Thistledog's Farm

In case I haven’t mentioned it yet, the obstacle that looms largest in my Path to Farm Freedom is the cleaning out and renovation of a two-bedroom, three-story condominium that now belongs to Bear.  Its owner, a long-time friend of his, died of a stroke this past Spring and left it to him in her will.  You would think that would be a very positive thing, to inherit a property that can be rented out to generate cash flow, and generally speaking that is true.  All you have to do is clean it out, fix it up, and find good tenants.  Simple, right?

Alas, these things never are.

First of all, the place was stuffed to the rafters with too much furniture, junk and trash, and was incredibly filthy.  A small dog and a large cat kept indoors ruined every inch of carpeting upstairs and did serious damage to the walls.  Windows left open to the elements for years (you can do that in San Diego) resulted in damaged windowsills and left mold and mildew everywhere.  Cigarette smoke stained the ceilings.  No serious cleaning had been done in more than a decade.  Boxes and bags of miscellaneous stuff were stacked everywhere, and kitchen cabinets were ruined by spilled contents.  Junk everywhere, intermixed with items of value, had to be sorted through and disposed of. 

Secondly, without disparaging anyone or going into too much detail, this is a solo effort; a workforce of one.  As my grandmother would have said, “Being handy never gets you anything but a lot of hard work.”  I have experienced the truth of her wry little observation many times in my life, and this instance is no different.  Because I am She Who Makes Order out of Chaos, and Bear is inept at the most basic household duties and is, I am speaking kindly here, motivationally challenged.  But this condo needs to be rented out (not a good time to sell anything, do I even need to mention that) and I won’t leave him hanging with a stone like this tied to his neck.  He could never afford to hire someone to do what I am doing.

So I am working like a dog – a renovation dog, since I really want to get the hell out of suburbia and get to my farm, and I can’t go until this is done.  I started the clean-out process in October, as soon as it was legally available, working four hours at a time on weekends – the longest I could stand to be in that hell-hole.  Bag after bag of trash carried down two flights of stairs and across the parking garage to the dumpster didn’t even seem to make a dent.  The place stunk, the work was depressing, and I could barely see my progress.  But November allowed me more time, and I doggedly persisted with my four-hour work stints, until the upstairs bedrooms were stripped to just their furniture.  Fifty-seven large bags of crap drug to the dumpster.  God forgive me for all the glass not recycled, the stuff just needed to go.

It took more than a little elbow grease to clean up and restore a maple bedroom set and the large oak entertainment center before I could post them for sale on Craigslist, but it paid off and they both sold.  Several other items are still advertised, waiting for buyers.  Lots of stuff donated to GoodWill and Father Joe’s Villages, but lots of stuff still remains.  Pulling everything out of the upstairs bedrooms was a huge step, as it allowed me to start the painting and repairing process.  I had hoped to have the upstairs done by the end of December and ready for carpet installation, but I missed that mark.  Still painting bathrooms and replacing fixtures, and the stairwell hallway walls will need painted after that, then I can move downstairs. 

I don’t think I work as fast as I used to.  But two rooms and a hallway painted from top to bottom, including closets and door jambs, various wall repairs and a rebuilt windowsill, is a good start.  I’m working 8 hours a day now at it (it’s a 30-minute drive to the condo) and I hope to pick up speed as I get more efficient.  And I will need to; the winter is getting short and I want to be in Kentucky in time to put in a garden. 

This damned condo renovation project is the figurative grenade rolled under my door that threatens to blow up all my plans for finishing up here in San Diego and getting myself out to the Farm.  I should be out back in my own little suburban yard finishing terrace walls and stairs, resetting flagstone paths out front, and renovating the landscaping so it can be maintained by a gardening service in my absence.  I need to clean out the garage, pack 7 tons of household goods, and get it moved to storage.  There is a lot that will need to be done this winter, to earn my liberty, my ticket to freedom.

Wish me luck, cheer me on, pray for strength and patience for me.  I will need a lot of all those things to get this done.