Thursday Morning

This was a morning of sublime joy.  It started with breakfast al fresco on the front porch.  Since I'm awakened every morning at 6:30 a.m., or earlier, depending on his mood, by my fine feline friend Moses, I've come to enjoy breakfast on my front porch.  Moses loves to enjoy his morning constitutional outdoors as early as possible.  Hence the early wake up meow.  Sitting outdoors to eat breakfast helps sooth my soul and gives me an idea of what to expect of the weather.  I do have to put in a disclaimer, just because Moses thinks I need to arise at 6:30 a.m., does not mean that I do.  I usually shoo him out of the bedroom, if I don't have to work early, and get up around 7:15ish, a much more civilized time.

View from my perch.

My breakfast perch.

Breakfast consisted of one fried egg with light Mexican shredded cheese, one homemade Whole Grain Blueberry Muffin, half of a diced avocado and a cup of fresh french press coffee (decaf of course) with coconut creamer.  My favorite breakfast.

The many faces of Moses.

 

Next it was on to the Paint Creek Trail for a bike ride. 

 It usually takes me about an hour to ride the trail from the trail head at Tienken road to the trail head in Lake Orion and back.  I'm all about the joy of riding and not about how fast I can accomplish the ride.  Needless to say, I'm frequently passed up by speedier, more focused riders. Carry on, you glutton's for punishment, this is supposed to be fun.  Right?  

The only advantage of having to work weekends, is that you have days off during the week.  On weekdays the trail is quieter and less congested.  I can ride for a mile without encountering another pedestrian or biker.  My motto is to go a la alone.  Me and the bike and the trail, the best way to experience the sights and sounds.  I saw a doe and a young small rack buck.  They were peering at me from the tall grass on the side of the trail.  As another biker approached they pronged across the field, white tails at attention.  Pronged - to leap gracefully, vertically and with forward momentum, propelling the leaper at a rapid pace periodically above the grass line.  My definition.  I encountered numerous flora of which I don't know the names.  I heard the bong of the bullfrog and the sweet song's of the birds. Riding the trail is my way of regaining my equilibrium and restoring my calm.  

The Paint Creek Trail is crisscrossed numerous times, not surprisingly, by Paint Creek.  It is the first Rails to Trails in Michigan and the prettiest trail in Southeast Michigan, in my opinion.  It is built on the limestone bed of the old Central Michigan railroad line.  It offers great biking, walking, running, fishing and horseback riding.  I took a lot photos this morning, because I wanted you to have a glimpse of the sublime experience I had this morning.

Looking forward to the experience.

Found along the trail.

What's around the bend?

Paint Creek.

Small rapids on the creek.

The fishing rules.

The trail guide, found at several points along the way.

Posting board.

The trestle bridge for Gunn Road.

 

Unknown flora of the outstanding orange variety.

Mile marker found, well, every mile or so.

More flora of the unknown variety.

Yet more.  Perhaps I should invest in a wildflower guide.

Ah, I know this one, Queen's Anne Lace.

A wild Daisy?

The site of the historical Rudd Mill.

My trusty steed.

The fish that frequent the pond.

Lily pads found in the pond.

A lovely pond and found north of Adams road.

More unidentified flowers.

Lovely periwinkle blue flora.

The turtle pond, found at the halfway mark.  I counted at least 10.  See the big guy, dead center?

A smashing red berry.

The backyard decoration of one of few homes you see along the trail.

They've hospitably supplied a bench and picnic table.  

More of the neighbor's old farm equipment.

Sassafras?

Lovely yellow flowers.

Blue sky and puffy clouds.  Temperature about 65.  Perfect!

The final reward - a Starbucks iced decaf mocha, nonfat of course.  

All in all, the perfect way to start a day.  Too bad I can't do it everyday.  Though I guess the joy would become routine.  I'm so thankful for the wonderful start.  Now I have to go do some work.

D:)

Alas!

We heard back from our realtor yesterday within two hours of submitting our offer.  Our offer was rejected flat out.  The seller has had multiple offers on the property (which they haven't accepted) and they feel that they can get close to their asking price, if not the asking price.  For our needs this property requires too much monetary investment for us to offer anything close to the asking price.   Obviously the other offer makers felt the same.   I think the seller's expectations are a tad bit high...

I'm disappointed, but I have to trust that the Lord has something better for us.  The good news is, we have connected with an ace realtor and banker in the area.  If we find something down the road, we also are pre-approved for a loan through a rural bank, which is a better fit than Chase Bank.  I also feel like we've narrowed and broadened our expectations of what we are looking for.  Prior to this we hadn't seriously considered building, but the appeal is strong.  It would be exciting and satisfying to build a house from scratch, suited to our wants and needs that would also be energy efficient.  We could utilize out of the box energy strategies like geothermal heating and cooling, metal roofs, and solar panels.  Those are not easy or cost efficient add-ons to an existing structure.  So many of the properties we look at have homes that need updating, have poor layouts and are just plain ugly.  To find a property that has enough acreage (at least 20 acres) with a pole barn and a decent house, in an appealing location, is like trying to find beach glass, not easy. 

Going forward we will now be adding vacant property to our "Possibles List".  I've also refined my expectations of acreage.  After seeing this beautiful property, I know I don't want to settle for anything that doesn't make my heart pitter patter.  I'm pretty sure J feels the same.  Let the search continue!

Like my sunflower stretching to the sky,
 I have to remember there are endless possibilities.

Not to be daunted or discouraged we shall forge on ward!  Have a great summer weekend.

D :)

We've Gone And Done It!

We've gone and made an offer on the 80 acre property in Evart!  We talked with a knowledgeable friendly banker in Clare, who preapproved us for a loan if our offer is accepted on this piece of property.

Whether the seller will accept our offer, counter, reject it out right, or anything in between remains to be seen.  We've given the seller until noon on Monday to respond.  

I refuse to be anxious or worried.  I'm leaving it in God's hands.  We've done what we could (other than offer them their asking price).  If this is where we are meant to be it will happen.

I'm excited!  Let's see what happens.

D :)

Looking for the Farm

We spent three days last week with our friends at their lake cottage in central Michigan.  The above photo is a view from their deck overlooking the lake the cottage is situated on.  It was a wonderfully relaxing time with friends.  One of the things we did while we were there is look at property for sale in the nearby town (village?) of Evart.  

We found a beautiful centuries old 80 acre farm.  The property is located south of Evart about 4 miles and has a big old red barn, a newer, good condition pole barn, centuries old oaks, rolling hay and pasture fields, and an 1880 decrepit farm house. 

Old oak in front yard.

Decrepit Farm House

The house doesn't look bad from the outside, but once we entered, the smell of mold was overpowering.  The old lath and plaster upstairs was peeling off the walls.  It will be a tear down I'm sure.

Which brings us to an unexpected conundrum.  We hadn't seriously considered building a new home on property we found.  So why consider it now?  The appeal to this property is it's beautiful acreage and more importantly to me, it's soul and history.  I can see us continuing the tradition of farming here.  The property was owned by the current family for four generations.  Their last name is Johnson.  It seems fitting.

View from the top of the hill looking west towards the barns.

Looking north.

Looking northeast.

Peering directly east.

Southeast.

Looking south towards the woods, included in the acreage.

Southwest looking towards a private lake and the home and old oaks on the right.

Top of the hill again, looking down on the outbuildings and J.

Big red barn.

 As you can see from the above photos, the property is outstanding, in my estimation, anyways.
Since we're approaching this property purchase somewhat unconventionally, we are in the process of discussing financing with a "local bank".  

Peering in Big Red.

Pole barn with house in background.

Decrepit farm house.  A sad end to a house full of memories and history.

Looking east towards the house from the road.  Future home site?  Notice the majestic oaks.

We have no idea, if we qualify for a loan, if the seller will accept our offer.  I'm leaving the details of ownership in God's hands.  We will do our homework.  If this is where the Lord wants us to be it will happen.  I'm kinda hoping we're on the same page!

I'll keep you posted.

By the way, here is photo of the first major garden bounty!  Impressive, huh?

D :)