Bustling Enterprises

Things are a-changing – and quickly on our lot!

BUSY

And, what are they doing down in that hole? They are installing drywall over the insulation as a fire retardant! I am impressed! I like safety!

The big round pipe in the foreground is to help the house offset water accumulation. If it ever begins to fill, all we need to do is pump it out. Drainage. Safety and care for our foundation! Yay!

Lots ‘O Lumber

One of the workmen we talked to was going on about construction after we mentioned the coolness of the insulated concrete forms. He then expounded on the nifty tools and jobs and said, “I’m just a big kid who gets to play with Legos all day!” I’m sure glad we have guys that enjoy what they are doing! I think that makes a huge difference in the quality of what you end up with!

 

Neat Event: Biketoberfest

Our first community adventure occurred on Saturday. Bikes & October. What do they have in common? Not much! But when combined you have bikes and beer (and pizza, etc,) – hence Biketoberfest!  New to the area, we did not know what to expect. It was very well advertised. Coming from a larger town, we expected a bunch of people. They did have a crowd, but it was a select crowd: Those interested in biking and the Sheridan Community Land Trust (SCLT) http://beta.active.com/sheridan-wy/cycling/mountain-biking-races/biketober-fest-2013. They had a number of walking, running and bike events, but what we were most interested in was the “Kids Bike Rodeo!”

Kids on Bikes

This was the scene as we walked toward a busy, noisy area! It was a hoot! The Bike Rodeo involved kids from 2 – 6 riding their bikes and trikes around and performing “feats” like following a pattern around barrels (only about 3 kids were able to follow directions!)  It was fun to see how crazy and goofy it was because the kids were biking everywhere and also trying to follow directions! It sure seemed like everyone was having fun. The highlight (for me) was the box knock down! The only purpose was to run your bike into empty boxes. The grins both from the kids and the parents were magnificent!

Ramming Boxes

The kids’ bikes were anything from leg-pushing bikes (their feet pushed off from the ground while they sat on the bike), to tricycles (several were shaped like hot wheels bikes (remember them?) but had “silent” tires!!! (My Saturday mornings would have been a lot quieter!)  There were also small chain bikes and bikes with training wheels. It sure seems like bikes for kids are smaller now than they were when my kids were little – but they were exactly the right size for these tykes!!

One of the neatest bikes was a push bike for a toddler too small & immature to “go it alone”. It looked like it might have been from the 1920-30’s!  (The parent is holding the handle and is still inside the corncob tunnel. It was a really neat antique – and very practical!

We didn’t stay long, but we enjoyed the ambiance and it seems like the Foundation had some good ideas. Can’t wait to see more (smallish?) events in our new “birth town”.

As observed by a spoiled bigger city person! LOL! (Hint: check to see if my perspective about crowd size changes over time.)

Our Field of Dreams

Our field of dreams began in November of 2012 when we decided we did not want to live in Washington State any more.  Almost 30 years was enough. We’d grown tired of the lackluster business climate (all effort is put into Seattle.) We had grown children, ageing parents and a love for Yellowstone. The place in the middle turned out to be… Wyoming!

Lots of intervening, very busy months: Investing time, finances and energy, we decided to renovate our house so that we could sell it to the right family. The WA house was the best for entertaining friends, hosting guests and receiving family. Through great friends we found the right realtor and designer. Voila! We chose to completely renovate our house.

And we were off! In choosing where to live in Wyoming, we looked at maps, talked to friends, and talked to my brother (who knows Wyoming as a result of his work!) We were to try Sheridan. We chose to go to Sheridan, midwinter, to “feel” what winter was like and to see if we liked the town. After 4 days, we had frigid temps, a 50 degree day and almost white-out conditions going south to Denver, CO. Yep, a colder version of Colorado. We could live with this!

Our WA house turned out absolutely gorgeous. As a result, it sold quickly. Another trip to Sheridan, in August, to look at houses. We had been continually looking online at houses for sale in Sheridan. We got it down to three to look at with others our realtor here, in Sheridan, chose for us. We made an offer on one. Were outbid, and decided to build. The realty profession is very different from place to place, so building, for us, was a wise move here in Sheridan, WY..

Thus begins our journey.

The actual quote in Field of Dreams is “If you build it, he will come.” Our friends and fam often requote it as “If you build it, they will come.” (Often as a justification for something.)  Since we tend to go about things bass-ackwards, anyway, I chose to misquote:  “We have Come: Now we are building it.” My attempt is to post pics daily and, possibly, post prose about the house and all the adjustments we are making.

A Blog is a new adventure for me. Please know that I may post some items out of order – I didn’t (don’t?) know that I couldn’t insert dates where they need to be… Oh, well. Live and learn!