The House That Ray Built

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In planning for retirement and the big move, we both agreed the house Ray built, could not be a house that required painting. As I mentioned before, Ray does not paint. (Well, out of necessity, he has started painting the bee boxes he makes for his Honey Bees' hives.)

One day we decided to do a search online of metal buildings. Since our children had gone to a Christian school, and the school and church were metal buildings, we had commented how these buildings would make a low maintenance, very livable, home. I had kidded Ray that if we ever built a house we should build a metal one and put wood inside like a mountain cabin- no painting for him.

We found a house we liked on a barn website. It had been built at a horse farm. But, we chose another builder to put up our house. Perhaps we should have called it a "barn raising" since the foreman of our project kept referring to our house as "the barn." One day I asked John if he realized he was calling our fine retirement home a barn! John continued to call the front porch the "front, side shed" and the side porch, he referred to as the "side, side shed." We still chuckle over the names- but sitting out on the "side sheds" in our rocking chairs is just as much fun as sitting on the fanciest veranda!

By November 2003, Blitz Builders had delivered and built a 34 x 81 building. Our friends from Triple C Excavators, had leveled the property, brought in, and spread gravel for the concrete floor and porches. Ray laid the block for the porches and put insulation and rebar down and the concrete was poured.

We were living in the mobile home which was two feet away from the side, side shed. But Ray was working hard and had a "helper."

To be continued.....

In the Year 2000
In the Year 2000 Once upon a time, in the year of 2000, Ray decided when he retired- left his badges, and walked out the gates at ORNL for the last time being an employee there- we would move to Fentress County. Fentress County???! Near the Kentucky border. A long, long way "up the road." No easy way to get there!
After much debate and other tactics, and many more debates, we compromised. We moved to part of the Cumberland Plateau. A long, long way "up the road" and no easy way to get there!

Yes, I had said I wanted a small farm with a pond. A small barn would be nice and the acreage needed to be fenced. Oh, and most of the land cleared, but had to have woods. Yes, many times I had voiced my dreams of a little farm.
Please note the word "dream"- as in my wildest dreams will I move a long, long way up the road and no easy way to get there. Please, just bring the little farm near to where I already was!

But we went looking in our compromised area, and there was our sign-"For Sale", a homemade sign, worn, and falling down. We drove up and down the road, past the sign, many times. People were standing in the yard looking as we passed. Kind of; we were looking at them as they were looking at us.
I was not driving! If I had been, I would have stopped at least by the thrid time we drove past- I did wave to let the people know we were friendly or perhaps someones relatives returned home for a once again look at the old home place.

Finally, Ray made a profound statement: "you reckon we ought to stop and meet these people and ask about their sign." I told him I thought we should or be ready when a deputy drove up and pulled us over to check identification!

We drove up a gravel and grass driveway between two fence rows. Ray and I got out of the car, and the meeting and greeting begun. Yes, they were selling and moving closer to the city of Crossville. Husband was sick and wife did not want to drive the distance any more. She appeared to know a for-sure place not easy to get to, nor easy to get away from!

With the fogs so bad, and the snow at times, she said it made it where they had to "park down at the bridge and walk in, to feed their cows,"- so they were moving. Place had been for sale for a year now. Sales had fallen through four times. Perhaps that was our big sign!

We left our new friends that night and the little farm, with a plan in place- to buy "the place." No farmhouse though, yet all the other things I had mentioned were in place. There in the field, instead of my old farm house, sat a 14x 64 single wide mobile home.

I couldn't imagine how we would down-size from a 3,000 plus square foot house to a small mobile home. I couldn't imagine how we would ever get our garage cleaned out!

But Ray had big plans! He would build us a house on our little farm. Ray was born with what I call "his handicap"- his hands do not fit a paint brush. Ray does not and never has painted, nor does he plan on painting for a hobby.
Out of dire necessity, we started to look for a house for Ray to build- no painting required!
To be continued......