Sorry for not posting much this past week.  I was on a roll there for a few days.  Then life gets in the way.  We are totally one dimensional right now.  Every thought, spoken word and intention revolves around the buyers of this house and the buying of our house in Michigan.  That is news!

Jim flew to Grand Rapids on Wednesday afternoon.  He hasn’t been to Michigan in years, so it was a good trip for him.  He grew up in Kalamazoo and always liked the west half of Michigan.  He drove around a little before checking into his hotel and immediately felt positive and motivated.

The next day, my friend Kristi, who is a Realtor, took him to the six or seven houses we had found by reviewing the listings she sent us.   He lost his positive mode and started to get a little worried.  His text messages to me conveyed that he was feeling hopeless about finding anything with all our requirements, on our modest budget.

We need land for the sheep and dogs.  Not much, as most muncipalities don’t require more than two and a half for a couple of sheep.  We need an outbuilding for my wool processing equipment.  And we need a large space, either a basement or that outbuilding, for my weaving studio and Jim’s music studio and amplifier business.  We didn’t really care about the house.  We’ve lived in a beautiful house for the past 12 years and found it didn’t really make much difference in our life except to worry about what the next big project would be.  Most importantly, we want to be by Lake Michigan and the village of Saugatuck. I have a history there of summers spent with my grandmother, and Jim felt that it would be a supportive environment for my weaving and dyeing business.

Pier Cove Beach is about 5 miles from the house we are trying to buy.

However, when you are shopping for a house, the biggest budget item most people will purchase, and you see some calamities that have been vacant for years, and you don’t think you could allow your dogs to live it let alone yourself, then the worries begin.  So after a quick conferring with the realtor,  Jim found that for just a tad more cash we could buy a house that we wouldn’t have to literally gut before we could move into it.

He made an offer and we are waiting.  I am thinking good thoughts!