The other big thing

As I was saying, it's been a busy, hectic, exhausting summer.

When we bought our little farmlet two years ago, I was motivated primarily by the desire to escape the crazy Stepford suburb I'd inadvertently landed us in when we first arrived in the Midwest. (Seriously, we had neighbors who pruned our rosebushes when we weren't home, that's the kind of suburb it was.)  The idea of actual barns and livestock and farming was only a fantasy that professionals like me didn't speak aloud. Maybe a pony. That would be acceptable. For the child of course. ;)

The full-blown farmness of this place sorta snuck up on us. Once here, of course we had room for another pony, and another, and chickens, and why not goats? And as long as we've got goats, how about some sheep? Sheep - talk about a long held secret fantasy. Um, in a good way of course. Somewhere around here is a box that's survived, hmmm, let me count....18 19, well, 20-ish moves across two countries and four states since college. It's filled with bucolic sheep postcards. :)  But, I digress.

We're bursting at the seams now. Two years ago the problem of where to put a larger flock of goats or sheep would have been far-fetched. Now I really worry about it. Alot. Round and round in my head, but our place is realistically too small for a bigger flock.

Enter a sign. In both senses. One sense came in the mail. The other was posted in our neighbor's front yard. The one in the mail was a four-leaf clover from thecrazysheeplady. Luck was headed my way. That was last Saturday. Before the sun had set that day, a for sale sign went up next door. A for sale sign in the yard of the neighbor with the beautiful fenced pasture in the back. Two pastures actually. And a round pen. And a big, pole barn, perfect for storing an entire winter's worth of hay.

It took another twelve hours for the listing to show up online. Sunday I spoke to a realtor I've worked with before. Monday she took me to check out the house, just so there were no surprises. Tuesday morning, I made a formal offer. Tuesday night it was accepted. By Wednesday morning the papers were signed and I'm now officially in contract to buy the place next door. Thursday and Friday were devoted to prepping loan documents. Next comes a round of inspections, and so on. We close at the end of September.

When that happens, we will double the size of Tyche's Run. I haven't a clue how this will ultimately change my plans, except to say that it makes much more possible. It will be tight financially, at least for a few years, but in the long run, it should be fantastic. I could not be more excited. It really has been a whirlwind of a summer.