Third Week Most Productive So Far

The third week, starting 7/24/17, was great in spite of the rain.  The slab was poured on schedule on Tuesday.  Although we worried about the approaching rain, everything went fine.  The rain did not damage the pour at all.  And soon afterward, the guys were able to smooth it out with their big power trowels.

The following day they removed the forms.  And we were able to walk around on it trying to make sense of where walls would be and furniture would go.  It was really exciting because for he first time it actually felt like it was becoming a real home.

Thursday, the workers cleaned up the site a bit by stacking the form boards for later disposal, and grading down the huge pile of dirt they removed to put in the fill dirt under the slab.  By spreading the dirt like they did, it also made ready the perimeter for the next concrete pour (sidewalk, uncovered patio and driveway) scheduled later on.

And while walking around taking photos I decided to mosey on down the hill across the green space and into the tree line to see what was down there.  I was surprised to find a sizable creek.  It wasn't a creek formed by the developer for drainage but one that had obviously been there a few centuries.  I told Judy that we can now claim to live on 'Waterfront Property.'

Friday, about all that was done was the installation of the power meter on the construction pole. That's a sure sign that framing will start soon.  We can't wait for that so we can actually walk from room to room, mentally sizing it up for furniture and art.

And Saturday, they brought the lumber to start the framing.

Here are some pictures showing the week's progress:

And here's the creek down back of the lot.

The framing lumber was delivered Saturday

Second Week of Construction

This week things started to happen quickly.  For one thing, the plumbing drains and vents were installed and tested.  Passed.  And it progressed up to the footings/beams being dug, reinforced and lined with plastic, and laced with re-bar just in time for another rain to close out Friday.  They are planning on pouring the slab Tuesday next week.  Here are some photos of this week:

The contractors seem to be well organized and know what they are doing, so all we do is watch and take photos.  Maybe by Wednesday next week we can walk around on the floor picturing in our mind where the furniture will go.  That would be good.

First Week of Construction

Monday May 10th through May 14th

We're so excited!!!

This week just flew by, but construction was began on the foundation and forms for pouring the slab. The rain finally caught up with them Friday afternoon.  But look at all they got done.  It's really starting to have a shape...

7/10/17

7/11/17

7/12/17

7/13/17

7/14/17

Construction Has Begun

The official countdown on the construction of our new home in Terra Mariae subdivision started today with the 'fill-dirt' being packed into place.

By my calculations, it will be completed in 167 days.  That would be Christmas Eve.  It would be nice to be living in it sooner.

Yes, there will eventually be a movie of the construction.  

Chimney Swifts

This house has some history in it.  You can tell by the size of he bathrooms and plumbing.  I think it dates back to the 1930's or maybe even the 1920's.  But even if it was built in the 1940's after I was born, it still has history.

So it comes as no surprise that it frequently emits strange noises, most of which are just routine expansion and contraction as the house heats up and then cools during the night.

But when the noise is coming from the chimney in the form of animals of some kind, then we have to wonder what kind of animal and is it dangerous.

We learned that it was Chimney Swifts when Nephew # 2 told us exactly what was.  He had experience with Chimney Swifts in the past, so that made him the on-site Chimney Swift Expert.

He went on to say it is illegal to try to harm them, or even try to move them from their nest (usually in hollow trees or open chimneys.  They need to build their nests on the side of a hollow tree or within the walls of a chimney.  And, it turns out that only one family of Chimney Swifts nest in the same place at a time.  As they reach maturity, they all fly away.

Meanwhile, the faint 'chirping' we heard during the day and sometimes into the early evening started to get louder and louder.  Then all of a sudden, it was extremely loud.  And suddenly we had a bird flying around our living room here at Temporary House.  After a few exciting minutes we opened two outside doors and the bird, obviously a very nervous Mother, flew out the door, all the while with the youngsters in the fireplace chirping their little heads off.

Judy looked into the fireplace and discovered a nest had fallen from up in the chimney and some fairly large birds were calling for their next feeding.  We didn't know what to do, so we left things just as they were.  We figured Mama Bird would figure out a way to feed them until they could fly away.

This morning, they were much quieter but definitely still there.  So they must be getting food.  In typical fashion, we decided it's probably best that we not do anything to mess with nature for fear that we can do more harm than good.

One thing is for sure: we now know more about Chimney Swifts than we did before yesterday.  And the brief but noisy incident will become just one more in a growing number of brief incidents on the road to building our new home.

Book It, Danno! This One's Done.

Today was the day.  We Closed on the purchase of Lot 62 and on the Construction Loan.  We are now lot-owners in Covington, Louisiana USA, and in a few days, our lot will show signs of transformation into a home.  And we will be pleased.

It’s hard to believe, but the ‘For Sale’ sign went up May 15^th and 10 days later, we had an offer.  We countered the offer one day later, and they accepted.  Their purchase would be in cash.

On the 11^th day, the house was considered ‘sold.’ 

Only 19 days later, June 14^th, we closed and were totally moved from our home of 29 years. 

By the end of the day we had driven 354 miles and were moving into a temporary rental house in Covington, Louisiana, approximately 2 miles from where our future home would be built. 

Total time at that point – 30 days. 

And today, June 29^th, on the 45^th day, we closed on both the lot purchase and the construction loan.  We are done with all we can do over the next five or six months.  Now we just wait for the builder to build it.

45 Days isn’t bad at all.  I hope the next 175 days goes as quickly. 

Update as of June 26, 2017

The last of our belongings arrived today on a second truck.  And wouldn't you know it, there wasn't enough room in left in the 10' X 20' X 14' high space to take it on.  So we had to quickly rent another space that was 10' X 15' X 14' high.  And three hours later it too was full.  We just barely squeezed in the last item, our securely bundled up Select Comfort Numbers Bed.

With the additional space for climate controlled storage, we're now paying near $400 a month just for storage space.  Add that to the moving company charges and we will have spent $8,000 before we get to move into our new home.  And that will probably cost another $1,000 to $1,500 before we can start opening the boxes.

No matter, this was something that needed doing, no matter the cost.  And we're really looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, we are settling into our temporary house, even to the point of becoming comfortable with it.  Two nights in a row I cooked on the Big Green Egg, and although it was done in a 'make-shift' way, it was fun and turned out to be delicious.

The only mishap so far was the electrical plug prongs got smashed and broken on my power recliner.  Judy got on the phone right away to Gallery Furniture's Customer Service Department in Houston.  Before long, a replacement power adapter was being FedEx'd to us.  Talk about customer service, THAT's customer service.

As tired as we were we decided to celebrate the events of the day, so we went to try the last Mexican restaurant in Covington left to check out.  Actually, it was better than the other three, which were only so so and way too expensive for the quality of food.  This one is closer and better.  But their margaritas, although delicious, were way too expensive for us.  Next time, 'just water, please.'

I have a feeling we will both sleep well tonight.  And tomorrow we can start thinking about the actual close on the lot purchase and construction loan scheduled for Thursday morning.  By noon we should be land owners in Covinton, Louisiana, and our builder can begin construction, hopefully by Jyly 5th but probably closer to July 15th.

So I've already started the first in a series of videos as the house takes shape.  This first one is just showing the lot before anything happens.  Here's the link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQeeNiewzo&t

After this week, we wait patiently, or as close to patiently as we can.

Update as of June 14, 2017

We closed on our house sale and within the hour, were on our way to our new life and new adventure in Covington, Louisiana.  We arrived at our rental house about 7 hours later.

It feels like it's out in the country, but we're only about ten minutes from shopping.

Video tour:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjNUMQ4Ar0k

This will be home for the next five to six months while our house is built in Terra Mariae.  

And this is the one we put up for sale only a month before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XTUeYU-qhA&t

The next morning we met the manager of the storage place to make arrangements for the bulk of our belongings to be stored, then we waited for the first truck to arrive.  Yes, it will take two trucks to move us from Texas.  It's a LOT more than when we moved to Texas 30 years ago.

The movers were here and gone within about 4 hours total.  

Now we have to sort through the boxes to find where they put everything.  The boxes we so carefully packed and labeled were put into larger boxes, thereby spoiling our foolproof method of knowing where each and every item was located.  Now we begin to search.  I can't see that it will be an east task.  But we have six months to do it.

Updates will follow.

Update Three Days Before Closing And Moving

Another day, another day closer to the confirmed date of our closing on the house, June 14th at 10:00 am.  By Noon on June 14th we will be homeless and the movers will be half loaded with all our stuff onto their trucks.

We're excited.

Meanwhile, the buyers are equally excited and equally involved in packing 44 years worth of their stuff for the short move here.  We will see them at the closing.

Our agent emailed us a copy of the document breaking down the closing costs.  It's a sizable sum coming out, for sure, but we're very pleased with how things are turning out.  The Buyers are nice people who should fit well into this house and its private setting, and its good neighbors.

Because they opted to purchase our refrigerator, one large Big Green Egg, our kitchen table and kitchen hutch, our packers will have that much less to load and unload in Covington.  But that means we will have to purchase another refrigerator, one large Big Green Egg, a kitchen table and a kitchen hutch, but not until we're ready to move into our new house.  Could be we won't have room for some of it.

Meanwhile, Judy's sciatica pain is not going away, she was worried that she could not drive the car while I'm driving the truck to Louisiana.  Brother-in-law, Allen, came to the rescue.  He flew over Saturday morning, we loaded the car with some fragile items (the big, gaudy French Mirror and the glass art piece we had hanging over the fireplace, the elephant statue, along with a small TV) and some other items until the car was full.  Allen was on his way home before noon.  That was a relief, and another relief when he emailed that he had arrived home.

We're down to the wire packing stuff that we can pack.  And we're slap worn out from doing it.  The professional movers who do this kind of work every day are to be commended.  It's really hard work.

The remaining items are items too large for us to handle and include some of my tools (especially the larger power tools) that I have no clue as to how to pack.  Not to worry, the movers know exactly what to do.

Meanwhile, Judy suffers and I keep looking for items that I can pack.  We hope to be done with all that we can do on Tuesday.  That's the day we will deliver all the devices back to Comcast.  So on Tuesday, we will no longer have access to the Internet until we get to our rental house in Covington.

The only way to reach us will be by phone (voice or text).  Most everyone who needs it already has the number.  The old house phone number will no longer be in service.

I feel like I could sleep for a month.

Update on the sell of our house

It only took 11 days to sell our house.  The folks who offered to buy it 'knew' the moment they came inside that 'this was it.'  How do we know this?  Well, they told us so.

Yes, they called asked if they could drop by without the agent and look at some of the items for sale. They only live two minutes away, so we said yes. come on.  They were here two minutes later.

Larry and Sheryl.  They immediately told us how much they liked our house and knew it was exactly what they wanted after a few years of searching.

They have lived a few blocks over for 44 years.  It's a two-story house with all four bedrooms upstairs, as was the custom back when it was built.

But Larry said he is 70 and climbing the stairs is getting to be more and more difficult, as is maintaining their over sized lawn.  Our house fit their their needs perfectly, including their 'back-yard' lifestyle. (just like us)

We had included the Mini Big Green Egg in the sale just so they could start out as 'Eggheads', so one of the first things we did was to go to the outdoor kitchen (formerly known as The Coop) so I could show them a little about how to cook on a Big Green Egg.

I had already fired up a large Big Green Egg (formerly called Lulu) and placed some Magnum Loads on it to cook.  That way they could actually see the Magnum Loads cooking indirect on the Egg.

Meanwhile, Judy and I showed them around, taking care to point out important details about where controllers for the outdoor lighting and irrigation systems were located, showing the path of the underground French drain and clean-out ports, and other things they should be aware of.

Larry was curious about the hot water circulating pump and actually climbed into the attic to see it. I also explained how to drain the hot water tank periodically using the drain valve I had the plumber install.

I also pointed out the ring binders I had assembled for the various appliances, controllers, devices, etc, including a hand-drawn map showing locations of underground pipes and wiring, along with water spigot locations and the French drainage network.

By then the Magnum Loads were ready so I showed how we cut and serve them to guests.  They loved them.  We gave them the remaining cooked Magnum Loads to take home, and told them there were more in the outdoor kitchen freezer for after they move in.

As  we got to know them more, and them us, it became clear that we could have become good friends years ago had we met.  They are just very nice people who basically want the same things as us - a comfortable home, a private back yard and a happy life.

They were here almost 3 hours.  That should say a lot about how nice their visit was.  We hated to see them go, but we had more boxes to pack.  So did they.

They later called to say they not only wanted to buy the refrigerator, but also the large Big Green Egg that we cooked the Magnum Loads on, the kitchen table and hutch.  We agreed and we feel they will appreciate everything that is as much a part of this house as we were.

We told them the story of the Chicken Ranch, the Coop and the many videos we've made over the years.  We also urged them to join the Big Green Egg forums so they could ask questions about their new cooking device - the Big Green Egg.

Meanwhile, agent called to confirm the closing date of 6-14-17.  The movers will also be here loading up that same day.  We will depart and they will move in when they can.

And two families will start their new adventures.

Larry and Sheryl are going to be so happy here.  We can feel it.  And as sad as we will be when we leave, we know our home will be in the good hands of people who will enjoy, appreciate and take care of it.

Update on our Selling our house

Our house has now been on the market just over a week.  During that time we've had four prospective buyers tour the house and two more are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.  So far, only one has expressed a strong interest, mostly because she entertains a lot and likes the private patio in back with no houses overlooking the back yard.  I don't blame her at all.  It's the very reason we chose this lot.

And if she is looking for a place to entertain friends, well this was what we've been doing for 29 years for as few as two and as many as sixty.  We've even held a couple of 'mini Eggfests' here.  It was fun and never once did it get so crowded that guests were uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, we've taken apart the Coop and removed anything and everything that made it 'Ours.' We truly want the new owners to make it 'theirs' as they get settled in here.  Oddly, as bare of a lot of Coop artifacts as it is, it still looks like a fun place to hang out.  Someone is going to be very happy they bought this house.

As we stack box after box of our accumulated items in the garage for later transport to Covington, Louisiana, we can't help but wonder how this place held so much 'stuff.'  It's absolutely amazing!

Our latest professional moving service was a nice gentleman named Paco.  He came highly recommended by some Egghead friends.  He certainly seemed sincere while also being very business like as he went around looking at what all would need to be carried to Covington, whether to a temporary apartment or to a storage facility until our house is finished.  We fully expect a fair price, but we know it will be well into the thousands of dollars.  It's just one of those expenses that must be incurred if you want to move all of your 'sacred' belongings to your next home.  I often wonder how it would be to just sell everything and buy new on the other end with the money we would save by not paying a mover.  Well, that's certainly not going to happen this time.  We've got some pretty comfortable things that we have grown attached to during the past 29 years of living here.

Although things seem to be going slow, at least when we're in a hurry, it's all part of the process. We'll live through it and adapt to our new adventure with little thought given to the journey getting there.

Space City Eggfest 2017

It took a long time for Houston to get its own Eggfest.  The first one was held last year.  It was held in Old Town Spring , just a couple of miles from our house.  And it was good enough that the sponsoring company, Alspaugh's Ace Hardware, wanted to do it again, only better and bigger.

Here's the video I put together for last year's Eggfest: Space City Eggfest 2016

Judy and I will be there for this one too, but this will likely be our last Eggfest.  As noted below, we have decided that it is time for us to make some major changes to our lives.  Not only are we cutting back on our involvement in Big Green Egg related events, we are selling our home of 29 years and moving to Covington, Louisiana to live out our remaining years closer to family.

But on this day, May 20, 2017, we will try to perform at our best while serving samples of Egg-cooked food and having fun introducing the Big Green Egg to curious attendees.  If my count is complete, this will be the 78th Eggfest or Big Green Egg related event we have been a part of since 2003.

And it has been a lot of fun.

First Showing

We had our first showing today.  They asked for an hour from Noon to 1:00 pm.  So we went to lunch and ran some errands, arriving back home at about 1:20.  They were still here.  So we drove up to our nearby shopping center and parked for about 15 minutes and returned home.  They were still here.  So we parked on the street and waited about 10 to 15 minutes before they left.  That's almost 2 hours.

I take that as a good sign.

We hope they aren't the only ones to take an interest.  Time will tell.

Our House Just Went Live on the Market

Today started out hectic and got hecticer.  I think 'hecticer' is a word.  If not, it is now.

We wanted our house looking its best when the photographer came to get those all-important photos that entice potential buyers to say, "Wow!  Save that one to go see."

And here's what will make them say that:

510 Moggy Ct

Or if you prefer the video version:

Our Home

Our Agent said we went with the right price at the right time.  It should sell fast.

We certainly hope so.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

As I sit here having my first cup of coffee and pondering the virtues of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, I am, possibly for the first time in my life, realizing what those words actually mean and why they are so important.

“Life” is something you have or you don’t.  You’re either alive or dead.  Or perhaps never existed in the first place.  Life could even be an illusion in a cosmos of nothing but illusions.  But, Life as we humans interpret it, is “the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.”

I believe the sequence of the words, Life, Liberty and Happiness, is equally important.  Happiness is a progressive result of Life and Liberty toward the Pursuit of and achieving Happiness – the ultimate goal.

As such, all living things are likely seeking Liberty to Happiness in their own way. 

It is within the realm of consideration that without the Liberty to pursue the ultimate pleasure, Happiness, then there is no point in continuing to live.  

So what is Liberty and Happiness?  It’s nothing without Life to give it purpose.

I am, by any definition, alive.  I possess Life, and I do not need a Declaration of Independence or Constitutional Law to tell me that I should expect, demand and protect my Liberty in order to pursue Happiness.  It is implanted in my DNA.  I am bound by Life for Life to pursue Happiness.

So where does Liberty fit into the scheme of things? 

I think Liberty is the catalyst that connects Life and Happiness.  It gives all life forms the freedom and the time to pursue Happiness any way they wish, and at any time they wish.  And to interpret Happiness as whatever makes all life forms happy. 

We humans are not alone in this pursuit, but we may be the only species that has to occasionally remind ourselves that Happiness is the goal.

The road to Happiness

can be daunting and formidable

 but it is my choice as to how to travel it

 no matter where it takes me

 as long as I am Happy  

Judy and I have lived as wife and husband for 15,870 days.  Throughout all of them, we’ve managed to achieve various levels of Happiness, sometimes punctuated with challenges typical to all humans, but nonetheless, happy.  As some would say, We are “Blessed” with happiness.

Now, once again, our Happiness is challenged, this time by time itself.  We are growing older, which we appreciate very much, but with the aging process comes the realization that we cannot continue to live where we are most happy.  It is a growing struggle to maintain our lifestyle here, both physically and emotionally. 

In addition, our happy place has seen an increase in criminal activity, something that stresses us even more.  Our home is being encroached upon by other life forms that we cannot accept and will never accept. 

After 29 wonderful years we have found ourselves at odds with our surroundings and its inhabitants.  It is time to pursue Happiness elsewhere.

Our home, our Happy Place, goes on sale tomorrow.  Ironically, the person or persons who purchases it, will also be seeking their own Happiness.  And we sincerely hope they too feel the love and magic of this special place as we did for over 29 years.

And once again we continue to seek the ultimate goal in life worth seeking: just to be happy.

We believe we have found our new Happy Place in Covington, Louisiana.

I sure hope we don’t have to move again.  It’s a real pain in the ‘everywhere.’

Major Lifestyle Change In The Works

A lot has been happening in our lives lately, so we took a hard look and decided to make a substantial change in every area of our life that needs attention.

For one thing, we have decided to step back from our participation in Eggfests.  Ultimately, that means cutting them out altogether. The last one we will be attending is in two weeks here in Spring, Texas.  It’s just three miles from our house and it will give us a chance to say our goodbyes to a lot of friends.

The burdens of physical work and expense has become too great for us now that Eggfests have grown substantially in number and in size.  And that translates into non reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses for us that averages well into the thousands of dollars each year.  We are on a fixed income and can no longer afford it without sacrifice to ourselves.  We feel we’ve done our share.  It’s time for others to have fun.

Then there’s the age thing.  I turned 76 on May 8th.  And although the calendar says 76, my brain says I’m 56 while my body says I’m 86, and some days even 96.  There’s nothing seriously wrong or life threatening with me, but I’m starting to feel ‘old.’  

That being said, we also can no longer ‘keep up’ the Chicken Ranch.  The constant need to repair or improve something has literally surpassed my capacity or my desire to do it.  I can no longer climb or crawl or even see well enough to tackle some jobs.  And with me liking to stay busy, I'm often without a project to tackle, at least not one that I can complete well.

Add to that, a considerably increased crime presence in our neighborhood has made us very uncomfortable in our own home.  We’ve already had one incident where someone went into our garage and stole some power tools.  I’m certain they would have stolen more had it not been for the vehicles in their way. 

But other nearby homes and vehicles have been broken into in spite of an increased police presence.  Add to that, armed robberies at nearby businesses, and even a murder just outside one of them.  Prostitution is so bad that the police opened an office and assigned a large number of police officers to ‘get it under control,’ whatever the hell ‘under control’ means.

So we decided to sell our house and move away from here while we can. 

The decision to move was made much easier by the fact that Judy’s sister in New Orleans retired last year and her husband will be retiring in a couple of months.  They too wanted out and away from the big city and decided to build a home in Covington, Louisiana, a small town about 25 miles away from New Orleans.  Its population is shown as 9,686 but it is fast growing as ‘the place to live’ for those wishing to get to high ground from flooding, and to safety from crime. 

Along with the increased population is a fast growing economy that has brought in new shopping malls, excellent medical facilities, and the infrastructure to support them.  At most, we will be about twenty minutes away from all of them.

So, we decided to seriously look around in Covington ourselves.  And we found what we were looking for.  We instantly knew where it had to be:  Terra Maraie.  See 'Covington, Louisiana' post below).

We had already fallen in love with Terra Mariae, so we didn't have to search, just decided whether to buy an existing home or build a new one.  After looking at one for sale, we decided to build.

And this is the lot we decided on.

Terra Mariae Phase I and II consists of about 70 homes that are limited to people 55 years old and older.  The homes are all individually designed but French influenced ‘garden homes’ with zero lot-lines.  That means the right windowless brick wall on my house will be precisely on my lot line, and will also serve as a garden wall to the house to my right.  Yes, they will have a private professionally landscaped 'garden' between their house and my wall.  Entrances on most of the homes are on the garden side through a beautiful brick and gateway and down a pathway to the 'front entrance.'  

Being the last house on the street, we won’t have a house to our left, just a small unobtrusive wrought iron fence to help keep out deer and small animals.  Beyond that will be green-space and trees.  The view looks much like a golf course.

With a garden home, we just take care of our garden area.  The homeowner’s association has a crew to maintain all the ‘green-space’ areas outside our property, including our front yard.  And there is a substantial amount of green-space making for some comfortable views from our home.

If we wish, we can pay the crew to mow any grass we have inside our fence.  The charge is $10 per cut.  We're not likely to have much grass by the time we get through adding our touches to the garden's collection of plants, fountains, and shady seating areas, but $10 sure sounds better than me doing it.

We have already set in motion to buy the only lot we want, a larger than average lot that is the last lot on the dead-end/cul-de-sac street.  We will have green-space beyond our garden side and back, with a substantial over size driveway that leads directly into our garage.  Our front view will be of a similar garden home on the other side of a huge cul-de-sac turnaround.  So we will be ‘the last house on the right.’  I’ve always liked that description of where we live.

We’ve also selected our builder and made minor changes to the architectural drawings to get the necessary approvals from the homeowners association and county housing commission.

We’ve met with the bank to obtain the construction loan, which will convert to a small mortgage once we sell our house and apply the proceeds to the down payment.

So, as you can imagine, we’re anxious to get our house here sold as quickly as possible.  And we’re already actively removing any and all ‘personal’ items to box and place into a rental storage facility so that we can show the house to prospective buyers.  We’ve been told by a top real estate agent that it will sell quickly at a premium price once it hits the market.  I would hope so.

Selling quickly means we will have to move out fairly quickly and into a rental home or apartment in Covington while our house is being built.  We’re fine with that because we will be close to family and new friends, and we will be able to see the construction as it is being built.  Yes, I will document every step of it and make it into a video.

I will keep everyone up to date here as things progress.

We can't wait to move into our new home...