Thursday, April 16, 2009

I Thought We Had Downsized & We Have a New Home


Until we started packing for our move north, I didn't realize how much stuff we still have. Come summer in the north woods there will be one huge yard sale!

And, I haven't missed a single thing we've packed!

Our backhoe sold today so we're one step closer to our dream - 11 acres with shared lake access 200 feet from our property line; the ground covered in pines, birch, a few maple and thousands of wild blueberry bushes! Yum!

Sweetie will have his long-desired pole barn in his favorite color - deep green - and I'll finally get my wood burning kitchen range hooked up, once we build a chimney. I was browsing Etsy about two weeks ago and found a Griswold #8 waffle iron for $17 plus shipping. Yahoooooo! It arrived while we were up north and miraculously didn't break during shipping. It was wrapped in newspaper, placed in a grocery sack and laid in a huge box where it could rattle around to its heart's content!!

My favorite Sunday morning breakfast is waffles and sausage. I can hardly wait for cold weather to set in next fall!!! Crazy huh?

Our new place is another mobile home with two bedrooms that are larger than we have now but less closet space and nearly the same layout as this place. The owners tore the original siding off, insulated, then covered it in chip board, house wrap and then vinyl siding. They built a steel roof with wide eves over the entire place. There are two decks - one about 8x12 and another that's a whopping 16x24 - each with a slider for easy access. A small storage shed will become my garden shed and we'll build a hot house on the side of it for starting seedlings.

Best of all, we cannot see another home from our new home; the drive is 300 feet before it turns another 60 feet to the pole barn; and we're 11 miles from the nearest small town.

To anyone dreaming and yearning for a place in the country do not give up!!! We had looked at this place online dozens of times but always told ourselves we couldn't afford it. Being broke and living on $654 a month we had very low expectations, so we were always thinking, "we've got to find something cheap."

All the while I was saying: "God, you know what we want - to move north near my family - and you know we don't have much, so you'll have to make it happen. So, God, I'm asking for your will in our lives."

While we were up north, we looked at two really cheap places and all we saw was WORK. Late one afternoon, we looked at one another, and realized we were both thinking about "that place near the lake." So, we decided to go for a ride.

As soon as we caught a glimpse of the place we said, "This is it." We got out of the truck, walked around the front yard, ventured onto the back deck and looked in a sliding door. I walked over to the back entrance door and turned the handle - it was unlocked!!!! Of course we couldn't resist walking through the place and then LOCKED it up. We returned to my Dad's and called our realtor and told him about our tour and it being unlocked. Then we asked to meet him there the next day. We took my Dad with us on our next tour and he said, "I see the two of you here. This looks like a place you would own."

Since then we've made an offer; had our offer countered; made a counter offer; and finally settled on a purchase price. What seemed impossible is now possible. Once we stopped placing limits on what we could and couldn't do, things began to move. I could write all night about the things the unexpected and interesting things that have happened since Tuesday morning. I'm in awe and so cognizent of how our thinking determines our life experiences.

Tomorrow (Friday), we relist our home with our previous realtor and she's scheduled to show it Saturday. Every time she showed a certain client a place, she said she thought of our place! She thinks it's the best of any she's shown him and would fit his needs perfectly. So, once again, time will tell!

Well, it's late for me. I was awake at 5 a.m. with visions of wood stove cooking dancing in my head! Take care and we'll meet again soon. Treesong

10 comments:

Mamma Bear said...

I am so glad your prayers have been answered.

Your stove reminds me of childhood memories of my Granny's kitchen. My Granny had a stove much like yours. If I am not mistaken the doors at the top would have left over biscuits that us kids would snitch and take to the tomato garden with a shaker of salt. My Granny was forever looking for her salt shaker!

d.a. said...

Congrats on your new home! Wonderful!

HermitJim said...

I am really, really proud and happy for you, my friend. Congrats on the new place and best wishes in the move!

Phil said...

YAY!!

Congrats and good luck!

Anonymous said...

Not a bad looking stove and I got a kick out the reflection on the stove back. Must be none other than "Sweetie."

treesong said...

Thanks all for your comments. And, yes, that's Sweetie!

Stephanie in AR said...

Hurray!! I have prayed that same prayer in my life & am always surprised at how well things turn out (though I shouldn't be).

Texas Bubbe said...

Treesong, just found your blog recently and now I've read the whole thing. Can't tell you how much I've enjoyed it; you have a real talent. Congratulations and best wishes for a smooth move.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like 'God takes a liking to you' - congratulations on your good fortune! Finding a place the two of you agree 'This is IT' and having it materialize into yours is great news. Sounds like you and he will be very happy there. Good luck with move.

Anonymous said...

You know, I can't help but comment on how your outlook in life reminds of the characters in Jack Kerouac's book DHARMA BUMS, whose wants and needs are very simple easy to attain because you aren't hooked up into STUFF and THINGS. Good for you!