For the Zadge ... "It Just Needs a Little Renovating" - part I

I decided in the fall of 2005 to sell my home. My husband had died almost 18 months earlier and the house was just too big for me and the animals. And I wanted out of the city. I'd dreamed for years of relocating to the mountains and there was nothing to stop me now. I went online and looked at houses and one day saw the house. I called the realtor, made an appointment and the next day Katie and I drove to Oakhurst. The minute we turned on to the driveway, I knew. I was home. When we walked in, I was hooked.

The house was nothing special; a small ranch with 3 really small bedrooms, a large living room, a tiny kitchen, a useless laundry room with an almost shower, a toilet, a sink and the water heater. But it pulled me in; all I saw was where my furniture (the pieces I could keep) would go and the potential ... great word, "potential," synonym: needs lots of money. But I was so very comfortable in this house. And the location was unbelievable. Five minutes from town and I'm in the heart of the woods.

After the mandatory obstacles and pitfalls, everything fell into place and the papers were signed and I no longer owned the big house and was moving into one less than half the size and all on one floor. I loved it! I moved in on my birthday, it was two weeks before Christmas. It was raining and snowing and raining and snowing.

As the winter progressed, give it a week, it hit me; the back stoop had no cover, there was no back walkway or deck or porch or anything else. The house was 40 some years old and no one had ever so much as put a railing alongside the stoop; forget doing anything to the muddy, leaf covered, now icy, dirt in the back. It would be a project for Spring.

The laundry room: There was this shower in the corner which had to have been put in for a short, very thin individual who enjoyed showering in the dark. It was, however, perfect for a litter box. Across from the almost shower was the toilet, sink & cabinet alongside. Water heater in 3rd corner next to kitchen. Nothing could go against west wall or northwest corner because the door opened there. Another project for Spring.

The bathroom ... this was the former owner's pride & joy. It had an old footed, cast iron bathtub which would have been okay if I could get my legs up high enough to get into the tub. But the walls and floor - 12" black and 12 " white ceramic squares. He was a car racing dude. The black & white might have been okay but there was no way with my legs and hips that I was climbing up and over the tub side onto a ceramic tile floor. Say it with me ... project for Spring.

The rest of the house was perfect. The floors were all refinished wood. No carpeting, yay! The covered front porch ran the length of the living room. There was a pond in the southwest corner (my nemesis & money pit the first two years, now my pride & joy). The house was white with green trim, another project for Spring. I had the house trim painted red and I painted the porch trim the same. Green just isn't my color.

The animals adjusted, I settled in and life was good! We were told that at this elevation we would get a dusting of snow. Liar, liar, pants on fire. That was the year of "the big snow". Fortunately I drive a Subaru. Unfortunately, Katie's built close to the ground. But it was my first snowy winter in years and it was fun.


I was where I wanted to be and in the house I had chosen and Spring was just around the corner. Y'all come back for the next post and we'll renovate my little house in the woods.