07/10/2021
It’s hard to believe that even as an old man there is still a lot going on in my life. It seems like I pass from one adventure to the next even though some of them may take a few years to actually pass. Then something else comes along to replace it and it becomes the next big thing in my life at least for a while.
This current adventure in all probability will be the very last major one as I live out my remaining years but it actually includes closing out some of my earlier adventures including selling my house in which I have lived for these past 35 years. I spent the first 5 very happily married until my third and final wife decided that pastures were greener elsewhere. So I lived for most of that time as the happy bachelor with countless dogs and cats for companions and the occasional dally with those of the fairer sex until I figured out that I preferred the single life. Less trouble with fewer complications.
I have always been a very good athlete playing cricket in my younger days in the summer and then football, soccer to you reading this blog, in the winter over in England. I continued with the football when I came to this country and finally had to quit playing when I was seventy two when knee replacement surgery put an end to my one major sports love. Now, I watch on TV and either jump up and down or recede into the depths of despair when my favorite teams play.
After my wife left, I built five ponds and stocked them with Koi and Goldfish and that became my main hobby. In truth, I got more pleasure out of the actual pond construction but I dutifully maintained them to the best of my ability.
That seemed like it would be the pattern of my remaining years until I discovered the life of living in an RV and found that I really liked it. I had no trouble moving into 300 square feet of living space from the 1800 that was the size of the house. I decided that I would live in my RV full time at a local camp ground at Henly, just outside of Dripping Springs and consequently spent the last 6 months preparing the house to put on the market. It took longer than anticipated mainly because I could not decide what to do with the Goldfish and Koi some of which were 30 years old and and nearly 3 feet long. In the end, I donated many of them to the Austin Pond Society Members and more than 20 of them are in the Zilker Botanical Garden Ponds for all to admire.
With the livestock gone except for about 30 goldfish in the pond by the deck, I went ahead with making arrangements to sell the house. This involved obtaining the services of an Estate Sale company run by an older very Texas gentleman complete with long white hair and beard. We hit it off and I had complete confidence that he would do a good job. So it turned out as he cleared the house, the sheds and the yard of everything. I did not make any money from the sale as he used some of the proceeds to pay for a dumpster and other hidden costs involved in disposing of the non saleable items. But at least, I accomplished what I set out to do and that was have a house empty and ready for the cleaners which, as it turned out were my next door neighbors here at the RV park. I happened to mention it to them and they offered their services. They did a wonderful job and I was very pleased at the end result. Heck, you can even see out of the windows.
Finally, I brought back in the landscape company that had cleared the yard after the very bad winter storm. This crazy Texas spring and the warmer and wet weather had produced an enormous amount of growth to the yard, more than i had ever seen in all of the 35 years that I lived there, requiring their services to cut it back and make everything look shipshape and presentable. They did a wonderful job and I have to say, they made the grounds look the best they had ever been.
There is still a small piece of deck repair that needs to be done to replace a couple of rotting boards but Barb, my Realtor decided to go ahead and list the property. She put up the House for Sale, Coming Soon display signs and 3 days later, took off the Coming Soon part and the house is now legitimately on the market.
More to follow
Written 07/12/2021
Check out my old blog at https://pondblog2011.com
I’m sure that in the 35 years that you owned the house you could not have picked a more timely month to put it on the market. Austin sales are crazy now. I wonder how many days it will last.
It was on the market for 5 days and then sold. Now, just waiting to close.