April 30, 2018

An Anniversary of Sorts

We've been here a year now, actually a year and two weeks. I forgot to post about it on the actual year date. In a way, it seems like we have been here for years. It no longer seems strange to turn off the highway at our new exit, the pastures, ponds, cattle, and goats no longer seem strange and new. The view out our windows, when I remember to look up, doesn't fill me with awe that it is really ours. It's still pretty, especially now, but I'm used to it.


We love our new little town.  I haven't met anyone yet who wasn't friendly and welcoming.  We're on first name basis with the people at the post office, the water department, the library, and the grocery store.  There are actually two, tiny grocery stores, but we usually go to the nearest one.  I've been to the other one a couple of times when the near one doesn't have something and it seems they carry exactly the same items.  There are a couple of dollar stores, a couple of restaurants in town, and several fast food places at the truck stops by the interstate.  The best shop though, is the quilt shop.

The town's population is just under 1900 people and of course there are houses popping up everywhere outside the city limits.  It's still just a 1A school though.  There is one traffic light, and it is a single blinking red light.  During peak traffic, there might be three cars waiting at the light.  The library just became computerized, but it's pretty laid back.  No fine for overdue books, and if the librarian knows someone's name (and she does), she doesn't even need to look at their library card.  When we first moved here, the library still had pockets in the back of books that people signed when checking out a book.  The biggest event in town is the Christmas parade and the next biggest is the tractor pull in July.

We're further from the interstate than we were before, but because we are on a hill, we hear the traffic more here.  We're closer to town than in our last place, and a couple of neighbors ride their bicycles to town regularly.  I'm not sure I could dodge all the potholes and dips in the road, but traffic wouldn't be a problem.  However, I usually need to take the truck to pick up some kind of building supplies.

Building has cost more (a lot more) than we anticipated, it takes longer to get things done (six and a half months for them to get the final electric meter in so we could start wiring, and five months before that to get the first wrong meter), and we are still living in our fifth wheel. At least we aren't in our first little travel trailer. I think if we were still in that, we might not be speaking to each other now. Still, it's a small fifth wheel and most of our stuff is either in boxes in the attic or still in storage.  Several neighbors told us they lived in their trailers for a year and a half before finishing their houses, and I hope we don't beat their record.

After the electrician installed the meter and did the wiring in the garage half of the barndominium, Hubby has been doing the home side. He does a little in the evenings, but mostly on weekends when there isn't something else going on. This past weekend, he wired on Saturday and finished the siding on the porches on Sunday. I should be out there caulking right now. Or mudding the closet. Or finishing the terracing. There's always something.

We've decided to put in mini-split hvac units even though every local company who made bids advised against it. We've both researched and compared mini-splits to central hvac and it seems the best choice for this barndo, considering the amount of insulation we will have and the passive cooling configuration we have.  The smallest central unit would be too big for our space and then be inefficient.  That is the next big project, and it will make it easier to work on the barndo this summer. Last summer, the heat kept us from working past June and then it was hard to get started again in the fall.

I hope by the next anniversary, I can say we have lived in our home for xx months!


3 comments:

  1. Times flies doesn't it. We moved here it 2001 and it seems like yesterday, but it's been quite a few years. Glad you like where you moved. It's important to be where you want to be.

    Have a fabulous day. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, a year already? It sounds like a laid back place. Hope the house stuff speeds up from here.

    ReplyDelete

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