Two, So Far

We've had two showings since we signed the papers last Thursday. The first was some locals who are (allegedly of course) seriously looking. The second was for a realtor. If I understand the data right, this particular realtor was the top seller in the area last year, so her visit is perhaps significant.

Angel & I have poured hours and hours of work into the place and it looks great. Today I mowed most of the "meadow area" down towards the nature trail. This is on a gentle hillside and is probably at least a quarter of an acre. Even with a self-propelled mower, it's hard on the knees. This was the first spring mow, so the change is quite noticeable.

No feedback as yet on either showing. We've officially entered limbo, I guess, but so far it's okay. I have a lot of thoughts about my age and the situation in which we find ourselves, but you can imagine that for yourself if you're interested.

I've got a couple of tasks to accomplish in the short term:

1. Since we've put closets in both of the former "offices" in the main house, these spaces are now considered bedrooms. That means they need smoke detectors. That's a small, manageable job; although smoke detectors aren't free of course.
2. All of our downspout pipes feed a groundwater recharge pit downhill from the main house. One of the downspout pipes is about 18" too short and the large diameter (4", 6"? I must measure) PVC pipe it feeds needs a cap with a hole in it. This is probably an easy job... as long as I don't drop the drainpipe segment down into the larger PVC pipe!
3. I need to mow the surrounding areas that I maintain. North of our house is a fairly steep hillside. Left alone, it gets 6' high underbrush that's a huge, potential fire hazard. Two years ago I cut it back and now I mow it several times each year. Also, the area near the nature trail at the east side of the property needs mowing. The City certainly can't afford to take care of it, so I also maintain that bit (as do most of the property owners along the trail).
4. Cardboard that we were going to use as mulch in the vegetable garden paths needs to be cut up and bundled for recycling pickup. It would work great, but it's just not that visually attractive.
5. Biggest job: continue the landscaping project out near the street. I don't want to put in another irrigation circuit down there, but it needs to look neater than it does right now. Curb appeal, and all that.

You can see from this that there isn't a lot left to do. Limbo is a strange place. We need to keep the house up. We need to do what we can to make it just as appealing as possible, but we must also distance ourselves emotionally from the home we put so much effort (and savings!) into building. As I said, it's strange.