Over the fence chat for 7/15/01 to 7/21/01

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Beyond the Sidewalks : One Thread

Yeah, I know I'm a little early getting this started; but I'm working again tonight (on med/surg) and we have such a dearth of nurses that I am sure to be running my butt off and will probably come home and crash fast in the am.

Okay, now that I'm done whining....!!!

So much hoopla here, there and everywhere this week - almost like the REAL world there for a while, wasn't it?! And now, without fear of reprisal; I want to say once again how happy I am to have y'all to come visit with, and share the happy thoughts along with the sad times. Thanks, and hugs, and smooches and may all your tomatoes ripen on the vine - without blossom end rot!!

My sunflowers all came into bloom while I was in Kentucky visiting - they are so cheerful and such a mood booster to drive in and see in the mornings. I am going to go out in the field tomorrow and burrow my way in to the center and just stand there and soak in all the yellow! Pop and Unc can growl all they like, but the Sunnys go out by the road again next year - I wanna see them CLOSE when I drive in!

Several of my tomato plants have tomatoes on them, but the garden seems to be sort of standing still for some reason lately. Pop has softball size melons on his Sugar Baby and Tiger Baby watermelons, and a few canteloupe and honeydew are setting on. I still don't have any zucchini - may have to meander down to Unc's garden and see what's going on over there....

I'm trying to decide what to do about my garden. I love my raised beds, but the truth is - they look like heck this year! I know I haven't put as much time in on them as I did last year, what with starting the perennial bed and the fruit tree/grape arbor beds. The row garden Pop put in to take care of the overflow from the raised beds looks a heck of a lot better than my raised beds - as he points out!! I was planning to go on back (south)toward the clothesline with another 27' x 27' section of beds, but discovered that the soil there is what they dug out of the basement when they were building the house - pure, unadulterated, I'm talking we could throw pots here, yellow clay. So now I'm thinking about putting in a fire pit and some benches out there for cookouts. Or raspberries. Or something. Then I decided I would go on East with a double set of raised beds matching my original 2 sets. Then I thought about a maze garden.....but I need somewhere to put in about 12 more fruit trees and my original 4 are in the 2nd set of raised beds. And I have more than a few obsessive-compulsive traits and everything needs to look balanced or I will get twitchy!! So my brain is at a standstill on the garden scene for now. Do you suppose maybe I just ought to leave the planning for winter and get my fanny out there and take care of what I've got?!?! (Pop's suggestion - dang, I hate it when he's right!!)

Well, I'm off to the shower and work - Wishing you all peace....

Hugs,

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Answers

Pretty funny, Polly, about the garden rows. I thought it would take me two hours today to prep my beds for winter vegetables. It took about twice as long. Perhaps it was because I had to get out a tape measure and measure the stupid row widths, plus cut stakes and stake everything out with blue baling twine! I think I have totally lost it! I'm sure the vegetables don't give a rip! And I'm completely sure that no gardening publication is planning on stopping by and photographing my obsessively neat rows! I think I was just enjoying goofing off in the sun....(I have so much to do as we are going on vacation Thursday and will be gone three weeks...that procrastination thing, I guess!)

My two goats are going to "Summer Camp" for a while this season. Since we are out of browse, I am letting someone "borrow" them for brush clearing. This woman has lotsa horses (breeds 'em) and has run sheep before, but not goats. I visited her place and gave it my thumbs up, so we have to arrange to transport Siegfried and Roy over there next week. After worming them tomorrow, I'm going to have to sew name tags in their underwear I guess.

We went to one of the farm teams baseball games (Mariner's farm team) on Thursday night. It was really fun! Beer and hot dogs are too expensive for doing this very often, though.

I'm just indoors taking a break from the hot sun. Gotta keep moving. Talk to you guys later. (I'm trying to get a good fix before I'm incommunicado for all that time! I'm afraid you will all have migrated to another forum or something by the time I'm back!!! )

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001


Three weeks! Somehow that didn't penetrate my consciousness until now. How will we live without you all that time? And you KNOW that you'll be really busy the week after you're back.

My winter squash plants are getting big and putting out flowers, but I don't see any squash yet. Course, I haven't crawled around under them either. Time to harvest the lettuce in my "deck box" and let the carrots have some more room. The Swiss chard and the beets aren't growing as well as I would have thought they should. Maybe not enough sun. They're in boxes on the deck too. The Tatsoi is starting to flower, so I'll probably have to harvest that too. The ungrateful birds didn't like it when I offered it to them. They like it fine when I buy it from the store. I tasted it, it isn't bitter or anything. Ingrates!

Today my "new" dog met my best friend's dog for the first time. It went really well, especially since her dog often doesn't like other dogs, especially ones that are bigger than he.

I've spent way too much time on this computer lately! I'm going away Thursday through Sunday again -- another meeting of the Family in Rockford (sshhhh). Have to get ready for that. I think Vinnie is going too. We hope to swing over to the Renaissance Fair at Bristol on Sunday. Have to decide if I WANT to lace myself into that bodice. If Jules isn't going in garb, I probably won't either!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001


Siegried and Roy! Do they have tiny little sequined tuxedos too?

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

And how on earth do you keep the tigers from eating them???

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

BORN TO SHOP. LIVE TO EAT, a brief description of my mother in law. We're about 1 1/2 months into it now and actually so far, so good ---- in a way.

She's trying so hard to be "acceptable". She does housework(really helpful) and she WEEDS! (REALLY, REALLY HELPFUL) All she wants in return is your non stop attention until she decides to go to bed. More accurately all she wants is my wifes non-stop attention. She doesn't seem to understand Chris is actually busy sometimes when she gets home and Granny gets upset if she can't join at the hip as soon as possible.

Grannys a little hard of hearing(selectively) but still pretty active. She LOVES to shop, and shes never met a store she didn't like. Almost as much as she likes to shop, she likes to go out to eat and she's never met a restaurant she liked. Last week it was "Chinese slop" the week before the place with the "disgusting food" (I agree with her there) and the week before that was the place that served an empty plate. NEEEEver happy!

Chris took her grocery shopping last Friday. Why Friday you may ask? Because thats when you go grocery shopping, doesn't everyone know that? Condescendingly I ask why not? Just what planet do you live on?

She brings home this thing, almost three feet in diameter, oozing custard and whipped cream and iced with some kinda sugar stuff, proudly announcing to me, "John, I buy this for you!" I say, "gee, thanks but I can't eat that. Its as big as a semi tire!" She laughs, saying "Good! Good! You eat and I get another one!"

She's kinda cute in a demented sorta way. About 5' 2", maybe 110lbs, a face lined with deep wrinkles, looking like 5000miles of bad roads. She mutters around alot, in Polish of course, and makes these swishing sounds for ???? Oh well, enuf of that!

Some really sad news a couple weeks ago. My brothers eldest son, Jared, committed suicide in their home. They were convinced he was bi- polar but he wouldn't seek help and wasn't interested in medications. I feel so bad for them. They handled it privately which I can understand and today we had a little family get together. They're doing pretty well, all things considered, and getting their lives back on track. There'll be a hole in their hearts for the rest of their lives but one can learn to live with that I guess.

I was gonna post something about this earlier but decided against it because it was a "public" forum.

The gardens doing OK I guess. Our weeder, being old and wise and knowing a flower from a weed, pulled out the Dahlias Chris had started from seeds. But that was Chris's fault because flowers should have their own beds, not incorporated into a vegetable bed. Just what planet did you say you were from?

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001



Oh John, I'm so sorry. That has to be hard to take. I wish things had turned out differently. We also have a young relative with this type of problem and often wonder if he'll get his life straightened out. It's a struggle for everyone who cares about him, so I know the road has been difficult for this young man's parents. It's a sad situation.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Greetings all!

I picked my first two big ole heritage slicing tomatoes this last week. One mortage lifter, and one caspian pick. Yumsters!! I'm having just no luck with swiss chard this year. I've replanted three times now. I say if they get eaten off again, or just commit suicide, no more planting this year. DH has been out digging me new 4 x 4 ft beds. I'm wanting to get fall broccoli and peas out in them. I had wonderful luck with broccoli earlier, so I'm optimistic. I've gotta say that I'm totally sold on intensive gardening now. It's worth the initial work, in my humble opinion. We're gonna change our market beds over to intensive raised beds too now. It's been a good year so far. :-)

We have our new LaMancha doeling now. She's doing well, and I'm trying to secure a buckling for this years breeding. I wish they were not all so far away. Ohio for this one. Iowa for the doeling. I just hope she provides the quantity and quality of milk I'm hoping for.

I hope this note finds every single one of you well and happy. (And with any luck, my computer won't be shut down by a virus again in the near future, I've been without e-mail and forums for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!! Agh! You wanna talk about physical forum withdraw??!!)

Marty

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001


Just got back from a day at the daughters. Lots of hugging on those grandkids, just growing so much in between visits that I can hardly stand it!!! Been picking, shelling and freezing peas all week and now the beans are coming on at the same time. This doesn't usually happen to me...........this weird weather. LOTS of summer squash; I planted this medley of three kinds, dark green zuchinni, a light green and yellow...........love to pick them when they are really small. Slice and freeze on a cookie sheet and then put in large freezer bags to take out and saute with onions all winter. Still only blossoms on the tomatoes and the tiniest little baby cukes. We are really having to water, even the deeply mulched stuff is drying out with the wind, sun and heat.......athough the last couple of days it was cooler. Actually, about the most exciting thing besides these forums (LOL) that is happening for us right now is Sherri's up-coming visit. I am sure excited about that. Hugs and love to all

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

I'm sorry about you and your family's loss, John.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001

Kim and the kids are at the Calgary stampede this week (!) so I've switched to my natural nocturnal mode. The garden is in fairly good shape, finally, and the canning is in full swing. We find the farmer's market a great tool for keeping up with things - it forces us to keep on top of all plantings, since we're picking regularly. Whatever doesn't sell at market gets processed afterwards or traded for something that we didn't grow. We've canned new potatoes, peas, green beans, apple sauce, made dill pickles and just started on the tomato sauce. We're finished with round 1 of the summer squash, but froze a bunch of bags of grated zucchini for those much-appreciated winter loaves of zucchini bread.

We finally got the sheep sheared, but sadly lost one of the ewes to the stress of the whole thing, guess it was just too hot. Our deal on the Dexter cow feel through too, and we sold all the Pyrenees puppies, so we're actually DOWN on the animal count for a change!

Kim's dad has been taking a lot of our time lately, his diabetes going through real swings. Looks like we're going to have to make him live with us if things don't improve soon.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2001



I'm so sorry John.......Kirk

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

Oh John -- what can I say? I'm very sorry to hear of your family's loss and pain. The strange thing is that you've been somewhat on my mind recently, been thinking that we hadn't heard from you in a while. Some things in life just never make sense, but I wish you all strength and peace of heart.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

Oh John, I'm very sorry to hear about Jared. Great losses leave large holes. I hope time can patch things up quickly for you and your family.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

John, my deepest sympathy to you and your family. After my cousin commited suicide, I tortured myself for a year - thinking "I should have done something." The truth is, there is usually nothing that could have been done to change things; people with mental illness often consider others trying to make them get help as just another stressor in their lives. Sadly, you cannot help someone who does not want to be helped. Perhaps he is now at peace, I hope so. Bless you all.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

I too, am sorry for your loss, John. It's so confusing isn't it. I'm glad you feel comfortable posting it now. We'll be thinking of you.

Your adventures sound well.......interesting to say the least! Tell her I will gladly eat that semi wheel sized sweet roll! Might last me a couple days! How much would it cost to send it parcel post? (wink)

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001



John, I'm really sorry for your loss, too. And I can understand your not wanting to say something about it when the forum was still public.

I went to a funeral last weekend for my ex brother-in-law. He commited suicide too. It was really hard to see my niece and nephews trying to deal with this sudden and horrible loss of their father.

I'm glad you feel more comfortable posting something like this now to the forum - I'm hoping people's increased comfort level will be one of the benefits to having a private forum. I know I would not have been comfortable posting about my ex brother-in-law before the forum went private. And speaking of private forums, I've got an inbox full of emails (almost 25 so far) from (mostly) lurkers that want to get into our forum. I think the answer for most of them is gonna be "no".

Take care.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001


I guess it is going to be inevitable that a lot of people will have their noses severely out of joint over the restriction on who gets passwords and who doesn't, but it looks like there's darn little other choice in the matter.(big sigh) Doggone it, there's always got to be some pissant that comes along and tries to ruin the whole shebang -- those must have been the kids on the beach who would stomp on other kid's sandcastles just to ruin them. I feel kinda bad for some of those lurkers who didn't really have anything to say, or weren't familiar enough to have the confidence to join in yet, because they're the ones that lose out the most.

(long pondering thought process...)

On a lighter note, I found a frog in my pants last night.

I had hung laundry out to dry on one of the two decks on the house (kitchen side). I don't have a real laundry line up, so I festooned the deck chairs instead. It's been so dry lately, I figured that everything would dry out pretty fast in the afternoon, and went off to start up some hoses to keep everything from crisping to oblivion -- did I mention that it's been really DRY? -- coming on dark, I didn't want to get involved in a big project, so I decided to repot things, pot up herbs into larger pots that I plan to bring in for the winter, that sort of thing. As I was standing out there, I heard a *plop* right alongside my head. There was a tree frog, looking at me (probably wondering what that big Catfish was doing over there). I admired him a while, but after I'd gone inside to get more water, he was gone. What a pleasant little event. I'm sure he is drawn by the moister microclimate on the deck with all the plants summering out there and their drainage saucers and all that, plus running the sprinkler on the hostas and ferns nearby to save them.

Come full dark, I decided to haul the wash in. Jeans weren't quite dry yet, oh well, they'll dry fast with the room fan on -- picked them up, gave them a snap to fold, and a little body went hurtling through the air and landed with a mini-*thud* on the deck floor. Ack!! I scooped the flipped amphibian up and apologized. He looked dazed and confused ("I was just sitting there, minding my own business in this nice damp cloth-y thing, and all of a sudden--"). He'd climbed inside the waist of the jeans where it was nice and comfy and protected from predators. He didn't know about clothes- folders.

I left him sitting on a leaf of my newly repotted red abutilion along side a saucer of water and the kitchen window (light attracts bugs, probably also a plus. He was kind of fat.).

Guess I'd better double check my laundry from now on. This isn't the first time that I've ever found frogs in the laundry. One time I was living in a trailer out at a stable I worked at, and the wash was left out on the line out back in the long grass area (another dry summer). I went out to haul it in, was just piling it up in my arms as I went (no basket) when this thing came springing out of a washcloth and landed square on my nose and stuck there. It was cool, and soft and damp.

Clothes went flying everywhere through the air.

When I recovered from the surprise of it, I had a tree frog hanging on my nose. I took him off, carried him to a real tree instead of a clothes pole, and went back to pick up the laundry. I never told anyone else that I'd been on the ground, and what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Check your laundry!

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001


I don't know why this shifted to a bold face type...my computer is doing weird things lately, resetting itself on all kinds of things. Didn't mean to sound like I'm shouting (maybe someone else knows how to correct that?)

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

John...I'd like to add my sympathies to everyone else's here on this forum. Having had several deaths in my family over the last few years, I know it is a "hard row to hoe". Hey Julie...do you s'pose those frogs can read your email address??

Spent most of this weekend in the garden...fighting weeds! Don't they ever give up? I'm determined to keep them from setting seeds this year so maybe next year's garden will be weed-free (yeah right!) Hubby and I finally had a chance to spent several hours out on our boat doing some fishing. Hadn't been able to get out much on it because of the almost constant thunderstorms in our area the last few weeks. The ocean is NOT a good place to be in a thunderstorm!! There's one rumbling around now outside, but no rain, which we really could use. Should be able to harvest all my Sugar Snap peas at once this year. They look pretty good...and tall!! Everything else is moving according to schedual, although I am getting kinda sick of Swiss chard. It did really well this year. I'm anxious to try Dianne's way of freezing squash slices on a cookie sheet and cooking them with onion, maybe add some garlic!?? Tomorrow I really have to get my chickens butchered. It's not my favorite job, but we sure love fresh chicken! Hope you all have a good and "productive" week!!

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001


OK Julie, I fixed it. You just used the brackets instead of the parenthysies on your (big sigh). Brackets change things!

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001

Julie... I do have clotheslines and a couple of weeks ago I had a yellow jacket in my t shirt... in fact, he (I presume he was a "he") lived in my shirt and drawer all folded up for about a week... then the day I put the shirt on... he stung me... guess he was really unhappy about his living conditions...

agree with your moral??? check your laundry... I do now!!!

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2001


Oh man, Julie and Yarrow, you're making me laugh!

Yes, there IS a reason it's rumpleFROGskin. I think Julie was a frog in another life. We have the cutest picture of her as a baby (wearing a really doofy hat), clutching a frog in her hand, with the most satisfied smile on her face. And she held onto the frog just right -- it couldn't get away and it wasn't being squished. Many other frog stories, too.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001


John, I was chuckling so much while reading your first few paragraphs. I was also thinking, "no wonder this guy loves to write! He's good at it!" Then I was so struck by the sad news you wrote. I am very sorry to hear of the loss in your family. I hope time and healing help with this huge wound. May God comfort you and your extended family.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001

Hi all. I don't have time to post much now and some of you have emailed me and I haven't answered yet.I will,just give me some time. So much to pick right now.

John & Jim, what Imposter Polliwog who is now Minnie Me said sounds good to me,too. Just can't reach some people who make a decision to close themselves off and not let people know they are hurting,no matter how hard you try. I had a case in point last Dec ,but just don't have time to type it in. Maybe another time. Maybe not, as it's a private matter. And, I'm not even willing to go into what I've been experiencing the last 6 months. Guess I'm being mysterious again...

Well, John I loved your description of granny-"cute in a dememted sort of way". You can send her over, too. Nick knows a few serbian words (close enough) and I'll take anyone who weeds and cleans! And buys sweets! She's probably just like all the old women in Nick's old neighborhood. He'd feel right at home.

Now you want to talk cultural shock,you gotta come live in eastern KY. Took me a while to adjust(have I?),and I've lived in the country my whole life. We had a shoot out at the "OK Cemetary" a while back.Bunch of local druggies go there to party. Got arguing among themselves and bullets started flying. Some were whizzing past the neighbors boys,so she called the sherrif. He showed up...two weeks later. This is a true story.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001


We had some happy news on Thursday. My best friend Karen was awarded full custody of her daughter Jessica. Keith and I consider Jess to be our niece. We had to cut off all contact with her while the custody fight was going on because we were afraid that her Dad would use our religion against Karen. We really missed her, I think that we're going to celebrate this week by taking her to see "Cats and Dogs".

I had an interesting evening on Friday. I went to a workshop on psychic communication with animals. During the break we got on the topic of the ethical treatment of livestock. I did a little informal survey of the people there who do eat meat. They all said that they would be willing to pay extra for beef, chicken, or eggs if they knew it had been raised in a humane manner without antibiotics, hormones, etc. Some of them were already buying eggs at the natural food store but they would be interested in a local source. Now I know that there's a big difference between people saying they'll pay extra and actually spending the money, but my head is full of all sorts of ideas now. I've got all of Joel Salatin's books on reserve on the library now as well as the Chicken Tractor book. I'm going to stuff my head full of information and let it percolate around for a while and see what comes out. This isn't something that I'd want to do as my sole source of income but since I've been reading Gene Logsdon I've been thinking of ways to diversify. And it just feels right. It's got to be better than working for the FDA (boo! hiss!)

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001


Sherri, who did your workshop? There's a woman named Jeri Ryan (yes, just like the actress who played Seven of Nine) doing one here early in September that I'm thinking about attending.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001

Wow, if it was the real Jeri Ryan I'd be driving up there to see her! I think that she's totally hot, and I'm straight! :-)

This workshop was put on by a local woman named Tricia Loudenbach. Actually, it was more of a teaser lecture to get folks to sign up for the weekend-long workshop in September. I think that I may just get the book she recommended and save the $100 for the full-blown workshop. The techniques seem pretty straightforward, just your basic grounding, centering, being present and attentive, trusting your intuition, etc. You know, all that basic stuff that's so "easy" to do! hehehehe

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001


Tnx all for the condolences. I know what you mean about the second guessing yourself as in "If only I could have ---" but generally I don't go there.

I feel so bad for Gary and Jan tho because it's gotta be terrible for them. They do seem to be fairly realistic tho in that they knew Jared had a problem and tried to convince him to seek help to get a grip on the rapid mood swings.

I remember when I was in my early twenties. I had all the answers and no one could tell me anything and he was no different. To be candid, I didn't know him real well because our family's not real tight. Its not like there's some kinda fued going on or any hard feelings of any kind that I know of its just that distances prevent frequent visits and stuff like that.

Gary and Jan told a story about Jared tho that gives you some kind of idea about him. When he was twelve they went to Disney world. They were in the epcot center and Jared was dinking around on one of the many puters there. He hacked into their system, getting past their security firewall, just to "see" it. Commenting he sez, "Their security is pretty good." He got past the cyber security but not the uniformed security. They arrived soon after his comment and once they were convinced he was just a bright, curious kid they gave him a thouough tour of their cyber world. He thot that was very cool.

And Sharon, be careful what you ask for "You can send her over, too"

If you'll feel more comfy you can e-mail me you addy. How far is the bus station from you?

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2001


Just *pouring* down rain today! I am so glad I got the vegetables in on Sat. I planted broccoli, b. sprouts, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, spinach, and carrots. I'll do fall beets when I get back from vacation, and maybe some kohlrabi, too, plus some lettuce and maybe more peas; you know, the usual. This is great coolish weather so hey, maybe something will actually grow! My corn keeps lodging! And the hubbard squash and tomatoes will probably just end up being decorative plants this year. A schizy season, this!

I put a lot of dry bedding down for the critters tonight. Seigfried and Roy might have to wait until we return from vacation to go to camp. We don't have a covered truck, and I can't quite imagine the 20 mile trip in the back of the Ranger under tarps or something! (I have an extended cab. Last winter, I took Seigfried to the vet in the cab of the truck, as he had a fever, and I haven't heard the end of that from Mr. S. yet! What a winer! Trucks are supposed to smell like goats, aren't they?)

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001


Umm, make that "whiner." Guess I have Napa Valley on my mind...sheesh.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Now I suppose you want me to fix that typo huh Sheepish! HA HA.....Oh I wish I was an Oscar Myer...........!! Everyone would be in love with me!

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Hey! There's an Oscar Meyer plant in Madison, so the WeinerMobile is often seen in various places in and around Southern Wisconsin. Anybody ever seen that thing driving around? WeinerMobile

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Well hellooo,I swear,John,the bus station is a right far piece from here. I'll let you know the particulars by and by. I don't care a bit to email you. Yeah,buddy, that's a fact and I ain't lyin'. I garrentteeeee it.

Nostravia! Use that.Watch her eyes light up.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001


A friend and I went to Europe in 1970. We had Oscar Meyer Weiner Whistles, which much to everyone's dismay, we played during a goodly portion of the seven-hour flight over the pole! (along with playing kazoos.) I can't believe what brats we were! This was an REI charter trip, though, and most of the folks were going climbing in the Alps. Surely they were all much crazier than we! The flight back was thirteen hours (an unplanned stop in Greenland) but we had lost the whistles by then. Otherwise, I bet they would not have let us back on the plane...

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Howdy all, good to be back!! I was a bit out of touch for awhile and was surprised to see the password protect when I tried to get in a few days ago. Anyway I'm glad to be welcome here and will try to participate more, though summers are a busy time for me now.

On another note, I may well be a farmer soon. Found a beautiful 44 acre farm here in Idaho, and between my mother and I may be able to afford it, if we can get the place we're at now sold. Already planning what to do with the place and haven't even put an offer on it yet, Ha! Anyway, if we don't get this particular place I'm determined to be back on a farm within the year.

Again, thanks all for the nice recomendations and for my shiny new password. Look forward to chatting with you all in the future

Rick

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001


I really need to stop tormenting myself. When I have a few slow minutes at work I go on-line and look at real estate listings. I found a place today 2000 sq foot house built in 1968, 2 car garage plus 1800 sq ft barn, new furnace and AC in 1995, on 29.5 acres. 20 acres tillable, 9.5 acres woods. Asking price $149,900. Unimproved land is going for around $5,000 an acre in this area, so it's almost getting the buildings for free. I wonder what's wrong with it. Maybe it's haunted. I hope there's good deals like this available when I can afford to buy.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

Good luck, Rick. I hope everything works out for you. Keep us posted, ok? I just *love* looking at and buying property! :-D

Sherri, do you happen to live in an expensive area? The price seems high to me but maybe that's because I live out away from any decent- size cities or towns that could affect the prices around here.

Anyway, we bought our current homestead 3 years ago for $86,500.00 We had to look at a LOT of stinkers before we found this place (which is usually the case, I've found). It's our third home in 10 years and it's the best of the bunch. We only have 10 acres but that comes with several grain bins and a machine shed that bring in a small yearly income, as well as and old barn and a two-car garage. The house was built in the early 50's and is about 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms, a bath and a half, and central air.

We did replace the furnace last year with a 92% efficient LP gas furnace. The old one was over 20 years old and burned fuel oil. It stunk up the house every time we had the basement tank filled and the furnace created a lot of soot in the house. I'm glad it's gone!

Other than that the house doesn't need a whole lot of work other than cosmetic changes (the kitchen is kinda small - my only gripe, really). It's pretty quiet here (our nearest neighbor is about a half mile away) which is sheer bliss! Good luck and keep looking - I'm sure you'll find something that works for you.

Heck, move near me! I'll help you find something! ;-)

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001


Joy,

We saw the Weiner Mobile in Canada once.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001


Oops! Make that $76,500 instead of $86,500. I *knew* that number didn't seem right!

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2001

GUIDO & VINNIE SADDLE UP Hey folks, it's that time again, meeting with the family in Rockford. Vinnie and I will be incommunicado by Thursday evening, maybe even sooner. We'll be back to connect with you all Sunday or Monday evening.

[Vinnie! Did ya pack the cement yet?]

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001


Sheepish, Guido and Vinnie,

Happy Trails to you untill we meet again,

Happy Trails to you, keep smilin' on till then!

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001


Hey Sharon, you mentioned on another thread that you thought I lived in Bloomington. I wish! It's even worse than you thought. I live in Indianapolis. Please pray for me!

When I really want to torment myself with land prices, I have a couple of Kentucky real estate sites bookmarked. Maybe you'll wake up someday and find me moving in next door! I know that I'll always be a yankee, but with help from you and Cindy I hope that I won't be a damn yankee.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001


(with a John Wayne accent)

Welllllllll Sherri, I jussssst gotta ask you's ooooone thang. You's ain't one of them there Hatfield's are yaaaaa? Iffin' you ain't, then you's be welcoooome!

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001


Oops, change in plans -- Vinnie will be staying at home base to take care of, um, a situation there, so will probably be checking in with you all from time to time.

I'm still going to the meeting though. See ya Sunday night or Monday.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001


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