House update--and CHICKENS!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I sort of feel like if I post about our house, it will jinx it. Silly, right?

We had the house inspected. It's in very good shape, the $1,000 we have to play with from the seller for repairs will fix the worst of the problems (new water heaters.) The foundation, roof, wiring, plumbing and furnace are all in good working order.

So we made our offer, which was a little more than I would have liked to pay, but considerably less than they wanted to get. It was accepted! Now it's a waiting game for the loan. We should be able to move in about a month.

I can hardly wait to get my garden in the ground. It'll be a little late, especially considering we only have a 90 day growing season. But I should be able to plant some starts from the nursery, and some herbs and radishes that grow quickly. I'm growing something this summer, damnit!

The kids and I were exploring and found the Ely County Corrals. Turns out that, until not many years ago, people could keep farm animals in town. When the ordinances changed, the city built the corrals for the people who were keeping pigs and horses in their city-lot backyards.
Oh My Gosh--I want a corral BAD! It's like a huge community garden, only for farm animals instead of tomatoes. About sixty nice-sized corrals all connected, each with a different assortment of animals. There are horses, of course. But also chickens, turkeys, pigs, lots of goats and sheep, and a couple of pigs. We even saw peacocks.

I asked around and found out that people lease the land from the city for $200 a year, and the improvements are sold. So we'd have to find someone who was selling their corral's barn/coop/whatever, buy those, then lease the land. A guy feeding his horse told me that the corrals sell from $200 to $10,000 depending on what's on the lot.

I am going to own one! I keep driving by them, looking at the chickens and goats (I don't want sheep--I hate to eat lamb, and the animals are really stinky.) I'm not eating goat meat. I'll use them for their ability to turn scraps into high-quality manure for my garden.

Want to know how excited Kevin is about me planning to haul chicken and goat poop (oooh! Maybe rabbits, too!) in our minivan? HAHA!