House Hunting

When it comes to olden day houses, I am a sucker for them!

This house, located in Wanatah, Indiana, is a good candidate for a fixer upper/flip.  It's supposed to be vacant, but clearly "someone" has moved in!

The house is currently connected to city water and sewer, even though the old cistern remains in place.

Clearly some tuck pointing is in order.

The partial crawl space was dry.

The small back porch had a invigorating feel to it as the sun shinned in!

It was set up as the laundry area.

The basement stairwell was nice and bright!

The large kitchen has potential.

Some upgrades, like brand new countertops, had been put in place.

Several of the appliances were fairly new as well. 

I was definitely able to picture this being one fabulous kitchen when I got through with it!

The bathroom had a leak in the ceiling, which I found somewhat disturbing.

Throughout the house, the old plaster was falling off the walls.  I am eager to try a new product that restores old plaster!

Another issue regarding this house is the floors are uneven due to settling over time.  I, personally, find it charming, but the general market tends to prefer the boring, even, walking surfaces.

I did enjoy seeing some remaining unpainted trim, which I find charming too.

The basement didn't have anything that I wasn't willing to deal with.

I can fix that!

Plus, it comes with a chance to use the Sawsall and make feeding bins for farm animals out of the old tanks!

The upper floor was in fairly good shape.  It even had some new windows!

And attic access, which I have not been in yet!

I wasn't crazy about all the old lathe and plaster, but it's nothing I've not worked on before.

The drop ceiling will have to go.  I am a fan of the olden day, high ceilings.

The outside needed a fresh coat of paint.

The backyard is big. Behind the house is a park and creek.  I could see the old shed being restored, with some paint and a few new boards.

The inside of the shed didn't look all that bad.

It was full of junk, but at least it had what appears to be, fairly new electric.

If the Wanatah house remains on the market, I may make an offer.  It does have potential to be my next big project.  In the meantime, I have experienced my first Tax Certificate Auction.  Prior to the day of the auction, Mom and I went for a drive to scope out some of the properties up for bid. 

The dirt road lead us to an abandoned farm. 

I really liked this property, and the fact that it came with 5 acres of land!  When it came time to bid on it I did!  I didn't win the bid though.  :-(  It went for way beyond what my budget was.

However, I did win 2 bids at the auction!!!  This place being one of them:

It's not all that bad of a little house and lot in town!

The yard is plenty roomy.  Of course, we're not supposed to go inside the houses.  Not unless you happen to be selling Avon or Tupperware!  ;-)  JK  I haven't seen the inside yet.

The way it works is I must wait for 120 days from the date of the certificate sale.  During which time, the property may be redeemed, which means the current owners have a last opportunity to get caught up on the taxes.  If that happens, then I get my initial investment, plus interest, back.  If that time passes and they do not pay, then I can ask the county judge to deem the property to me.  There's a bit more to it than that, concerning notifications and oddball liens, but that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.  Luckily for me, I found a lawyer who is willing to mentor me through the process.

I could tell from the smoke coming out the chimney that the house is currently being lived in.  Also, a very large amount of back taxes is owed, so it is unlikely this property will be redeemed.  Come this summer, I will most likely have this place as my next project.  The other bid property I won is a non-habitable, dilapidated, house close to where I live.  I anticipate cleaning it up and selling it as a buildable home site.  I find this process to be an exciting learning experience, and fingers crossed, hopefully a profitable one!  :-)

Lake Michigan Fishing

I've been out to Michigan City pier only once since ice out.  On the way, I encountered the South Shore Train driving down the middle of the street.  Every time I see that, it freaks me out!  It's like, here I am driving along, trying to not run over/into anyone/anything and all of the sudden-- TRAIN!

The other oddity I frequently experience while in Michigan City is the draw bridge!  I can totally understand raising it to allow boats to pass.  However, I think the gate keepers get bored up there and raise it for the heck of it when they see me coming, as no boats were needing to get through!

Still, I enjoy fishing Michigan City's harbor.  It's convenient in nasty weather, cause I can fish from the truck if need be. 

For some unknown reason, the shoreline west of Michigan City tends to be much clearer water. 

I picked a spot on the rocks, just south of the break wall.  On cold days, having that break wall as a wind barrier comes in handy!

The pic doesn't really do these two justice, as they actually had vivid blue backs.  I decided to keep them for the supper table.

Fostering, Wax Museum, & Epilepsy

Hi Ya'All!  This past month, I have been lucky to get to have Paris the kitty stay with us.  She may look grumpy in her pic, but she's really a sweetheart!

I'm planning on fostering other fluff balls if the need arises.  I shall keep Ya'all informed on how that pans out.

The local forth graders put together a "wax museum" consisting of famous people from Indiana.  The kids lined the hallways of the school and had to REMAIN STILL AND STATUELIKE FOR A GOOD 45 MINUTES!

Troy posed as Lee Wallace.  I wanted to give the kiddo a beard and mustache, but he wouldn't hear of it.

Several youngsters modeled themselves after Orville!

Shockingly, Grace had a seizure while sleeping.  She was diagnosed with epilepsy!  She remains in the hospital while her medication gets adjusted to help prevent more seizures. 

The epilepsy does NOT run in our family as far as I am aware.  I'm thinking it may have occurred from head trauma Grace had back in January.  She fell off a chair at work, hit her head and suffered a concussion.  Whatever the cause, I hope she gets well soon!

Soccer!

Hey!  I'm coming at ya from a brand new computer!  Technology and I haven't been getting along so well lately.  My old computer had an array of problems, but thank goodness I had a back up plan in place.  Ya'all remember to save those back-up files!

Sooo, much has happened in the past month, I don't know where to start.  I reckon I will begin with the soccer pictures from a while back.  Troy was a yellow shirt, and Gladys was an orange.

Gladys plays soccer very aggressively and has to restrain herself from being called out by the ref.  She likes to use those elbows of hers.

Troy's a bit more relaxed when it comes to his playing strategy.

Last week was the end of the indoor soccer season.  The kids each got trophies and a pizza/ice cream party.

Troy's team came in first place having won 9 out of 10 games!  (The lost game was the week Troy was ill with the flu!)

I think that pretty much covers soccer.  Future posts includes-- fishing, fostering, tax sale purchases, epilepsy and fishing.  Did I mention fishing?  More posts will be appearing soon!  ;-)