Sunday, June 20, 2010

OMG, OMG, I actually bought the farm!

I've been silent on this blog for a while, but something exciting has just happened in Julieland. Two days ago, I became the official owner of a piece of property in western Sonoma county, just outside of Healdsburg. Yup, it's 3.25 acres of countryside with a modest little 3 bedroom house on it. And now its ALL MINE!!! And I am gonna grow all kinds of delicious stuff on it.

At this point you might be saying, "Excuse me, WTF are you talking about?!". And you would be right to say that. So let me back up a bit and explain.

Most people, after they graduate from college, they get a job and dream about normal things like getting promoted or starting a family or buying a sweet car. I dreamed about having a farm. I don't know why. I just did. While driving to Tahoe, I would stare out the window at the country homes in the foothills. When visiting wine country and buying fresh fruit at a farmstand, I was jealous of the folks selling their cherries and tomatoes. I have a weird, inexplicable desire to build my own house and have friends over to sit on my patio and drink lemonade made from lemons that I just picked. I'm gonna stop there, before this gets too cheesy. You get the idea.

Point is that after looking casually for about 5 years, I finally decided to make it happen. I found this property and immediately saw the potential. It was perfect for the things that I wanted to do: I can plant trees and a veggie garden, I can fix up the house, and the property is not so big that it is unmanageable for one person. Perfect! It even has a bit of a view of the mountains.

This is my new backyard. Also, see the tiny bit of mountain in the distance?


So here goes. The beginning of a new adventure! I'll be posting updates here in case you want to follow along. I know, I know, you can't contain your excitement, right? So here's a little preview for you. This is the front of the house. It was built in 1979, so it's a bit dated, but it's sturdy. I hope to modernize it quite a bit in the next few years.

Lola has to stay tied to the fence, so she doesn't run off to chase varmints.