Jeff the Realtor being silly… hahaha….
We met with Jeff this afternoon and got all the paperwork signed. Dropped off the earnest money check and statement of funds. A lot of running around today, but it’s all done now and all we have to wait for is our closing day… March 25th! Three weeks away!
We have had a TON of questions from everyone on what will happen to the Moby and what will be done first, and when will we move and what about fences and what about animals and what color for this room and that room and what about our neighbors and when will we move and will we keep blogging and will we take pictures and will we get a truck and oh my gosh, our heads are swimming!!! yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, all in good time!
I think the next three weeks are going to be some quiet planning time. We have a good satellite picture of the property. 
I think we are going to blow that up a bit at the office store and make a nice clean copy of the buildings and landmarks that we can, so that we can start to make some nice serious plans for the place. Our 5 year plan has to be revised a bit, because we are now about 2 years ahead of schedule!!! (Can you really believe it? The Lord is GOOD!)
We are definitely going to be moving our fruit tree stock to the farm. All 12 trees at the moment. And a lot of my fav perennials are coming. I laugh at some of my beautiful hostas… they have been with me now for 6 years! And some of my beloved Siberian and Japanese Iris have to come to the farm for sure. Oh, and the lilac bushes. I don’t really want to try and find all the bulbs and such… they can stay and beautiful the place. Of course our raised beds are coming as well as the beautiful cold frames. Can’t wait to see where we can hang the hammock… that has to be considered! All the important things you know.
Right now, our plan is to spend the first month trying to get the house comfortable to move in and our kitchen garden in. In our area, May 15 is considered your real first of the garden period. We usually have plants in the ground by May 1st. Especially with the cold frame and such. I know that we are going to have our hands full, but remember, we don’t work 9 to 5 jobs and we will have time to do this at a nice comfortable pace. We’ll have to gear up for sure, and get ourselves used to the hard labor! (oh yeah… hot showers and Motrin are gonna be a must for awhile!) But, like we said, we have time, ain’t no deadlines, we own our Moby free and clear and if it takes two months for the final move, that’s fine.
Our plan inside is to start with the kitchen, since it’s the hub of the house and pretty close to how we like it. We’re not digging the rusty red walls. They kind of blend all together with the cabinets and floor. We like a brighter, lighter color… and we are leaning towards a real nice robin’s egg blue or a sort of creamy warm goldy light brown. We think it would really look nice with the honey oak cabinets and white trim. We are thinking… country but with a clean modern look. We have so much cabinetry and nooks and closet and cupboards, we’d like a nice clean non-cluttered kitchen to do all our fun projects in. Yet with a touch of country nostalgia and kitsch… Ball jars and birdhouses, sunflowers and a little primitive artwork! Just not over the top and over consuming.
Once we are done with the kitchen… the bath is FINE…. just needs a few little wall touches, and perhaps a lovely old Craig’s list cabinet for our linens and such.
There really isn’t a linen closet in the bath or near it, and we’d like something to hide bathroom clutter and a nice place for towels and lotions and potions, that kind of thing. And since the bathroom is nice and big, perhaps a little cute bench in there, or a nice plant, something to just make it PERFECT!!!
Once we are done with the kitchen and bath… we will start on the bedrooms and the offices. If we have bedrooms, offices, kitchen and bath done, we can move in. We’re not big living room hang out people, we’re just always busy! And a dining room… haha… that is going to become the craft room more like it. I REALLY want to make a custom table for the dining room, one out of cool rustic boards that fits the space perfectly. Since a friend of mine is a master woodworker AND I do his websites… I’m sure that we can make that happen. I’ve always thought a nice simple harvest table would be so beautiful, just simple, and fits the space perfect. That might be a while, but we’re fine waiting on that! All in good time! (Hopefully by Thanksgiving though… we think it would be fabulous to host the family T-Day festivities at our beautiful farm!!! Don’t you think?
And we are just going to have SO much yard work to beat down and get under control and all. It’s clear that the property suffered a good deal during the last few years of renters and foreclosure. We will get at least a kitchen garden in the ground and the chicken palace ready to go. That is the goal for this year. House livable…offices working, yard beat back a bit, kitchen garden and chickens! Yah! Anything more will be a blessing and a joy! We would LOVE to get a few of the outbuildings at least painted, to help them from further deterioration. And yes, we are DEFINITELY looking into a nice commercial used paint sprayer… ($150-$200 on Craigslist…) We are SO going to need it. Painting I think is going to be a yearly thing with 8 buildings. Yeah.
We have a lot of friends that want to help and we are certainly going to take them up on it! Pot lucks, picking and BBQs are going to be the name of the game! We’d like to plan a Farm Warming once the mud season is over and the place is greened up and purdy! A nice bit open house and pot luck all day and evening party!
We have also decided that we are going to try SUPER hard to make sure that we ALWAYS look to Craig’s List and the Habitat for Humanity’s Re-Store for our needs and from friends extras and such. Local, re-use, super-shop first. I think we can really save by being careful and budgeting. If we set a budget for the week and hit it Monday evening, then it’s gonna be yard work and elbow grease for the rest of the week. We’ll learn to take things slowly and carefully and not to wreck the budget. We’re in no hurry. And we have a lot of SUPER SMART friends that know how to do wonderful things and we will be tapping on their shoulders to give us wisdom and guidance… We have the rest of our lives to work on the place, we really don’t want it done in 6 months! Boring!!! We want to savor and enjoy the journey so much!!! The discovery and planning and dreaming are part of what we love! I know myself, I just can’t wait to see all the plants and trees bloom and reveal their beauty to us! This is a century old homestead… you just KNOW there are surprises waiting for us ALL YEAR LONG…
Well, it’s raining tonight here at the Moby and we have a nice quiet weekend planned. We’re a tad on the broke side at the moment… haha… and need to just lay low for a bit, and get focused on our work and cleaning up our schedules. Thank goodness our work flow thins out a little in the late spring and summer, so we will have lots of time to enjoy the farm and make it OURS… of course, that also means that money gets a little dear, so we will have to budget and plan carefully. A challenge well worth the effort. Any help, wisdom and suggestions as we go through this will ALWAYS be dearly welcome!!! We’re not experts and I know there will be some tears and frustration with the sweat and love!
I’ve been thinking a bit about the blog title and all and you know, I think it will stay, the Mobile Home Woman for a good long time. It was taking the chance and downsizing to our beloved Moby for 3 years that has made this homestead possible. If we hadn’t taken this project on, we would have never been mentally, financially and emotionally ready to tackle the hobby farm. The Moby gave us a true sense of ownership, confidence in our skills and a cozy little place we love. It gave us a chance to share all we do with SO MANY wonderful readers and friends. I do believe that people should give mobies a chance. They are a wonderful option for single moms, low income families and seniors. They give you so much more than a high rent apartment or house. They give you the room to live the life you want, economically. A home is what you make it, whether it’s a little old moby or a house or a mansion! So, yes, we are still Mobile Home Women here.. and I hope to encourage folks with information and ideas about getting to the end goal, whatever it might be for you and yours!
Time to lay this crazy wild brain down and HOPE it will turn off and let me sleep! The rain on the roof will help for sure…
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