goodbyes...

It's hard to believe that two weeks have passed since I last wrote. It's funny how as soon as you wash your car, it rains.  As soon as I posted the last blog, little things started happening over at the property.  First, the tree protection went up:

The workers will have a lot of navigating to do but it is all worth it to save the trees.  When we built our house in Virginia none of this was done and several of our big trees died.


In preparation for the house and garage to be demolished, we invited Habitat for Humanity to come in and take everything they wanted.  They came early on a Saturday morning:

and came back the next day to take all the metal off the garage:

Then things quieted down for a few days, at least over at the property.  At home, we were preparing for Michael to leave on his mission.  We said goodbye on Wednesday January 25th:

A friend said, "It's like putting your heart on legs and watching it walk away."  So very true.  But I wouldn't have him anyplace else--he will grow up while he is gone--and learn some very important lessons about life, other people, God, and himself.  And when he comes home, it will to a new house!


From that day until now, emotions have been running high.  Joe and Rob had to let off some steam by taking their turn inside the little old house:

Using paintball guns, a hatchet, knives, screwdrivers and baseball bats they did what boys do best:  DESTROY.  ("Mom, you have to post the video."  Me:  "I don't think any of my friends would want to watch it...")

And today, destroy was the keyword as the little old house came down:

This machine was like a big monster!  The sheer power was amazing to me and I took way too many pictures.  It took about an hour to go from this:

to this:

and that was a teeny, tiny bit sad.  Someone made a lot of memories in that house.    Some of the neighbor kids sat on the fence and watched.  Goodbye, little old house!

BEYOND SLOW

You know how they say "a watched pot never boils" (at least I think that's what they say.)  I guess you could say this:  a watched building and planning department never issues a building permit!  We have been waiting and waiting... and waiting... and waiting... and wait... you get the picture.

Back in November we finished up with all of our rezoning and variance applications and I am happy to report that everything was approved.  We will be able to keep the barn in the location we had planned without removing any trees.  The neighbors gave up their fight, realizing that their complaints really couldn't have an effect on either the rezoning or the barn variance.  The other good news from all of our meetings at City Hall...

The picture shows the letter I received stating that all of our tree citations were dismissed by the city... that was about 23 (criminal, mind you!) citations worth $36,000.... and now I am no longer on the verge of being thrown in jail. Writing to the Mayor and City Council about the situation was one of the smartest things I did this past year!  They were very quick to see that someone "just doing their job" had created a huge problem.

So, over at the property...

The builder has put up his sign.

We've gotten some more dirt.

And we continue to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  We really thought we would have that permit by now.  10 days ago I raced down to Fort Worth on a Friday afternoon to get the final surveys to get the plat approved, which was supposedly the "very last thing they needed," and here we still are.... waiting.

But, I have had lots to keep me busy, so I'm not going as crazy as you might think.  Our son, Michael, is leaving on his 2 year church mission on January 25th.  He is going to Billings, Montana and will be serving all over that state as well as part of Wyoming.  There is a lot to do to get him ready.

I also have a couple of cute girls that love to ride Tia so whenever we can get our schedules to match up they come over and get some "horse time."

This past weekend they had quite the adventure riding double.  In the small riding pen, they decided that it would be fun to go fast.  Mandi was sitting behind the saddle and as Tia started cantering she slipped a little far back and then gripped Tia around the belly to try to stay on.  At which point Tia took the cue to buck and take off!  Both girls held on half-way around the pen and then gravity took over and Mandi hit the ground.  Thank goodness for helmets.  The first thing she said was, "now I've fallen off twice, I have 8 more to go!"  What????  I have fallen off about 4 times in my life and I refuse to fall off 6 more times in order to be a "true" horsewoman!  The girls profusely apologized to each other for going too fast and to Tia for "putting her through that."  Very sweet.  Afterwards, they rode double (at a walk!) all over the property and Tia was very calm, quiet and un-bucking-bronco-like.  And that's how we like her best!

Here's hoping that I'll be posting again very soon and the waiting will be over.  Until then, happy trails and stay in the saddle.

Baby steps...

First and foremost, I am no longer suffering from barn brain!  We have approved and finished the plans for the barn.  Want to see?  The first link shows the outside elevations and the second link shows the floor plan.
 
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43116127/palazzo/B1-02%20%20Elevations-1.PDF, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43116127/palazzo/B1-00%201st%20Floor-1.PDF

I am very excited about it.  In fact, whenever I'm over at the barn where Tia stays now, all I do while I'm cleaning is think about getting that new barn set up. 

The main question left to be answered is, WHERE WILL THE BARN BE LOCATED?  Our current site plan has it sitting partially on the foundation of the old metal garage that is currently on the property.  But, because that would have it sitting foward from the house (on the other side of the lot) we have to get a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to put it there.  We hope our case is solid, because if we can't use that concrete pad then we will have to move the house forward (cut down 4 trees) or move the barn back (cut down 3 trees AND put down a new pad.)  Here's a link to the site plan: 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43116127/palazzo/A1-01%20Site%20Plan-1.PDF

Trees.  Tree.  That is a four letter word in my book right now.  I previously wrote about our issue with the "tree police."  Issue ongoing.  Citations issued.  LARGE sum of money involved.  Mayor and City Council involved.  Turns out that on AG properties you cannot just cut down what you want to or need to on your own land without getting the blessing of the tree powers that be.  Never mind that it is in the process of being rezoned.... We'll be trying to make our case that we had NO IDEA.  And we didn't!

Rain!  Now there's a good word.  We've had enough so that everything has greened back up!  No more going over at all hours to move the hose around so we can save the trees.  Oh, there's that word again.  The creek has plenty of water.... so at least the tires that are in there aren't visible right now.  Trying to look at the positive side.

Green grass... but we won't be living here!

The last bit of good news is that the "for sale" sign in front of our current house is coming down tomorrow.  I'm getting up right now to do a little dance...  yayayayayayay!   We came to our senses and realized that if we don't NEED to sell this house right now, there's really no point in doing it.  Why would we complicate life by moving into the little old house and having to store half of our stuff when we can just stay here until the other house is finished?  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  (I can use the excuse that I didn't think of this before since I had barn-brain.  That could count as no-brain.) 

Behind the scenes work is being done... the builder is applying for the building permit, the site is being re-platted, and we have started making selections.  Here is an example of the stone and window color we hope to use:

The roof is a little too grey, I think.

A good friend of mine introduced me to an addicting website... and I'm getting lots of ideas there.  If you haven't been to www.pinterest.com you are way behind the times!  Here are a couple of ideas that I really like:

These colors make me happy.  My mantra for this house is LIGHT and BRIGHT.

I want to do dark floors, beige walls and white trim.  Not everywhere, but as the basic scheme.



Leaning toward antiqued white cabinets with a contrasting island.  Got to get Jim on board with this one!

Another other great website where I am getting ideas and keeping track of what I like is www.houzz.com.  Highly recommended if you like to look at house stuff!  And lastly, here's a great blog for beautiful home building inspiration:  http://www.theenchantedhome.blogspot.com/. 

Of course, I could literally spend all day (or all night if I can't sleep) on the computer looking at stuff... so I have to limit myself to a few minutes at a time.  Facebook?  Haven't been on in weeks!  Children?  Oh yes... I actually do have some... and I probably should get some dinner going and get the Halloween candy out!  Happy Halloween, Y'all!

The good and the bad...

I never know which to tell first... the good news or the bad news.  In this case, I'm not sure the good news outweighs the bad news, so it probably doesn't matter.

So, good news first:  THE CREEK IS FULL!  We got almost 2 inches of rain over the weekend and so the deep cracks in the earth are gone and the creek is running.  The rain was wonderful.

As you can see, plenty of water.  (You can also see that it's still a mess!  Because of the possible land swap with our neighbor we didn't have the tree guys do any work on the creek yet.  Turns out the neighbors don't seem to want to swap anymore which means a whole additional issue with fencing across the creek... but we'll cross that bridge a little later!)

I wanted to go out and see the creek during the rain but never had a chance.  I could tell where it had been at least a foot or two higher.  I wonder where our giant turtle is hanging out now. 

One creature that will no longer be hanging out at our property is this one:

Not sure what kind it is... I don't think it is poisonous... but the tree workers didn't take any chances.  Our resident hawks or some other scavenger had removed the evidence the next day. 

So, finding a snake on the property COULD be considered bad news, but not really.  That is to be expected.  If it had bit someone that would have been bad news.  The bad news is....

One of the people up the street called the city because of all the tree work going on.  You know, that's not exactly a quiet process, removing and chipping up tree branches.  So, the "tree police" came out and were not happy with the number and size of trees that had been removed from the perimeter of our property (without a permit.)  And they weren't happy with the dirt that had been dumped (without a permit.)  They posted a stop work order.  So now the tree work is at a standstill.  We own the property but we can't really do what we want to or need to on it without the city having a say. (It seems that they have lots of reasons to issue permits and collect the associated fees.)  I've been waiting for the "Landscape Administrator" (aka tree police) to call me today to find out where we go from here but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get back with me. 

Not sure how all of THIS is going to affect the current re-zoning issues, including trying to get the variance to allow us to have the barn set forward from the house.  Some of the neighbors have voiced some concern over the smell of the horses (a smell I happen to love) and the fact that their dogs may "go crazy."  All we can tell them at this point is that we will keep a very clean barn and we will do what we can to minimize the impact on the neighborhood.  I spent much of the weekend fretting and stewing at all hours of the day and night.  Today I'm just irritated.  Maybe that's progress!

Hopefully the next post will be all good news.

Progress report...

It has been awhile since I've had an update... things have been moving along S L O W L Y.  And if you know me, it is requiring a large dose of patience to deal with that!  Finally, this week, some more work is being done on the property. 

These are actually pretty boring pictures... taken with the camera on my phone... so sorry if you are yawning at this point!  The tree company (this is the third one... first one was too busy to finish our project, second one seemed to have some "shady" business dealings (no pun intended!) and so we have gone with this last company which has gotten down to business in a big way as you can tell from all the equipment they have brought in!)  Anyway, the tree company started Monday... clearing the perimeter of the lot of all "trash trees" and fallen logs, etc.  They seem to be doing a good job, other than being a little over-zealous and cutting down a few trees that were not on our property.  I'm waiting for the phone call about that...

It's amazing how the sound of trees coming down brings out the neighbors!  Our new friends across the creek were quizzing the tree guys about what we are doing and were very afraid that they are going to lose their privacy.  They may be interested in swapping property on our side of the creek for the part of ours that is on their side.  That would be great since it is a little difficult to fence across a creek, but that will take some time to sort out.  We also got a call from another bordering neighbor who wanted to make sure that we are not putting in a big, lighted tennis court.  Since I haven't played tennis since junior high, I assured her that we would not be.  She is thrilled that they will be able to look out over our pasture and see horses when all is said and done.  Very nice lady.

On the home building front, I have been bogged down with trying to sort out all of our rezoning issues.  Dealing with government (of any kind) can be such a trying experience!!!  It actually reduced me to tears the other day.  We were all set to move forward with a fairly straightforward zoning change from agricultural to single family acreage when the "city planner" noticed on our site plan that the barn is going to sit forward from the front of the house (even though it is way off to the side of the property.)  Apparently in city ordinance 33.4-f it states that no accessory building can be in the "front yard."  So now we have to file a variance and PROVE that it is a hardship and we need to receive a variance.  Well, considering a) the thousands of dollars associated with relocating it off the existing concrete pad and b) the need to remove and/or damage trees if we move it or the house anywhere else on the property it does seem like we have a hardship.  But now it will be up to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to make that determination.  If they decide no then we have to go back and rezone a different way.  My new specialty when all is said and done will be "jumping through hoops!"

Awhile back I wrote about "barn brain."  Still suffering, in case you're wondering.  We've gone back and forth and back and forth.  Once final decision is that we will not use the existing metal garage, just the concrete pad.  We have a final (hopefully) meeting with the architect this evening to finish up with the barn design.  I know they probably think I am just being picky... you know...the horse-crazy woman... but I've been in enough barns to know what I do and do not want.  Of course, I want it all!  But I AM trying to be reasonable!!  :-)  Here's to hoping that my mush for brains doesn't get me in trouble at the meeting....

Oh, yes. Almost forgot the last picture...

Here's our new dirt.  Thanks to some local swimming pool companies that are digging right now, we have about fifteen 5 ft high piles of dirt that will be used to level out the area for the house.  And it was FREE!!  Not sure how much more we need but at least it's a start.  Because of the rezoning we can't actually "break ground" until December.  Hopefully a few more pools will get dug by then and we'll be ready to hit the ground running.  Or I should say grading!  Bring on the earth movers already!

DRY.

Facts about the drought in Texas:

• This is the worst one-year drought on record
• This summer was the hottest of any state's record going back to 1895
• August was the hottest month in Texas history
• Only 7.47 inches of rain has fallen this year

(taken from http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/wild-facts-about-the-texas-drought)

Here's what it looks like at our place:
 

Yes, that is a 12-inch deep crack in the ground.

I will admit that I absolutely LOVE the sun.  I love warm weather and I don't mind hot weather.  The other day I found myself being thankful for a sunny day.  And then I realized I should actually be praying for rain.  I like thunderstorms (or at least I used to before our dog became deathly afraid of them) and I like rain showers.  I do not like day after day after day of gray skies and rainy weather.  That is why I live in Texas and not the Pacific Northwest!  HOWEVER, at this point I am willing to endure all of that to get some relief from the terrible drought we are having.  It is predicted that 10% of all the trees in the DFW area will die from the drought conditions within the next 2 years.  So we are watering, watering, watering all of our big oaks in hopes of saving them.

The ONE positive to having such dry conditions right now is that there is work that can be done!  On the back corner of our property, we have a creek.  Well, it used to be a creek.  Right now it is a ditch with some pools of pretty nasty water here and there.  Being optimistic that it will soon rain, we are in the process of getting all the debris cleaned out of the creek bed and thinning out the trees around it.

Yes, those are TIRES that the previous owners dumped in the creek.  We will also get to pay to have this large concrete chunk removed....

We look forward to the day when the creek is running again.  In the meantime, the work is progressing and we are praying for rain (as soon as the creek bed is cleared out!)

This week I'm off to the Planning and Zoning board to get the property properly zoned for building. (say that 3 times fast!)  For some reason it doesn't matter that there is already a house there... because it was zoned agriculture and not residential we can't build a new house on it until the zoning is changed.  EIGHT WEEKS??? I about fell out of my chair when the guy said it could take that long. What are the chances that about the time we can break ground the heavens open and we are inundated with rain? 





Random things, old and new



Things are progressing at the property slowly but surely.  We've been spending a lot of time pouring over the house plans making sure everything is in order.  Thankfully, Jim has a good eye for where all the plugs and light switches need to go.  I have barn brain.  It's basically mush for brains from trying over and over to figure out how to use an existing structure and cover it up with a new one to create a great home for Tia and a new pal.  We need the garage space AND horse space and I just need someone to put the plans in front of me without it costing a(nother) small fortune.

Other goings on: 

 

Old electric wires on the house



 We're having all the old electric poles (3 of them) taken down and the electric lines buried. 





Hello new electric box.  We hoped you would be
 underground, too.  Try not to get in the way too
much, okay?

We've found some "mystery mounds" around the property.  Here's one:



Upon further exploration we pulled out an old rotted
wood pallet and a smashed plastic paint bucket. 
We don't know if there is just more garbage or if it
might be an old well.  That and the other "mystery
mounds" are going to be excavated this week.



Some other old things:

 The old well.  Very scary.  This will have to be permanently capped or filled in.  I'm old enough to remember when a toddler got trapped in a well like this for 36 hours in the 1980's. 

In residence right now... EWW.

Another resident that will have to go:

Poison Ivy.  Bain of tree trimmers, Jim and Joe, so far.

Old things I want to find homes for:  The cow light switch in the old living room.  Joe's friend McKenzie wants it!  The living room light fixtures... love them.  Do 1960's light fixtures work in new homes?



So, the almost 5 acres of grass got mowed today.  The interior trees are trimmed.  The electricity is going down and under.  The tree guys will be back at work this week... I said to Jim, "shouldn't we get the tree guys to come and clean out the creek bed while it is still dry?  What if it rains and then we can't get all the junk out?"  He had already called them and set it up.  He is on top of more than just light switches and plugs, let me tell you!  I could never keep up with all of it.  My job is to work on getting the property rezoned so we can get our building permit... I think I'll just go draw up another barn idea first ....