If you ain't diggin' this, you ain't kuntree

OK.  We're moving on from Richwood.  We have gotten some unsolicited interest from a realtor in Conroe with a client specifically looking for waterfront down there.  Keep your fingers crossed as a sale could provide tractor, pond, deer blinds and feeders, Polaris side by side, barn, and boat with plenty to spare.  Well enough of those dreams...we've got a house inspection scheduled for "Green Acres" this Wednesday in Hooterville (I hope we run into Arnold Ziffel eventually!).  We did get a contract on the property for a lower price than we were staring at for new house construction.  The SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 34 of Township 5S Range 9W for you with the talents of a surveyor. 

I'll try to squeeze in a few more pictures when we go Wednesday, so you'll have to do with written description for now.  The house appeared solid and in good condition, but the property hasn't had a lot done to it other than maybe some logging over the front 3/5 of the property (I'm guessing 40 years ago by the size of the trees).  The "back" 2/5 has larger trees and that's where I saw the big white oak and hickory tree.  With 1320 feet on each side, we could have a 1 mile long perimeter walking path...until Denise gets surprised by a snake.  I think I'll have to give her some shooting lessons with Dad's K22 pistol and rat shot.

I can't wait to take the loppers and cut a few walking paths through there to see what else I might find back there.  There's also sizeable trees along all of the old fencelines (note: I did not say fencES, but fenceLINES...which is one of the early tasks on the list to keep Buckwheat from disappearing for good the first day he slips his collar out there. (Why-O-Why didn't we get a "stayhome" female on this dog cycle?).  We'll at least have to have a yard fence.

Here's a few more realtor pics...a front porch view and a view of the house from the NW side of the "yard".

This is an inferior interior picture, but one of the few to which I have access. It's looking through the dining room into the kitchen.  Note the wooden wainscoat and the heavy wood framing around the case opening.

I added this bedroom shot to show the 11" high ceilings...beaded wood (and a central A/C vent).

And finally a couple of Kitchen shots...it's begging for an upgrade, and we will likely oblige.  Note the glass door leading out to the really nice "coffee-drinking porch".  It's on the north side of the house, which will be nice and shady during the hot months.  I wonder what kind of animal will be the first to meet it's demise from a well placed shot originating on that porch?  Maybe we'll run a contest with a fabulous prize for the winner.

Well, that's all the update for now. We'll try to keep our progress current...but we're not taking reservations just yet.  Here's a hint...seniority will have it's privilege come booking time!

I'll leave you with a view of the "middle pasture" and a very obvious reason why "tractor" made the wish list back in the first paragraph.

180 Degrees

Well, it's been awhile and a lot has happened since the last post.  We definitively pulled the plug on building down in Richwood.  I've set a firm retirement date (Feb 28, 2014).  And we've aimed our retirement future back to SWLouisiana.

In fact we're close to nailing down a property on which we put an offer...forty (40) acres and an old homestead about 20 minutes north of Lake Charles.  There are the usual contigencies before it closes, but it's a 1700 sq ft house dating from 1892 (probably framed in virgin pine).  There were additions in 1930 and 1980; it has been re-wired and plumbed with central air and heat with a new metal roof installed in 2007.  

Here's the front, side and rear of the house...

Here's some driveway shots...from the entrance and from the house looking back.

The southwest "point" of the 40 acres is where the driveway hits the curve in the road.  It's the SE quarter of the SE quarter of a section, so it's a square piece of property.  There a little bit of clearing to the north and to the east along the property lines, bit it is mostly wooded.  The next parcel to the east has the Hickory Branch bottom running through...I'm thinking deer, squirrels and other woodland creatures.  There are some nice hardwoods in the back...I saw hickory, white oak, red oak and water oaks in with the pines.  Also saw a number of huckleberry bushes, so Denise's famous huckleberry jelly may only be a season away.  There's some pecan trees up by the house, along with an ancient magnolia and some (yech) sycamores.

here's a couple of pictures I took when we walked around the property (the rest of these are from the realtor site).

The best thing is that this entire property will cost less than what we were getting ready to spend on building in Brazoria county, and the taxes and ongoing costs (special coastal windstorm insurance) will be avoided.

I'm rusty on blogging, but now we'll have something to blog about.  There's lots more to tell, but I'll just dole it out in pieces to try and make it worthwhile to check the blog every so often...but I will leave you with this year's cactus blooms.  We had a total of 5 on the little cactus this year, they closed at night and only lasted two days.