What's Up?

  Besides the buttercups, daffodils, and crocus, that is! Spring is upon us, the lilacs will open soon, too. With spring comes the typical seasonal clearing out. For us this year it also involves going through cupboards, drawers, closets, boxes (yup, still have boxes unpacked from the last move) all in an effort to organize, de-clutter, and get ready for listing the house for sale. And the yard sale this weekend. And moving ... soon.

  So, that's what we've been up to, friends. Tom had a brief bout with the flu. I had a viral infection that, as usual for me, took weeks to recover from. But we're good now. Busy finishing up details in every room of the house - baseboards, painting the office and trim, a front yard overhaul soon, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and the everyday matters of life!

Bend in the River

    Well, folks, we've come to a rather large change of plans in our journey. Recently, we met with a realtor. As you know, the real estate market isn't exactly the greatest. It's not the best time to sell a house. But, we gotta do what we gotta do!

    Part of the problem is that the market is flooded with bank-owned houses or owners doing a short sale (selling for sometimes even less than what they owe the bank just to avoid foreclosure). It's a terrible state of things for many. We are glad to at least not be in either of those situations. But, we need the equity from our house to bankroll building our new home, barns, buy livestock, etc. You get the picture. The other part of this problem is that due to so many of said houses being sold at low prices, if we want to sell our house, we have to ask for a lower than-we-wanted prices, too. Which, in turn, means a smaller nest egg to start with. Thus, our plan has slightly altered.

    Because the county requires engineer stamped plans in order to build a strawbale house, it increases our costs by 50%. Yes, those fees were literally going to be half the cost of building our entire strawbale home! So, more research and brainstorming was in order. We finally settled upon building a traditionally framed small cabin- 16' x 16' (affectionately called a 'LaMar cabin'). Our architect advised us to insulate it as well as possible; she said she'd probably make the same choice if she were in our boots. The design is still passive solar.

   There are a couple benefits to this change, believe it or not. The cabin will be easier and quicker to build, plus we'll have more flexibility in when we actually move. Plus, in the future if we do build a strawbale, we can use the cabin for guests... or a ranch store... or storage... or office... or...   There it is, the silver lining I always try to look for!

   So, right now what we're busy with, other than our usual routines in life, are getting a few improvements finished on our city house, then list it for sale, while organizing clutter, and reducing the amount of stuff we have for a yard sale. We've also reduced monthly expenses by disconnecting from satellite television and cell phones, going to twice per month garbage collection, and consuming less in general. You read that right, we no longer have cell phones! It's actually quite liberating!

    Know anyone who wants to buy a nice, older, home?   :)

Wordless Wednesday

Quotable Quotes

Dream: The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but who is without a dream. - Harry Kemp

Gratitude: There are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein

"Vanishing Breed"

I first heard this song performed by Michael Martin Murphy many years ago. It rang true for me even then as a young single woman. Now, side by side with my beloved Tommy, it has become another of "our songs". In the chorus, just replace "log house" with 'straw house' and it suits us to a T.   ;)

Vanishing Breed
by Michael Martin Murphy/David Hoffner

We're both the kind who can find peace of mind
In the light of an old fireplace
Wrapped in a blanket, talking the night away
Watching snow falling
The lone wolf is calling out into the endless space
There aren't many left like us these days
Down where the city lights burn
I know we'll never return

(Chorus)
Listen to the wind blow over the hills
Through whispering pines
Everything is free and all that we see
Is yours and mine
Just you and me
And this old log house
Is all that we need
That's why they call us a vanishing breed

It's good just knowing
That our love is growing
And we're gonna find a place
In a life we build with our own hands
Like wild horses running out under the sun
We're gonna find some space
There aren't many left like us these days
God's greatest gift to you and me
Is knowing how it feels to be free

(Repeat Chorus)

The melody is a catchy, upbeat lilt, just makes you want to whistle all day long. It's on his "River of Time" album (we have the cassette tape!). If you can find it, we highly recommend it (the entire album)!   :)

More Photos

More photos Tom took while he and Eoin were on their last hike together.

~ Aspens on NE property line, looking Sotuh ~

~ North Meadow at sunset ~

~ North Meadow, looking north ~

~ South Meadow peeking through the trees ~

~ Woods in spring draw ~

~ Woods, looking ne ~

~ Woods, looking nw ~

Corners & Views

You may have to strain a little to see the stakes, um scavenged sticks, in the photos. Do look in the background for a peek at some of the views we'll have. These are the corners of our house-

~ southwest to northwest corner, kitchen and living room along this side ~

~ northwest to southwest, opposite of above ~

~ southeast to southwest, bedroom and living room ~

~ southeast to northeast, bedroom and bath ~

~ northeast to breezeway, on north side between kitchen, mudroom and carport ~

And some of the views we'll enjoy while inside the house-

~ view south from the living room ~

~ view east from the bedroom ~

~ view southeast from the bedroom, a large window seat ~