Unless you are a gypsy, you can't just pick up and move. You need a house to move into. To get that, you probably first need to sell the house you are in. To sell the house you are in, your buyers more than likely need to sell the house they are in. And their buyers may also need to first sell their house. How is it ever possible for anyone to move? 
We had a house shopper coming Saturday, so first worked outside before
it got too hot. We moved temporary fencing from the front pasture to
the round pen area. I mowed where the fence would not reach and then we
set it up for the cows to "mow" the rest. 
With the drought, the back
pasture is not growing and needs a rest. And the horses have pretty
well done in the back paddock. Rain is so needed, then we could get our
last cutting of hay and alfalfa, and turn the horses and cows out on
the front and side pastures.
By noon we were in from the heat and started cleaning for a late
afternoon house showing. Joe vacuumed while I dusted and mopped where
needed. At least picking things up is not a big chore, because we keep
it well picked up. To the right, Abbey has made herself blend in to part of my "jungle" theme. The shopper's three children cracked me up. They
were so excited about country life, livestock, the yard, and the
playground. The two girls claimed Britney's room as theirs and even
picked out who would get which bed. Ha ha ha. The 6'3" dad noticed the
shower heads were tall enough, but about got whacked by the ceiling fan
in our bathroom. oops.
In the afternoon, I moved the cows back and gave the horses time in the temporary grazing pen.Come evening, it was cooling off outside and a cool breeze had blown in. So, I decided to work and ride Roni, spending two hours messing with him. He did very well for me the whole time. I rode him around here
and over at Becks for a little overan hour and was sad to think these great rides would one day come to an end. I love Roni's responsiveness, get up an go, and willingness to try. I wish he wasn't so jumpy, but this evening's ride went with, very little spooking on his part and we both were relaxed and enjoyed being out together.
The struggles with Stew and keeping the water tub upright continued for a few days.
I bought groceries and household supplies Sunday after working in
the nursery and then going to church. It appeared we had the day off
from house hunters, so I spent the day doing some house shopping
myself. There is a lot of information you can collect about a place through on-line
searches. I love the satellite view and zooming in to
get a close look at the property and neighborhood. It is difficult to
tell topography though.
Joe was finally able to solve the water tub tipping problem.
We had Dan and Valencia for spaghetti dinner, but Daniel wasn't feeling so good, so the visit was low key and short. I walked the dog after nightfall and still worked up a sweat.
Monday I didn't make it to Water
Lilies. Guess I was low on motivation
and short on time. But I did head outside around 8am to work in the
flower beds and garden. I discovered that the chickens had gotten into
my mums, eating over half of the lavender mums and a few of the yellow flowers. 
I picked and fixed
veggies and apples, making a Waldorf salad and a vegetable marinade
salad for our evening's pot luck. I also spent some time reading and
relaxing. 
I went out Tuesday morning, after my ritual of tea, peanut
butter on toast, and a few cookies. It was going to get hot so I
started my planting project right away. I was moving Day Lilies from
out in the front pasture, to around the west and north side of our
picnic shelter. Notice the chicken near by hoping to help dig.
Brother also tried to get in on the action. Look at the claws on this guy. He did manage to snag my leg once. 
I was not finished after three hours, but was hot, sweaty, tired and hungry... so called it quits at noon. This is what I had accomplished.
I did a bunch of cleaning after lunch because we had two appointments to show the house. The 4:00 never showed and I had to leave to give blood, so Joe, who was working at his computer from home, would have to show the house. A random guy came up the drive before the 5:00 showing, so Joe showed him around. And the contractor with his dad and two building buddies were still here when I got home at 6:30. They were giving the house a good looking over, this being their second visit. A window blind in the living room had gotten broken in the process, later taking me a half hour to fix. The man seemed ready to put together an offer for us, so we waited to hear.
At sunset there was a swarm of locus all around in the yard...
and nearly as many barn swallows swooping and diving trying to catch these large bugs. The bird's flight would become very difficult and awkward while hauling their prey to a good landing pad... or they would just let go of their catch.
Wednesday there were 21 Water Lilies and a group of 9 high school girls who came to join us in the pool. The school has partnered with the park district and will be bringing PE classes to the Replex every day this week. I had to leave early to get to a dentist appointment on time, and was glad I got out when I did, because all the girls were soon in the locker room too.
I didn't have any cavities so celebrated by going from the dentist, with my clean teeth, to McDonnalds for a hamburger and chocolate milk shake. Then I went to Target where I spent a great deal of time swim-suit shopping. They were 30% off, so I bought two.
The horses were ready to come into the barn when I got home just after noon.
The cows were out of water, having drank it all, (not spilling it). In
no time at all, I was a sweaty mess while out feeding and watering. It
was too hot to do anything else outside, and I really didn't want to do
house cleaning, so I read and napped with Brother on the front porch. 
Thursday morning I woke up at 12:30 and could not get back to sleep, so came down
stairs at 1am. I sat here at my computer catching up
on Facebook and then did more house shopping and comparing of homes,
looking at all the pros and cons. Part of me would love to get a newer, more
elegant, more costly house, and part of me says be practical and
thrifty. I think house location/neighborhood is most important. We
want a little distance and privacy from our neighbors, to have some
woods and if possible some water but we also want to be in the heart of
Fairfield Glade... close to trails, pools and the workout center. I
finally got tired, and managed to sleep from about 3:30 to 6:30. I discovered this chicken the day after my
mums were attacked. Her crop is way too full and she was having troubles swallowing. So I started giving her oil, forcing it down with an eye dropper each day. Once I took care of feeding and watering all the farm yard animals, I
came in and started on this blog. Then, when downloading a photo from
the internet, my computer warned me of a virus and to download this program to remove the virus. Well, when I did, I actually down loaded the virus and my computer locked up. I tried everything I
could think of, called Joe for some advice, and finally gave up and
decided to go to Water Lilies, getting there a few minutes late.
My computer was no better when I returned, so I headed outside to water
everything and finish transplanting Day Lilies. I added rock, sewed grass seed, and fenced it all off to keep the chickens out. It felt great to finish
this last planting project. I couldn't get the riding mower started
and had to bother Joe at work again. Then while mowing, I ran out of
gas. I finally came in, mid-afternoon, to eat and give my computer another try, but it was hopeless. I thought about calling Dan to come to the
rescue, but decided to just wait for Joe. Hercules has been molting. Here he is with the last of his white tail feathers, bent and broken. He has been laying low.
At 6pm, I headed to a new stable
with Courtney while Joe was messing
around with my computer. I got a tour of Country View Stables and loved
what I saw. It is going to make a great new home for Zorro, and will be
fairly affordable for Courtney. We stopped at LeRoy for groceries and
Subway on the way home. Valencia and Dan were at the farm and he and Joe
both agreed, the computer was "sick" and needed to go to the repair
shop to rid it of the virus. I was so mad at myself for downloading
the virus and mad at whoever would do this to an innocent soul such as
myself. We all enjoyed subway before the kids departed for their homes.
Up early Friday and on the road at 9am, we drove to Tennessee. Traffic
near Nashville was bad and then we got a flat tire. Seeing us struggling, this guy Jeff stopped to help us out. Our jack didn't work well so we used his and then the tire was seized onto the hub and took great effort to get off. This unexpected stop cost us an
extra hour, so it was a little after 6pm by the time we got to the real
estate office. We looked at 9 houses which gave us plenty to consider
during the night once we checked into the hotel. I had no computer, and
the battery on Joe's computer died before "lights out" and he had not
packed his power cord, so we were not able to research much. View of kudzu through window Joe had "washed."
Saturday morning we did some exploring at Fairfield Glade. We dropped in on Roger, our new realtor and gave him some more houses to line up to look at. Then we were off to have fun. I dropped Joe and his clubs off at one of the golf courses and I headed down to Wildwood Riding Stables. I arranged to eventually take Amiga there, only needing to give two weeks notice, and then went for a lovely trail ride. After picking Joe back up, we went and looked at 8 houses, (4 of which were repeat viewings). The "architect" house we looked at in July looked much better in sunlight. The ranch house with cathedral ceilings throughout also appeared better during the day than the night before. The natural rock wall in back was so cool and the floor plan was really nice, with all of it being gorgeous. We soon eliminated several houses we had been considering, and had narrowed it down to four or maybe five possibilities. 
Roger's car at real estate office.We left the real estate office and went to a golf course club house, having a drink while discussing our housing options. We made a spread sheet and compared the three top choice houses to pick from. Location, layout, size, newness, and price were all considered. Finally deciding on the architect house and an offering price, Joe called Roger to give him the info, and then we went to dinner at a different golf course restaurant. We proceeded from there to the community building to check out the possibility of going to a big band show for some ballroom dancing, but quickly decided we were under-dressed, under-experienced, and under-funded. So we went for a lovely three mile walk instead, going by two house that were in our top three choices.
Sleeping Saturday night was again difficult. I kept second guessing our decision, wondering if we were rushing into buying the house. Part of me was quite excited, and part of me was concerned. I was hoping we could get a really good price, leaving us the money needed to do some repairs and upgrades. I also questioned our decision of going after such a large home (2440 sq ft). But it was a great location, a unique house, and one I could see us living in. The house actually has 5 bedrooms, although three of them (which are on the second floor with a full bathroom) are quite small. We plan to just close off the upstairs and not heat, cool, or clean up there unless we have overnight guests. If this house deal works out, we would love to have any and all of you any time you are up for the long drive to TN. Fairfield Glade is a resort community, so there is plenty to do. We will be able to give you a great rate on swimming, putt putt, 90 holes of "real" golf, horse back riding, boating, fishing, etc.etc.
Sunday morning we checked out of the hotel and went for a drive around Fairfield Glade, stopping in at the two marinas. We had breakfast at a lake side park before meeting Roger at his office to sign all the papers and make our house offer official. By 9:00 we were in the car and headed for home in Illinois, with lots on our mind.I do get anxious about selling the farm and buying a new home in Tennessee. This also means moving Zorro to his new barn, Amiga to TN and selling Roni. We have had a lot more house shoppers than horse shoppers, all whom have really liked our place. The only two to inquire about dear Roni were not interested. I know I need to just be patient and enjoy what I have for now... the time and place and horses. I need to live in the here and now and not spend so much time dreaming and wishing. The reality of real estate is that you just never know, and it isn't over until the closing. C.S. Lewis said "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream." So I won't let real estate realities discourage me.
Lately, sleep has not come easy. There is just so much on my mind.
I can't wait to move back into town,
where all the action is and where I
will have lots more walking options. Farm life has been good and fun, but a lot of work. Taking care of livestock is a huge responsibility, with many rewards and a few hardships. It has definitely tied us down and wore us out. So, I am looking forward to the next phase of our life... retirement resort living.
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