That’s right, we did it! After 25 years of talking about moving to the mid west and buying a farm, here we are. We had a good run in California, but it’s time for something new.
When one crosses the border from California, there is an immediate difference. What we appreciate is the difference in the free spirit many (although not all) people have outside of California. The spaces are wide and free of clutter (in general), traffic is light (in general), people leave you alone (in general), and people mind their own business. It’s not for everyone, for sure. It’s not better or worse. It’s better for us, though.
This is what we wake up to.
Well, it’s not the view to the California Channel Islands we are used to, but it’s not too shabby. That’s our barn and workshop. The barn needs a few upgrades to be critter-proof, but it’s mostly re-done, and it’s adorable. It even has a hay loft!
The house sits on ten acres with a sweet little woods surrounding the pasture. It’s all set up for a cow or horses. For now, I just stare at it and imagine. Judah has big plans for the pond. I wonder how many ducks he’ll fit into it!
There are so many spaces to explore on this property. The house itself is a hid-and-seekers dream! It’s an old farm house, it burnt down, and then it was rebuilt, and THEN it was added to. When you think of a farm house, this house fits the bill. The floor is a bit wonky, and the bathroom looks out onto the mud room, but its rooms echo with generations of happy children and happy times. It immediately felt like home!
And no house of ours would be complete without something nutty like a boat in a tree.
For now, the inside looks like it’s being moved into, because it’s being moved into! Ha! Every day there are fewer boxes to go through, and every day I wonder where that thing is that I am SURE I put into this box! The kitchen is mostly intact, as are the bedrooms, by now, so we can live well while we unpack the rest.
Driving around our little towns has been all an adventurer could ask for! Seymour is the town we consider to be the closest, but our tiny town of Fordland hasn’t disappointed, either. It’s a town of 800. I was informed by the Fountain Care waitress that they just recently updated their population sign from 400 to 800, a fact she was quite proud of. I told her that now there are 806 people living here, and she acknowledged this as a factual statement. She is very serious about her job, and is good at it. Not a lot of time to discuss the obvious. And there’s a church in Fordland that proclaims itself as holy, which seems positive. Perhaps that is where the Seymour Jesus lives? These small-town signs are my favorite thing! And we have livestock guardians at the turn-off to our street. They look happily at cars that pass. Good dogs!
We are very tired, want to get the house unpacked faster than is reasonable, and have found all the good places to eat around us…because the stove is still not hooked up!
I am so in love with this place!
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