Camera-check. Trees of Ontario book-check. Trees of Canada book-check. Batteries charged. check. Land survey. check. Real-Estate agent's cell # check. Tape measure. check.
I'm all packed up and rarin to go. We're off to go and look at a property. It may be a little early to start up the hunt again (we viewed one back in Sept)but, this one really calls out to us. And they've just dropped the price. 46 acres of heaven, nestled in dense bush, not a neighbor in sight, only minutes from the highway, rural school nearby, biking distance to town, several acres of pasture, barns.....what's the catch?
Like we expect, if we are to obtain a good chunk of land with some outbuildings on it, the house is going to be in rough shape. This one apparently is over 100 yrs old, and has been gutted. The current owners never got around to the renovation aspect after having taken it apart. I'm told that there may be a racoon in one of the bedrooms upstairs. And that the doors are all open, as they had a break in and decided to just leave it open instead of boarding it up. Hmmmm. On the bright side, at that price, we could afford to sink a good chunk into fixing it up before moving in.
One of the first things that comes to mind when I see the picture of this home, is that it looks (from the outside) a lot like the little house that Marnie and Jeff Doole had back in Limehouse. The age would be about the same too. It was such a character that little house. Jeff was always renovating it, improving it or expanding it in one way or another. Marne seemed to be constantly shifting, and folding her life around the ever changing life form that her home had become. The house was cozy, it smelled of wood fire and cookies, and a sweet little black cocker cross named Murphy would greet you at the door, trying her hardest to restrain herself from the forbidden act of licking all the guests. If living could be but a slice of the life that Marne and Jeff had in limehouse, you can serve me up a plate of that.
So I'll drink down a cup of optimism, and head out for a day of adventure and exploration. We aim to walk around as much of the acreage as we can, and get a good feel for what it is.
Well, thanks Miss K, after a lifetime of renovations it was good for me to look at our life style from someone else's perspective and to remember the joy and the great energy of reno instead of the endlessness of it. Life has been and is good. It's another "Murphy" in our lives now, this one a huge, brown lab cross, still wanting to lick all the guests, still the woodsmoke, and even sometimes cookies and the renos continue. Happy hunting to you, Mr.J. and Boy S.
ReplyDeletelove...Marne