Our house is officially on the market!

Mike,our realtor, posted our house listing on the Edina Realty site today.

Are you interested in a lovely 1917 4-square, 4-bedroom (plus a sun-filled attic studio) with original woodwork and leaded glass in a great, walkable Rochester location?
Check it out here.

When we look at the photos, we wonder what are we thinking, leaving such a great house?!

Selling the House-Step 2

Our realtor was just here and put a sign on our lawn and a lockbox at the back door. The MLS listing will appear tonight and realtors could conceivably start showing out house tomorrow. There will be an open house this Saturday.

Yikes! It suddenly seems so much more real! And daunting (I have tons of house cleaning to do before Saturday--no, tomorrow...) My neighbor Carol already walked over, as soon as she saw the sign go in. I gave her a hug and got a big lump in my throat. I will really miss her-- and Chris and Mara, and many other neighbors.

Since making this decision I have realized how much we rely on our neighborhood for entertainment. We usually sit on the porch in the evening with a glass of wine and the newspaper and watch the neighborhood go by. Every Saturday morning we walk to the Farmers' Market. We walk the dogs along Bear Creek and the Zumbro and through Slatterly Park. I make my morning treasure hunting stop at the Salvation Army and chat with the other thrift store regulars. We sometimes bike to the grocery store or walk to Dairy Queen (having a neighborhood Dairy Queen was a strong selling point when we bought this house). We admire our neighbors' home improvement projects, yard work and boulevard gardens. We marvel at the neighborhood kids' skateboard tricks, bike stunts, pretty impressive band practices, and growing up so fast. We chuckle at the roaring laughter coming from our neighbor Kevin's horseshoe pitching. We sniff hungrily at somebody's wonderful-smelling barbecue. We occasionally roast marshmallows in the back yard fire pit with Chris and Mara. This time of year, we watch the fireflies come out at dusk.

Will we feel lonely out on our farm with no neighbors next door?
I envision relaxing on the patio in the evening (with our glass of home-made wine from home-grown grapes), watching the moon rise over the hills and the stars come out, listening to the crickets and the nighthawks - and maybe even a cow occasionally mooing in the distance (instead of a fire siren.) I am sure we'll have fireflies there, too. And I hope we will often have old friends and neighbors joining us. And a few new ones.

Buying the Farm--Step 1

Yesterday our offer on a sweet little farm was finally accepted! We have been negotiating on this place since last winter (but admiring it for years longer, wistfully saying "I wish THAT place was for sale" whenever we drove by.)

The good thing about it taking so long is that now we have been there in almost every season, every time of day and every weather condition. We know what to expect next January when it is cold and bleak out. The frustrating thing is that it is truly idyllic there right now, in glorious June, and we cannot move in until probably September.

That is, assuming we sell our house. While our current house is lovely and well-designed, in great condition, with character and history, in a convenient, walkable location, and affordable, the market is so unpredictable. So, it's still too early to count our chickens.

Two years ago I came up with a name for our future farm--Squash Blossom Farm. I liked that it implies growing both flowers and vegetables. The words have a musical sound and squash blossoms are graceful, joyous, unassuming flowers. Plus the name has good potential for a logo or sign- perhaps vining lettering with a squash blossom finial on the "S".

Last week I had a revelation that the name "Squash Blossom Farm" is perfect for another reason: my life-long dream of having a little farm is on the verge of either being squashed or blossoming!