So, I’ve been busy the last few months, and I see the site’s content well has run dry without me. What I’ve been busy with is selling a house, buying a house, moving, and etc. We basically just wore out on the Tucson summers – the last five have been abnormally hot and dry. Even for Tucson. Basically, the monsoons were just failing, which means the heat never broke, and just built and built. Much of my (well-established, thank you) landscaping died, and while converting to cactus certainly had its attractions (seriously, it did), our eyes just started to wander.
We’ve gotten to really like the dry, high desert climate, which rules out basically everything east of the Mississippi. We didn’t want anything too cold, either. We looked around northern AZ first, but just didn’t see anything we liked. We wanted at least a few acres, which drastically shortens the list, and we didn’t want to be too far from civilization. Much of what ticked those two boxes was just dead flat scrubland. Pass. Then we started looking in Taos. Saw some nice places, but Taos was just a little too small and touristy and weird. Santa Fe, on the other hand, pretty much hit the sweet spot.
We landed on a place in Lamy, which is about 15 – 20 minutes south of Santa Fe. Ten acres in horse country, on top of a little rise that gives a nice view of the valley below us. That’s it up there, after our first snow. Pueblo style house, because of course. The former owners had not taken good care of it, so it was filthy, had a mouse problem, and a fair amount of deferred maintenance.
The gods smiled on us at this point. Our realtor was about to list our house in Tucson when she brought a couple by, who basically bought it on the spot. Full price. They wanted to close in ten(!) days. And, they were willing to rent it back to us for three months. We took that offer, let me tell you.
We closed on our new house 3 weeks later, at the end of October. I spent the next 6 weeks shuttling between Tucson and Lamy, hauling stuff (movers won’t take booze, guns, or ammo) and getting contractors lined up and supervised. The floors (stone and wood) needed refinishing/sealing, which is very definitely best done while the house is empty. While that was going on (and again, the gods smiled on us and we found good contractors who could do the work on time and for a good price), I discovered the walls were beat up beyond my ability to patch sufficiently well. So, painters. And, we wanted a barn, and a wall around the backyard (cinder block and stucco). Walls around yards are kind of a Southwest thing. So the wall was also being installed, and it needed gates, and we wanted a fenced off inner yard for the mutts. So, metalworker (the gates have Pater Dean’s cattle brand on them; very nice). I lived on an air mattress at the house during this phase. And, oh yeah, some electrical work, which turned into mini splits in the bedrooms. And the roof leaked the first time Mrs. Dean stayed at the house (because of course it did), so stucco work on the parapets around the roof. And there was a lot of crap that had to be hauled to the dump.
Incredibly, everything got done by the time the movers showed up with our furniture in mid-December. Except the barn, which is where Mrs. Dean’s FJ and the gym will live. We’re still waiting for a permit from Santa Fe County for that, after 10 *expletive deleted* weeks. Of course, they needed stuff for the permit THAT THEY ALREADY HAD, but couldn’t be arsed to walk down the hall and get (chain of title, tax certificate, etc.). And then, after they had diddled around for 60 days, they said we had to resubmit the tax certificate (like taxes unpay themselves, or something).
There’s also the complete gut and remodel of the kitchen, probably in April-May. Plus, of course, landscaping, as there is really none left at this point.
There’s a nice little shopping center about 5 – 10 minutes away, with a brewpub, hardware store, grocery store, three decent takeout joints, etc., which is nice. And I gotta say, I like New Mexicans. Very casual, laid back, easy to work with, and with a delightful accent. Santa Fe is of course a hotbed of lefty morons, but I will put my Stoic lessons to work ignoring them.
All told, I’m happy with the move. It really is beautiful here – the light, the crystal clear air, the skies, the views, the whole package. The house is solid and the rest of what we want to do is in motion at this point and will be wrapped up by late spring. As moves, with a side of renovation, go, this one went as well as could be hoped.
There. Content. Happy, Swiss?
EDITORS NOTE: Yes, happy.
Ten acres in horse country, on top of a little rise that gives a nice view of the valley below us. That’s it up there, after our first snow.
That’s a great view. Snow sucks though. But still a great view.
Welcome to NM!
I’ll stop with the emails, just let me know when you’d like to meet for lunch or brews or just get acquainted.
You bought the Hackman place?
No, but its ridiculously underpriced for what it is.
It’s a nice view and all. But it doesn’t really compare to the corn field I see when I look out the back window.
A sign of the sweet sweet ethanol subsidies you’re getting?
Easier to hide bodies than an open field?
Someone else.
If you build it, they will come?
If you *erect* it, they will come.
S tier flag right there
What I’ve been busy with is selling a house, buying a house – doing your best for white supremacy I see
the last five have been abnormally hot – GLOBAL WARMING
Santa Fe – still stupid hot
hmmm maybe not that hot I may have misread the climate table
maybe not that hot I may have misread the climate table
Elevation is crucial.
“a delightful accent”
Say what? I am NM born and bred and I ain’t got no accent.
Right?! Me too.
*fistbump of solidarity*
I gotta say, AZ to NM sounds like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
But…hey, you’re happy with the place. And it is beautiful.
I’ve been looking really hard at southern Utah, myself.
Now that the Dems own the AZ government (all statewide offices, including the SecState in charge of elections) and Phoenix continues to metastasize, its a matter of time before AZ gets a Dem legislature and follows the same path. McCain’s legacy will be saving ObamaCare and flipping AZ Blue. What a maverick!
I’m just not going to get my knickers bunched up over state and local politics. When I was at the county offices yesterday, there were some seriously old protestor types heading for the square. One guy was waving a sign “Honk if Trump = Hitler”. Nobody honked.
Looks lovely, congratulations on the move.
Is there room to build a monocle factory for the orphans to work in? I can’t imagine how long that permit will take.
Orphans don’t need no stinkin’ permits.
Winning friends and influencing people
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday showed off knee pads that he suggested were for leaders “selling out” to the Trump administration.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Newsom said the red knee pads were available to buy via a website he had created.
Negging and insulting people you want money and favors from is a sure fire road to success.
Did he run the design by Harris?
Does he sell gloves to go with the knee-pads so he doesn’t scratch up his hands while he’s being corn-holed by the Administration?
Homophobia is awesome when (D)s do it!
This is so funny after after his photo w Soros Jr.
Gavin, we know what the kneepads are for.
He’s truly a man of the people.
Congrats on the move. Our family did Spring Break vacation weeks twice in New Mexico (Fenn Treasure searches) when all the kids were teens, and they only have good memories of all of it. Lots of time in Santa Fe along the way.
Sounds a lot like moving to Prescott… 15 year ago.
Too many Californians there now (My Mom, My Uncle, and Aunt each moved there from California around then). They forgot to close the gate behind them.
Real estate is becoming unreasonable.
Fortunately, no one wants to live in Iowa, so the cost of living is still quite accessible.
My brother moved to Iowa from California and seems to like it.
An outlier 😉
I Went to school in Prescott in 96/97. It was big and crazy then. I can’t imagine it now.
Homophobia is awesome when (D)s do it!
All I know is we’ll be better off as a nation when we finally kick that narcissistic sociopath Trump out of the White House and replace him with an honest dedicated public servant like Newsom.
The only way the country can heal is the next president checking every box. Which Hispanic, black, trans, … is available? We should probably wait in case the intersectional scoring changes. What is after trans? Pedo?
Pedos should get more respect than trannies. Pedos know what they are.
It’s not irrational to be afraid that Coach Walz is going to rape you on a camping trip.
Congratulations, glad it was worth the time and money to fix the new house, those things can turn into nightmares.
The place looked really cool in the Zillow link you shared last fall.
And walls in the yard.
I’ve always loved that, south west style, Japanese or Chinese garden style.
Heck even Iraqi/mexican style with broken bottles on top. It’s nice to have a private area to decorate and be outside.
When I was in Egham, England, the walls were built that way too.
I’ll add to it, Iraqi/mexican/chav style walls.
Defeated by floor mats and carpet.
That’s why you have automated flame turrets hose down any pressure on the top of the wall. It also keeps the snow away.
Apparently at one point, walls in England were about keeping people out. Buckingham palace even has spike thingies set into corners to prevent people from chimneying up.
When I moved to Phoenix, it was very weird to see all the backyards being enclosed by fences. When I moved back to Iowa 7 years later, I felt naked whenever I was in the backyard and could see all my neighbors houses and yards.
When I built my house, I enclosed the backyard.
My neighborhood has more than doubled in density than when we bought in 12.
I wish I had bought more than the adjacent lot and built walls.
Time to move.
When I first bought this property I had a neighbor widow lady that I didn’t like. No reason, other than she irritated me. She moved out, her two grandsons squatted on the property, took all the aluminum off 2 mobile homes and sold it. They broke into my garage, stole some garden tools.
Anyway, when they left I bought the property, a scrapper cleaned up any leftover metal. Twenty five years later I sold a small piece and made some (a lot) of money.
The new owner is a contractor so maybe he’ll store some of his equipment there but no house.
Ours are about 4 feet high. No broken bottles. Putting them in destroyed the landscaping in the backyard (what there was of it), so this spring we will be shifting to landscaping.
An apartment I had had a little grotto space behind it bordered by the building and a 6’ fence on two sides and a 10’ wall on the back.
It was small but a super cool place for the plants and little table we had. Nice for a secluded breakfast spot.
The only way the country can heal is the next president checking every box. Which Hispanic, black, trans, … is available? We should probably wait in case the intersectional scoring changes. What is after trans? Pedo?
Mayor Petey with a boob job?
He’s not black though.
He can become so by injection. Chad or Chaz or whomever his top is is a white guy though isn’t he?
Three of those church “protestors” have been arrested. A (D) judge refused to sign off on arresting Don Lemon.
Welcome to the land of ma(tilde n)na. Or tomorrow. We’ll get it done tomorrow. I like NM but the leftward march is terrible.
Our contractors have been quite prompt and efficient.
Now, the county permitting office, on the other hand . . . .
Looks like this weekend will test your cold tolerance.
Yeah, I’m going in this afternoon to stock up and beer, Thai takeout, maybe get some cookies or something.
You know, the essentials.
‘Cause I ain’t going anywhere this weekend.
My Civil Service Exam this weekend got postponed a week because they expect things to be difficult, and encouraging a few thousant IT folks to converge on one spot in heavy snow is asking for trouble.
I loved NM, granted I was in southern NM in Alamogordo but 20 mins away was Cloudcroft and can escape the heat.
The current project is putting together a Murphy bed for the, I guess, bonus room? I’m not keeping a photographic record, but I may write it up anyway. It’s been an interesting project. We’re about to mount the bed part to the cabinet part, which is the hardest phase of the project.
Nice. Is it a pre-fab or did you make it all yourself?
Pre-fab. Even then, the assembly process is prolonged, and mounting the bed panel to the cabinet is going to be tricky. The cabinet is screwed to the wall, and the bed panel probably weighs north of 100 pounds of awkwardness. And you have to slide a loose bolt into a notch on the lift mechanism on each side.
And then, of course, cross your fingers that both the cabinet and the bed panel are true and square to they fit together when closed. The clearances all around are less than a quarter inch.
You can buy just the lift mechanism and build your own cabinetry, if you roll that way.
https://www.murphybeds.com/
Mount the bed.
You’re supposed to mount what is on the bed.
Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHmKaG4ZDNE&list=RDtHmKaG4ZDNE&start_radio=1
10 acres is big enough for a range.
I’ve got 10 and the neighbors houses are within 100’ of the edge or closer. I do a little plinking with an air rifle and will shoot coyotes with a supressor. I’ve thought about plinking with a 10/22 bud don’t like flagging the neighbors, even with the burm I have pushed up it’s not really worth it.
Too many houses and horses. There’s just no place to put it that there isn’t something downrange you don’t want to shoot.
Wait, it is Thursday already? How did that happen?
We survived SugarFree yesterday.
Sugarfree is like garbage day.
I live for garbage day as it marks the delineation of my week.
I know the feeling.
/starts prepping links for tomorrow afternoon
I did my first casting. Now I need a theme.
I wish the Don Lemon/Niki Minaj hootenany had happened earlier in the week. It would have been fun to see what SF would do with it.
I’m so jealous. I miss NM a lot.
Some Glibs retired, some still working. I hope those retired can find their spot as RC has. For those waiting, finding the right place is worth the effort.
I can’t imagine being anywhere other than where I am now. I first planned to stay in TX but after a few years of heat plus the neighborhood began to build up got the orphans concerned.
We were the only ones here when we moved in, now others are encroaching. Still though I can’t see any of them and if I don’t hear gunshots I start to worry.
Ya need a permit for a barn on your property. I’m struggling to think of instances where that’d make any ‘logical’ sense. Like if ya lived next a military org that has hundreds of ‘barns,’ I suppose that might make sense. Of if ya lived in a Manhattan apt building, sure.
Do the new neighbors have reason to fear you with a mysterious workshop?
You need a permit to build a shed more that 120 square feet (10 by 12)
Same here. You get a lot of sheds just under the sqft limit.
My 10 by 20 shed was built before the county dropped the limit from 200 sq ft to 120 sq ft.
I think it’s 96 sq ft here.
Any building permit requires the nearest 10 neighbors be notified so they can comment (complain). Helluva way to meet your new neighbors, eh?
What’s the “Logical sense” for a permit for any buildings on one’s property?
“We live in a society!”
You are not smart enough to not hurt yourself.
Taxes.
Dale Gribble answers.
There are precious few counties without zoning.
The Feds have pushed zoning for decades and largely tied it to grants and subsidized flood insurance.
It’s all about control.
Counties like the grants and they love to hire people like inspectors and bring in the permit fees (which never cover the cost of the inspectors and accessors office staff), more importantly they love notification that they can jack up your property taxes.
It’s a system that needs to die a violent and very public death.
And now automation of imagery and other automated surveillance to make sure you don’t try to slip one through.
This is great. A land acknowledgement for taxpayers. This guy needs a medal:
https://x.com/integrity_to/status/2014010967084982784
He’s going to jail for wrong think isn’t he?