August 31st

Morning begins early, set the alarm to get up by 6:30

AM. The House Mover Man called last night, wants to

meet at the burned lot by 7:30AM, as he has not seen it

yet. I start out with my morning cup of coffee and the

news, Benny decides to eat breakfast after the meeting,

so I keep watch outside while he gets dressed, talk to the

neighbor kids as they leave to get on the school bus, and

as Benny walks down the road sipping a cup of coffee, I

begin breakfast. It is almost 8:30 AM when he gets back,

the phone has just rang, and it is the Barn Mover man.

He is wanting to start taking down the porch roof on the

Western House this morning. The Real Estate Lady was

supposed to have put a combination lock on the property

yesterday, so we tell him he will have to check with her

this morning. The electric company has not taken down

the line yet to the Western House, so that also needs to

be done before the movers get there. I keep reminding

myself......"Walk by faith, it will all come into place"....the

Mover Man has given us the price of moving the houses,

it is triple what we expected (and what we were told by

Real Estate Lady), but truly, we were all unsure. Our

estimate ourselves was unsure. It will about $4 and a

little more per square foot. I would rather invest in these

houses.....I believe in owning my own land.....I tell

myself this over and over. Again, we go over our

finances, pulling from here and there, cutting back here

and there, but He will guide us, I just know it....keep

walking by faith.....Benny is eating his blueberry

pancakes, bacon, and drinking coffee...the Dumpster

people have taken off the one dumpster full of debris,

one of their trucks has broken down. They will take the

other off after they return from the first run...they have

to go over 50 miles to dump the debris. We have to get

blocks and pads yet for the house. We have checked the

prices, it will run about $2.75 for each one, and it will

take a bunch...we now know the direction the house will

be facing, so we can line up for the plumbing in our

minds anyway. Busy, busy, busy....and the old carport

has to come down as well....one tree yet to be cut

down...but my renter will do that for us...he is a precious

young man. The Homeless Friend we have taken in will

help some with the Barn that is to be moved to our

property here at our house. He trimmed tree limbs

yesterday, and cut and stacked the wood for us. He will

take the leafy debris to the road today for the city to

grind up when they have time.
Problems begin about 9:45 AM...I receive a call from the

Dumping Company in Abilene...unable to load 2nd

dumpster, something about a piece of debris on

top...Benny is trying to call BackHoe Man and gives up..I

say a prayer, pick up the phone, and his wife

answers..Thank you, Lord...get ahold of him, he will be

right there....Another phone call....Barn Mover Man

needs permission to cut a tree down to start on the roof

of the house...call to real estate agent who has to call

owner..No oak can be cut, but Thank you, Lord, this is a

small pecan tree and he agrees it can be cut down to get

the porch off...Dumpster Man and truck have arrived at

the scene, BackHoe Man is smacking down the debris, I

talk to Dumpster Man and thank him for his patience, he

is agreeing with me on how hard this is to get done, and

waits patiently, then begins to load the Dumpster...load

#2 is on the way.....BackHoe Man thinks we will need at

least 3 more times of emptying the containers. Lots of

debris. We decide to crush all the cinderblocks that were

the old foundation and will use them as fill when we put

in a patio slab at the site in the near future, Lord

willing.Benny goes to price beams to place under the

Western House, and we figure the price up....We will

need at least 10 or more to go down through the middle

of the foundation. This is a very busy day....we decide to

go and take the antenna down off the Western House

and bring it in, we can do that much to help. I take the

camera with me so we can share with all our friends. The

workmen are at lunch when we arrive, but we meet them

on the way out and wave at them. The antenna came

down easily...we could not fit the pole in the back of the

truck, so we took it inside the house and left it on the

floor, it will ride with the house. I love this house, I want

to live in it myself...we discuss fixing it up for us and

renting out our huge place to a younger family. It has to

have so much work done on it as well. I really hate the

house, in all honesty, that is why I purchased a house

across the street, so my friends can come and we visit

there, and my kids can have a place to stay when they

come to visit with all my grandkids and great grands,

and what fun we have when we do get to visit. I am

getting too old to walk upstairs. I never go up them

unless absolutely necessary. I did not even count the

bedrooms in the Western House until today...there are

three bedrooms. It still needs some finishing done on it,

but most of the work is done.
BackHoe Man is busy filling the dumpsters again,

hopefully we can call and have them dumped again

tomorrow.
Benny's tooth is driving him crazy, so he calls the

dentist, who is a great guy, and he leaves to get two teeth

filled. Imagine that, just a call and he can come to the

office..The Lord is so good to us. My friend Terri comes

to visit and we just had the best time ...we have a praise

party...LOL...we love to share the blessings of the Lord

and just marvel at how He works in our lives. She is my

greatest blessing and true friend. We worked together at

school, and we both resigned this year, we are just

getting old ! Went to visit the minister today and took

him back his pears in a new form...he really

laughed...told him I was returning them in jars. Took

him canned pears and pear honey. He is getting

company in next week. His wife is quite ill, and I visited

a little while with her. She was doing fair today. Thank

you, Lord, for helping keep her pain under control. Her

daugher is also staying with her, and she is precious .Got

back to the house to see Benny and his son Marty at the

burned lot. They were having a great gab session and

laughing. Need to call the Dumpster Lady tomorow

morning and arrange for the two dumpsters to be

emptied. I think they hold a ton each, they are huge, and

there are still about 2 more loadings. A busy day, a busy

day, but all is calm, it is evening, and hopefully, we will

get a good night's rest so we can be refreshed for

tomorrow and what it holds, Lord willing.

A view of the Western House as you drive down into the meadow...



Taking down the antenna today....



Benny on the porch....

August 30th

Monday, Monday, be good to me....we have just finished

breakfast and the phone rings....it is the Barn Man who

gives us his price...move the barn, take the roof off the

side of the Western House and move the deck from the

Cozy House. We are in agreement, and he says he will

start tomorrow on the removal of the side roof. Thank

you Lord, for blessing me.....the BackHoe Man is

supposed to be at the lot this morning and will begin the

removal of the tin,copper, and the Dumpster Lady is

waiting for us to transfer the rest of the money for the

dumpsters which are to be delivered today.

I love the sound....crunch...bang....I know what is being

accomplished this morning...the big dumpsters are in

place this morning.....





The metal from the roof is being taken to the recycle

plant.


The copper wire is being pulled out and rolled, put in

buckets, to go to the recycle plant.....

Benny has seen the Real Estate Lady and we now have

the keys to the Western House.
Evening is drawing close....it has been a long day, lots of

hard work.....


There is so much less debris...the trucks will be here in

the morning to take the two full dumpsters and bring in

two more to be filled.
Thank you, Lord, for protection over the workers as they

do this hard job.....

August 29th

August 29th

I keep thinking about the old house being torn

down...the process is supposed to begin today.

It is so hard to keep up with all the details and

working with others timelines. I become

frustrated when I am told they will call, and

you sit by the phone all day, and nothing....the

housework and animals are being neglected,

but what else can you do ? Lord, help me with

my impatience.
Benny and my Homeless Friend went out to the

western house yesterday to measure it, to see

how it will have to be placed on the lot. It is 32

wide and 72 long. We think we will have to

demolish the car port as well on the burned lot

and cut down one tree. Hopefully, when

Back-Hoe man has it demolished, we can get a

better idea of placement for it.
2 PM...I hear equipment noise, but am I

mistaken, could it be my dishwasher ? I stick

my head out the door to hear the lovely

sound...he is there, and I hear the tearing and

grinding as the old house gives up to the

machine. Thank you, Lord, for holding me

tight, help me Lord, when I fall short, and

become impatient.....I think of Peter when he

walked on the water and then began to sink,

but the Good Lord reached forth and held him

up...How blessed I am, truly....
I hear the laughing sound of children, and as I

walk down the road, I see them standing

behind the police tape, jumping up and down,

shouting...."Get the windows, get the

window"...the door, the door!"....it is taking just

the right hit with the backhoe, and the walls are

down...as I return to look at it again, one of the

children is tied up with police tape...he looks

like a Mummy, and the others are laughing, he

is laughing as well, and begs to have Backhoe

Man save him the police tape when the debris

is cleared.. Backhoe Man promises he will save

him the police tape, to which he gets a high-five

and a big thank you...
The machine did the job !





Bringing the house down.....








The silouette of the telephone pole made the

shadow of a cross on the lawn.......



and a big THANK YOU SO MUCH to BackHoe

Man, for all his hard work today, and the

promise of being here tomorrow with more help

to see this journey completed .


Tomorrow they will load up the tin, pull out the copper wiring and plumbing, and they will go to the recycle plant.

August 27, 2010....We journey along......

We are so excited this morning.....Benny's prayer before breakfast is very touching, thanking the Lord for all our blessings...and we are blessed. I have to laugh,and ask him, "Do you think we are just too old and crazy to be doing this"?...and he answers me with " If we were younger, we wouldn't have any
sense."...He tries to call the company about getting the huge roll-off dumpster that we need in place, and impatience begins....he hands me the phone and says "You talk to the machine" and I have to laugh. I leave a voice message, the person does have a cell phone contact, but it is still early in the morning.I try the cell phone, no
answer. I call back to the first number of the company and am told there is no one else to talk to, the lady should be in soon....and wait another hour...I call my best friend Terri, just to be praying for me, and we discuss how all this is coming together, how amazing the Lord is, and how impatient we humans can be at times.

Two and 1/2 hours later, the company still has not returned our call, so Benny has gone down to city hall to see if they can help get the ball rolling (or the burned house demolished) so to speak. It is so hard just to get a dumpster ! Benny had the paper work started at the bank on the deed to the property this morning, so another step is being taken. He also has talked with our real-estate agent that we are changing locations to move the western house, and she will try to get in touch with the movers. They are so busy..they have several houses to move ahead of ours, one in Abilene, one in Albany,and several yet in Cisco. We are third on the list, but it will all come together in His time.
The phone rang, and it was the Dumpster Lady.She was very informative, need a contract, need a place to fax it....got that accomplished, and she knew the house !Stated nothing can be done until Monday, but they will deliver two dumpsters.....stated she thought there would be 8-10 emptyings, this is
getting expensive, but has to be done.The metal roof and some other metal items can be recycled, which the back-hoe operator wanted, will bring down his costs a little bit. We have managed to salvage the huge electric box on the house, so we can reuse that for the one we bring in...it is all working out....in His time....
I ran outside to tell Benny they were faxing the papers to city hall, and he told me they close at 1 PM, so he got in the pick-up and dashed off to get the papers. The phone rings, it is 1 PM and the Dumpster Lady tells me the papers were faxed...I am hopeful Benny is there to intercept them...it is now closing time...He just walks in
the door...made it in time, papers faxed back...and she sent me an estimate....Bless her,Lord....

Later this afternoon, the phone rings...Dumpster Lady calling...wants billing
information...entire amount is due NOW...oops....our card will only allow a certain
amount, so she takes all of it...and will need the rest Monday, will have to make arrangements at the bank to pay the entire amount from our account....I did not realize you had to pay it entirely before anything was done....I have learned something today....
Called the Backhoe Man...explained dumpsters will be here Monday...they will pick them up Tuesday, have to have them filled, will even have to pay if they are empty..Bless his heart...he will begin knocking down the house on Sunday, fill the dumpsters when they arrive on Monday.
My nerves are frazzled today...but I ask myself why I am concerned, He has it all under control.....the sparrows that fall are even known, and every hair on my head, which has more grey this morning, is numbered.... Lord,just let me keep holding tight.......
Evening has arrived...we are worn out...I have not fed the animals yet, so I know the goats, llama, doves, cats and dogs are eager for their evening meal. Benny states he still has to go feed Hombre the LongHorn...hungry critters...
we will have to talk to them about rationing their feed a little, Momma is running out of chicken feed.
Just before dark thirty, I walk down the road and look at the old house again....I told it that it would be torn down on Sunday, but I would see a nice house replaced it....and the police tape that covers the lot began to blow and twist in
the wind....almost like the house talked back to me, a strange sensation......it is just wood and nails, but the hollow broken windows speak to my soul.

The Journey of the Houses

The Journey of the Houses...

I read the ad in the paper...rustic, house to be moved, make offer. I thought about it off and on, and finally told Benny I was really curious about that house, I wanted to see what it looked like. He laughed at me, but two weeks later, he came in the house and said we had an appointment with the real estate agent.
We met at her office, and drove out of town, down a long unpaved road, and turned into an area where men were working putting up 10 foot high fencing all around the area. The new owner had bought many acres, and I think he intends to turn it into a hunting area from what I can see, we have several of them around here. The house was what I call a "shotgun house"...nothing much to look at, needs a new roof, but built well enough to be moved and brought back to life with a new look. I can see possibilities in it. As I opened the back door, I was surprised to see a beautiful deck. It also goes with the house.....I could just picture a young couple sitting out there on it drinking coffee in the mornings. I did not say much, then the agent said, "And now I will show you the smaller one that is also to be sold and moved."...and off we drove down the road,we waited as she used the combination on a locked gate to let us in to see it. As we drove down the winding road, I loved looking at the mesquite trees, the swaying wild grasses, and there it was, a beautiful little house in the middle. As she opened the door and I went inside, I could not believe my eyes. The walls were made of the most beautiful wood I have ever seen, the ceiling was vaulted, and beautiful fans with lights came down to give it a beautiful homey touch. A wood burning stove was in the center of the room to keep it warm...the rooms went on and on as I walked down the hallway...to a bedroom that had another wood burning stove built into the wall, making it look like a fireplace. The man who lived here was definitely a hunter, deer heads with antlers were all over the walls, everything in it was western style, and I was in love with a house to be moved. I really wanted it. This house just exudes a warmth of "take me home with you" and "love me forever" touch about it. We looked all around and really wanted this one, but what about the other one, and if the owner really wanted them out of his way, maybe he would consider us buying them both, but what could we offer? We came home, all excited about the little western looking house. I really wanted this one, Benny called the other one a "cozy little house" but I was not as impressed. We added all our finances up ,tried to figure about what moving them would cost (we are DUMB on this !) but we would just "guess-ta-mate" it, and see how close we would come. We called the next day and made the offer, and were told the owner was out of the country, and would be awhile. Several weeks passed, and I assumed someone else had got them, and then the phone rang yesterday morning....the owner had accepted our offer out of all the others and we could have the two houses if we would move them off ASAP. We were in shock. As we arrived at the office to go out to see them again and make a payment down on them, a man who MOVES HOUSES was there in the office, so out to the place we all went...now we have a mover....we know we have some extra hurdles to work out...we have to take the deck off the "cozy house" which will be the last one to move. The western one will really take alot of work, I did not realize until I opened the back door, it has a beautiful porch built all the way across, and this has to be taken off, so I am mulling all this around in my brain, we go back to the cozy one again to look at it. In the meantime, the owner calls, says he will need us to leave the cozy one there a little longer as the men are using it for living quarters who are building the fences, I tell the agent we will work with him on his time limit, and help in any way to help him as well, and he offers me THE BARN for free that is there since we are buying the houses. By now, I am jumping through hoops...YES.... YES.... YES... I want the barn. Benny thinks I am crazy now for sure, now I need someone else to move the barn. Last week a house was moved down the street from me...they amazed me by using a goose-neck trailer and a pick-up, and lots of my prayers went with them....we had this man go out and look at the barn..YES....he will move it, in two pieces, and will help with taking off the porch and the deck to help the other movers. I am amazed at how God works, He knows my heart, everything is happening as it is supposed to...now I need to have a place to move the houses and the barn....We have been trying to buy the lot by our house where the house burned down last month, but no one has returned any of our calls on it, but we did get them information on how much it would cost to bulldoze it down, and the price of dumpsters to load all the burned material in...seems a no- go on the lot, so...........what else can we figure out?..
We decide we will move Hombre the LongHorn down to our little place, and use the four lots there for the two houses, bring the barn here for him, and now I need the trees cut down by the four lots to bring in the houses....YES...my renter cuts trees for a living ! We can make a barter, trees cut for rent...YES...he is willing, he will start cutting them down tomorrow...Isn't God great....look at how this is all coming together...I am in awe, and just praising Him for all this joy in my life. I cannot wait for the journey of the houses to begin !


August 26th......Eric and Sam are here early...they are ready to cut trees and haul off brush, so they go down to the cow lot to begin...Eric calls me..."Hey....there's a HOT wire...(fence)..."How do I turn it off?"...I had to laugh about this....Benny left to turn off the hot wire fence, then came back to get the tractor to begin to push the bigger pieces of trees out of the way and help load with the front loader.By noon, the trees are cut, Eric and Sam have just filled my shed with cut oak for winter use, and all is quiet....and the phone rings.....the people who own the burned house and lot are trying to get in touch with us, and for some reason, we cannot talk to each other...they leave a message, we leave a message...just have to be patient. I am leaving all this up to HIM....He will decide what I am to have, so I am just trying to leave all my eggs in my little basket and let HIM do the hatching....what an amazing journey this is !!

August 26th....9:30 PM...the phone just rang.....it was the owners of the burned out property by us.....we have come to an arrangement, and maybe my little western house can be right by me, I can see it from my porch if it is His Will....this is all going so fast, my head is spinning....I want to jump up and down, doing the Happy Dance !! I can just see that darling little house sitting there in the trees...now we will need to rush to get the land cleared off of all the burned debris...Wow, I tell you that when the Lord moves, you just have to stand back and keep praying....now we are putting in the call to get the guy out to start bulldozing down the old burned out house...WOW.....Lord, give me wings to keep me steady on my feet...I am flying off the ground tonight !! Now to call in the morning to get the big dumpsters in place for all the debris...YES...YES.....YES....it is all coming together....I feel like I am in a dream...PINCH ME...No, I don't want to wake up from this dream yet....it is so wonderful...LOL