A Day Full of Problems

I met Kevin last night. Kevin is the carpenter/handyman that helped build this house and he stopped by to introduce himself. He looks like a biker with a long ponytail rubber-banded at intervals down to the top of his belt loops. He wears a do-rag and is partially tattooed. He has a quick wit and a generous and friendly smile and he is a can-do kind of person as I found out this morning when we went over my very long list of unfinished work to be finished on my house, most of which he disposed of with ease.

The living room door to the back deck now closes and the key works without the lock cylinder coming off in my hand. That is a good thing since it has been unlocked and open for 12 days. Good thing there are no rapists or thieves up here. I don't think they've found us yet -- and I hope they never do. I like feeling safe enough, even with the creaks, moans, groans, and sounds of breathing the house makes as it settles.

This morning Kevin went to work on the deck door lock and eventually got it sorted out while his pup, a 7-month-old Newfoundland mixed with Akita pup he brought with him. The pup, which is nearly up to my ribs, is called Forest, and he is a curious fella nosing into everything and yet a friendly and gregarious almost-horse. Big as Forest is, he tried to climb into my lap so it's safe to say he likes me. I like him too. Since Kevin lives across the road, I'm sure Forest and I will get to see a lot of each other, especially if I get my wish and a ramp is installed on the back deck at the back bedroom side of the deck. It just makes sense really. Kevin even agrees that there should be a ramp there so the house is accessible to all of my friends and not just the ones wiling to climb to base camp one of the Himalayas to get into the house.

On the job list are a drain for the washer so I can actually use it without having to figure out a way not to flood the house, blinds for 2 windows, a screen for one of the office windows, a vent cover for the cold air vent that goes to the furnace, replacing bulbs in the ceiling and master bath, and a mirror and medicine cabinets for the bathroom between the Jack and Jill bedrooms.  I still need to get hooks for the bathroom and closet doors, hang the shower curtains and liners, and do a week's worth of laundry when the drain is installed and functional. Big on my to-do list was getting the router set up, and I needed Skybeam's tech support to get that done since they needed to get the wire on top of the house to recognize the router, and that has been accomplished.

Yesterday, Paul from Glazer Propane installed the new 500-gallon tank and lit my hot water heater again. I do need to ask Kevin about the furnace and adjusting the burners on the stove top, but those will be handled one way or another. Things are moving closer to near perfect, or as perfect as things will be when I get everything put away and the pictures and paintings hung. I think Kevin will help me by getting rid of all the boxes and that will be a big help.

One thing I found out is that the land line was hooked up to one of the sheds on the property, which made no sense to me until I asked Kevin. The previous owner of this land had an RV parked on the lot and the land line was installed on the shed so he would have a phone. Makes sense since this house did not exist then. Now that the house is here, the phone company needs to come out and bury the line.

Now some of the assortment of oddities on the property make sense, like the Dish TV satellite dish propped up against a fence that runs between two pine trees and the clothesline that runs between two pine trees next to the shed that has a weather vane on the roof. I'll add photos later. It could also explain why there is a fire extinguisher in a holder nailed to to yet another pair of pine trees near where there are a few piles of firewood and why there are benches next to the two sheds and a picnic table by the fence. Three acres of land and only an RV parked here seems a little sad and abandoned as if flash floods washed away whatever house once stood here but not the garage since it was built to withstand a nuclear explosion, except there was never a house here until my house was built.

I like being able to talk to someone who knows the area and can help me get up to date on the wherefores and whys and whodunits that come with a small community like this.

There are bound to be lots of stories and gossip floating around, not that I would listen to the gossip, but the stories have to be fascinating, like the man who lives next door with two native American or possibly Latino women and a fat black cat that stalks behind in their wake.

That's life in the country for now and I look forward to settling in for a very long and fruitful life. What began as a day full of problems has become a day full of solutions. I like when that happens.

That is all. Disperse.

Home at Last

The proverb goes, The wind from a door closing opens another door.

If I ever doubt those words all I need do is remember what happened this week.

I called about an apartment in Divide, CO. While speaking with the landlord, Mike, we discussed application fees (a way to make money on properties without ever having to rent it out) and my plans 2-3 years down the line, which was to save enough money to buy my own home where I can paint walls or change the carpet or do whatever needs done without having to get permission or be constrained by a lease. I can't burn down the house, but then I never intended to. I need a place to live.

Mike said I should talk to his father, David, who had a property in Florissant he wanted to sell. David would carry the mortgage and I could rent to own. Could he give his dad my information and have him call me? Yes, yes, he could -- and he did.

David wanted to know if I minded being out away from town. Did I mind being secluded?. Could I handle living all alone? Would I be happy in a situation like that?

It was quickly clear this was what I wanted. As soon as I got off the phone, I searched and found the property and lots of pictures, one of which is above. The house has 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 bathrooms, a barn turned into a garage that could withstand a nuclear attack, and a shed and it all sits on 3 acres of land. Wooded high desert land. Land with trees and space and it is heaven.

As I checked out costs and amenities (restaurant, bank, grocery store, etc.), I figured out I couldn't afford to pay the monthly amount he suggested and I would have to tell him no when he called the next morning, which I did. That's when he told me he would put the rate at a price I could afford. "I have enough money; I don't need to sell this to make money. I will work with you to make sure you can afford it."

I was flabbergasted. He would work with me . . . and he did, first by hooking me up with his realtor, who lives in the area, so I could get a better grasp of the costs of living up there. The costs are half what I'm paying here in Colorado Springs. I could go to town every 1-2 weeks and do all my running and chores at that time, just like when I lived up at the cabin in Tabernash. I can live with that. The realtor hooked me up with a mortgage broker who would help me establish credit and get the best deal for buying the house. There is no rush since David will let me pay him until that happens. Susan Vineyard, the realtor, will also help me get a USDA government loan to buy the house. Since the barn is now a garage, that will happen now.

Out of a call for an apartment I now will own a house, my own cabin in the mountains, which readers of this blog know has been my dream for many years, a dream that is now a reality.

I have plans for the property, like building a guest house that can be rented out to vacationers and where friends and family can come and stay when they visit. Yes, I have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, but there are some people I can only take in small doses. A guest house is ideal. I want to install solar power and connect to the grid so I can sell my power back to the electric company and make a little money and help cut my own electric costs. I might even eventually install electric heating, which would be feasible with solar power. There's a lot of sun available in the mountains all year round at about 10,000 feet where I'll be living.

The first purchase on my list is a generator. I'll have to save for that, but I will have it before the end of the year. The deck furniture for the wrap-around deck can wait, and so can furniture for the other 2 bedrooms, living room, and dining room. Those can wait.

There are grants to check out. Hoity-toity told me about a government grant to grow trees on the land. I have plenty of land and trees already grow there, so that is an option. There are a whole lot of options for me now that I didn't have 2 weeks ago, or even 6 months ago, when this house went into foreclosure. I still have to move, but not to an apartment or some house that isn't even remotely close to what I need or want. I'm moving up into the mountains to my own cabin and eventually I'll be able to fill all of those cabinets in the kitchen. So much more is possible now than was possible 2 weeks ago or even 6 months ago. Of course I will have to deal with fixing the roof or buying a new furnace or hot water heater, but not for a long time since this house was built 6 months ago. I think, considering the garage will withstand a nuclear attack, that this house and its appliances and roof will last at least another 10 or 20 years. This house has a crawl space under the house you can stand up in. Yes, I am certain this house will last and I will be a homeowner with a mortgage and a credit rating at last -- still living on a budget. I might even be able to get back to writing and publishing more books.

Anything is possible because I will be home at last.

That is all. Disperse.