Timing is everything.

So, remember back to the beginning of our move? Remember the reasons we bought the Airstream? All of our grand plans to build a house and buy 11 acres and live in the 'Stream while we built? Well... funny thing about plans: They Change!

They change and shift and you have to change right along with them or you get all bent out of shape! Roll with the punches, as they say. Well, after trying to buy the land and having it fall through and not really knowing where to go from there, we just sorta figured we'd just live in the Airstream where it is through the winter and then maybe move it up to my parents' property for the spring and summer and save money like crazy. We would, of course, keep our eyes open for property in the meantime but, we figured it would be spring before we really started looking again. Then, BAM! We see this house come on the market. We seriously could not believe it.

Our story with this homestead began back in 2007. We had owned our Main St. house for about a year and we were getting more into real food and fermented foods, etc... I wanted to start making kefir and so I started looking around. I found this wacky blog somehow and they were selling kefir grains. They were also selling their mini-homestead. We drove out, got the tour from the homeowners and commented on how much we would love to be able to buy their house but we just weren't in the market right then. We eventually bought the kefir grains and went on our way. Ever since then, this place has been somewhere in the back of our minds as the perfect little starter-homestead. Big enough to provide for all of our food needs and small enough to manage as newbies. It came on the market again in 2011 but, we weren't looking to move then. We had a baby and a dog and we were happy living in town.

Now, here we are, two years later and I find this house on the market again. Apparently, each time the owners went to sell (yes, the same owners we met 5 years ago) they had plans fall through. Family illness, bad financing, change-of-mind... so they just kept on living there, assuming it wasn't time to leave yet. I guess the house was being saved for us. (As long as everything continues to go smoothly.)

So, here we are. Buying a house.

It has just under 4 acres, an old barn, a milking shed, a chicken house, rabbit hutches, trees, gardens, herbs, fencing, views, privacy... it's got it all. Sure, 4 acres isn't a huge amount of land and we won't be running a large-scale farm but, I think it fits us just right.

The house is 1600+/- sqft which is almost double the size of our last house. HUGE change! It has 4 bedrooms, 1 bath and a full, dry (dry, guys, dry!) basement. It is the original farmhouse on the road and was built by the Hale family (hence, Hale Rd) in the early 40's. The house is totally outdated and will eventually need a makeover, including a new kitchen and bathroom, but for now we just plan on painting pretty much everything to freshen it all up and then live with the old stuff until we can save up some money to renovate. Lots of potential here!

There's an old, tiny cabin in the back called the "summer kitchen" where the original family lived while they built and then I guess they cooked out there in the summer sometimes after they moved into the main house. Pretty cute little place. Perfect workshop.

I could go on about all of the little gardens and everything but, I'll let you take a look at these photos instead.

Side of the house. The door goes into the "breezeway" (which is my favorite part!)
 and then into the kitchen.

Front. Will need some love but, we'll be glad to give it.

The "breezeway". Best thing ever.  

Here's the way old and outdated kitchen. One row of cabinets.
I love the bay window over the sink though!! 

Oh, hello refrigerator! Why are you all the way on the other side of the room?
No one knows. We will have to figure out how to fix this.
Wood stove = awesome.

Dining area (Dining area, people! A real one!), stairs to upper bedrooms,
doorway to family room. There's that fridge again...

Bathroom, obviously. It's not horrible... but will get an update eventually.

Upper bedroom #1.
That brick chimney will give off some nice warmth in the winter.
Huge closets.

Upper bedroom #2.
Lovely views of the pasture.

The pasture!

And if you REALLY want to see more, the homeowners have a bazillion videos on YouTube. Here's one of them. Beware, this guy just talks and talks.

We appreciate your prayers for everything to go smoothly as we still have to get through inspections and the appraisal before we can close. Closing is set for December 10th, as of right now. Just in time for Christmas! :-)

"Now, what in the world are you guys going to do with the Airstream??" you might ask. Well, I'll tell ya. As it stands right now, we plan to keep it. I just love it so much and I don't want to part with it. It's the perfect guest house and although the house will have a guest bedroom, they'll also have the option of a whole Airstream to themselves. We are also considering renting it out eventually for weekends and Tech games, etc... If we do that, we'll set it up somewhere more private on the property for a nice little getaway. Check out these! Rob and I have always wanted to run a bed and breakfast so, maybe this is the twist on the traditional recipe. ;-)

Anyway, I'm sure there's lots more I could say and will say in the coming months but, for now, we're excited and ready for our next adventure! Cheers!

Kitchen progress.

Isn't it cute with the plants around?

The new fridge in action!

Hey everybody! Here's what's going on in the kitchen and living areas. We've taken out the sink to make room for the new one and Rob has marked out where he needs to cut the countertop to widen the hole just a bit. We bought some Rustoleum Countertop Paint and we're going to apply that after he cuts out the hole. I do actually like the original green and am still tempted to keep it but... we'll see.

The front has been painted (along with the back bedroom) thanks to my sis, Laura. She came and helped me knock it all out in a few hours one evening after the munchkin went to sleep. Thank you, Laura!!

It looks so good now. I know it looks pure white in the photos but, it's not. There's a hint of greige in there.

This is fabric that I'm not using to make curtains. Haha. I thought I was going to, I really liked it but... I simply couldn't make it work with the other colors I had envisioned. Thankfully it was just a tablecloth and I returned it to TjMaxx. It's pretty though, yeah? I'm going to be using a natural linen fabric that I already have to a) save money and b) keep the curtains neutral so I can play with color more elsewhere.

See? It just didn't match. It was more obvious in person. Trust me. 

 I also want to show you our custom cabinet that my FIL made. We bought a stock Home Depot cabinet and had to cut out a space for the wheel well and build a shelf over it to make more storage. Rob built the shelf and it's going to be great!

Making the template and bracing the back up higher.

It fits!

Wheel well. We were going to just box it in but that felt like a waste of space to me.
So I said, "Build a full-depth shelf!"

The white shelf. Adds so much usable space!  And usable space is everything.

It's starting to look like a REAL kitchen! Woohoo!

We still have lots to do but, she's coming along. We still haven't named her (him?) yet. I'm waiting for that "moment" when you just know, ya know? I'm too busy to think about it right now anyway.

A little plumbing, a little paint...

Hi friends. I haven't really posted our progress on here in a little bit since I've been pretty busy. With our house under contract, the pressure is on to get some things done.

On my plate right now:

~Dealing with the home inspection and waiting for results (and wondering how many things the buyer is going to ask us to fix).
~Picking paint for the A-stream (I think we did!).
~Creating and prioritizing a materials list for the Stream of things we still need to buy.
~Buying the things on that list as we can afford to.
~Working on the Airstream as much as we can.
~Starting to pack this week.
~Getting together the things we will need for the bank for the construction loan (this means we have under two weeks to finalize a floor plan and create a full materials list with job quotes from all of the appropriate people. Eek! Lots of meetings and phone calls.).
~Going through our stuff for a yard sale.
Oh, and did I mention raising a toddler and feeding the 3 of us? Or doing the dishes? Or cleaning the bathroom? Or... going for a walk? (If monsoon season will ever end...)

So yeah, busy and mentally taxed is an understatement. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I have friends who are doing all of these same things... with 5 kids! (Five wonderful, fun, helpful kids, but five is still more than one, every time.) I'm actually starting to get excited for what is ahead of us. I'm enjoying seeing my husband feel excited and happy even though he's working so hard, at work and at home, because he sees an adventure ahead. He motivates me... and I keep us on track. Good balance.

So... the Airstream. Where are we? Rob has started the plumbing work and was able to lay the first line yesterday. We are using 1/2" pex pipe, for those of you who are wondering. He had some frustrations getting the new pipe to slink under the subfloor and come out right where he needed it, under the kitchen sink, but he got it. Thank the Maker. It's a tight work space under the sick, to say the least(!), and it's going to take some real patience and creativity to unhook and re-hook things under there. Hopefully, there won't be any other big plumbing issues... but, I won't get my hopes up. The next big plumbing adventure will be in the bathroom but, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it I guess.

I may have mentioned before that we finished priming the Airstream... but that's not entirely the case. We haven't touched the hallway or the bathroom yet. We aren't going to worry about it though. The plan is to get the main living areas done first because we need those done before we can move in. The hall and bath are secondary because we will have a bathroom available to us at my sister's house for the first month after we start living in the camper. That way, if it doesn't get done, we won't be stuck squatting in the woods somewhere... which, wouldn't be horrible but I'd rather not HAVE to. Anyway, back to paint. Yesterday I rode over to my local Benjamin Moore paint store and got 5 (yes, five.) paint samples to try out. (BTW The people at B.Moore are the BEST. They are so nice and helpful and they always take great care of me. I am a customer for life!) We put up the samples in the front room and picked one. It's called "white wisp" and I've always thought we would choose that one. I've had my eye on it for months. I'll pick up a gallon of it later today or tomorrow so I can get to work putting it on the walls. Can't wait!

Rob's parents are coming in this weekend and we all know what that means! (Well, I do...) It means Rob will get even more work done! Rob's dad is a HUGE help. I'm pretty sure we would not have done half of the things we've done to our house without him. He assisted us with installing our kitchen and bathroom, refinishing our deck and a million other things. They're even coming down a day early so they can get more done. I can't tell you how thankful I am for that. It's hard to keep Will away from his PapPap while he's working but, I'll do my best. Rob's mom and I will just have to entertain him. I need to think ahead and buy some of the materials for them so they can be more efficient with their time. I think the plan is to check the gas lines and finish the plumbing and do some more exterior caulking. Maybe they'll even get the new kitchen cabinet in! >fingers crossed<

(Thank you, also, to my parents who play with Will once-a-week so we can get some solid work done!)

Well, here a some photos of our current state. The big news of the week is that we got a refrigerator! Finding one the right size was not easy but we were able to score one for $75 on Craigslist. Very happy about that! Last week our Craigslist score was the table I wanted, also $75. I would have tried to get it for less but, I wasn't about to haggle a single mom of a 3 month old baby who was selling all of her stuff so she could move to AZ to be with her mom. She was so sweet and her baby was the cutest little girl! Enjoyed meeting them. Oh my gosh, Sarah, stop rambling and show these people some pictures! Sheesh!

Welcome to your new home, little fridge!

The chaos.

Little man checking out the new subfloor and prime-job in his room.

Painting an Airstream is ridiculously time consuming. There are no straight lines!

Back room looking forward. Unpainted hallway.

It's a nice little fridge. Plenty of space!

Hmm... doesn't quite fit. 

We'll just cut it off! The vent was for a propane fridge but, we don't need it.  See ya lata gata!

Ahh... that's better.
We will put up a wall there so you won't see that gap.

Oooo.... pretty. Can you guess what this is for?

Five little foam paint brushes sittin' on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head...
What just happened there?

Can you spot the 5th sample? Neither can I. It was way too close to white.
We chose the top left one.

Different angle. Which one do you like?

   

Slinking around the closet wheel well.

He moved the line near to the wall so it's out of the way.

Doing some... plumbing.

What the seals looked like before... (some still do)

What they look like with new sealant! Yay!

This was a huge dent the Rob banged out and caulked.
Definitely better than it was and at least it won't pour water inside anymore. 

New seal

And just for kicks...

Out. of. control. (for pole beans)

My wild yard gets more wild by the day.