Ben finished the last work for now on the New Bedlam Farm. He had a truckload of gravel delivered and he smoothed out our pot-holed driveway – bad water spot for the winter – and put gravel over the mud on the hay feeder outside of the Pole Barn. We got three truckloads of gravel and Ben spent most of the day spreading and smoothing it. It is the last major work for now, and although there are a lot of things we would like to do, we are out of money.
It would be impossible to list all of the things Bed did here – doors planed, beams shored up, garbage and trash hauled away, barn repaired, Maria’s Studio – and I am sure he will be back. Old farmhouses never stay static for too long. Our realtors Chris and Kristin Preble came by this morning and we signed a new listing agreement for the next six months. Many people say it’s important to change realtors but I think it’s important to not change realtors if they are Chris and Kristin. They have worked hard to sell our farm – ads, showings, e-mails, and we have no complaints. The inventory of homes is dropping rapidly around here, and a number of people are moving up in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as they did after 9/11. We have had a stead stream of showings, and people seem to be loving the farm.
It is getting closer, it will happen that someone who loves that wonderful place will want to buy it. The last person who looked, a lawyer from New York City, said he loved the farmhouse and the price, he was just not planning to move up here for a few years and was checking things out. Kristin said home sales in this are are up 40 per cent over last year and things are beginning to move again in the markets.
Today was a landmark day for us, Ben is off to other jobs and we are on our own here. The house is in much better shape – new wiring and plumbing walls and ceilings, wood stove and new slate roof. It cost more than we thought, of course, and we will be facing some challenges in the New Year. A perfect life is not one without challenges, I think, but one in which challenges are met openly and honestly. There is no price too great to pay for a meaningful life, Maria and I share that strong belief. So thanks, Ben, we will be calling you often. You may not realize what a gift you gave us with your hard and good and honest work, but we do.