We've Moved!

No, not this blog, but we are moving to another farm.

 

All summer I worked and did some training for triathlons, then we went to Phoenix for Ironman and I got signed up for IMAZ2015, then we cane home and spent a month trying to buy the new farm & for the last week its been work, packing, moving and Christmas. OMG, so busy!

 

This next week I don't have any more work days scheduled so I *should* have plenty of time to get my shit packed. But now the cold weather is coming, UGH. I'll be working extra hard in the barn to keep horses watered, waters thawed, and pipes not bursting. I'm going to borrow 3 horses from a friend, close them in at night to keep the barn warmer. When the air is in the low 20's, I need all the help I can get.

 

And since we're moving, I haven't been doing any workouts, not any at all. No walking, no swimming, no biking, no running. We are going to give up our YMCA membership that's about $85 monthly because 1, we aren't going and 2, we need to economize to save for two farm payments. I can swim at SKHS for $3.25 but its COLD and I can ride my bike trainers and run from home or on my own treadmill. I can watch yoga videos if I need to, I can do a weights workout at home.

 

Here is a photo of the workout area I have set up so far in the new house.

Plenty of room for more equipment

 

 

 This is a view from the other direction before I got it all arranged, piles of stuff everywhere.

This area used to be the original kitchen but a new one was added back there, you can see the fridge. I'm going ot have my Computrainer right here facing the window so I can look out and day dream as I ride. I'll also have the CyclOps set up here so I can just ride without a planned workout. The treadmill will be here somewhere too.

 

 

I haven't moved the horses to the new place yet, we need to work on the fences first but getting there.

FINALLY

After delay upon delay, the new farm is finally ours.

I've been over many times in the last 2 weeks, supposedly 'cleaning' but not 'moving in', meanwhile, I have moved in quite a bit of stuff. Today at 12:30 I got the email, it FINALLY recorded and its ours. I met with the realtor and she gave us a bottle of wine and some flowers, which I took over when I took my next load of boxes.

Then Amy came over and we shared wine and crackers and sausage, I was starved.

I put lights 5 strands, on the tree, which I had set up yesterday when the house wasn't ours, and later when Lan got off work I put the ornaments on it. I realized I have zero generic ornaments, all of them have been gifts, were bought for our trees by me or were made by my sons when they were kids. I paid $25 for the tree right after Christmas 1998 and its still in very good condition.

The mantle is going to be a nice feature, can't wait to hang stockings from it. This year the angel that should be atop the tree is on the mantle and I want a star for the tree. I can't afford one so I'll get a nice one after the holiday when everything Christmas is on sale.

 

I haven't been out to the barn or arena all week, guess I better start getting that ready for the horses. We are going to have to move the entire tack room shed over there on the flatbed and I do not think that's going to be an easy feat.

 

I am excited that now our runs and bike rides will begin and end on flat road so we'll get decent warm ups. I'll have to take a paint can out and make measurements on the roads in both directions so I know how far to run. I'll miss our perfect 3.1/5k from this farm.

New Farm Update

We were supposed to move into the house before Thanksgiving but that fell through 'because Lan & I were on vacation for two weeks' and then because the in-laws were on vacation. Since our vacation was planned a year out & they knew about it, it can't be blamed on us for the delay and they knew when J&T were going to be back.

Then we were supposed to close on December 2nd but that was delayed.

Then we were supposed to close on December 4th but that was delayed because the guy from escrow dropped the ball. All four of us were available ALL DAY and waiting for his call to go sign papers but he just didn't get around to it. Couldn't sign on Friday, he was busy, same with Saturday.

We FINALLY got to sign papers on December 7th but only after he got out of church (ok, Ill give him that) but I wasn't going to wait for him to watch the fucking SEAHAWKS game. He met us in Gig Harbor at noon and it totally interfered with his game. We were given the keys Monday evening, Tuesday Mom & I went over to start cleaning, the kitchen was a gunky disaster, and I get a call from the realtor: Do not move in, the house isn't yours yet'. Ugh.

We were supposed to close on December Tuesday, December 9th but the dumbass escrow guy UPS'd the papers and UPS LOST THEM. So all four of us had to resign all 160+ pages in a rush job on December 10th at 5pm. I then worked midnight to 9am on my birthday and after changing my clothes, went to the office where they had been waiting and I took them to Kirkland. That was 5 hours on a very stormy day, I was exhausted.

While there the escrow guy said, yay, you get to move in next week & I said 'We should have moved in before Thanksgiving'. Asshole. Oh yeah, when I first walked in the door he said how are you and I told him how I was. Fucker.

It was my birthday, his bullshit fucked up my WHOLE day.

So he COULD have closed the house on Friday but hes an asshole and is waiting over the weekend and wont close until Tuesday so we're not supposed to move in until maybe Wednesday.

But that fucker lives in Snohomish and isn't here so Lan and I have been over there a few more times and have moved a bunch of stuff over. I've cleaned out the shelves in the living room, some kitchen stuff and most of our clothes. I'm leaving the stuff in the bedroom closet so I can just take them, hangers and all, and go hang them in the new closets. I have some new stuff over there and some cleaning stuff.

The kitchen floor is ruined because of a leaking water pipe, the hot water heater isn't working and the first electric bill, for two weeks when no one was there, was $200. Just imagine how much it will be with us there using lights and shit. Fuck. Mom offered to buy us a heat pump but it needs duct work and there isn't any in the house. I guess we're going to have a lot of fires in the wood stove.

Around the farm:

Standing, waiting for a carrot

September 2006

I'm going to miss rubbing his ears

Our poor Tank died yesterday. It was very sudden and unexpected; he was fine two weeks ago & then he stopped eating as much, he started getting fat and then not eating. Took him to emergency vet and found out its cancer, like Hagen has, and he was bleeding out. That vet called Tanks regular vet and made arrangements to come out last night to put him down. I cried buckets.

We were there when he was born, 4th in the litter out of 11, and we were there for him in the end.

Today an awesome friend offered us another dog, her Anatolian mix livestock guardian dog, outdoor only, 2.5 years old, unsprayed female named Havva. Lan and I will go pick her up next weekend. Shes not a replacement for Tank, no dog can replace another, but she will be a new project.

Inspection Finished

House inspection today, mostly went well:
There is a broken valve in the water line attached to the well, easy fix.

 There is a lot of sand in the water pipes, not just gunk from sitting for a year so pump probably needs a screen.

 There isn't a lot of insulation under the floor, basically none.
The crawl space is mostly dry.

 There is no attic access,
The roof is only about 5 years old and its a 30 year roof.
There were no bugs anywhere, besides little spiders under the house.
It has good water pressure.
There are a LOT of electrical outlets.
The wood fireplace flue is rotted and needs to be replaced.
The gas (propane) fireplace is in good condition with a metal chimney insert in good condition.

That's about it for things the inspector was concerned about. He didn't even go out to the barn area.
Things I noticed:
The gutters would work better if they weren't full of leaves from the neighbors trees, the down spouts would work better if they were hooked up to the drain pipes properly.
The French doors could easily be kicked in,

need something inside as secondary floor lock.

Inspection

Today we will have the inspection done on the new house and farm. Lan and I will be there to assist and pay the guy, its supposed to be about $359 but I'm wondering if its going to be more? While we're there I want to measure a couple rooms and take notes, take more photos.

Lan and I talked about selling this place ~vs~ renting and we have decided to definitely sell. Why? Because a guy I work with used to be a land lord and he'd save money for a new dishwasher & then the tenant would call saying the water heater was broke. He'd save for a new bike & the tenant called, they had let the pipes freeze in the barn/under the house/ whatever.

I do not want to be a slum lord nor be renter poor.

So I let Cassie know its for sale, for her we will go as low as $176,000, because I really want her to get this place. The house isn't much but the barn and arena are perfect for her needs.

Otherwise I have it advertised on FB for $200,000 and have a couple people interested. One chick was all uptight that I wouldn't show pictures of the inside of the house but I told her that any prospective buyers need to have a preapproval letter in hand and show it to me before I'll share my personal space. Actually the inside of the house is a dump and I don't want anyone to see that. I'm not totally stipid.  LOL, yes, I just typed that.

Lans parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today, yay for them. We're all going out to dinner tomorrow in Olympia. For whatever reason Jean thinks no one can go out to dinner on a Friday night so I had to not only give up hours at work but give up sellers pay too. I'll only be getting about 20 hours. And its in Olympia, very convenient for Terrys REALTOR friend. He said we need to have her list it so she can make the commission. Um, excuse me, we don't need no stinking realtor but if we did I'd go with someone IN THIS FUCKING AREA. She lives in Centralia, about 75 miles from here, shes not going to be coming up here to do an open house or any of that shit so NO, thanks.
We have a horse property expert realtor in this area that I'm perfectly happy with so if need be, I'll go with her.

OMG!

Its going to be ours.

 

Just made an offer

Lan & I and his parents just made an offer of $265,118 for the farm. The other bank has until Wednesday to let us know and I *think* there are 2 other offers but not positive and at least one is over the asking price. We could have a higher offer but worse credit/income/debit ration so for now its just wait and see.........

Imagine this

Can you imagine this?

Multiples

The house has multiple offers so its a wait and see game with the bank. Lan likes the place and it looks like his parents are willing to cosign a loan with us if needed. What we need is a down payment and really good luck.

 

I would love to call this place my home.

While we were there Lan practically tripped over 2 deer and we saw this guy.

 

Someone will be getting a nice place for an incredible price, I just hope its us.

Rain

I've got just my own horses in the barn, its been a month since there has been a boarder, almost 4 months since I 've had a paying boarder. So I get to do all the daily work myself, all the stall cleaning, all the hay bag filling, all the grain buckets, all the cleaning water buckets.

 

But with winter coming on its going to be getting tricky because I need to get the horses turned out but not leave them out in nasty rain. I can open the gate to Joeys run and he can come & go as he pleases but with the girls I have to let them out & close a gate after them. Then they are stuck outside with just 1 shelter to share. Today I went out to the pasture to bring them in before I left for work and Sunshower was in the shelter and Wifi had her head in but the rest of her body was out. Not fair!

 

But that is horsey drama and lucky for Wifi, Sunshower loves her girl and will let her put her head in there at all.

 

I will admit that Lan has done some feeding for me and I make it as easy for him as I can. If I know its going to be a nice day tomorrow I'll put out hay tonight so all the horses do is go out. If its going to be nasty I have Lan put them into the other 3 stalls which already have their hay bags hanging and fresh water so hes not feeding them in sandy floor poopy stalls.

 

Two days ago I went and checked out another farm that's for sale and I really like it. Its between here and Lans parents house, over on Bethel Burley. The price has been dropped 100K in the last 6 months or so and the bank is now asking 255k. It won't accept offers nor do any repairs nor cover any of the closing costs. If we buy the place its up to us to come up with all those expenses.

Its almost 5 acres with a real house and a small covered arena. Its got 4 stalls but I'd only use 2 of those as stalls.

 

Big pasture out front

 

and another big one out back but that one is full of black berries.

 

Front garage

 

Back garage. its not so bad inside

 

 

Arena is about 60x50

 

with 2 attached stalls and two others in the barn

 

Here is the gorgeous kitchen, its had work done on it

 

 

living room with upstairs

 

If I buy this house I'm doing this

 

This is where the stairs go. There are 3 bedrooms up there, 2 with jack & jill bathroom

 

The living room has French doors that look over the back yard and arena area. There is a covered patio here.

 

And the driveway is long.

 

The address of this house is 10628. In the past I heard that the number 8 is good luck and if your house numbers add up to 8 then its a good house to live in. This place adds up to 8!

Our current house ads up to 5 and that's not so bad, the Tacoma house I had was an 8 and even though I moved away from there it was a happy place for me.

 

I'd love to have a real house to live in and bigger pastures for my horses. This farm that we live in now is nice and has a great barn and arena but the pasture sucks.

 

Dying... I mean dieting

Today is the last day of my diet again. I was pretty good until Brandan brought home a PIZZA!  I actually ate 1.5 slices. It wasn't good and I wasn't hungry enough for the whole 2nd piece but I ate it anyway.

I started out at 148.6 and lost 7 lbs. I'm totally happy with that. I look and feel better. I'll be getting on the Computrainer tomorrow and feeling better than I wouldn't have otherwise.

Today I got my hair cut and it feels so entirely light again. Amanda was there, its her mom that cuts it for me. Amanda and I like to ride mtn bikes together, shes got the strength and I have the skill so we are even. I hope I can ride with her a lot this winter, its so much fun.

Weather man has been saying its going to be super cold or else warmer than normal. Well then. 

Windy will be running her 1st marathon on Sunday, the Portland Marathon. Shes going to do amazingly well. Shes so sweet, she dedicated mile 19 to me because shes never gone more than 18 miles before and 19 is where she will think about me. Its humbling when someone says they have been inspired by you.

I bought a new used saddle for Sunshower; Cassie sold me her Circle Y Park & Trail leather cordura saddle. I've used it before on my mare and it fits her very well, way better than her previous saddle. So I cleaned up the old one & have it on Craigslist to sell. I paid $250 for the new one, asking 250 for mine and hope to get 200.

Today Lan & I tore the roof off the carport and tomorrow we will put a new roof on. I certainly hope it all goes easily. LOL.

 

 

We're going to put plastic corrugated roofing on the top now with some clear ones to allow more light into the house. That will make this a much happier home.

 

My road bike seat has been returned to me, last weekend someone brought it here and left it on our gate. Lan found it. I'm pretty happy, I can now ride that bike outside and have my tri bike on the computrainer.

Yukon Do It

I just signed up for our local half marathon, Yukon Do It, to take place Sunday December 28th.

 

This is the race course where I ran my first marathon, December 31, 2011.

5hr 44m 58s

 

It starts in Port Orchard and goes out Beach Drive to Manchester State park & back to town. Almost entirely flat, on previous years it had a negative elevation gain.

It was pretty cheap for a half and today is opening day to register. This gives me something to work toward, I haven't had anything in so long. Irongirl doesn't count, I didn't know if I'd have the day off or not and same with Tri Turtle Tri. I don't actually know if I'll get this race day off either but I'll ask my boss and hope for the best.

Actually, theoretically I'll be signed up for Ironman Arizona 20105 at that time so I'll be working toward that and this will be part of my training.

I guess I better get off my lazy ass and get running.

Today I almost bought a pair of Hoka shoes but couldn't see paying $170 for a type & brand of shoe I've never worn before. I do like my Asics and Saucony.

Check it out, I'm looking pretty damn good. Its about time, riding my bike during the beautiful long summer and now dieting. Pretty soon I'll be riding my bike again and will continue to lose weight. Then I can gain it all back while on vacation.

Chattanooga



This morning while at work, my friends Suzie & George showed up. They were on their way to Chattanooga for Ironman Chattanooga next weekend. Suzie is racing, George is the Sherpa.

I made Banana Bread for Suzie because when she raced in Canada I had made some then and she absolutely loved it and ate some on her run. I hope this stuff is as good as that other bread was.

So I've been thinking about Ironman a lot lately, sometimes I'm like 'I don't need to be doing that stuff' and other times Im all excited and cant wait until I get myself into another one. I do have IMAZ2015 in my sights and am planning on going down to Arizona this November.

Oh, GREAT NEWS: I forked over $1323. somethingoddcents for a COMPUTRAINER. So excited, can't wait for it to get here. Used, on eBay but Windy bought one for $1800 new and got the same thing. So once it gets here I will start riding and she and I can ride together in the comfort of our own homes.

In horse news:
Just my horses in the barn now, no more favors for friends. Sarahs horse stomped on my foot, it hurt like hell, I told her to take that horse out but Renata could stay but she freaked out & took them both out.  Fine by me, my horses will be fine just themselves.

Just Mine

For the first time in a very long time I have just my own horses in the barn. All the boarders have moved on and now it will be quiet.

 

I'm going to reconfigure the pastures and try to make them into the PARROCK PARADISE I had wanted when we first moved in. That should be good for the horses.

 

Here are a few pictures I found online of other properties.

 

I had originally heard of this when I lived at the pony farm, Merry wanted to do this with the ponies and she did do a little for her mare but she never completed it.

 

After we moved in and started fixing fences, Kitsap County Conservation District sent a woman to do a farm plan and she told me I couldn't cut down any trees and I couldn't build another fence within 50 feet of the property borders. Which was a crock of shit because other people at the conservation district told me I COULD do both. Too bad their own people cant get shit straight.

 

In fact, one of the workers herself uses paddock paradise for her own horses and shes got fences 12 feet inside her property line.

 

I think all my horses would be able to get along fine if I had this for them and if they didn't (Joey can be a big old meany) then I'd add a couple gates to separate them.

 

I wish I had at least 10 or 20 acres to do this with.

 

My horses would have this destroyed in no time!

 

I'd just have to use a rail road tie for my hay bags.

 

 

This is my farm, or the barn and horse areas. I could make any changes I want, including making the arena smaller or taking out current fencing.