Now We've Done It

We went and bought a piece of property.

One of the reasons I've been spotty about posting lately is that I've been a bit scattered. For the past couple of years, my husband and I have discussed investing in real estate. In my mind, it has always taken the form of a vacation home, either at the coast or in the mountains. It took shape as a country home, in Tulare, smack dab in the middle of the valley.

The house doesn't look like much from the outside, which is good. It is surrounded by almost 18 acres of walnuts, rendering us "walnut farmers." This is a shot of the trees, before they began dropping leaves in earnest.

The interior of the home is, to put it bluntly, simply amazing. When you walk in the front door, and turn to the left, there is a living room.

The living room extends to the south into this area. The framework that you can barely see on the right holds a wood-burning stove.

To the right of the front door is the dining room. In the doorway stands our son, who is currently acting as caretaker of the property.

There are two "guest" bedrooms, each has a built-in desk.

They also have closets with built-in closet organizers.

The guest bathroom has a tub/shower and plenty of storage for linens.

The master bedroom has a built-in armoire and small walk-in closet.

And a bit of a bay window for the bed.

The master bath has a combo tub/shower, and dual sinks. It feels small, but the best part is that there is NO WASTED SPACE IN THE BATHROOM. I hate my current master bath, specifically because it's the biggest waste of space in our house. These folks knew what they were doing, saving the space for actually living area.

The kitchen would have been my mother's dream. She LOVED to cook, but did not have enough space in which to work. The space is here, it is simply devoid of anything needed to actually do some cooking. No pots, no pans, no spices, no nuthin.

Here's another view, that shows more storage. This house is FULL of storage. It's like they heard my complaints about my current home, and did everything possible to combat its problems. "This house is too dark!" The new house is LIGHT. "The bathroom is the biggest waste of space ever!" This master bath is not. "I need storage! I have no place to put anything!!" There is storage galore. Every time I turn around, I discover yet another place to store something. It is amazing.

And finally, the piece de resistance, the laundry room. Drumroll, please....

After raising four kids and living with a dairy veterinarian - think cow poop - I've logged almost as many hours in the laundry room as I have in the bedroom, sleeping. For 13 years, I did laundry in the garage. For the past 16 years, I've done laundry in a room that allows me to sidle in sideways, to gain access to the washer and dryer. It is possible to bump my bottom on the wall, as I bend over to load the dryer.

Look at this beauty! I could DANCE in there if I wanted to. I know, most of you don't feel like dancing when you're doing laundry, but if you wanted to? You could!!!

So that's it. This is what I've been thinking about and working on and one of the many reasons why I have been posting so irregularly.

I hope the pictures were worth waiting for, I definitely think so!!! Signed, the Lady Walnut Farmer