31 Days of Green Acres - Day 3

Weekend Farmer Husband is very private.  Although he's gregarious, uninhibited, and an excellent conversationalist, he holds his thoughts very closely.  So, when he over the course of our marriage has out of the blue said things like, "I'm ready," I know he's saying something big.  I don't know what it is.  Well, that's not actually true. I know it's generally an invitation to jump off a cliff.

One evening out of the blue he said, "It's time."

With no context, heart in my throat, eyes bulging out of my head, counting to ten I breathlessly but  feigning calm inquired, "Time for what?"

Long story short, he'd been thinking for a long time about putting our home up for sale and looking for a little piece of land with enough house to meet our needs somewhere out in the country.  And, what he meant when he said it's time was that we would not only put our house on the market, but we would actively begin searching for, and then buy as soon as we found it, our new house. 

Are you picking up what I'm laying down? He fully intended for us to be supporting and managing two houses for however long as it took for him to work his plan.  The plan he had yet to tell me. 

I'm a pretty adventuresome sort of gal, and have been willing to go along with most of his schemes through the years, but this was BIG.  He was telling me to sell a home I loved and was completely settled into for ...well, he didn't really know.  But, he wanted me to do it anyway.

In hindsight, maybe I should have been upset, leery, or even cautionary.  But, remember I told you yesterday that if I'd known then what I know now, it would have been overwhelming. But, I didn't know, so at the time I asked for one stipulation.  I agreed to do something radical but please, not rash. 

Over the course of a couple of days, Weekend Farmer Husband talked through the whole of his plan with me, at least the parts that were formed.  He didn't have the complete picture, but he had enough to get started and to lead his family to a new place. Little by little, he revealed bits of spread sheets, budgets, needs, and desires and told me to call a realtor.

Two weeks later our house was on the market and we began a cycle of an unprecedented number of showings.  And, I had a really short list of criteria for a new property.

He asked me to find:
High speed Internet
Natural gas for heat
A particular utility company's power supply grid.
Acreage
Within 1/2 hour drive of our existing community
And a decent house

All for less than...drum roll please.....


$100,000.

And I did.  But not without one deal falling through.  Not without (for a short time), at least on paper being obligated to 3 separate properties .  Not without financial strain. 

But Weekend Farmer Husband had anticipated this scenario and had captured the "potentialities", and had generated a number of possible responses.  This clearly fit (at least in my mind), my criteria of  radical not rash.

So, we pressed forward. 

With a for sale sign in our front yard it seemed obvious that we needed to begin telling family and friends that we'd be making a move.  And, we had very few clear answers for their pointed questions. 

Yesterday, I left you with a little bit of a cliffhanger, and we did indeed walk a financial tight rope and make some big sacrifices, but this isn't a simple story.  So, won't you come back, give me a reason to keep typing, and in the end I hope be encouraged by our story and what has become a vision of redemption for Liberty Farm?

Many thanks to the Nester for hosting this amazing 31 Days event.  Do you want to be amazed and inspired?  More than 1000 bloggers are participating!  Click here to see their buttons and go to their site.  Maybe visit and comment - we all thrive on your encouragement!

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 1

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 2