Thanksgiving

This post is titled Thanksgiving for multiple reasons.  We celebrated our first Thanksgiving here at Flying Witch Farm, just the 5 of us.  We sat back and gave thanks for all that has happened this year.  The beautiful baby boy Joshua, the house, our health and the thought that the house was now livable and we could sit back and enjoy what we have done.  We painted, papered, swept and scrubbed.  For this we were all greatful.  Especially me.  
We had our open house / housewarming yesterday.  We were overwhelmed with the amount of people that had come.  Each of us invited our friends and family.  Everyone had a great time.  I was afraid we were going to run out of food. Fat chance, it seems we always make more than enough.  It was fun and a relief to know everyone could enjoy the house. 
Tour after tour people were amazed at the short length of time it took us to get things done.  It has been a long cycle, from being told we could never sell our mobile in this economy to  being  told we would never be able to get financing for a house that needed so much work.  Well... we prevailed.  Another thing we are thankful for.  I've always dreamt of having a small little farm with animals and gardens.  It only makes it better that I get to share that dream with the people I Love.  Scott, Matt, Amy and the precious little Joshua.  Again, something I am most Thankful for.  From now on this blog will be dedicated to country living.  Crafts and recipes.  We'll be getting more animals and hopfully growing most of our own food.  Thank you for following us as we moved in and made Flying Witch Farm ouir home.

At Last!!

Working in the master bedroom today, wallpapering, hanging curtains and pictures.  Then doing a whole house cleaning.  We will be ready for Thanksgiving and the open house Thanksgiving weekend.  I have two more walls in the bedroom and then it's finished.  Finished the upstairs bath last night.  All I have to do is put the books from the boxes to the book cases and hang some pictures and the upstairs is done.  I never thought we could do this.  It's not picture perfect, after all it is a 200 year old house.  But it's home.  Next week we should be getting 10 more chickens.  We'll be torching the burn pile next weekend too. That should be a fantastic sight.  In the spring we'll be planting and getting more animals.  Pigs and turkeys.  Eventually we'll have a couple goats.  We'll back to wallpapering.  I am looking forward to Thanksgivings fun and food.  If I don't post before then, Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

We're in!!

Good Morning from Flying Witch Farm.  It's a cold frosty morning here in Milton Mills.  We're all preparing for the first storm of the season.  It's been a while since I've posted.  We moved in 2 weeks ago today.  We moved into the house with no water or heat.  Luckily the weather was with us.  We used the electric heaters from time to time to take the edge off.  Matt had a few of his friends to help load and unload the U-haul.  Thanks guys !!!  We're still living among boxes and stacks of things, we're hoping by Thanksgiving everything will be put in it's place and all the boxes we don't need will be stored in barn.  My sister Audrey helped wallpaper the living rooms  and the kitchen.  She did such a good job!  BTW, Happy Birthday Audrey!! The pellet stove is in and keeping the house toasty.  (Thanks Brian).  We'll have pictures soon on all the improvements.  The kitchen floor is as level as it can be.  The ceiling is great.  The furnace went in just in time.  Hopefully the pellet stove will offset the oil.  It's going to be a challenge to live in a big ol' farmhouse, but I think we can do it. 
The chickens come home today, just in time for the snow.  I still have to get the coop ready for them in the barn.  I'm thinking of getting 10 more along with some turkeys.  Well off to clean the pellet stove and load it up again.  Watch for the pictures we'll post soon.

Closing Day coming soon!

We will be closing on Tuesday up in Wolfeboro.  It has been a long road, even down to the wire.  But I believe the sacrafice for the dream is worth it.  I came to find out the property was assessed lower than we expected.  So the bank wants us to make up the difference.  It almost crashed the dream and broke the bank.  It was very depressing.  They worked some beancounter magic and brought the amount down to a scary but affordable number.  I stressed about this for the whole night.  Wether to just throw the towel in or keep chugging along.  After realizing I may not get the chance to live this dream again, we will go forward with the closing and keep our fingers crossed no other issues, dollar wise or other come across our path.
It is a fine house, and a nice piece of land.  \
Monday the contractor will be there doing work on the masonry.  I'm hoping it only take a couple weeks to finish so that we can be settled and moved in.  We recieved the wall paper today, so that's one less thing to worry about.  We'll order the stove and refridgerator along with the pellet stove next week.  It looks like we'll be there almost every night next week painting.  Hurry up Tuesday!!

Down to the wire.

Well, it has been a hectic two weeks.  Full of drama and lots of running around.  As of yesterday the bank now has all the information they need.  We'll see.. it seems every day they come up with something else they have missed that they need.  To make matters even worse, our loan processor quit his job.  So the bank was scrambling to replace all of the documents that he had.  Needless to say I had to provide, once again, all of the documents they needed.  Between endless phonecalls at work and taking an hour and a half off to get FEMA documents, I just hope we can go on with the closing with no other need for documents.  Another little piece of drama and monkey wrench in the works was that the state had place a lein on the property which we will have to clear before closing.  I know all of this will be worth it in the end.  We will be getting a very nice old house where Joshua can play on a whole acre of land.  We can have some animals and gardens.  As they say nothing is free.. so I hope all of this drama is the only price we pay.  I just hate drama. 
On to other things.  The weather is getting cooler and the fairs are here.  We all went to the fair last night and had a nice time.  Joshua was so good.  He slept most of the time in the fair.  Even with all that noise and all of the carneys barking at us as we went by.  He didn't wake up until we were ready to leave.  The fair is getting worse and worse every year.  There seems to be less agriculture and more rides.  Fewer farmers and more juggalos.  All in all the Rochester fair has seen better days.  I know it's all about the almighty dollar, but I'm looking forward to Deerfield.  At least the crowds are more farmers and I don't recall seeing one juggalo there last year.  By the way if you don't know what a juggalo is, ask your teen or your child in thier 20's.  They'll tell you.  All I have to say if give me Mayberry.  I know Norman Rockwell is dead, but I can still dream.  Onward to closing.  The bank wants a new closing date, we'll see.
Happy Harvest everyone!!

Joshua is here!!

It's been a long week.  Sunday we had Hurricane Irene come through.  Luckily we were very fortunate.  We had only lost power for 10 hours.  Work was canceled on Monday due to the area's lack of power.  Amy and I made a day of it since Matt and Scott had to work.  We registered Scott's car, made copies of paperwork, drove to Milton Mills to see if the power was on there.  Then finally we went to Sanford to get Scott and my transcripts.  Tuesday it was back to work.  Amy had her weekly Dr. visit.  After having her ultrasound they decided to admit her and stimulate her labor. Matt called and we went to the hospital to keep Amy company.  I had recieved a couple envelopes in the mail from Wells Fargo.  In my annoyance of reading just one more piece of paper, I missed the line in the letter that had said. " Your request for financing has been accepted" We were excited.  Now to submit the rest of the paperwork.  We went home after Amy was given some Ambien to help her sleep.   Needless to say Joshua was born the next morning at 8:18 am.  He weighed in at 8lbs 1oz.  He is the cutest thing.  We are now proud Grampas.  He is such a good baby.  I am kind of predjudiced but he is. We spent the next few night's visiting Joshua, Mom and Dad at the Hospital. 
We went to the property this weekend to start the pump for the inspection next week.  3 hours of running the water.  Hopefully that will be enough.  Now the wait begins until closing.

Getting through the financing.

This is the week of inspecitons and submitting finance information.  I should be able to clear up the finance info today.  Downloaded our credit reports and working on cleaning up a few things.  Have to go up to the school today and get transcripts again.  Also have to go the county clerk.  I spoke to the loan officer in charge of our account, and he thinks September 20th will be tight.  But we're going for it.  We've already bought the dinning room light and the kitchen light.  The contractor is all lined up.  Electricity will be turned on today for the inspections.  I have to go up tonight and run water for about 3 hours. 
We've been looking at pellet stoves, even though we'll have a brand new oil boiler we want to try to conserve as much as we can.  I've picked out the wallpaper and will order that soon, all the patterns are very country/primitive.  They should go really wll with the period of the house.  Also we're thinking about more chickens and a couple goats.  It's nice to be able to live your dream, I still can't believe how this is all happening but so greatful and happy it is!

Living with the kids.

Well another week has come and gone.  We've closed on the mobile.  The new owners are now moving in.  It's sort of bittersweet but the light at the end of the tunnel is there.  We now have all the info for the finance company.  We're going up today to do an inventory of what we need for paint and fixtures.  I'm going to be arranging the inspections this week.  So all in all life is good. 
It's nice to have family around, sharing meals and doing things.  There will be alot of work to do at Flying Witch.  Painting and getting the yard done.  This winter we'll be planning the garden and the animals.  The chickens are at my brothers at the moment.  They have adjusted pretty well.  We have a month until closing and hopefully 2 weeks after that we'll be moving in.

Moving Day at the Mobile

It's moving day at the mobile.  Closing is on Thursday.  Not alot to pack and put in the U-haul.  We'll be staying with Matt and Amy for a couple weeks until the house closes and some of the work gets done.  We subbmitted all of our financials on Thursday to the mortgage company.   They said everything looks good.  We should be closing on September 20th. 
We are going a tradtional loan instead of a HUD loan.  It would be weeks if not months longer if we went HUD.  The tradtional loan will give us the opportunity to be in sooner.  I'm hoping it will only take a few weeks to get the work we need done.  The furnace and the chimney, along with the kitchen floor and ceiling.
I have a contractor going up to give us a quote.  If anyone knows of an all around genral contractor let me know.  It would be nice to have more than one estimate.  We have a limited budget, but it should get the major fixes done.  I've downsized my expetation list to getting the basics fixed and wallpapering and painting done myself or with the help of friends and family.  I think a paint party will come in handy.  We're shooting on living at FlyingWitch by October 1st.  That would be a fantastic birthday present.
Oh well, back to packing and stacking.  Life is good. 
P.S.
Amy is showing signs of the baby dropping.  Full moon today at 3pm.  They say more babies are born on the full moon.  After 9 months It will be nice to finally meet our grandson.

Half moved Is that like the glass being half full?

Finally, fed, showered and relaxing.  If you can call sitting in a house in total disarray relaxing.  This choas too will pass.  The kids came over and between Matt, Scott and myself we loaded up all the boxes packed so far and most of the furniture that wasn't in use into the U-haul and over to the storage unit.  Amy did the supervising to keep us on track.  We are so glad for their help.  We watched Joshua push Matts' phone around on Amys' belly today.  There are certain songs I guess he likes to rock out too.  It will be great to finally meet that little boy. 
I'm hoping by all of us moving in together and sharing a rural life it will give him the continuity I didn't have as a child.  After moving so many times growing up, it was nice that Matt spent his whole childhood in one school system, (I went to 9 different schools, that wasn't very much fun.).  I'm hoping the same for Joshua and any other siblings he will have.  Also I am so hoping that this is the last move I ever do.  Moving just downright sucks.  Packing your life in little boxes, not to mention some of that life is very heavy! 

The new couple buying the mobile will be happy here, I'm sure of it.  With the yard and the nice neighbors, not forgetting Halloween, I am so going to miss Halloween.  All those kids coming for candy.  This is the first place we lived where we were overwhelmed by Trick-or-Treaters.  It was fantastic!  The Halloween decorations were growing every year.  I'm hoping Milton Mills has door to door Trick-or-Treating...  Matt and Amy love Halloween just as much as Scott and I do.

Thank you all for the wallpaper suggestions/directions.  Most of the downstairs will be wallpaper, to keep that period feeling.  I'm hoping it will not take too long to get ready after the first closing.  I think I'll take Heathers suggestion to heart and have a nice painting/papering party... with beer and pizza of course. 

Putting things in storage day!!

Today we went and rented a storage unit.  We then went down and rented a U-Haul.  So now it's time to load the U-Haul with all the boxes we've packed and all the furniture we won't be using, we'll be putting things in storage over the next two weeks or so.  We're still waiting on the final closing date for the mobile.
The realtor sent over the prelim Hud forms for us to look at.  Monday I'm faxing all the financials to Wells Fargo.  It's funny, the bank wanted a Sept 1st closing date.  Needless to say the realtor is going to put in for an extension.  We still have to be approved through HUD.  We have pre-approval through Wells Fargo.  
I am so excitied to see this house come alive again.  It is the perfect house for a family.  Milton Mills is such a cute little village. It has that Mayberry RFD quality too it.  Maybe more like Mayberry meets Modern Family. 
Next year I want all of our food for Thanksgiving to be grown on the farm.  Next year at this time we should have at least 12 chickens, 2 pigs, 3 turkeys and maybe a couple goats.   Not to forget to mention the garden.  I want to grow my own pumpkins. 
 I'm not looking forward to the long process of inspections and the stack of paperwork we'll have to do.  Not to mention the quotes for the chimneys, furnace, kitchen floor and ceiling.  Plus replace most of the electrical fixtures.  
Looks like we'll be painting, I was going to quote that out, but I'd like to save the money for other things the house needs.  If anyone knows where to get wallpaper locally let me know, otherwise I have to order it over the web.
Well enough stalling, off to pack the U-Haul.

Packing and moving forward.

It's been almost a week since we submitted what we hope to be the last piece of paperwork the bank will need for it's final package.  We've now started to pack in earnest.  It's about 2-3 weeks before closing on this end and we will have to put our stuff in storage.  We've resloved the issue over where to stay.  We will be staying with the kids until we all move in to the Milton Mills property.
Packing is so tiedious.  Box after box of packing your life up to move on to a new life.  I'm hoping this will be the very last move we ever make.  I hate the thought of all my stuff going into storage.  I love my stuff.  I like being surrounded by my stuff.  But the end will justify the means.  The house looks so  bare.  I do realize I have way too much stuff, but maybe living in a bigger place it will look just right.  The kids have friends that live up the road from the Milton Mills house.  They spoke to them last night and told them they were going to be neighbors.  As with all old houses people start to talk and wisper about why people don't live there too long.  So we heard the story about the house being haunted.  It was something about a bed raising off the floor with 2-3 teenagers on it.  But with teenagers you have to take stories with a grain of salt.  I don't mind sharing the house, long as the spirits are quiet.  Matt and Amy were showing Andy the house during the downpour on Tuesday.  They found two little spots where the roof was leeking.  Looking up at the roof at the spots, I'm thinking they are coming from the lifted flashing around the chimney.  The roof is just under 6 yrs old so I'm hoping it isn't anything major.  The chimney rebuild was on the list anyway.  I'm hoping we hear from the bank this week and then we can start the financials.  Our preapproval ends mid August.  We'll be busy over the next couple weekends.  Packing this week, renting a storage unit next and then hauling all the stuff to storage.  If we rent a U haul next weekend we should be able to get it all done.  We'll use the last week to clean the house and get it ready for closing.  Keep your fingers crossed it's still a long process.

Yay!!! Our offer has been accepted.

After months of whining we finally got news that our offer was accepted.  I was so excited today.  I gave the realestate agent my biweekly call and just before I was ready to leave work he called and told me he was sending me an e-mail.  I waited at work and accessed my home e-mail.  I read the first line... "The offer is good"  along with more paperwork to fill out.  I was excited to say the least.  I called the agent just to make sure it was right.
I went to Shaw's and got a cake, I had them write " We got the House" on the top.  The kids were home making us dinner for our anniversary.  I told them the cake was for after dinner and not to look at it.
When Scott got home I broke out the cake and told them to read the top... HeHeHe.... It was great.
Thank everyone for all the support, now the fun begins.  Submitting financials and getting the HUD loan to fix the ol'girl up.  Replace the furnace, fix the kitchen floor and ceiling.  Not to forget to mention replace all of the fixtures because the last tennents kind of left with them.  Now starts the adventure!!

Another Week

Another week has gone by without word from the bank about the Milton Mills property.  Maybe this week.... seems to be the mantra.  On a good note we had the inspection for the mobile and it's new owners.  Next week will be the Assesement.  It is getting closer and closer.  Scott is in his den packing up his CDs.   Those will be some heavy boxes.  I'm going to be packing my books next.  We'll work our way down from the front of the mobile to our bedroom at the other end.  Next week we will be renting a storage unit.  Once we hear the closing date we'll try to get a temporary rent.
Tomorrow is Scott and My 25th Anniversary.  It's amazing how time flies.  I remember that year 25 years ago like it was yesterday.   Like any couple it's had it's ups and downs.  Thankfuly we've had few downs and plenty of ups.  I am always grateful for that.  Another reason for the Milton Mills property.  It will give all of us, Matt, Amy, Scott and myself, not to mention Joshua, fundamental roots.    An extended family living together.  I am so looking forward to that. 
Milton Mills is such a cute little village.  Only over 500 residents.  It will be a good place to spend the rest of our lives.  Banks and their paperwork, rules and regulations never seem to add that into the equation.  I know they will be losing money on the property and they want to try to get the best offer.  But if they added everything up and looked through human eyes they would see they would be getting the best deal.  As it sits right now the property is wasting away.  Every day that passes is an opportunity for somthing or someone to damage the property.  If someone were living there and maintaining the property it only brings the properties around it up in value.  Right now it just looks like an old empty house that you can throw stones at, or shoot bbs as someone has already done to one of the front windows.  Well keep your fingers crossed that next week will be the week... what a nice anniversary present that would be.

Another week...

Another week has gone by.  We went up to the property yesterday, we took a look at the house next door to see if that might be a back up plan. It's a very nice house but I still like the corner lot.  Even if the house next door has fireplaces.  Someone mowed part of the lawn.  I should say they hayed part of the lawn the grass was so tall.  We are still waiting on word from the bank.  I was cruising the web last Monday and for giggles just googled "Bank of America Short Sales"  OMG what horror stories there were online going back to 2009 to present.  Some Short sales took over a year.  I'm hoping in this case it goes a little faster.  I would like to have everything done and in before fall. 
The new grandchild is due on Sept 1st.  We went last Tuesday with them to the Ulrasound.  It was so amazing to see this little baby boy in the womb.  He has his fathers head so poor Amy might want to have drugs lined up for the delivery.  It will be fantastic sharing our life with this little child. 
Once the bank gives the Ok ( and we are hoping beyond hope that they will ) then we will need to re-do the paperwork and file all of the documents for the loan.  They say all good things come to those who wait, so i'm thinking this will be fantastic. 
This really means alot to us.  For one, the kids moving in with us.  It would be the first time we actually spent Christmas day together.  We usually unwrap presents Chrismas Eve and then Scott and I spend Christmas day just chilln.  I am so looking forward to sharing Christmas morning with them.  Not to mention my favorite Holiday which is Thanksgiving.  That house was built for family and Thanksgiving.  We also paln to grow alot of our food.  I want to plan out a large garden, not to mention we are going to go from 3 chickens to about 20.  In the spring I want to look into getting two pigs to harvest in the fall.  So like I said there is alot riding on us getting this house.  I hope I haven't set our hopes too high.  I'm hoping we hear somthing soon.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Our closing should be by Mid August for the house we're living in now.  This means I have to pack and get a storage unit, not to mention look for some place to live in the meantime.  At least if we hear from the bank we won't have that part to stress over once we close on the mobile. 

No News

Well I was hoping that Friday we would get some word or update from the bank, but no such luck.  Amy, Audrey (my sister) and I went down to visit my Aunt.  We drove through some of the old neighborhoods and down Essex street, Audrey having been brought up in Lawrence, and myself being 14 when we moved up north to Rochester,  we were quite disapointed.  The urban decay was horrible.  I cannot even picture myself living there now.  All the more reason to purchase the Milton Mills property.  Today I'm cleaning out the shed, yesterday I tackled the soffits and the fence, having painted them white.  Next week I'll be packing.  I also want to get a storage unit.  Still keeping our fingers crossed the bank will accept our offer.

Long process

Woke up at 4:30am stressed with a million things going through my head.  The need to pack, clean ect.  No word yet from Bank of America, if they have accepted our offer.  I wish there was some way to communicate how desperately we want this and how soon we would like to have it happen.  I  hate short sales they take so long.  I'm going to start packing this weekend and rent a storage space.  It seems the most logical thing to do.  We should be closing on the mobile in about 4- 6 weeks which means we will need to find temporary housing.  I didn't realize I have so much stuff.  Where does it come from?  So here's to hearing from the bank hopefuly soon.

Yesterday we went up to visit the property.  The grass is very overgrown and looks like it needs to be hayed.  We're getting very excited about the house and the new baby (grandchild).  We all want to be finished with this process and move on to the repairs and the moving.  It would be fantastic to be in before the fall.  You would think the bank would move a little faster, as each day goes by the house falls into greater disrepair.
We have a purchase and sale on the property we are in now.  A nice young couple with a little boy want to buy our mobile.  They seem to love the place and I believe they'll be very happy here.  It's just a cute little homey place.  Plus, the neighbors are great. 
I am so looking forward to doing homesteading.  Raising our own vegtables and animals.  This house and it's acre of land is just perfect for that.  It has a nice flat acre, plenty of room for fruit trees and a couple pigs.  The barn is already sectioned off for the chickens and the goats.  Plus plenty of storage on the second floor of the barn.  The house needs extensive work.  First and foremost will be getting a new furnace and making sure the well and the water are working.  The chimneys need to be re-done along with the ceiling and floor of the kitchen.   The last tenents were oh so nice enough to take most of the light fixtures and the pedastal sink in the upstairs bathroom.  In the scheme of things those are some of the little hurdles we'll be facing.  Overall the house has good bones.  Straight roof lines, new windows, all new electrical (minus the fixtures) and a recent paint job on the outside.  I'm posting some of the pictures we took, it will give you an idea of how it looks before we get in and get working.

Almost a week.

It's been almost a week since my last post.  We still haven't heard from the bank.  We did get a message from the couple trying to buy our mobile, telling us they are still trying to get financing.  So it's pretty much status quo.. 

Welcome to our Blog.  Let me introduce my family.  I am Michael, my husband is Scott we have one son, Matthew and his girlfriend AmyRose, we all wish to live together to save on expenses and be more of a family.   At present we live in Rochester, NH.  We are in the process of  buying a 200 yr old farmhouse in MiltonMills, NH which we have dubbed "Flying Witch Farm".   We put our mobile home up for sale in Rochester and we put a bid in on April 19th for our dream farm.  Now the wait begins.  We welcome you to go through this process with us.  If we are successfull we will grow our own vegtables and raise some of our own animals.  Not to forget to mention, welcome our new grandson in August/ September.  So hang on tight and say a little prayer for us.  It's going to be a bumpy ride through the cycle that is a short sale and dealing with the bank and not to forget to mention the rehab loan.