NORTHERN BOBWHITES

by with No Comment WellingtonWildlife

This past winter we saw quite a few of these Northern Bobwhites here in Wellington.  According to the map of their range, they are a bit out of their territory here, but there has been a covey of about a dozen of them running around our yard, and other neighbors have noticed them, too.  They are funny, fat birds, similar to quail.  It’s amazing how close we (or the horses) can get to them before they scamper or fly away. The past few days, we’ve heard them calling their unique call.  LISTEN HERE AND READ  It’s been fun watching them this year, I will miss them in Guffey!  (But, in Guffey there are lots of Pinon Jays and Mountain Bluebirds!)

HAPPY HOUSE AND BARN

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

Things have been moving right along as we proceed with our move to Guffey.  The main part of the barn is done, and Tim is now working on the extension at the side, which will be our storage area for our furniture while we build the house. The sale of the house on Shoofly continues to move along smoothly. We’ve gotten an extension on the closing date, which will now be April 23. That will give us an extra weekend plus a few days, to finish our storage area and move our stuff.

Storage/Workshop area extension on the West side of the barn.

Tim has been working on the foundation for the storage/workshop extension (and I’ve been helping!).  We passed the interim county inspection on that. Now Tim has some more work to finish the floor before we get the panels for the walls and roof installed.

We are using SIP’s for these (same as for the house), which are being prepared by a local company and will be installed by them. Hopefully, everything will be done in time to move! Installing the SIPs on this area should be great practice prior to building the house.

Last week we spent about 5 days at the property, and enjoyed our time there. Since our phones only work in the RV, near the internet router, we’ve gotten in the habit of using the walkie-talkies for communicating from the barn to the RV. Whatever works!

Here’s a shot of the property with the barn, the RV, and a sketch of the future “Happy House” on its spot at the top of the hill. This was taken pretty much from the east side, looking to the west, maybe WNW.

I’ve been sick with a cold the past 4 days, and now Tim’s got it. We’ve been doing a lot of sitting around not doing much, and with so much to do, it’s kind of hard! Now that I’m better, we’re gonna go into a higher gear and get packing.  We’ll live with minimal stuff and out of boxes until we get things moved. (Good luck with that, Laurie!)

MUH-DEE

by with No Comment GuffeyMountain Gaitway

Yesterday we went to the NEW Golden Gaits Ranch, and discovered one of the not-so-nice attributes of living in Guffey. During spring melt it is extremely muddy! It had snowed, then warmed up. The weather yesterday was sunny and beautiful, reaching 65 degrees. But, the streets were quite muddy, with lots of puddles and gooshy spots to dodge. Everyone’s cars are a mess. The mud there is quite slippery and sticky. Just one small disadvantage that will take some getting used to.

The main part of the barn is completed, and photos will follow soon.

HOUSE FOR SALE

by with No Comment Mountain GaitwayWellington
Panoramic shot of our property in Wellington

Our house is on the market! It went “live” on the MLS on Thursday (the 26th), and already we’ve had 8 showings, two of which have been repeats. There is another repeat showing scheduled for today. Our realtor believes we may have a couple of offers by the end of the day. It’s an exciting time; unique and a bit stressful. We aren’t terribly stressed, in that we know God has our best interests in mind and we are in His care. But, with so many things up in the air, we don’t quite know what to think or what to do with ourselves. The house is cleaned, spic & span. I don’t want to mess it up, so we can leave quickly when a call comes for a showing.

The real estate business is a conundrum. There are so many expectations and procedures and rules of engagement, many of which just don’t fit our way of doing things or our values. We prefer personal interactions with the people we’re selling to, rather than the third party protocol with agent interference. In the real estate business, it’s a horrible thing for the homeowner-seller to be present at showings or to get to know the buyer in the process. It’s hard for us not to be able to show the house and share tidbits about why we did what we did, how the surroundings work for us, etc. We’d love to know about the potential buyers and what they’d like to do here. We’d just like to know how God is fitting this together both for us and for them. We’d like them to know how we’ve prepare this place for the next steward of it. Perhaps we will be able to have some personal interaction, but not if left to the real estate world.

There.  I have vented.

GOD IS IN THIS

by with No Comment GuffeyMountain Gaitway

Again we are in awe as we see God’s hand in this move to Guffey. Clearly He wants us there, and soon. It is amazing to look back and see where we are now in this process which began for us in July, when we weren’t even looking for this change in our lives. When we went on that first vacation to Guffey, it was just a vacation. We had no idea it where it would lead. We still don’t know the plans God has for us there, but He will show us soon enough. We are seeking Him and His Kingdom, and all we want to do is to fit in to it as He desires, like a puzzle piece to complete the picture. It’s not just about us–it’s about how God wants to use us in His Kingdom. And we know that in addition to fulfilling His purpose, we will be satisfied.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)

Time after time we have sailed through details that could have taken much more time than they did. Yesterday, on our way to take some things to the property, we dropped by the Park County Building Department to drop off plans for the extensions Tim will be adding to the barn, along with the application for a permit. We expected to receive the permit in about a week, but within an hour we were out of there with the permit completed and in hand! It was amazing that everyone in there seemed to drop whatever they were doing and took time out to work with us. Dana, Audrey, Lynn and Mike were awesome!

The main part of the barn, which the builders are currently working on, may be done in a week or so, but with bad weather on the horizon, we’ll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Tim can order the materials he needs to build the extensions. One extension is merely a roof/lean-to type area where the horses can get out of the weather. The other will be a well-insulated and rodent-proof storage area for our furniture and things we won’t be able to use until the house is built. As soon as the storage area is completed, we’ll be able to move more and more stuff down, and when we make the final move we’ll have a cozy place for all of it. Tim has three weeks of vacation until he leaves HP on May 31. He can use some of this time to build the additions. Additionally, he can work for HP while there and be “Tim the Toolman” in the afternoons.

The house goes on the market tomorrow, and we are confident it will sell quickly. Since the “Coming Soon” sign went up, several cars have driven down the lane slowly, peering at the house, property and view. Our agent has already received many calls and emails requesting information.

We thank God for all He has done to lead us through this process!

MOVING FORWARD

by with No Comment Mountain GaitwayWellington
Now that the barn is well along the way and we’ll have a place to store things while we work on the new house, we’re putting the Wellington house on the market.    After debating whether to try to sell it ourselves or use a real estate agent, we decided it would likely sell much faster with the marketing an agent will provide, and we won’t have to deal with all the paperwork, etc. 
We interviewed a couple of different agents to get a feel for them, their marketing plans and suggested listing price. It was interesting that both agents we interviewed came very close in their suggested selling price–good confirmation to us that we would price it in a good range for selling. Both agents indicated to us that we should be in a good position to sell quickly. There isn’t much inventory of horse properties like ours, and a lot of demand. Apparently there have been “bidding wars” on some properties like ours, and some have sold recently for more than the listing price. Maybe ours will fit that category! The way things have been going for us, we won’t be surprised at all if it sells right away. We plan to be ready to move by April 15th if everything goes that fast.
Either of these agents would have been a good choice, but we had to choose one. We decided on listing with Tom Hoffner, with C3, in Fort Collins, who presented an extensive marketing plan and other services available through his company. He seems excited to have this listing, and we’ve been happy with his work so far. 
The listing goes live on the MLS on Thursday, the 26th. I’ll pass along that info when it’s online. Yesterday, Tom put up a couple of “Coming Soon” signs out on the roads leading to our house, and already several cars have driven down our lane or stopped by the sign, presumably to write down Tom’s phone number.  One agent stopped by with her client wanting a preview, but we won’t be giving anyone an unfair advantage by allowing them to preview prior to listing.  We expect there will be several showings over the coming weekend, and will stay out of the house much of the time. (Weather permitting, we will go to Guffey.)
We spent the week cleaning and removing clutter in preparation for the photographer, who was here yesterday morning, both inside and out. A “stager” came Wednesday to offer suggestions as to how to set up the home for marketing photos, so we did most of what she suggested, to show off the home, rather than the furniture or decorating style. In addition to the indoor shots, he took several aerial shots from a tall tripod, 50′ up. Clouds were rolling in, and we couldn’t view Longs Peak, but the view should show the possibilities for a better day, and there are several shots including the horses in the pastures. He even got a video showing them running from the back to the front pasture–we look forward to seeing how that turned out.
I have the coming week to do more deep cleaning inside cabinets, drawers, closets, utility room and storage room prior to having people poke around and look inside. I anticipate another long week of cleaning. I figure if everything is super-clean it’ll make a difference. (It would matter to me!) While I’m at it, I’ll begin packing up stuff for storage and putting things aside to sell or donate to Habitat. It’ll be good to get a head start toward getting ready to move. 

WE’RE GONNA HAVE A BARN

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway
The barn is in process!  We went to Guffey for the weekend to be there while the crew got started.  The posts were already up when we arrived Friday, and as the day progressed, more work was done.  We had planned to stay through to Monday or Tuesday, and see more of the work done, but with a storm brewing we felt it best to leave Sunday morning.  It was a short weekend (Friday morning through Sunday morning), but we had a nice time and got a lot done.  Friday we went for a walk, walked up Buck Drive and met some neighbors at the end of that street; Al, Dawn and their son.  We had a nice time chatting with them.  This photo was taken from somewhere along Buck Drive.  Look to the left near the bottom, and you’ll see the barn posts in place.
On Saturday, Tim worked on putting up some shelving in the shed.  I went for a walk, scooped poop (a lot had been left on the last trip), dug up some soil samples, and various other odds and ends.  By the end of the day we were both pretty tired!
Our trip home Sunday took twice as long as it should.  When we got to Fairplay we realized we’d forgotten something important in the RV, so drove all the way back to get it.  That was two hours.  Just after Conifer, we got stuck behind some accidents on the icy roads and sat in traffic for 2 more hours.  Finally we made it back home.  It was a long day in the truck.  We felt badly that the horses were in the trailer that whole time, but we couldn’t really do anything about it and they were fine.  Soon we’ll live there and we won’t have to do that drive back and forth!
Here’s a barn shot that the builder sent us to show the current status. Tim and the architect are busily finalizing the plans for the lean-to (which will be to the left on this photo) and the workshop area (to be on the backside of the barn, or the far right). Tim will complete the lean-to and workshop himself, after the builders have completed the main portion of the barn.

TIMELINE

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

As things are coming together, we are putting together a timeline, as best as we can without having the proverbial “crystal ball”.  It’s pretty sketchy at this point, but gives us something to shoot for.

Feb 19 or so: The crew arrives to build the barn.
At that time, or soon after, we plan to put the Shoofly Lane home on the market.
March: After the barn is in place, Tim plans to add a storage/workshop section onto the barn, and a loafing shed area for the horses.
Soon: Hopefully the house sells and we go into escrow!
When that happens, we move to Guffey.  This may be before or after Tim’s retirement.
May 31: Tim’s last day of work at HP.

THE “HAPPY” HOUSE

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

The house plans are coming along, and we’re excited about it!  We’ve been calling it the “Happy” House.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, we liked what we saw on the Smiling Woods Yurts website, and were thinking we would get one of their kits.  Throughout this process, Tim kept forgetting their name and calling it Happy Woods or Happy House…the name stuck. From now on, it’s our Happy House.

We really liked a lot about what Smiling Woods provided, in particular the “kit” approach where they delivered all the components for the shell and we could do the actual labor of putting it up. However, more research led us to the concept of building a house using SIPs (Structure Insulated Panels). SIPs provide a much more efficient home and have other environmentally friendly benefits. 

We went back to some of the other websites we had found previously for round structures, and found an engineering company that had designed round houses using SIPs. It turned out that they were also located in our area, so we were able to meet with them and engage them to engineer our Happy House. 

Tim designed the home using Sketchup, and taught me to use it as well, so I helped!  The Happy House will be about 35′ in diameter, 988 sq.ft.  We want an open interior with few walls, and don’t need or want a lot of unnecessary space.  A utility/storage room and bathroom will be behind walls, but those walls will not go all the way up to the domed ceiling.  It’ll look something like this (north is up): 


The front door will be at the west side, with the parking area adjacent to the deck.  The panels will be 8′ wide, so there will be nearly 24′ of viewing from the south-facing windows.  We’ve put in all the furniture we currently own and plan to keep, in the approximate locations where we think we will put it. The kitchen cabinets and the desk will be custom designed and built by us. Here is another view, with south at the top.


Our plan is to have this house accessible for us into our old age. With that in mind, it’s one story, without steps. We are thinking it’s likely that one of us may eventually require a walker or wheelchair, so the hall, doorways and bathroom will be large enough for wheelchair access, and we plan to custom-design a roll-in shower.

Tim had fun overlaying the house onto a photo of the property, and here’s how that looks. Under the deck there will be a crawlspace about 6.5′ high, and we plan to put a greenhouse out from that deck, similar to the one we have at our Wellington house.  The RV (our temporary home) is currently parked to the right (east) of the house, and will stay there as our guest house.


That’s the plan for now!