Finally Residing In Winlock.

It's been a month since my last post....and what a month its been! We finally closed on our Winlock property on March 8th and moved the majority of our belongings here on the 9th. We were originally supposed to close on the 28th and have a week to clean the new house and make any needed repairs before moving on the 9th. But fate intervened and we had some last minute hoops to jump through which delayed our closing. That is par for the course. Nothing about purchasing this property has been easy. Was it worth it? Hell yeah!

We headed down to Winlock the day we closed. My intention was to scrub it before we moved. The previous owners were not clean people, to put it mildly. In fact the interior of the home looked (and smelled) like it had been used as a kennel. Dog hair everywhere. A layer of filth on every surface, and badly stained (and smelly) carpets were still installed in 2 of the rooms. This worked to our advantage. I'm sure this is the main reason the house remained unsold for so many months. Well that, and the really poor  photographs provided by the listing agent. We wound up getting this lovely 1930's schoolhouse, with a full basement, on an acre, for the bargain price of $87,000. Definitely worth all the hassle. But I digress. We headed down after closing, ready to commence with the scrubbing, only to discover that a pipe in the well house had burst during the last hard freeze. It took all day for my husband and our poor, long suffering  realtor to get the pipe fixed and the water running.

Moving day arrived and we rounded up some young muscle, thanks to our son-in-law's friends. They quickly loaded up the furniture and boxes and off we headed for our new digs. By the time we got everything unloaded it was getting late and I was tired. We discovered that we had left our bedding behind in Tacoma. My husband went back for it while I zonked out in a recliner. That was my introduction to my new house. Left along in a stinky house, at night, exhausted with nowhere to lie down. I was feeling a bit blue....until I heard the trains. 3 or 4 of them passed by while I was waiting for my husband to return. And every time one passed, I smiled. The tracks are just far enough away to still be heard from inside the house. It is lovely.

Sunday morning we discovered that the hot water tank wasn't working. My husband made the first (of many) trips into town to the True Value Hardware Store. Winlock's hardware store is legendary. It is located on both sides of the street and if they don't have it...they'll get it. And quick. Once the new heating element was installed in the water heater it works just fine. Finally I could begin cleaning.

I began with the kitchen. This what it looked like when I began.

The floor hadn't been mopped in 9 years. I had to use a scrub brush and lots of Mr. Clean.

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

And here are some pictures of the kitchen after I moved the fridge over next to the stove and added some of my own storage cabinets (which just happen to match the existing cabinets).

 

 

 The kitchen is a work in progress. It is still morphing. Here I've added curtains and my wine bottle collection to the windows.

 

Preparing to make myself some fried rice in my new kitchen.

Next I needed to clean the nasty range, inside and out. And replace the largest burner. I also installed new drip pans. I couldn't get all the burnt on crud from around that largest burner but I am no longer afraid to cook in and on this range. Eventually it will be replaced by a propane range and this one will move to my canning kitchen, outside.

That's enough of an update for now. I still have more to share about how my animals made the transition but that will be for the next post. I am loving every day here. I am a very fortunate woman to have been able to make my dream of moving to the country a reality.

And We're...........Still Waiting.........

I'm sure those of you who have purchased a bank owned property can sympathize. Fannie Mae moves at her own pace. In fact I question whether she moves at all. Maybe it is like watching a sloth? You have to stare at it all day to see any progress. It's now been a full week since my last post and we still have not heard as to when the well pump will be repaired. We are assured that there is no reason it won't be. But no one can say when. We are also assured that ours isn't the only property caught in the Fannie Mae bottle neck, awaiting repairs. Meanwhile, the husbeast and I have been busy planning our attack for when we finally get possession.

The house needs just about everything you can imagine short of construction. First on the agenda will be a thorough scrubbing, top to bottom. Next we will need to fix one of the loose toilets. The remaining filthy carpets will be pulled up. The bedroom will be the first room to be overhauled. I refuse to sleep in it as is. That room will be painted and carpeted immediately. As it stands, we only plan to carpet 2 rooms. The bedroom and my loom room. The carpets will match the wall paint. Speaking of paint, here is the palette we have chosen.

 

The top 3 swatches are the exterior colors. The yellow on the right will also be the paint for the kitchen and mud room. The olive greens are for the living room, vestibule and hall. The tans are the bedroom, sewing room and both baths. The teal is my loom room.

 

We have also been planning what furniture and appliances we'll need. Thursday morning we were having breakfast in one of our favorite restaurants, Shakabrah Java , and the subject of burl coffee tables came up. We used to have a large burl table in our living room, years ago, but we sold it when our youngest nearly put her eye out on it. We loved that table a discussed how we'd like to get another for the new house. I immediately hopped on Craigslist and found this beauty in Lynnwood, WA, for $150. My husband grabbed it on his way to work. The timing was perfect. It had been on Craigslist for less than 24 hours. What are the odds? I think it was meant to be ours.

 

 

Now we just need a leather sofa and chair, and we'll be set.

 

So, still we wait. We are both getting impatient. We're trying to keep ourselves occupied. I recently sewed myself this dress. That kept me busy for 4 days.

 

Now I have a quilt kit that I can start. And there's always packing and de cluttering to do. Moving day will arrive, eventually. My hubby bought me this book today, to help me plan and dream.

 

 

Photos Of Winlock Property: Full Basement

This property doesn't have any outbuildings so the fact that it has a clean, dry, FULL basement was very attractive. Both my husband and I have hobbies that require a lot of space. The basement has 2 access doors. One is in the mud room and the other is on the side of the building.

The door from the mud room to the basement.

The access to  the attic is right above the landing.

Looking down the stairs. You have to

watch your head at the bottom. Low clearance.

Ah, there's the dryer hose. No matter, I'm putting

laundry area down here, out of the way.

Looking back towards the stairs. Now we'll pan right.

From the outside this would be the front right corner

of the building. Some storage cabinets. Nice.

More workbenches along the wall and a big table.

One of the previous occupants was a saddle maker.

That's what that doo-hickey is for. Been there a long time.

It looks like someone starting finishing that far corner.

This is the door that leads to the side of the house

with the orchard and pasture. We want to put a

covered patio just outside the door. There is hot

and cold running water to the left of the door. I

will eventually put my canning kitchen out on

the patio. I'll also barbecue, make soap, etc. outside.

The back wall of the basement. There's an old woodstove

there. The real estate listing claimed the house had a

fireplace. Yeah, if you count an old, rusty, disconnected

woodstove. The ad also included the basement square

footage in the "finished" square footage of the home.

Photos Of Winlock Property: Half Bathroom

This room is not being used to its full potential. There is plenty of room to put a corner shower in here, which we will eventually do. For now I will look for some kind of armoire to use as a linen closet. That is something the house lacks.

We'll pan around, left to right. The

window is to the right as you enter.

 

The toilet is to the right of the window.

On the back wall, to the right of the toilet, is the

sink with a little mirror over it. Very sparse in here.

The corner next to the door.

In between the sink and the door is all this room.

Photos Of Winlock Property: Master Bedroom

The master bedroom is good sized. Plenty of room for all our furniture. It has a long closet with built in shelves at both ends. The carpet in this room will be one of the first things to go. Based on what we find underneath we will either sand/paint or re carpet. I am leaning towards the latter for this room. Carpet makes a bedroom extra cozy.

Looking into the bedroom from the hall.

The closet would be to the left as you go

the doorway. The window is to the right.

View from the far corner looking towards the door.

It has a large closet with mirrored doors.

The one sold wall. The bed and nightstands will

go up against here with plenty of room to each side.

The one window. The door to the half bath is open.

Looking at the doors to the half bath and the hall.

The full bath is at the far end of the hall.

The shelves on the right side of closet.

The right side of the closet has this closed off pass through

that would have looked into the living room area. I have no

idea what its purpose was. Something to do with the school.

The shelves on the left side of the closet.

You can see what looks to be a closed off

doorway on the closet back. Not sure what

that light switch is for. I just noticed it.

Photos Of Winlock Property: Main Bath

This room needs some work. The toilet is loose and leaking and there is a gap at the base of the tub surround. The floor coving is fugly. But we should be able to fix it up easily enough.

The window over the toilet. We were

happy to see the ceiling fan...until we

discovered it vents directly into the attic

instead of to the outside. Easy fix.

A little alcove for the sink.

With towel holders. I think that may be

a medicine cabinet over the sink. I didn't

notice that knob before. Will have to look

inside next time I visit.

Looking towards the door from the sink.

The bathtub is to the left. Needs a shower

curtain rod. The bathroom is small

but it's laid out well. Should work great.

Another towel rod behind the door. And

robe hooks on the back of the door.

The tub is filthy and there is a gap

where the tub surround meets the tub.

Photos Of Winlock Property: Vestibule

This is another cool feature of the home. It has an actual vestibule. Complete with interior swinging glass door.

Looking in from the living room.

Looking back into the living room. You

see the archway to the bed & bath areas.

This rear wall of the vestibule is lathe and

plaster. It had been wallpapered and

then the wallpaper was painted over.

All but the back wall is covered in bead

board. Both sides have identical windows

and coat hooks. Visitors will use this

entrance. I need to find a parsons bench

or wicker settee to put in here.

The front door has these panels on both sides.

We have already picked out the new front door

with matching side lights.

The light fixture is dangling.

The same wood floor as the living room.