# Retirement is not easy.....



## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

It is lots of hard work....and we are in our seventies....but we dream young and just keep on going...It is the sense of accomplishment...I hated DH's house and worked and saved for years. The opportunity to have a house I really wanted was worth all the effort, but I had to make a bid on two so I would not lose the one I wanted...I would do it again. I know when I leave this old world, others will enjoy the effort I have put forth, And hopefully others will love the houses as much as I do....and I plant a tree every year, hopefully they will grow and bear fruit for others in the years to come. It has really been a journey, but it is almost finished. You need to go All the way back on the older posts to see where we started. It amazes me when I see what has been accomplished. Time is moving too fast....

http://thejourneyofthehouses.blogspot.com/


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I remember following your journey, GrannyG! You sure have come a long way. I cannot wait until I can set up a homestead EXACTLY the way that I envision it. Kudos to you for following your heart and following through.


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## sunflower-n-ks (Aug 7, 2006)

GrannyG - thanks for posting. I have been wondering how the work on the houses are progressing. What an undertaking!!

Time does go by sooo fast. I told the man at the feed store (when I barely got there before they closed) that I was sure that one minute earlier it was 9 that morning and 10 minutes earlier it was spring. Just don't know where the time goes.


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## JimP (Feb 9, 2011)

GrannyG,I just finished reading your entire story from beginning to end ,about the journey of the two houses. WOW ! "Crazy old people or young and no sense ",lol.I don't know ...What I do know is its inspiring .
You and your husband show us all that you do not have to settle in and do nothing because of age or limited funds.You show us that it is ok to keep dreaming of something different . I hope that Kenny enjoys the western house as much as much as you do .
It is really a great read and photo journey that you documented.I hope your kids are saving it to disk to share with the grandchildren as they get older and have their own babies.I am sure that this will make for an awesome family albulm and be inspiration to your family for many more generations.
GrannyG is it a total of 3 houses and 1 trailer on all the lots now ? I was a lil confused about that part.
Please continue to take pictures and post your blogs . I thank you for sharing with us all. I hope that the Lord continues to bless you and Kenny with good health . I hope that you get to continue to plant the orchards that will bear fruit for those that have not yet been born. (trees are so cool that way !)
Again ,thank you !


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Do not overly concern yourself about what future generations will do with what you are creating on the property on which you live. Simply do it as you enjoy it during your time on it. Each owner will do as they choose to their tastes

A few years back I had a man in his 90s and his grand daughter come into my driveway telling me how he was born in this house and lived here until he was 27.

The first thing he commented on was the many trees that were gone and I had to explain to him that I was told the fruit tree orchard was removed in the early 1960s to accommodate the drainfield for the septic system.

Then he noticed the 4 added on rooms to the rear and I explained to him that I was told that an extra bedroom, a pantry and a bath were added by the owner who installed the bathroom.

As I knew his grand daughter through her mother and father when he asked to look at the "old homeplace" I let him have a walk through.

After he saw all of the old house recreated with the bedroom removed from the front and reduced to a walk in closet to create a larger living room and his mother's kitchen reduced to half the size it was and the bedroom off the kitchen enlarged because the wood stove was removed, the old man was almost in tears.

Later when I saw his son in law, he told me he told him the only thing he said was still the same was the hardwood floors his father had worked by hand and the son in law didn't have the heart to tell him that the hardwood floors were actually non scuff reduced wear polymer I had purchased from his brother's flooring store 6 months after I bought the house because the hardwood floors were so damaged from 4 layers of various coverings over the last 50 years when I decided to try to go back to hardwood in the living room.

His son in law said the old man told him that he didn't have the opportunity to look in his old bedroom to see the hand crafted in wall dresser his father had built with drawers to within 8 inches of the cieling because when I let him and his grand daughter look at his old house I explained that for the time I had my dogs in there.

I told him that was just luck but with his disappointment at how the front rooms of the place had developed I was glad him not seeing those six in wall drawers removed to accomodate recessed book shelves and the modular cable channel floor I had his brother overlay to allow me to better route cables when I converted the room into my study.

So enjoy what you do on your place but try to keep in mind every future owner will enjoy doing their own changes just as you are doing now.


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