yesterday in anticipation of the snow and the birds were all over them.
Cardinals were everywhere – on the feeders, in the trees, on the ground – it seems we have more cardinals than normal grace us with their presence whenever it snows.
I spent the afternoon and evening cross stitching while seeing snippets of whatever movie CountryBoy was watching out of the corner of my eye.
I needed to charge my laptop this afternoon so there was no searching for houses online today. It was a nice reprieve.
Sitting in front of the fire before bedtime we pondered the results of the inspection and hoped that there would be nothing on it that would scare off the buyer. Thankfully I checked my email before turning in and found an email from the buyer thanking us for accommodating the inspector and saying that there wasn’t anything on there that he was concerned about and that they were still excited. yay! We can rest easy knowing one more part of the closing process is done.
Friday, January 7
It was bitter cold all day today. Snow still covered the ground and a few flakes were seen falling throughout the day. Even though the fireplace was kept going all day the house was still cool and the living room was downright cold which meant we spent much of the day sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace.
Yesterday’s snow wreaked havoc across our state. It came down so hard and so fast and much earlier than anticipated which left many people trying to get home in the thick of it. I-75 was shut down due to so many accidents and reports of cars off the road and in ditches were seen all over Facebook. As far as I know I don’t believe any lives were lost so that’s a good thing.
I spent some time searching online for houses. I’ve come to the realization that my expectations are pretty high because I just don’t see anything that I really like. I’ve also come to the conclusion that, if truth be told, I’m at a loss right now. We spent years dreaming about having a farm then spent three years on the road working to reach that goal. I’ve never given much thought to ‘life after the farm’ or what our future would look life if we ever had to leave the farm. But, we’re at that point of needing to leave the farm in someone else’s capable hands which leaves me clueless as to what’s next. My continual prayer is for a clear direction as to where we need to be but as of yet I still don’t know. Thankfully we’re both taking it one day at a time and we’re not too anxious about our future. I think we’re both just waiting to make sure nothing falls through and the farm actually sells. We might get a little anxious after that, ha!
We have been pondering what to do with our stuff if the farm sells and we haven’t found a house yet. CountryBoy tried calling about renting a storage unit but got no answer. He left a message but we received no call back. I’m thinking no one was in the office due to the weather and bad roads. He had called earlier in the week and a few units were going to be available Thursday but that’s the day the snow storm came through. Hopefully, a unit will still be available Monday. This is not the first storage unit he’s called but, believe it or not, they were all full. As I mentioned this to someone she said ‘only in America’ and I believe she’s right.
After my futile search for a house I picked up the cross stitch piece I’m working on. As I neared completion of the section I was working on I discovered that I had made a mistake. Quite a few mistakes in fact. This is a rather complicated piece with lots of symbols that represent the various colors and I found out the hard way that several of the symbols were used twice – one symbol being normal and the other bolded. sigh. I set it all aside and pondered over supper how I could fix it. The beginning and ending threads were so deeply buried underneath the other colors that the only way to remove the stitches was to use a seam ripper. I started cutting the threads with the seam ripper but my lighting wasn’t good so I stopped for the night. The last thing I wanted to do was rip out a stitch that didn’t need ripped out. From now on I’ll look at the picture for reference. oi.
Saturday, January 8
Over coffee this morning we talked about my being at a loss as to what our future looks like. CountryBoy felt the same. I mean really, we just never dreamed we would have to leave the farm. We both love the mountains and we love water. Ultimately we would like to have both. Realistically? It’s not in our budget. So where does that leave us? Right now it leaves us looking at properties and being disappointed. We do know that we both like ‘space’ around us – acreage, no neighbors on top of us – so we decided to change up the search engine to look for houses with a minimum of two acres. We found an old house with over three acres, mature gardens, a gazebo, potting shed, and a barn that intrigued us. CountryBoy called the realtor and we scheduled a showing at 1:00. The property was two and a half hours away and crossed a time zone. Upon finding the house we were both sorely disappointed. From the listing photos the house looked like it sat a good ways off the road and was on the outskirts of town. Upon arrival, the house sat just a tad off the road but was practically in town and near railroad tracks. The house was pretty cool and had good bones but the location was dreadful. A train came through while we were there. It was loud and you could see it from the yard. No thank you. We were disappointed but we were glad to get out of the house and to see more of Kentucky. And some of the vehicles that were still in the ditches from Thursday’s snow storm.
Another property we had our eye on was on our way back. I couldn’t quite remember the address (remember, we don’t have a cell phone so we have to rely on our brain cells which can be quite sketchy at times, ha!) but I got the map out and found the road the house was on. I knew I would recognize the house so we went for it. We did, indeed, find it and we really like it. Since it was almost supper time we decided to eat at the local ‘Country Cafe’ and ask if we could use their phone. CountryBoy called the real estate company but there were no agents available to show us the property while we were there. Oh well, we enjoyed our supper then headed home. If we still like it in a day or two we’ll try again.
This evening we browsed page after page of houses for sale with two or more acres and found nothing. It’s exhausting and disappointing I tell ya.
Sunday, January 9
Heavy wind and rain started during the night. We woke up to leftover patches of snow, puddles, and rain slithering off the mountain into the creek. By the time we left for church the water in the creek down the road was already flowing just under the bridge. We took a different road home just in case it was over the bridge by now. Twice now since the new year the Kentucky River that flows through town will crest above the flood stage and many roads leading to and from town are underwater. The temperature is supposed to drop drastically tonight and there’s a warning out for Flash Freezing, meaning the remaining water on the roads from today’s rain will quickly freeze and could be extremely dangerous. I have to say it’s been a rough start weather-wise for our neck o’ the woods.
On our way home from church I watched the windshield wipers go back and forth and thought about the upcoming plummeting temps. All I wanted to do was put my comfy clothes on and hang out by the fire so I called the boss and asked if I could play hooky. She said it would be fine. yay! I figured there were plenty of sheet sets available to use until I came in on Wednesday but I wanted to make sure before I took the day off.
As I was waiting on sleep to overtake me last night I prayed once again for a clear direction. As I pondered the different types of properties we were looking at (neighborhoods, acreage, historic, etc.) the question came to mind as to whether or not I would be able to handle living in a neighborhood and I honestly can’t answer that. It’s been sixteen years or more since we’ve had any neighbors close by. I mean, we’ve always had neighbors but they’ve not been a stone’s throw away like they would be in a neighborhood. Sixteen plus years. That’s a long time. We enjoy our privacy and although I would like to think that I could adapt to having neighbors nearby I’m just not sure I could handle it on a full-time basis. I told CountryBoy my thoughts this morning and I apologized for being a hot mess, ha! He understood as he felt the same. So, that leaves us looking for properties with a little bit of acreage – a little bit of breathing room, if you will.
We spent some time this morning before church looking for houses and a little bit this evening. The rest of the day I spent cross stitching. I managed to rip the rest of the stitches out while CountryBoy was watching part 1 of Avatar and I put the right stitches in during part 2.
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I had a wild hair after I got out of the shower this morning to weigh myself. It’s been a while since I’ve stepped on the scale. The number was creeping up every time I did and I just don’t need that kind of negativity in my life. ha! This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see the number go down. I’ve lost 7.4 pounds since the last time I was on the scale and that’s even after all the holiday goodies and dinners. yay!
Monday, January 10
It was a cold but sunny day. It’s amazing how a few sunny days here and there during the midst of winter can boost one’s mood. The fireplace is going non-stop which is expected during the months of January and February. I think we’re both looking forward to being in a house that is a constant temperature no matter which room you’re in. Here, each area of the house is a different temperature – from downright cold in the living room to warm and toasty if you’re directly in front of the fireplace to in-between.
It took a while to get anything accomplished today. CountryBoy started out by calling multiple storage facilities in two different towns and none of them had any units available (only in America!) or no one would answer. I suggested he look at facilities that showed online availability. He finally found a facility that had a unit available. It was much smaller than we wanted but he reserved it just so we would have some place to store at least some of our stuff in until we buy another house. Move in day is tomorrow. That’s one thing done to ease the mind.
He also ordered another truck load of gravel. The feller was able to deliver it this afternoon so CountryBoy had to go outside and find more large rocks to fill in the washed out part of the road by the barn before the gravel arrived. After quickly vacuuming downstairs (I have to do it while he’s out of the house since he can’t stand the sound of the vacuum cleaner, wink) I went out to check on him. He was having some chest pain from the exertion so I suggested we get the pot belly stove in the tack room going so that he could go in there to rest and be warm as well. Another motivation for that was to clean up some of the scrap wood that littered the floor by feeding it to the stove. We made a dent in the scrap wood but the most important thing was him being able to rest in between rock loads. Shortly after he had enough large rocks in place the load of gravel arrived. There was enough gravel to spread partway up the cabin road and to fill in the washed out driveway by the barn. He’ll have to wait for a warmer day when the tractor will start (it does not like to run on cold days – can you blame it?!) to even out the gravel at the washed out section.
While we were in the barn we heard Mabel talking or more like grumping as we call it. We went to make sure she was all right. She was OK but she had quite a few fresh wounds where the chickens had been pecking at her. They try to keep her clean but they do more harm than good. We shooed them all out of her pen and blocked it off so they couldn’t get in. This also means that Mabel can’t get out but she has her heat lamp, food and water in there with her – she’ll just have to do her business in a corner. I thought about cutting an opening in the side of the barn that leads out to part of the paddock that the chickens can’t get through but since it might not be our barn for much longer I’m hesitant to do something so drastic. Hopefully it won’t be long till the new owners move in and maybe they’ll come up with a solution.
I didn’t accomplish much of anything today. I did do two loads of laundry this morning then spent most of the day cross stitching; browsing our Mediterranean cookbook for supper ideas; making supper then cross stitching some more till bedtime. Speaking of supper, I mentioned to CountryBoy that I was going to make Mushroom-Leek Tortilla de Patatas which is basically a quiche with potatoes however he couldn’t get past the ‘tatas’ part. “Anything with ‘tatas’ is fine with me!” sigh. So I didn’t bother telling him any more knowing it wouldn’t do any good and knowing he would like it. And like it we did! I served it with some sliced tomatoes lightly sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil.
Tuesday, January 11
It’s move in day! Or so the email I received from the storage unit facility said. It’s more like moving some stuff out of the house day. After a breakfast of avocado toast topped with an egg and a side of fried apples (using butter, cinnamon and coconut sugar) we loaded the trailer with most of the boxes that’ve been packed for a while. It’s nice to have them out of the house. We figure every time we have to head to town we’ll take a load and if push comes to shove then we can make a few extra trips if need be.
On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a few groceries, a new can opener that will hopefully last longer than the last one, and some bird seed. The birds are eating us out of house and home but I love seeing them flit about and knowing they have food in their bellies especially during the winter months.
I spent the afternoon eating popcorn and proof reading this ridiculously long blog post (sorry!) while CountryBoy watched a movie and ate popcorn. After the movie he was going to go shovel the gravel but I wouldn’t let him. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the low fifties and the tractor should start. He does not need to be shoveling rock and that’s that. So, instead, he started supper. A much better idea if you ask me! We’re having a simple supper of fish, mashed potatoes and roasted carrots & brussel sprouts.
I plan on cross stitching the rest of the evening.
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I want to end this blog post trying to answer a few questions that some may have about the situation we are currently in…
- Yes, we’re thrilled that another family is wanting to take over the farm, care for the animals, and continue improving the place where we left off.
- Yes, we’re still not getting our hopes up or counting our chickens before they’ve hatched. Been there, done that, and it was no fun – don’t want to do it again.
- No, we don’t have a house to move into nor do we even know where we will wind up. We would love to stay in Kentucky but finding a place that meets our long list of requirements is proving to be difficult.
- No, we’re not concerned about not having a place to move into immediately. Currently our plan is to stay in the camper and do a bit of traveling. We’ll have a roof over our head, a comfy bed and a place to cook our meals. We’re actually kind of excited about it as we love to camp! You may find us in your driveway one day, ha!
- Yes, we would covet any and all prayers from friends, family, and our dear readers for direction and for the sale of the farm. We know many of you have been faithfully praying since the summer and we are forever grateful!
Dream Valley Farmstead 