Our purchase of the 100-year-old farmhouse is proceeding at warp speed! DH contacted a lawyer today, and he suggested the owner bring in the deeds/paperwork -- which he did, and it looks as if we may have our closing on either Saturday or Monday! Goodness, I guess having cold, hard cash finally DID pay off for us. :-)

Sunday DH and I, as well as my sister and brother-in-law (who were visiting) went out to the farmhouse/land. We walked over the five acre pasture, and I took a lot of digital pictures of the house, the land, the surroundings. If you want to see those, please click HERE. And remember, these are BEFORE pictures -- as in BEFORE the renovation of the house and upkeep of the property/pasture/fencing/outbuildings.

I am glad I have these pictures, so I can remind myself of how badly the lovely old place needed some TLC. I am just the one to lavish the care and attention upon it too, since I absolutely LOVE old houses. It baffles my mind that some people would rather live in modern, antiseptic, generic houses just like everyone else. Perhaps I've just never been part of the crowd, never wanted what the majority do...and that is partly why I love older houses.

Just THINK of the drama of the lives lived in those old houses. One of my favorite HGTV programs is: "If Walls Could Talk." Indeed, if they could we would learn so much fascinating human drama and history.

I do know a little about this house/property. Coincidentally (and there's been quite a few weird coincidences with this whole deal), one of the elderly ladies across the street from our older house here in town told DH that she had a girlfriend who lived in that house, that they went to school together. And that the girl's parents built the place around 1902; they owned 40-acres and had a sawmill (the land has now been divided, and only five acres remains with the old farmhouse). All the wood in the house was milled by the father, and he took special care of such detailing. I am not sure what their personal lives were like, but I hope to learn more about the entire history of the house when I have time to do some research. In fact, I'd love to write a 'House Story' ... present the history and names of people who owned the house, and print it up, hang it on the wall! Nice touch, I think. But that is in the future, AFTER we've gotten some of the urgent renovation done.

First we plan to have the house made energy efficient -- new windows, doors, insulation and central heat/cooling. We'll hire that done, because it needs to be a professional job. Then we'll build a sunporch on the back for the cats. Next we'll start painting inside and outside...so we have LOTS of hard work ahead. Should be interesting to see the AFTER pictures when it's all done -- but don't expect them soon. Although I will propably be writing as often as I can in this journal about the progress and experience -- which will be my written record too.

I am staying postive, looking toward the future. I think DH and I NEEDED this project, since it will focus us on the future, instead of nostalgia and looking back. That's the bane of the middle-age experience: you must have NEW dreams to replace the ones you've already accomplished or you get bogged down in an empty life with only memories of the past as company.

I went on my bike ride today, and it felt great. By the way, there's a park only about 3 miles from the farmhouse; I'll get a bike rack, put my bike on the car and go there to ride frequently -- so I won't miss out on exercising. DH, of course, will have horses and who knows, he might even persuade me to ride sometimes!