The times, they are a-changin'.

I wanted to title this entry "In a way, I'm glad it's over; in another way, it turns me inside out." I chose the above title instead because I've had that one on my mind for several days, and the Lee Greenwood song only popped in this morning. Both are true for my mental state today.

Yes, the times are a-changin' here, and in a way, I welcome the changes but in another way, it turns me inside out.

We've lived in this house for thirteen years, & Randy's parents owned this house for 16 years before that. I've been coming here since 1987 & the view from this back window (right next to my computer) has been this:

This shot was taken the morning after the old outbuilding was torn down. That stood just to the left of the view you see here. Today a new outbuilding stands just to the right of this view. The old one was falling down, & it hadn't been really useful to us for years because it sank & every time I needed something out of it I had to dig out from around the door. We had an opportunity to purchase the new outbuilding at a discount & with a 12-month same as cash deal. So we did. It's smaller than the old one, but much more useful. It's also in a more useful location for us.

The day Randy & our neighbor Darrel tore down the old building, I learned (from Randy, who learned from Darrel) that the oil company which owns the gas station just on the other side of these woods has purchased the property behind us. Their plans are to start logging, sell the timber, & put houses on that land.

At first I was sad. I like having woods behind me. I've had houses behind me. I prefer woods. I used to feel a little cheated that I worked so very hard just to have an ordinary little ranch home. It's nothing like my fantasy of a large log home or contemporary ranch home with lots of stone & windows. Randy's preference would be an old red brick Colonial with columns. Our home is...well, it's a traditional-looking ranch, so I guess it's not far from a compromise between our fantasy homes. It's not on a large tract of land, but it's a bigger yard than many newer homes get. I think the yard size is fine.

I WOULD like privacy, though, & now I'm not going to have much. That bugs me a little. But, I do think houses would be better for neighbors than what I used to think they'd put in there - I always thought if we got any neighbors, they'd be low-budget motels. You see, on the other side of the woods, there's a road that leads to the interstate exit, which is only a mile or so away. And, maybe, in addition to these houses there'll be other businesses locating out here - you never know. I miss the little grocery we had up the road. It's been gone since about 2001, & now if we run out of milk we have to drive 6 miles to the nearest grocery. Unless, of course, we're willing to pay 2 prices for a gallon from the convenience stores nearby. Anyway, I can see how this could be a blessing and a curse. We shall see how all this pans out.

The new outbuilding is really a blessing for me. It's going to be the new home of the riding mower and probably some of Randy's tools. This will free up a lot of space in our garage. We don't park our cars in the garage. It's only big enough for one, & the way the driveway's laid out, it would be difficult to get a car in there anyway. So, we've had it full of other things - Randy's musical equipment (amps, stage lights, etc.), the mower, an old broken down push mower, the litter boxes, and an old desk, plus a lot of old nails, screws, paintbrushes, and the washer, dryer, chest freezer, & an additional refrigerator, which we use for storing wheat & canned drinks. Our old kitchen table & a couple of chairs are out there too.

Randy wants to really organize his new garage, so I'm hoping he'll be willing to get rid of a bunch of the stuff that's in the old one. Then, I plan on cleaning up the old one. I'm going to clean the floor so that all the pet waste is gone. We'd kind of given up on that floor ever being clean again. Once that's done we'll be moving the litter boxes closer to the door for easier removal. We'll move the musical equipment so that it's not out in the middle of the floor. Then I'll be able to put my craft supplies on the shelves, instead of in bags or storage boxes in the living room. This will give me more space in the living room & the kitchen. I'll be able to work on my craft projects without cluttering up the kitchen table. (That's the whole reason I kept the old table - it was too rickety & small for dining, but it's fine for working on candles, soaps, etc.).

Now that the old building's gone, we can put the litter out in the area where the septic tank drains. It's not good land for growing food. I would, however, like to plant more trees (especially since these behind us are going away), & that might not be a bad place. Litter sure hasn't stopped these trees behind us from growing.

Other changes taking place around here: I moved this blog to the "new" Blogger, so I have options like tagging labels. This is something I've been wanting for a long time. Blogging seems to be the way to go these days, & I've always got something to say. Labeling the blogs for easier reference is definitely a good thing. The problem is, between editing previous blog entries to add labels & assuring that I have good meta tags for my websites, there's very little time for actually writing! And since this is my hobby & not my job, I don't have a lot of time for that anyway! But at least I have ideas, & hopefully in the next few months I'll be able to put them into reality. With that in mind, I'd better get to work. Later!!!