A Little Surprise is Found in the Oddest of Places-Or Not

Not all surprises are nice-and finding a mouse is not such a great surprise but how could you not love this cute little face peeking out of junk we found on our new property to be?

Yup, you heard it right. Mr. Fix-it and I are taking the leap and making our dreams come true. We had been mulling the idea of buying some land for quite some time without really acting on it. Last fall, when my daughter Christine and her husband were looking for land I really got the bug to buy some land. The idea has been shelved and taken down numerous times over the last few years. How could I possibly leave my home of twelve years and my garden I've spent what seems like a lifetime in? I couldn't even envision it, plus we could not find the right spot for our future so buying land was simply a dream.

Then, a few weeks ago while I was browsing the 'land for sale' ads I found a nice piece of land not too far from us that I thought might be interesting. Mr. Fix-it and I took a ride over to the site and toured the property. We loved the property but did not make an offer. Another property came up that we liked a lot and we made an offer. That offer was rejected and countered; which we declined. In the middle of this process a new listing came on the market for more than double the land we were initially looking for. Having nothing to lose we ventured to look at the property I shall call 'Red Top'. It was a very cold day and I had barely gotten out of the truck when I hurriedly hustled back into the truck to stay warm. This left Mr. Fix-it to wander around. 

We were getting a bit discouraged by this point and I had given up, content to stay in my current home. Mr. Fix-it pushed on then excitedly came into the truck and said, "This is it." I did not take him seriously then he said, "THIS IS IT" not so much yelling (Mr. Fix-it never yells) but with conviction. Having been married to Mr. Fix-it for nearly twenty years I know him pretty well. The second time he said "This is it" really got my attention.

You see, our new property totals over 59 acres but seemed like it was all wooded on our first visit. Not encouraging when you plan to build a house as I do not enjoy walking thru woods and bramble. The property was misleading though. Had I ventured further onto the land I would have seen that after walking over 200 feet through woods, past a pond area and lots of trash; I would have seen that the property opened up to an incredible field atop a hill-only slightly sloping. It is an ideal place for us to build a house. We have been wanting privacy and distance from neighbors. No one will even be able to see our new home from any road and since we are building in the middle of a 42 acre parcel (total land is over 59 acres) we do not have to worry about any neighbors either. Can you say heaven? We are very excited! 

Back to the little surprise. While walking along and initially looking at the property Mr. Fix-it spotted a GMC hood lying on the ground. Mr. Fix-it is an auto nut as much as I am a garden nut. He loves, loves, loves GMCs. Like I said there is a lot of trash on the land, though not as much as what we found on other plots of land, and a hood seemed to fit right in. That hood was quickly noted and began to bother Mr. Fix-it so much that he made it his mission to upend the hood the next time we visited the land. He just had to see what was underneath. He pictured all sorts of things like snakes and other unspeakable things such as dead bodies. I thought he was really silly and I was right. When he warily lifted the hood off the ground rodents began running. One little mouse did not get away. It was tucked away inside of the hood and obliged me just for a sec by posing for its picture. It is rather cute in a rodent like way don't you think?

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden