Well, I figured this would be the outcome but held on to a hope it wouldn't be. We aren't buying that little farm. The house needs repairs and the bank officer told us honestly that it wouldn't make it to closing unless they were done. We don't want the seller to do them, because we have very specific ways in mind to fix them and we're pretty sure the seller won't want to do them anyway. We found out a previous sale made it all the way through the process to closing and fell through on the property last year, which is a good indication that the bank involved in that transaction required the same things ours told us they would require and the seller refused.
We did collect more shotgun and rifle shells over the weekend dispite dodging rain drops. They are all cleaned up and mostly dried out now. Looks like it's time to try to find a bit more space in the current place to store all this stuff!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
More on the farm
We went back and looked again today. The house is in rougher shape than we thought, and it's built on pressure treated lumber piers instead of concrete ones so we're afraid the mortgage agent is going to give it a big ole "denied" stamp. Can't beat the view with a stick though, so peaceful!
We're going to send him some photos and see if he thinks it'll appraise on Monday. We'd love the space for the supplies and the land to start our Christmas Tree Farm, but he's got the final say before we even make an offer.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Still Nothing On The Farm
Still waiting on the listing agent, this isn't looking good. Well, here's a photo of the view we'd have if we did buy it from the livingroom (no, it doesn't own all this, I wish!!).
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The great real vs fake tree debate
This may seem a little off topic for us here at Scenic New York, since we don't have either in our shop right now. However, we're hoping that changes! While we have been house hunting for about a year now, we just recently considered a mini-farm (or farmette). It's only about 10 acres, which is more like a microfarm when compared to the hundreds of acres a traditional farm encompasses. But it seems like a reasonable place for a couple of non-farmers to start. Now, don't get me wrong, I (the wife half) have farming in my genes, but it's a generation removed. In fact, my great-great aunt and uncle were popcorn farmers (there were a number of traditional cattle and crop farmers as well).
How does that relate to real vs fake trees? Well, I have always dreamed of owning a farm, and a Christmas Tree Farm in particular. This little place isn't a Christmas tree farm at present, in fact, it's abandoned and overgrown. But it's a starting point. We might not even buy it, for various reasons. But it made me start researching Christmas tree farming and the decline in sales of cut it yourself and live/real Christmas trees as people chose plastic over pine.
I'll admit, we have a fake tree right now. Not totally by choice, but it's hard to find a 2 1/2" live tree on most lots. We have a very small house right now and can't fit a traditional sized tree. We tried Norfolk Island Pines, but we just don't have the right lighting for them. As a kid growing up though, my grandparents always had a real tree that my grandpa would go cut from the couple of acres they lived on. When they switched to a fake tree because it was getting to be too much for him, I had a complete fit and wouldn't help decorate that "thing". It just wasn't right in my mind as a child. My father always had a real tree too, and we would go out to a tree farm to cut it. There's nothing like walking around at a Christmas tree farm, with the trees covered in snow-it's magical. Plus it was always my job to water the tree, and I loved crawling under it and smelling the piney smell.
I do understand why people opt for fake trees. Really. It's easier, and usually cheaper. You can put them up earlier and they don't drop as many needles (sorry, but they do shed-mine leaves a few reminders of it's presence every time I put it up or take it down). But somehow even the "nicest" ones look fake to me. They have come along way since my grandparent's fake tree with it's painted green wooden center and stiff wired branches, but they still can't replicate the look and feel of a real tree. And they certainly don't smell as good!
It's funny though, because another reason I see a lot of people saying they don't want a live tree is they can't bear to have a tree die just for their enjoyment. I really think a lot of people don't know about tree farms, where the trees are raised for that special day when they get to grace someone's home with their natural beauty and scent. I think that would be a hurdle we would have to overcome if we chose to raise Christmas trees. I don't think we could do much about watering them or needles falling, but I'd love to tell people about how the trees are grown just so they can be part of the most magical time of the year and about how new little trees are planted each spring to replace the ones that are harvested.
Well, only time will tell if we buy this little farm. But it certainly made me think about trying again to find a real tree for this Christmas instead of using my fake one again!
How does that relate to real vs fake trees? Well, I have always dreamed of owning a farm, and a Christmas Tree Farm in particular. This little place isn't a Christmas tree farm at present, in fact, it's abandoned and overgrown. But it's a starting point. We might not even buy it, for various reasons. But it made me start researching Christmas tree farming and the decline in sales of cut it yourself and live/real Christmas trees as people chose plastic over pine.
I'll admit, we have a fake tree right now. Not totally by choice, but it's hard to find a 2 1/2" live tree on most lots. We have a very small house right now and can't fit a traditional sized tree. We tried Norfolk Island Pines, but we just don't have the right lighting for them. As a kid growing up though, my grandparents always had a real tree that my grandpa would go cut from the couple of acres they lived on. When they switched to a fake tree because it was getting to be too much for him, I had a complete fit and wouldn't help decorate that "thing". It just wasn't right in my mind as a child. My father always had a real tree too, and we would go out to a tree farm to cut it. There's nothing like walking around at a Christmas tree farm, with the trees covered in snow-it's magical. Plus it was always my job to water the tree, and I loved crawling under it and smelling the piney smell.
I do understand why people opt for fake trees. Really. It's easier, and usually cheaper. You can put them up earlier and they don't drop as many needles (sorry, but they do shed-mine leaves a few reminders of it's presence every time I put it up or take it down). But somehow even the "nicest" ones look fake to me. They have come along way since my grandparent's fake tree with it's painted green wooden center and stiff wired branches, but they still can't replicate the look and feel of a real tree. And they certainly don't smell as good!
It's funny though, because another reason I see a lot of people saying they don't want a live tree is they can't bear to have a tree die just for their enjoyment. I really think a lot of people don't know about tree farms, where the trees are raised for that special day when they get to grace someone's home with their natural beauty and scent. I think that would be a hurdle we would have to overcome if we chose to raise Christmas trees. I don't think we could do much about watering them or needles falling, but I'd love to tell people about how the trees are grown just so they can be part of the most magical time of the year and about how new little trees are planted each spring to replace the ones that are harvested.
Well, only time will tell if we buy this little farm. But it certainly made me think about trying again to find a real tree for this Christmas instead of using my fake one again!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Long time no blog!
Things have been a little hectic here in Scenic New York. We haven't been out to shoot any photos in about a month it seems, and the weather doesn't think we should be doing any time this weekend either (raining-AGAIN). The supply shop, http://www.scenicsupplies.etsy.com/ is picking up and we sold some pinecones and driftwood out of the main shop recently too. Looks like other artists are gearing up for fall craft show season and holiday shopping by getting their supplies ordered! We are still working on building www.scenicnewyorkstate.com behind the scenes, but it looks like it won't be live for a few months. That's about all I have for now, just wanted to get a blog in since it's been a while!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wind surfing on Lake Erie!
We went up to the lake this past week, on a hunt for the little shells we use in these ornaments:
On the way up to the beach where we collect most of them (we call it "shell beach", I don't know if it has a proper name), we passed the beach in Hamburg where they were wind surfing (I think I've also heard this called kite surfing). This looks like a real blast, but I bet it takes some real upper body strength! Watch the first video, to the right at the end-the guy gets pulled out of the water and flies at least 10 feet into the air!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4l6-GmRdKc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hGRMXremuU
We did manage to collect some shells before a serious storm blew in and chased us off the beach with wind, rain and lightening. We decided to head north to Lake Ontario where it looked bright and sunny-then another storm blew in from the north and chased us home! We actually came home to find our power was knocked out. We should have plenty of shells and beach glass for the ornaments though!
We went up to the lake this past week, on a hunt for the little shells we use in these ornaments:
On the way up to the beach where we collect most of them (we call it "shell beach", I don't know if it has a proper name), we passed the beach in Hamburg where they were wind surfing (I think I've also heard this called kite surfing). This looks like a real blast, but I bet it takes some real upper body strength! Watch the first video, to the right at the end-the guy gets pulled out of the water and flies at least 10 feet into the air!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4l6-GmRdKc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hGRMXremuU
We did manage to collect some shells before a serious storm blew in and chased us off the beach with wind, rain and lightening. We decided to head north to Lake Ontario where it looked bright and sunny-then another storm blew in from the north and chased us home! We actually came home to find our power was knocked out. We should have plenty of shells and beach glass for the ornaments though!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Drilling beach glass!
Well, I wanted to be able to do more with the beach glass. My first attempts turned out fine, and I'm no longer nervous about it. It was no where near as hard as I thought it was going to be! I did some shells too.
I will be sending these pieces along with a few more to a fellow Sneak Attack team member from Etsy, Michiganhemp (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6909750 ). I can do simple wire wrapping and find the glass, now I can even drill it, but I am not a jewelry artist. These pieces will be turned into something wonderful in her hands! I'll post photos when I get the two I am keeping for myself back.
We haven't had too many "adventures" lately, the weather this year has been just aweful. We did manage to make it up to the lake last night in time to watch a beautiful sunset and photograph it. You can enjoy the serenity of the sunset on a nearly 2 minute video on our youtube channel here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpYPm8CrJI .
We listed a gorgeous mousepad with a photo as well:
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