So last year for my birthday I got a lawn mower. And the year before I got a griddle to cook pancakes and what not. This year takes the cake by far - I got Rancho Jesso.
The people next door vacated and the older gentleman who owned it had not a clue. So Brad kindly called him and filled him in on the situation. He, being terribly frustrated that the contract for deed had fallen through, decided he wanted to sell. Quick and cheap. Brad and I dove right in to the offer and after a bit of frustration with obtaining the abstract and the non-communicative lawyer, we are now the proud owners of the lot next door to our house. It is a great big lot with lots of mature trees.
Unfortunately a few other things were thrown into the deal.
Yup, that is a big OLD trailer house that is permanantly attached to the ground right in our own new back yard. It was moved here in the early 60s and has had a few owners over the past 40 years. Sadly, the interior did not fair as well as the exterior and that is not an exaggeration.
Bill, the guy who lived here before the last family, was cold and since you can't really stop the wind from blowing through one of these babies he decided he needed some more insulation. He stuck it all around the exterior and covered it with paneling. It is now rotting from the inside out.
This is the back and most used entry. When we went in for the first time it was full of small fluorescent light fixtures. Hmmm. That is about as close as you will get on this post cause I didn't have time to take pics of the interior. I was too busy working with Brad on this...
That would be the shed. We were in the middle of taking the door off when we decided the sawzall would be quicker than the crowbar. This was the project after cleaning out as much as we could get from the interior. We found enough gears and widgets and whatnots to build a car. Or a small robot at least. They were awash in used oil and buried under straw that was used to absorb the waste of the dog they had chained up in the back of the roofless shed.
Note the cocky grin/tongue wagging. About 20 minutes after this picture was taken Brad stepped on a nail and the project was done for the day. Fortunately we had filled the dumpster and had a lawn to mow. Oh, and he has had an updated tetanus shot and is on big antibiotics so he will be fine.
There is still about 6-8 inches of feces in the back that we are too scared to touch without gas masks. We called the Hendrum powers that be on the well being of the dog dog multiple times but the family just moved him from being chained up 24/7 in the front to being locked in the garage. I'm not sure which was worse. In the spirit of my sister (
Languishing) here are some pictures of the fungi we found growing on the poo.
Okay, so seriously, can anyone beat this birthday gift? I will try to follow up with some interior pics in case you want to stop over for an overnight visit. There is no power, gas or running water but there is plenty of floor space to sleep upon. The trailer is up for grabs - if you can get it off the lot you can have it. We also have a very old but possibly garage worthy fridge, a 4-5 year old gas stove, 4-5 year old furnace and 4-5 year old central air system that has a built in air circulation fan. Hope to see you soon!
V graced us with her own compositions on the piano. She is a true musician and so very gentle tickling the ivories.
It was bath night for Will and Em so V joined in. There was a whole lot of bubbles and laughing going on.
Two sharing a bed for one. They didn't really sleep like this though Will would have liked to. He was very upset when, after reading our books and singing our songs upstairs, V got to go downstairs to our bedroom to sleep. It took him a while to calm down knowing V was so very close but yet so far away. V laid down and fell asleep in about 15 seconds.
Auntie Jen and Uncle Shaun gave Will a blue lightsaber-esque flash light for his birthday which was a HUGE hit. When we went into V's suitcase to get out her jammies we found a green one just for her. They decided they needed it dark to appreciate the greatness of their lights. It was pretty cool.
V seemed to sleep okay. She was up with us at 2:30 when Emerson cried but went back to sleep until about 6:20 - longer than she usually sleeps when she is at Gram's house. Unfortunately our great plans of heading out to help pull in the dock and boat were dashed when Emmy woke up with a fever. Brad and Will left the girls at home and ventured off alone. V will go to spend tonight with Gram. She seemed a little bummed but she is a real trouper and has had an exceptionally happy time at our house. We hope Jen and Shaun decide to go away again soon.
