Puppy and Paint

Well, we did it. We got a dog. She is beautiful and exactly what I wanted. She is a husky/german shepherd mix...her coloring is amazing, blonde and gold fur and gold eyes...she really just looks like a husky, she has all the markings and she does not bark (thank GOD)...but I guess her unusual coloring is the german shepherd part of her. We named her Jenny, she is sweet and loving. She has not figured out the pee and poop outside thing, it is really frustrating for me...I can't handle the indoor messes. So, I am practicing dilligence and patience and taking her outside as often as possible. I need a crate, but I have to get one and I haven't done that yet.



Also, Andy just e-mailed me and said the painter can come out on Saturday. THIS Saturday, as in the day after tomorrow. Aiy yai. That means our new years day will be spent taping up windows and doors and buying paint. Woot! No worries, I'd rather get it done and out of the way. The thing I love about Andy most is that he does not procrastinate...he says he's gonna do something and he does it.



Much to do. Christmas tree goes down today, and life goes back to normal. YAY!

Christmas at The Ranch

I can't move. I'm exhausted.

Christmas was a success here at Di Long Ranch. The boys got a go-cart and a trampoline, we had family over for prime rib dinner and played a little music on the porch while the sun went down. It was fabulous. The day after Christmas I had to make two more cheesecakes (I made 8 cheesecakes to give as gifts to many of our friends) and then we had a gig at one of our favorite venues, "The Gambling Cowboy".

Half way through the show I hit a wall. I made it through the last two hours, but it was not easy. I was exhausted, but the audience was fun and that carried me through. Our friends Tom, Laura, Roger and Kathy came out to support us. We truly have some amazing friends.

Sunday Roger came out and helped Andy put together the trampoline. His son, Joey, brought his pellet gun and shot a jack rabbit on the property...whooo hooo! Go Joey! Our other friend, Tom, brought out some fancy outdoor lighting and installed them for us as a housewarming gift. They are SO GORGEOUS! They are going to match the paint perfectly as well.

Also, while Tom was here, he started bending our ear about our wedding plans. How many people? What time? What's the theme? Who is our photographer? What kind of tables and where will they go? Instantly our minds started swimming in TMI. He offered some great insight, however. The most interesting suggestion was to set up the right lighting, ALL OVER THE PROPERTY. Not only lighting the house, but lighting the driveway and the boulders on the property...it was an EXCELLENT idea. I knew dramatic lighting would improve the curb appeal of Di Long Ranch, but I never thought about lighting the rocks...THAT would be AMAZING! The good news is, lighting is cheap...and TOM LOVES TO INSTALL LIGHTING. Ding ding ding! Winner, winner!

Anyway, now that Christmas is over, and New Years is practically under our belt...we can really start diving into projects. Andy finished the fencing, and painting the house is next on our to-do list.

And So It Begins...

Tomorrow is the first day Andy and I have off together to work on projects around the property...YAY! and YIKES! There is much to do, and the first challenge is knowing where to start.

We want to get a dog, or two...but before we do that, we need to make sure the fence line is secure so the dog(s) will not be tempted to roam off of the property. 3/4 of the perimeter has deer fencing, but the remainder is just barb-wire, a dog could easily slip through it. The previous owners left a roll of deer fencing, so Andy is going to unroll that in the morning and see if he can finish off the property line.

We are also looking forward to painting the house very soon, so we are planning to cover the windows and doorways with paper so we can hopefully have the painters come out next week.

Another interesting project we are considering is building a deck, or wood-plank walkway out from the porch to the steps. There are tons of 4 x 4's left behind from the previous owner, some are 10 feet long and some are 20 feet...so we are going to bring those out and see if we can find a way to build our walkway.

Other projects for this weekend include trimming trees and a general "clean-up" of the property. That should keep us pretty busy.

I took my first walk today, down the driveway and out to the dirt road. It was glorious, exhilerating and a little overwhelming. This land has so much promise, its like a blank canvas...so many things we can do, and quite a few obstacles to overcome. The first real issue we have to tackle is the rabbits. Andy is hoping that getting a dog will solve the problem, but I am not convinced. I hope he is right. We also need to find plants that the rabbits don't like and make good use of those.

I took another picture of the sheep while I was out...

Last week we had a very good rain for several days. This picture was taken outside our front door when the sun broke through the clouds. Andy and I were out of town when the heaviest rain hit. My mom was here with the kids and they locked themselves out of the house. (hahaha) They said the wind was blowing like crazy and the rain was pouring down in buckets. When we got home we saw how the water had washed away some areas around the driveway, so this is another concern we have down the road. You can tell where the previous owner had filled eroded areas with rocks, which is a really good idea. Lord knows we have plenty of ROCK! This week the sun is shining and it is a beautiful, temperate 80 degrees in Winchester, CA. The landscape is covered with a subtle layer of "green". During my walk I could hear cows moo-ing in the distance. I can't believe this is my life. Amazing.

Wabbit Twacks

I have to laugh a little bit. One day, right before escrow closed, Andy and I were walking around the new property and he says, "wow, look at all the peppercorns on the ground!" There is no grass growing here, it is all dirt...a few sage bushes and fruit trees...but no grass and no shrubbery or flowers. Scattered all around the property there are piles of little black (perfectly round) pellets...which Andy mistook for peppercorns. I giggled outloud, "those aren't peppercorns silly, that's rabbit poop!" He looked at me in horror and disbelief..."Nooooooooooooooo!!!" We thought about it for a minute and realized, THAT'S WHY there is nothing growing on the land, not even weeds. Sure enough, the second night after we moved in, Andy's sister opened the front door to venture out to the garage and about 20 sweet little cottontail bunnies scattered in all directions. HOW CUTE, right?

WRONG!

These adorable little furballs are DESTRUCTIVE. They have eaten all of my potted plants, INCLUDING my palm trees. I can't believe it.

We have been searching the internet for solutions. Apparently they make some kind of spray that the rabbits don't like, so we will probably invest in something like that. We are also talking about getting a dog, maybe TWO very soon. I think we have also abandoned the idea of planting any grass...although I have also heard there is a grass out there that bunnies don't eat. Will have to do more investigating on that one.

On to more pleasant subjects...SHEEP!

Check it out! Last week I was driving out our dirt road to run some errands and almost hit a sheep! There is a local herder who contracts out his sheep to "mow" fields of weeds. These sheep are FAT and happy, let me tell you! My kids took a walk down to the field to take some upclose pictures, and witnessed a mama sheep giving birth. They were a little grossed out, but it was definitely an eye opening experience for them. How cool!

So, Andy and I have finally agreed on colors to paint the house. Not that we were DISAGREEING, but my ideas were to keep it simple and he wanted a little more color than I was proposing. We came to a happy agreement. The main color will be a very light peach color, and the trim will be a dark red-brown with accents of dark chocolate brown. I hadn't considered a third trim color, but when I saw the samples together it looked amazing. Let's see if I can type text samples, lol. PEACH, RED-BROWN, DARK CHOCOLATE.

In other news, yesterday we ate our first tangerine off of one of our trees, it was DELICIOUS! Also picked a pomegranite. The previous owners mapped out the different fruit trees for us, and I finally got around to looking at it the other day. WOW! We have different kinds of apples and pear trees, a cherry tree, apricot, pluot, pomegranite, tangerine, lemon and figs. I think it would be cool to also plant a pumpkin patch next year.

So much to do. Glad I finally found my uploader so I can add pictures to my posts!

and on the 5th day...they rested.

It is Sunday. Glorious Sunday.

Friday night's gig was a success, but we were exhausted. I don't really even remember driving home or going to bed.

Saturday we got up and powered out many projects before our guests started to arrive at 3pm. We emptied the last of the "necessary" boxes and stashed the rest in the garage. We set up the kitchen table, hung a few pictures and Andy went out to buy a chiminea and a few tiki torches. My son and I made a few centerpieces out of kitchen bowls and floating roses that we cut from the arbor. A few candles placed around was the finishing touch...everyone was quite impressed!

Before the party, we had a dramatic thunderstorm...it was AMAZING! From up here we can see the weather coming in from any direction. The clouds were threatening, but beautiful...we continued to work in between raindrops and then suddenly...CRAAAAACK, KA-BOOM! Thunder and lightening! It was FABULOUS! Heavy rain followed and even a little sleet, totally COOL! Our first guests arrived as the clouds parted and the sun came out...perfect timing. I wish I had gotten it together to take pictures of the whole event, but the truth is, we were so busy (multi-tasking at its finest!) that it did not even occur to me to walk around with my camera.

The party started with red wine, burgers and dogs on the grill. I also made a batch of my famous sausage and peppers. YUM-O. We huddled on the porch, watched the sun set and talked for hours. Later in the evening we broke out the guitars and kit-drum set and started jamming. This is a tradition with Andy's close circle of friends. Every few months they get together for a "Bistro Jam". Months ago we planned my first bistro jam on November 28...NOT KNOWING we would be buying a new house and moving into it 3 days prior. We talked about postponing the date, but Andy and I wanted to keep it. We were looking forward to hosting "Lisa's Bistro Jam" on our new property...and we did. We even opened up our first bottle of Di Long Ranch wine and sampled it, the perfect christening. The whole night was perfect...just the right combination of new friends and old friends. It was fun. Really fun.

This morning we had a few lingering guests, so I made a country/hangover breakfast, complete with very strong coffee...and tylenol.

Now the house is quiet. Andy is napping, and I am taking a moment to catch up on e-mails, Facebook and of course, blogging. I know I keep promising pictures, but my downloader is in a box somewhere. I will get around to it, I promise!

Di Long Ranch is underway. It might be New Years before we get around to doing any painting or landscaping, but that is just around the corner. We look forward to hoisting a real Christmas tree in the living room and celebrating our first Christmas together as a family. It is exciting.

We're Here!

It's the day after Thanksgiving...barely. 1:30 am Friday morning, I went to bed kinda early and woke up an hour ago unable to sleep anymore despite my exhaustion. We moved in here on Wednesday and it has been non-stop for about 36 hours. Tonight we have a gig, so I am hoping after this post I can lie down and get some sleep.

It's beautiful here. We sit out on the porch in the morning with a cup of coffee (and the evening with a glass of wine) and enjoy the view to the west. The weather has been just beautiful, the sky is clear so we can see the stars as well as the twinkling city lights. I can't find the words to tell you how beautiful it is. Our minds are spinning thinking about all the cool projects are ahead of us. Painting, planting, decorating...so much to look forward to.

I just wish I could sleep.

We have some friends coming out on Saturday, we are hoping to be somewhat organized by then. Andy is buying a fire pit tomorrow so we can all sit on the porch in the evening and keep warm. Andy's sister has been here since Tuesday night, she helped us move...poor girl! She thought she was coming to enjoy Thanksgiving! BUT, she loves the new house, and was totally blown away when she drove up here. It really is breath-taking.

OK, obviously I am delirious. I thought it would be cool to get up and write a blog post, but nothing profound is coming out, hahaha. I guess I just wanted to announce that we finally arrived! Oh, and more good news! One of the movers said he and his girlfriend have been wanting to rent a condo like mine, so I may have also found renters. That would be great.

Alright, I guess I'll try to get some sleep.

For Reals

Our closing date is rapidly approaching. We had been forecasting Friday, November 20th all along, but LO AND BEHOLD they found some new inspection at the very last minute that needed to be completed (and cost us an additional $550)...so that may put us at Tuesday next week. Whatever it is, I am not going to sweat it.

Starting today, I am going to leisurely start going through rooms...sorting, organizing, throwing out and packing. It'll be fun! (How many of you bought into my enthusiasm?)

I am also still trying to find a renter for my condo.

OH! Our first batch of wine has been completed and bottled, we ended up with a little over 2 cases of wine, the labels and foil caps make it look SO PROFESSIONAL! (Thank you Mark!) I took some pictures, but I misplaced my camera, so when I find it, I'll post them here.

Another tid-bit of good news is that Andy's friend Mark (yes, another Mark...we know lots of Mark's and Dave's) came out to give us an estimate on paint. If we can tape off the windows and the trim his guys will come out and just throw on the paint for $1000. That's a pretty good deal. The trim we can do ourselves over time.

OK...time to get serious and start packing!

Still Waiting and Jumping Through Hoops

And the drama continues...I mean escrow.

Actually, it does seem that our loan has been approved, but the bank is asking for verification of a few things. (of course) So Andy is jumping through those hoops today. We have both been a little stressed out. If all moves forward the way it should, we should close escrow on November 20. We have a show that night, which is no big deal...the rest of the weekend we have free. That actually works out perfect, there is a GOD! The kids have school Monday and Tuesday, so I am hoping to move their classroom that Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) and finish any other loose-ends that day. My sister-in-law-to-be will be coming in that day, so she can help me organize.

Friday is another day we can use for loose-ends and then we have a show that night.

Sorry, just realized I was using my blog post to sort out the move...hahaha.

So, I guess I just need to calm down and realize we have plenty of time to do this. I have been under worse time constraints in my life, this should be no problem at all.

The question still remains if Andy plans to paint the exterior before we move in. I think we have decided to live with the light-colored carpet for awhile, much to my chagrin. The way things are going though, it is an added an unnecessary expense and we really don't have the time to deal with it. I have to learn to let go of my expectations. I have to learn how to accept white carpeting...ugh.

Anyway, other than my ramblings, I really don't have much more to post. We are about to bottle our first experimental home-made batch of wine. It is a Barolo, and I'm not quite sure how it tastes...we took a sip the other night and it wasn't TERRIBLE, (but it didn't exactly taste like wine either). This is a label design my friend Mark put together! Pretty cool, huh?

More to come, stay tuned!

Let's Give Them Something To Blog About

Escrow = Drama

Plain and simple.

I have never had a pleasant escrow experience, even when its a simple refinance. Thank GOD this is Andy's escrow, I have been through it so many times and although I always try to keep an even keel and "go with the flow", it is always like having a match lit under your ass for 30 - 45 days. My last escrow was a nightmare...complete disaster. This is Andy's escrow, however...I get to be the observer, well...sort of. He is doing the same thing, trying to stay calm...keep the paperwork flowing, jump when they say jump, wait when they say wait...and last night, poor guy, he went to bed tied up in knots. I feel for him.

From the time he got home at 5pm, until we went to bed at 10pm...the phone kept ringing and the news kept changing. The loan is off, the loan is on, the loan is off, the loan is on...ridiculous. I can't describe in too much detail what happened, but from what I understand Andy's friend who was getting his loan for him dropped the ball and completely screwed up. I'm not sure how this is possible since we have been on the phone with him everyday for the past 3 months...but he did. The sad part is, Andy had to fire his friend. I am sure it kind of felt like a betrayal, when you hire your friends you trust that they will treat your business with kit gloves, especially when it comes to large amounts of money and personal information. Sad.

Anyway, the phone continued to ring throughout the evening. These people want to sell us this house...so SOMEONE is going to write a loan for us. It's the process that is maddening.

Soapbox is now put away. Thank you for allowing me to vent! :)

Water Tank and Hardwood Floors

Our Real Estate Agent did some extensive research and with the help of the current owner, we found a solution to our water pressure problem. A large holding tank is going to be installed somewhere close to the house, this tank will be filled with water from the well at the bottom of the hill and will provide us with adequate pressure. It is a pretty inexpensive fix, and the seller is kicking in $2,000 toward the project.



Andy and I have been kicking around our thoughts as to the timing of our move, the upgrades we want to do before the wedding, etc... Andy wants to paint the exterior of the house before we move. He HATES the color it is now...which he calls "battleship gray". Personally, I don't understand why we can't do interior upgrades first, then move our furniture in, and THEN paint the exterior. BUT, I have decided to bow to his judgement. If he cannot be happy with the color, then we should paint it.



My big thing is the floors. Whenever I move into a new house, I want to redo the floors before the moving truck rolls in. My family has been in the carpet business for 30 years, so flooring has been fairly inexpensive for us. New flooring just makes the house FEEL new, and it gives it that personal touch. In this particular house, I want to go with hardwood floors. It is now wall-to-wall off-white/beige colored carpet. White carpeting is like a nightmare for me. I live with three men and three cats. I love my family, but spills happen, and white carpeting is practically impossible to keep clean. Andy's suggestion is to keep the carpet until we beat the hell out of it and the kids move out...then put in the hardwood floors. The thought of it makes me cringe.



So, I have put my mind into a different perspective. I am not going to be selfish, I am going to just keep my mind focused on the hardwood floors but find a way to be content with the ivory colored carpet until that happens.


I think Andy would like us to move out of the condo ASAP so we can start collecting rent money. So, I am thinking December 1st is probably our target move-in date, since escrow is estimated to close on November 20. This gives us 10 days to paint the exterior. One month from Sunday...here we go! Hang on to your bootstraps!

In Escrow

As of yesterday we are now in escrow. We went out to the property yesterday with our real estate agent and an property inspector. He gave the property a fairly "clean bill of health", although we discovered that the water pressure to the house is very low. VERY low. The owner even mentioned that to us before the inspector got started. The house has its own well, which is AWESOME. That means we do not have to pay for water AND the water is usually pretty clean tasting. I have lived on property with well water before and loved it. The problem is that the well is at the bottom of the hill and the house is at the top of the hill...gravity rules apparently. SO, we need to investigate the possibility of getting an additional pump that can provide better water pressure to the house. Andy says that he cannot live with the water pressure that low...and I can understand how that would be a frustration in time. So, I have my work cut out for me this week, I need to investigate how much a secondary pump would be or find out what the options might be.

On a happier note, after the inspection Andy says he is more in love with the property than ever. He brought his boss out there and he said this property is an excellent opportunity...even the inspector said he would love to have a house in a location like that. ALSO, Andy mentioned this morning he would like to have his friend Pete help us with the landscaping. Pete is an artist, not just a landscaper...he is amazing. That would take a huge weight off of both of us to have the yard professionally landscaped.

Anyway, off to work! More later on my findings!

Our Initial Goals

To start, we made a list of the things we liked and disliked about this house and property.

We liked:

The house is on the hill

Although we have neighbors, they are quite a distance away.

We have room to grow

We can pretty much do whatever we want on this property

The house is cared for by the current owners, no damages to repair

We have an incredible view in every direction

It has a water well

We disliked:

The house is a modular home

The exterior color of the house

The house is smaller than we would have liked

There is minimal landscaping (this is both good and bad)

- good because we can do whatever we want

- bad because the ground is susceptible to erosion, and it is going to cost money to make it look nice

There are only 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms

Our first goals are to fix up a few things before we move in. THEN we need to work toward our wedding plan.

The finished look we are going for is a southwest style ranch home. So we decided that we will repaint the interior and exterior an eggshell white and the trim of the house brown. The white walls will open up the home, and the brown trim will give it that southwest feel. These neutral yet dramatic colors will lend to nearly any other color we choose to decorate in over the years. It also matches all of our existing furniture. We also want hardwood floors, and have not decided if we want hardwood throughout or just in the livingroom area.

Before:

(see how dark it feels?)

Here are a few pictures of the "After" looks we are shooting for:

(light, airy and more open)

So, before we move in, Andy INSISTS that we paint the exterior because he REALLY hates the color. BUT, it is really necessary to do any flooring and interior paint we want to do BEFORE we start moving furniture. SO, hardwood floors, interior paint and exterior paint. Aiy Yai! *My guess is, once we put in the hardwood floor and paint the interior he will be okay to move us in and paint the outside afterward. ;)

Still, it sounds like a hefty project, yes?

One Year Later

It is nearly one year since that last post. Ten days after I wrote it, I found the man who I was meant to spend my life with. His name is Andy Long. He is a musician, a hard-worker, a partner, he has a tender heart and yet he is strong and stable. We met putting together a music project and we ended up falling in love. In June he moved into my house with me and we have been house-hunting all summer. Many of the homes in this area are bank owned (repos) and it was actually creepy walking thru these houses. Some of them have been vandalized by the owners before they left. Others, you can just feel the anger and sadness of the people who had lived there and were forced to leave. In fact, we made an offer on a house that was a short-sale and the owner made demented phone calls to us, trying to discourage us from purchasing so she could live there a little longer (without paying her house payment probably). So, after awhile I told Andy we should probably stop trying so hard...the right house will come to US when the time was right. He proposed a few weeks after that and then...lo and behold...the perfect house DID come to us.

Both of us have had a dream of owning some property...perhaps do some farming, have some horses...and ultimately we would like to grow grapes and learn how to make wine and build a family business. Andy's real estate agent e-mailed me a listing (without knowing our dream) of a property that would be perfect for that.

The house is a little smaller than we would like, and Andy does not care for the color or the decor AT ALL. So, I have been assigned to put together the design project for the interior, exterior and the landscaping. All VERY exciting. We would like to have our wedding there on the property in about 6 months. (GOOD LUCK, RIGHT?) hahaha

Anyway, escrow will open this week and it will probably close by Thanksgiving. Once we start doing a few of the initial remodeling projects we will get a feel for how long it will take us to be ready for the wedding.

Over the next few weeks I will post "before" pictures and my vision for what I would like to accomplish before March of next year. Then the following posts will be the renovation in progess...YAY! Exciting!