By Ellen McCarthy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 9, 2008; Page WE21
"It's a shame inner peace has gotten so pricey.
"Because certainly we need it now more than ever. The talking heads
are yapping incessantly. The economists are brooding. The tailgaters
are honking, the neighbors are squabbling, the Earth is struggling and
the next family crisis is beeping in on call waiting.
"A desert retreat might be nice about now, but that would inevitably
set you back a couple grand and multiply your carbon footprint with
jet fuel. A day at the spa could do the trick, but only if you've got
a few hundred to spare. Price hikes at the gas station will probably
nix that Sunday drive in the country, and even the neighborhood yoga
class suddenly costs $20 a pop. . . ."
As for me, I will take breakfast to the front porch and view the
surroundings here at Heartwood.
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Eh, I hesitate to put up the listing until we had a ratified contract.
I am still not sure we have one, I need to see what Roy comes up with
when he shows up sometime this afternoon. Apparently there's a roof
issue and I don't know whether he agreed to take it as-is or not.
The soil, I did not have it tested. It's in pasture, orchard grass and
fescue. I didn't see any signs of over-wet spots, or the worst of the
weeds that come up in overgrazed and sour land. I did see some
volunteers because it hasn't been kept down but that's easy to
rectify. The biggest drawback is no hardwoods, but the truth of the
matter is I'd really like to focus on renewable solar or wind *anyway*
and hey, Roy's an electrical engineer first and foremost and if we
can't figure that out we're doomed. It looks like the middle paddock
which was used as a run-in to the Morton barn has been overgrazed and
reduced to weeds. I might just make it a dry lot.
Seller pays survey, septic and water. We asked for and paid for a home
inspection, to include radon (which I ended up waiving, I'm not too
worried about that right now). We waived lead. One stupid thing I did
was to forget to ask for an appraisal contingency. I am so used to
that being covered by the financing contingency, which we did not
include in this contract, that I just forgot it and so did the
realtor. *eye roll* Anyway, I know we are right in line with the
comps because I did research them, so if we are off, it's not by much,
and I don't think we are anyway.