Twenty years ago, a young man FINALLY had the courage to ask a young lady on a date... He had been hesitating for some time, and was feeling brave... It was on that date that true love was found... Three years later they were married, three years of dreaming of a future together ... of sharing hopes, ideas, imaginings... And reality hit...
The dream.. a life OUT of the 'burbs, and in the country... We longed to be on the land, to have some real acreage... But he with a career that required metropolis, left them stagnant in "SUBURBIA"... Year after year brought more challenges to obtaining the dream, child after child came into their lives, joy, bliss, adventure, travel, health challenges ALL galore! 17 years after they said I do..after YEARS and years of hunting, researching, reading, driving to states far away to seek, and hope to find... the "land" was finally, and divinely FOUND! Yes FOUND!
it was YET another trip to hunt and seek out areas.. This time we chose to search Southwest Wisconsin, it had the same feel in many ways that Kentucky and Tennessee had for us, but seemed more attainable... All these regions brought back memories of out time in Munich, and in the South of France... we LOVED how eco friendly this area is, were excited to learn of all the sustainable farms in the area, and couldn't wait to find a community that we liked....
Trouble was, we found SO many little communities we liked.. And so, we met with many realtors from different area's and focused on acreage, and finding a "do-able" fixer upper.. In this economy the prices were right, but the homes... perhaps many of them.. JUST needed to be demolished.. it was a little discouraging.. and when leaving YET another realtors office, agreeing to meet the next day, he stopped us, and handed two listings to us.. said, hey, if you have time today, drive by these and see if you want to even look at them tomorrow... not worth it for any of us to be driving THAT far if they don't even pass a drive by... and we had daylight, he had another appointment, so we grabbed a snack and with kids in toe we drove past the properties... the first one was nice 20 or so acres, simple, clean, boring, flat, no view, no nothing.. but it WAS clean, move in ready... Machine Man was excited ... the kids and I ... were not... There was nothing WRONG with it .. it just wasn't... the DREAM..
The dream we have all had now since THE BEGINNING.. the Genesis of US... It had always been their dream too.. it was BEYOND painful to go to property after property and think... we will NEVER find "IT"... and see their hopes nearly as dashed as my own.. So with great HOPE, because of the small, fuzzy picture, we drove with anticipation to the next property... THIS was "IT".. the blessings and I just KNEW as we drove up that drive.. we knew it was abandoned, and so... took great liberties in walking about, and sneaking peeks through the windows.. OH MY!!!!!!!! we were just jumping out of our skins with enthusiasm.. the property was BEAUTIFUL!!!! it needed lots of work.. but we could barely fall asleep that night with hopes for the next day..
Stiffled hopes.. hopes you try to NOT let get hold of you for fear of them being DASHED to pieces.. Hope so big you try not to breath...
The next day it was.. JUST as fabulous, even BETTER than we thought.. LOTS of work needed to be done.. but we really really loved it.. We scheduled a second showing, in which we requested a walk of the property.. This seemed to take the Realtor by surprise.. apparently not many folks request this sort of thing.. but WE had been doing this for YEARS, and weren't going to buy just a house.. nope. We were hoping to buy 36 acres.. and we wanted to SEE more OF it. :)
it was a HOT day in July.. can we say MOSQUITO? ok and we are dressed like FREAKS because of our concern over tics.. (5 of the 6 of us has Lyme Disease...and are in treatment) We smell of bug spray and sweat as we hike this property, and we are SO excited about every inch of it!
Bid put in, a little back and forth with the owners, and a LOT of prayer.. Prayer like.. Lord, if this is NOT the property for us, take away any desire or enthusiasm for it, and shut any opportunity for us to purchase it..
Deal went through.. easy as can be..
Easy but full of anxiety, inspectors of all sorts, but it went through... passing all inspections..
on August 31, 2011
we became the PROUD owners of Blessings Farm !
The Farm HOUSE
isn't it sweet?
i LOVE this walkway behind the house!
YES it works.. even I can swing on it
can we say HAPPY! :)
walking in the deep dark woods
one of the springs on the property..
yes.. THIS MEANS DUCKS!!!!
WHAT a view!
pretty in the BIG picture, and in the details :)
all I can think is SHUT UP ! that is SO beautiful
Butterflies and blossoms.. PINCH me
I love the old barn, but it has to go.. not so safe,
reclaimed barn floors maybe???
here is to hoping!
a mural painted on the side of the garage
Smiling :)
YUMMY
Enter the back door, and enjoy this view, this ROOM is fantastic, infloor heating the whole shA BANG! LOVE this.. Join us, as we blog our way around learning about land, forestry, farming, gardening, DIY fixing up an old 1870's farm house.. It should make for a GREAT adventure!
