This Land is My Land....

Quote for the Day:

“Take pride in how far you've come. 

Have faith in how far you can go. 

But don't forget to enjoy the journey."

 ~Michael Josephson

After all my talking lately about our "new" property that we've been working on and cleaning up, I thought that maybe some of you...well, maybe at least ONE of you...might want to see what I'm talking about and see the progress!  (Okay...so maybe no one will find this interesting, but it *is* my blog, and I want to blog about it, so I'm going to...because I'm ornery like that.)

I've blogged about it a little here, but here is the main gist of the story:

Back in November of 2011, we bid on and won the property next to ours at a tax lien sale.  There was a contractor in town that bid against us and lost.  He was bitter about it and started dumping construction debris and trash on the property.  With a tax lien sale in our state, you can't touch the property for 18 months, thus giving the owners a chance to redeem it.   So for 18 months, we got to sit by and watch as this contractor systematically destroyed this property.   We couldn't get the code city code enforcement officers to do anything about it, because they are friends with the contractor.  :(

April 1, 2013, the property legally became ours and the contractor began pulling his equipment off of the property that he had parked there, and also he began removing any useable construction supplies.  He left all the trash, of course.  

We were advised by our lawyer to still not do anything until we actually had the deeds in our hands.  The deeds arrived in the mail on April 13!!

At that point, we put up "No Trespassing" signs and started making plans for cleaning up the property and making our plans for the use of it. 

Since April 13th, we've been working on the property to clean it up.  We've given away reclaimed/reusable wood and firewood.  We've burned brush and other debris on the property.  And most recently, we've concentrated on getting the cement pads cleaned up and ready so that we have a garage and workshop (2 different buildings) constructed on the site.

 First cement pad before...

Same cement pad now...cleaned off, old floor tiles removed...ready for a garage!

(Picture taken from right front corner... 

Same pad...taken from left front corner...

 

Second cement pad before...

Same cement pad now...just needs one more sweeping and then it will be ready for construction to begin on Andy's 20' X 32' workshop!

Third cement pad before...

Third cement pad now...okay...so it's not perfect, yet,

but it's a work in progress...

 Fourth cement pad before...

 ...now...

 Brush and debris before...

...same area now...

Firewood before...

...and now...

This is still what needs to be cleaned up and burned...

Now that we are in the heat of the summer here, these piles will probably wait until Fall, when it cools off.  We are happy with the progress we've made so far and are looking forward to getting the buildings constructed that we want:  a 2-stall garage, Andy's workshop, and a 2-car carport.  

It's been a long road as far as it's been, and there's still a ways to go.  But lots of progress has been made and we are happy that the property now adds to, rather than detracts from, the neighborhood and surrounding home values.   It is rewarding to look out and see the beautiful green trees and grass rather than the run-down equipment and debris that we've had to look at for 18 months!  

Thanks for taking this pictorial journey with me! 

Loretta