real estate – Page 2 – The Hermits' Rest

What’s New, Newshounds?

You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?

If I got great news, I’d tell the people in my household, then call Anita and Mike, because they are the people I tell stuff to. Then I’d tell my local friends email chain, my old LLL friend Facebook group, my horse friends, and my other Facebook friend group who I’ve been friends with before there was anything other than email. I guess I’d then go out with the horses and think about things. I might do the horse part first.

What news do I have for you blog readers today? There isn’t too much, since we got lots and lots of rain. All good. Not like mudslide rain, just standing water that’s not conducive to outdoor activities.

February showers bring happy wildflowers.

But everybody at our house did go look at paint colors for the renovation project house. Mmm, two shades of white. But, it had to be whites that complement pink and tan, the colors of the retro tile we are keeping.

I got paint samples to take over to the house to see how they go with the brick (peach) and roof (gray/green/brown). I want a grayish green for the trim and a dark apricot for the doors. We will see if any of them look okay or if we have to be more conservative.

We also went all the way to Temple to look at tile and floors for the house. No final decision was made, but it was fun looking. We also had a good lunch (especially the squash casserole thing) and ran into our next-door neighbors/relatives. It’s rare that all five of us are in the same place. We are a happy, yet hermit-like family.

Floor candidate. Goes with creamy colors.

I’m glad Apache is better about his medication now, or I’d have gotten extra wet trying to get it to him. The other horses will get their rations whenever it isn’t raining tomorrow. It was slippery out there!

No bird news from here. I saw sparrows and a hawk. Oh, and doves in Temple.

I saw this tiny arachnid on the new drywall.

Newshounds, I’m sure you wished for more, but I doubt you want to read the Jackson Browne lyrics I got all misty over and posted on Facebook. You can go listen to the version I watched tonight. Perfect for a reflective old imperfect human, even if he did write These Days at 16.

Projects? Renovations? We Still Have Them

If you’ve known me a long time, you’ll remember when I blogged a lot about our home renovation business. While we have changed some things, we still buy houses and hire great folks to fix them up. Now some of those folks are our family, which makes it extra special.

The current team worked on some projects of their own recently, but Lee and I finally got to be the client in this one, a very nice single-story house in Cameron that used to be owned by people who made candy in what’s now the master bedroom. What a cool story!

The house is so wide I don’t have a picture of the whole thing.

When we got it, the layout was quite awkward, with a giant living/dining area, a huge pink kitchen, an even huger main bath, and a bedroom way at the end of the house that you had to go through another bedroom to access. Luckily, a lot of cleanup and prep had been done by the prior owner, so the team didn’t have to start from scratch.

After much brainstorming among me, Lee, and our contractor, we redid the layout. There are now three nice bedrooms in the former living area, the middle bedroom is expanded to be a nice living area, and the kitchen is still pink, but open to the living area. It’s much less choppy.

Kitchen is now open. Light is temporary.

They will add windows in the long, dark hallway to the master bedroom, and a utility room with laundry and new HVAC is being added in the former carport, which will now be a nice covered porch.

Of course, as with any remodel, structural issues were found, so now the ceiling joists are all new and sturdy, and insulation will be added throughout the house. It’s going to be so much nicer to live in. The electrical work is all new, too. Plus the scary roof has been replaced.

People don’t see the new wood around the windows or the stove vent that now actually goes outside, but we and the crew know it’s there, and future occupants will be safe, dry, and cozy. The house will keep its mid-century style, with a few exterior upgrades.

I hope to share more photos later! Stay tuned.

Daily Birds

Today I enjoyed wrens. Two of our usual residents, the Bewick’s and Carolina wrens, were giving a concert this morning. It sure was beautiful, loud, and lengthy. They have very different songs. The winter wren sometimes shows up, but it mostly makes scolding sounds, as does the house wren, who is very round. I sure enjoy their hopping, climbing, and tail wagging.

Who Says Neigh and Deserves Some Hay?

I know, I know! My horses! And after a lot of effort on many people’s part, they have some round bales to enjoy when the cold weather comes.

The horses seem pleased. They should be.

I had just washed my hair when I went out to figure out where to put the hay. I now wish I had a wind like today’s to style my hair with every wash! It made my hair look great!

By the way, I may deserve a treat or pampering like the horses get, too. It’s the dreaded cocklebur season. I’ve probably mentioned this multiple times already this autumn. The horses seem to think the grass under the bur plants is the BEST, because each of them has a fine collection of burs in their manes, with bonus tail burs…or had.

I took an extra half hour getting Drew and Apache ready for their lessons today. Some of it involved getting mud out of their hooves, but most of it was bur removal. Drew, whose new hairstyle is shown above, had about 15 burs in his made and a bunch in his tail. His hair is smooth, which makes it easy to get burs out. When I was done, I did the braiding you see. I hope it makes for fewer burs and easier removal. Plus, it’s cute.

Yes, eventually Apache got braided, too. First at least 38 burs had to be removed. He has fine, frizzy hair in his mane, so the burs stick way more and are much harder to remove. My poor hands! (I’m careful not to use my nails.) I ended up making his forelock into some kind of horse-man bun. That should help. The rest of his braid is longer than Drew’s, but at least it won’t fall forward and may get fewer burs. We will see. Too bad I never was a girly-girl or had a pony and learned to do fancy braids. But Tarrin said the style I did might work.

He also has lots of wisps and at one point his braid flew up like a kite.

But I can’t be annoyed at the guys. I’m still kind of shocked at how well Apache’s been doing in lessons. It’s so very fun to get more skilled at riding as he gets better at his form. We did slaloms today and ran out of things to criticize. And we did three barrels correctly, at a trot.

These are things I never expected. Heck, even his side passing is borderline okay! Quite an improvement! Obviously he isn’t built to be a high-level dressage horse and he started out way late, but as long as he’s healthy and interested, we’ll keep working on things.

Drew and I are both improving, too. Bridling is coming along, and I’m getting the hang of helping him get straighter on slaloms and barrels. He’s where Apache was last year. But I think he can do great things if we keep working away. He deserves hay, too.

And I deserve hay. Duh. Even though I bray rather than saying neigh.

Lots of us deserve a reward right now. I’ve solved some problems and helped people at work, for which I’m proud. Lee’s buying us a house to renovate! Go him! And others in my circle are being amazing caregivers. Teamwork!

Is There an Ideal Home?

What does your ideal home look like?

Today’s prompt is something I think about often. I’ve designed a few homes and liked each, but none are my dream home. The Hermits’ Rest ranch house has a floor plan I like, but things have happened to make it less than ideal. That’s fine. Life happens!

When I envision an ideal home, I quickly realize the setting is more important to me than the house. Ideally I would have:

Enough acreage that I can’t see neighbors who aren’t family
Woods, with paths
Pasture for horses and hay
A lake where one can swim, fish, kayak, and look at birds
Barn with stalls, tack room, and hay area
Horses and donkeys (reasonable number, but in Ideal World I have a helper who gets to ride with me)
Indoor horse arena
Meadow or prairie area, with paths,
A creek going into or leading from the lake
Treehouse/bird blind

The house will feature much wood and iron. There are windows with views of the lake, the woods, and if possible, the horses, but they may be a little ways down the road.

Vaguely like this Georgia house from One Kindesign

Porches and decks to hang out on and enjoy the view are a must. There will be a little path leading to a guest house and swimming pool.

By the way, the lake will NOT feature poopy cow butts

In the house I can have all the colors and patterns I want. There will be much Jacobean tree of life prints on the furniture and walls. China, pottery, paintings, embroideries, and glassware will be wherever I want it. My beautiful dining room table and chairs will look great in the cheerful dining room.

That’s the idea! (From *Architectural Digest*)

I will be able to see to read in any of the many comfortable but not ugly seating areas. I’d have plants if I weren’t so bad with them.

My office will have Native Anerican rugs, pottery, and baskets by people I know it at least know of. I will display my silver there, along with paintings of horses and canyons and mesas. There will be tall ceilings to hold all my bookshelves, with those ladder things to climb to get books.

I could hide the shelves among Jacobean tapestries.

And if you know me, I won’t have a white kitchen and there may well be cherry cabinets. I like cherry and don’t care if it’s fashionable. I will have an induction range and cast iron cookware. If I can’t lift it anymore I’ll hire a cook.

My goodness. These things are $400 now. I’ll stick with my black 1986 one.

Bathrooms? Cheerful. Colorful. Functional. Attached to a huge closet no one will make fun of me for, with much shoe storage and a jewelry vault or giant storage thing.

I have no bathroom examples, but look, more English florals. My happy place, too. From the *Architectural Digest* article, “Happy Place” with photographs by Max Burkhalter. September 2023, pp. 89-101

I’ll need a yarn room or outbuilding. Then I can sew, weave, and quilt. People can hang out with me there. Yes, that will be great.

I enjoyed imagining this impossible house. It’s really impossible because I want it not too big and in a pleasant climate. Ha ha.

No, there’s no ideal home. Let’s aim for comfy.

Back at the Ranch: Amazing Animals

I made it home yesterday, but for some reason the travel completely wore me out. I guess travel is stressful, since my right eye wept all day, while the left eye had a tic. The plane travel was fine, other than the fact that the Charlotte airport was dirtier and dingier than I remembered. Of course, the flight from there to Austin was delayed, so I got to stay there and look at food on the floor and seats quite a while. By the time we boarded, I thought I’d fall asleep standing up.

None of this was heavy except the backpack, which was a carryon. It tried to kill me.

Lee was late exactly the amount my plane was late, which meant for an easy pickup, and I did try to converse with him though I was feeling distinctly zombie-like. By the time I got home I was dizzy and nauseated. What the heck? I’m much better today, with no eye issues and only a bit of fuzzy-headedness. Maybe I have 9-11 PTSD or something (for those of you who don’t know, I was on a plane headed to O’Hare when the events occurred, leading to some traumatic times).

I came home to a lot of love, though. Goldie glued herself to me the second I got into bed and didn’t move for a couple of hours. Today she’s been constantly checking on me, and also trying to inform me that she can’t sit on “her” couch because someone put an immense television on it.

So I got up and moved the immense and very heavy television. It’s the old one from our house in Round Rock, and apparently giant televisions were much heavier then. Glodie is much happier now and I can type (she kept nosing the keyboard away!).

Of course all the dogs were glad to see me, as were the chickens. Some horses seemed more glad than others. Apache was ecstatic, and glued himself to me much like Goldie did. He looks good, other than two sores on his shoulder. The good news is his grass allergy issues are gone, thanks to the Zyrtec, and the rest of him looks wonderful.

Drew was more interested in the water trough I refilled than in me, but after he drank he came and rubbed his wet face on me. He looked really clean, and I wondered why. Here is why:

Apparently, while I was gone, he figured out that the front pond is swimmable. The edges aren’t as quicksand-esque as they were when the water was higher, so he’s taken to swimming around and having a blast. Kathleen said the first time she heard the splashing, she thought we had a gator. Nope, just a sea serpent/horse hybrid.

It doesn’t appear that anyone else has joined Droodles in the horse swimming pool, but I sure was happy to watch him cruising around and having a great time.

There’s really no grass, so I need to get more hay out to them this afternoon. The heat is still miserable, and it hasn’t rained. The high was “only” 99 on Tuesday, but it’s still hard on everyone here. I will be getting out early to work with horses starting in the morning.

It was nice to get back to my office to work, though my house looks like hoarders have moved in. The rest of the furniture from my old house got brought in while we were gone and we’re still working out where to put everything. Much of the stuff is in our newest shipping container, and I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to the guys who moved everything out of our old church, up and down those stairs.

Yes, we no longer own a church, which I’m not too sad about, because now Cameron gets a new church. I’m told the minister is really nice, so I’m happy for them. It looks like it’s time for our real estate business to find a new investment.

Thanks for reading, and hi to all you new readers! I do have a book report to write, which I hope to get done tomorrow. It takes thought, and I’m too tired to think right now.

Hey, It Rains on the East Coast

Yep, it’s lush, green, and moist here in coastal South Carolina. I enjoyed watching the rain and being out in it, even though it made us have to delay fun outdoor activities.

We got a bunch of groceries at a Publix, which is like a tourist attraction for me. So much lovely and fresh food! Plus we got to see large flocks of annoying birds, including grackles, crows, and Canada geese. Sorry, no grackle photos, so you’ll have to imagine groups of black and brown birds descending on patches of grass.

Our drive took us by some nice parts of Myrtle Beach, away from seedy tourist areas and run-down businesses. It looks like a lot is being done to make this a more pleasant area. There is lots of affordable housing in good condition, and that makes me happy. There are so many people working at restaurants, hotels, and attractions—and they need good housing, too.

I did get to spend some time walking on the beach in the afternoon, and Lee and I walked on the boardwalk later. I found some plants, of course. I didn’t get many beach photos because it was incredibly crowded (I heard so many languages!) and the water was scary so I had to pay attention. Those rip tides try to suck you in!

I gave myself Beach nails and that’s about it for the day. I’m still a little tired. Tomorrow will feature activities!

The Red House Goes Live

I took the plunge and listed our vacation rental on AirBnB or however you spell that. It will be interesting to see if anyone at all actually rents a house for a “vacation” here.

Here’s the link, if you know anyone dying to come over here.

Enjoy the new exterior photos I took today, in the meantime.

Seasonal Greetings

Yesterday was US Thanksgiving. I didn’t blog, because, thanks to still being sick, all my energy was taken up with cooking. I’m glad to report, that with some help and good cheer, the meal came out great and everyone in our little ranch community had fun.

Lee could not help, as he had a giant dog on his lap. (Joke)

It rained all day again. We aren’t getting much each day, but it’s helping. Between the dismal weather and my throbbing sinuses, I didn’t want to be out much, anyway.

Today I’ve felt a little better, so I went to the Red House to remove fall decor and make it look Christmas-like, since that’s the thing people do nowadays. I discovered the new wardrobe had arrived for the second bedroom. It’s rather large. Some rearranging will be needed.

I put it sideways but need help lifting the rug

There are now king sized pillows on the big bed, too, though I need to exchange one of the shams’ pillow for the new ones. New ones are pretty lumpy and would be better for shams, but I got too tired to switch them out. Darned cold. In fact, I fell asleep after writing the previous sentence. I’m tired

Otherwise it’s looking subtly like winter holidays are coming. Or perhaps it’s kitschy. I did my best. Maybe we have a guest this weekend. Still wanting a couple of “test guests” before going all out.

I also got a couple of baskets and decor items.

So far, the best suggestion I’ve gotten is to leave a few books out. That’s a good idea. I can leave some of the novels I’ve read and a couple of Texas books.

Time to go home and rest and drink plenty of fluids. I’m thankful for you readers and friends. You make my life richer.

The Red House – Almost There!

I spent most of the weekend working with my family on getting our vacation rental ready for a trial run this weekend. We still have some things to get done, but I tell you what, if you want a pillow, I can give you one (unfortunately, there were NO king-size pillows where we shopped, so I’ve ordered some for the back bedroom). I’m really happy with how this project has come along, after many delays waiting to close on the property so we could really work. So many people have helped out, too. It takes a village, or at least a small town.

The place will be called The Red House on Fannin, for a good reason. It’s a red house on Fannin Avenue. Visit the link above to like its brand-new Facebook page. Then you can see if we ever actually have anyone rent the place! There will be a website soon; I am working on it!

The only real issue is that we have not yet uncovered the dishes and flatware we plan to use in the house among all the boxes labeled “kitchen” from my Austin house. By “we” I mean my dear spouse, who is looking for them every day. I can’t even lift the over-packed boxes, so I’m no help whatsoever. He is one step closer to Heaven, as my friend Janet van Sickler used to say. If we don’t find them by Saturday, guests may need to use substitutes. It’s a “soft opening,” anyway, and we hope the first couple of renters will help us out by telling us what else we forgot or could do more differently. As many of these things as I’ve stayed at, I’m sure there’s more we forgot! Oh, like the refrigerator that has to be moved from one building to another. That’s a hard one. But it will happen (and may have even happened today, for all I know).

I did manage to put up No Smoking signs and we have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. That makes me feel good. The HVAC system, washer and dryer, dishwasher and microwave all work, too. Yay. The leaky bathroom sink leaks no more, as well. All systems almost Go!

We don’t want you to run out of hand sanitizer!

Lee kindly put up all the curtains, which was made harder by the fact that Lowe’s sells ONE curtain per package. I guess that new trend had bypassed me, since I thought there should be two. My big job was to put on all the sheets. If there is a hell, it will include putting sheets on bunk beds. I also built the clothes rod for the front bedroom, which has the bunk bed and trundle, because it lacks a closet. What were they thinking in the 1930s? Oh, and by the way, the living room sofa is also a bed, so this place can sleep more folks than you’d think!

Killer bed. The colors came out weird. The room is navy and gray.

Anyhow, we’re pleased with how it has come out and look forward to using it for movie nights, ourselves (those fancy houses in town can get cable and good Wi-Fi). And no doubt it will be used by grandchildren and other family of our own (no, no grandchildren for me as far as I know). It’s really comfortable and cozy, and should be pleasant to stay in.

This bedroom came out great, thanks to donated furnishings.

Proud of our teamwork on this one!

Tired of Prickles

I’m really over cockleburs. My fingers are about to give up from extraction of these sticky things from horse tails and manes. I know someone else who’s sick of burs.

I got over a dozen burs out of Apache’s mane and almost as many from his tail. It’s easier getting them out of tails. I think they are out of good grass, so they’re in the weeds.

Once the horses were eating I went after Dusty. I still can’t get to Mabel, but I will get her tied down tomorrow and work on it. At least I got a good sunset ride on Apache in between.

Another Topic

We are working on furnishing the vacation rental. That’s been both fun and challenging. The sofa did NOT want to go in.

But we now have a king bed in the main room, a trundle bunk in the other, plus the sofa bed. I’m hoping for visitors as well as paying guests!

We still need much of the kitchen stuff, linens, a wardrobe for the small bedroom, more pictures and some curtains. We’re close!

More later, but we should start accepting guests in a couple of weeks. I’m sure grateful to the guys from Denio’s Furniture and our team of helpers for putting stuff together and moving stuff for us!

Meanwhile. It may rain again tomorrow!