Great to get the dates and be able to make plans. Wishing you all the best, Rich!
Staying the Course -- 08/12/2019
- Thread starter Superbob
- Start date
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.. And Martin, didn't mean to be calling you out -- just missing your posts recently. Sounds like you're leading a busy life and doing well and that's always good to hear!
rich01
Well-known member
I need to simplify things. I have a large garden that takes a lot of time, but a lot goes to waste. I keep about 2 acres as lawn, but the house only sits on a 3/4 acre lot. Also have an orchard that is probably beyond saving because I didn't put the necessary hours into it.
I've decided that I don't want to have to maintain everything after I get my new valve. I'm going to take down the fence around garden (old and rusted) and just turn it (garden) into lawn. Two or three containers on the patio are enough for tomatoes and peppers. I'm also going to try to sell my 4 lots behind my house so I don't have to maintain them. Just doing those 2 things could save me 12-13 hours a week in Spring and Summer.
My yard has a steep slope down to the road. Too steep to safely mow, so I landscaped it. After 10 years, I finally have ground cover on the lower 3rd, then a row of shrubs, then a new row of boxwoods. At the very top are crepe myrtle and forsythia. That means major pruning usually twice a year. Plus the ground cover will grow into the street if I don't keep it trimmed. Then there are all the weeds that grow in with the ground cover and in the spaces between the shrubs. I've tried roundup, I've tried Preen, I've tried leaf mulch, I've tried pine needle mulch, but I always ends up putting on knee pads and crawling around the hill pulling weeds.
You know how just saying something out loud makes it clear what you need to do? That's what writing this post did for me.
I need to sell this house and move to something with less maintenance. Time to have fun and not spend so much time cutting grass and pulling weeds. I tried selling last year and people that liked the small house didn't like all the property, and those that liked the property wanted a bigger house. It's just a 2 br, 1 bath house, but with 2 3/4 acres. That's why I'm thinking of trying to sell the back lots 1st. If I can get them sold, it should be easier to sell the house. The housing market is pretty bad here - old manufacturing city that has never come back.
I've decided that I don't want to have to maintain everything after I get my new valve. I'm going to take down the fence around garden (old and rusted) and just turn it (garden) into lawn. Two or three containers on the patio are enough for tomatoes and peppers. I'm also going to try to sell my 4 lots behind my house so I don't have to maintain them. Just doing those 2 things could save me 12-13 hours a week in Spring and Summer.
My yard has a steep slope down to the road. Too steep to safely mow, so I landscaped it. After 10 years, I finally have ground cover on the lower 3rd, then a row of shrubs, then a new row of boxwoods. At the very top are crepe myrtle and forsythia. That means major pruning usually twice a year. Plus the ground cover will grow into the street if I don't keep it trimmed. Then there are all the weeds that grow in with the ground cover and in the spaces between the shrubs. I've tried roundup, I've tried Preen, I've tried leaf mulch, I've tried pine needle mulch, but I always ends up putting on knee pads and crawling around the hill pulling weeds.
You know how just saying something out loud makes it clear what you need to do? That's what writing this post did for me.
I need to sell this house and move to something with less maintenance. Time to have fun and not spend so much time cutting grass and pulling weeds. I tried selling last year and people that liked the small house didn't like all the property, and those that liked the property wanted a bigger house. It's just a 2 br, 1 bath house, but with 2 3/4 acres. That's why I'm thinking of trying to sell the back lots 1st. If I can get them sold, it should be easier to sell the house. The housing market is pretty bad here - old manufacturing city that has never come back.
Agian
Well-known member
It does sound like a good distraction though.
Rich01 -- would it be possible for you to 'lease' the acreage to a person who wants to farm and maintain it? Perhaps you'll get a share of the produce or grain that they grow out there. The advantage to them is they don't have to buy land to become 'farmers', and the advantages to you are a) you don't have to worry about maintaining that acreage, b) you either get money or produce (or both), and c) you probably don't have to worry about all that stuff any more. You may be able to put in a second water meter for that 'leased' acreage, so the 'farmer' pays for his or her own water.
Just a thought...
(My wife and I mulled over a similar idea this morning. We know a group of nuns that have five or six acres of great farmland, and aside from having some houses and other buildings on it, all this nice land is wasted. We were thinking that they could probably do something much more productive with that great land. This sounds a lot like your situation).
Just a thought...
(My wife and I mulled over a similar idea this morning. We know a group of nuns that have five or six acres of great farmland, and aside from having some houses and other buildings on it, all this nice land is wasted. We were thinking that they could probably do something much more productive with that great land. This sounds a lot like your situation).
rich01
Well-known member
I originally bought it to start a market farm, but quickly learned I liked the planning and planting and hated everything after that. It's not farmland. Lots of trees and 1 lot is completely wooded. At least 1 lot perks and there is already a septic tank. It's in a residential area just outside the city line. My house is in the city, but the 4 lots are in the county.
How are the September surgeries going? I think you guys will have great doctors. I was treated for breast cancer in 2013 at the UNC Lineberry Cancer Center in Chapel Hill. They were super organized. Good outcome. I traveled there and stayed with my son and his clan for 3.5 months. They were dropping the ball here in Atlanta. My son is a Professor at Duke and his good friend is the oncologist that treated Elizabeth Edwards. You guys are in the lap of great care. Please let us know how it goes.
My TAVR has just been rescheduled for Thursday, Sept 19, 2019 at Emory St. Joseph’s. I got a call from Dr. James Stewart this AM to tell me who will be in the OR, and that I’m getting the Medtronic Evolute Pro. And, they are using the Sapien filter, which was my special request. It calmed my fears completely and made me feel sort of validated as a patient. Good luck to us all.
Ladybug
How are the September surgeries going? I think you guys will have great doctors. I was treated for breast cancer in 2013 at the UNC Lineberry Cancer Center in Chapel Hill. They were super organized. Good outcome. I traveled there and stayed with my son and his clan for 3.5 months. They were dropping the ball here in Atlanta. My son is a Professor at Duke and his good friend is the oncologist that treated Elizabeth Edwards. You guys are in the lap of great care. Please let us know how it goes.
My TAVR has just been rescheduled for Thursday, Sept 19, 2019 at Emory St. Joseph’s. I got a call from Dr. James Stewart this AM to tell me who will be in the OR, and that I’m getting the Medtronic Evolute Pro. And, they are using the Sapien filter, which was my special request. It calmed my fears completely and made me feel sort of validated as a patient. Good luck to us all.
I am finding the UNC people to be wonderful. My surgery is scheduled just one day before yours, Ladybug, so as you say, all best to us all! I have a 15-year-old Medtronic as well (Freestyle), which has served me well. Surgeon will be replacing it along with zapping the aneurysm because ... might as well do so while in there. Hasn't told me yet what kind he's considering. Again, all best to you, Ladybug! (I used to call my sweet daughter that waaaaay back -- she loved ladybugs!)....
Before my grandmother died when I was age 10, she and I loved to see the ladybugs in her flower garden. She said that after she’s gone, if I was having a hard time, if I saw a ladybug, it would be a sign from her that everything would OK. Fast forward to age 68. I get off the phone with the breast specialist telling me that I have cancer. I take a deep breath. I walk into the ladies room and glance down toward the white ceramic floor. There was a ladybug....in January. I SAILED through breast cancer, which was caught early. I get chills when I think about it. That’s my good omen.
