Dad: “How big is your shed? Like yours here?”
Angel: “It’s the same color blue. It has a loft on both ends. It’s called a High Barn. The lofts are 5’ by 8’ but, no, it’s not as big as mine here. It’s 8’x16’, and it’s high quality, like a little house, you could live in it.”
Angel to Mom: “I wanted a Beverly Hillbillies log cabin but it’s a blue French chalet.”
Mom: “Yeah, you’re not going to fit in at all.”
Angel: “LOL nope.”
“…But I now have 3 gorgeous acres with huge trees, the front is completely cleared, I’m making the creek beautiful. I’ve got the fences planned. When I bought it the trees were so dense I couldn’t even park there. The first thing I did was clear a parking place. So I now have a tiny house and a farm. All under $20,000. and it’s all paid for.”
Dad: Let me see those photos again…see that indentation? Take it from my experience, you’ll find water there. Dig down about 20’ and just let it fill up. You have to go past 18’ to be able to drink it.”
Angel: “Like how they made the old wells.”
Dad: “Yes.”
Angel: “I’ve looked at it from Google Earth for 4 years, I saw the indentations. Look, they start across the road and go all the way to the river. That river’s source is a huge spring. It’s close enough to walk to. There IS water under my land. My trackers said I have water in the creek way in the back. I haven’t seen it yet. That part of the creek I’m clearing next had a bucketful of water in it. I’m hoping it’s a spring. I had my local lady I hired clearing the creek starting behind the cabin last week. After four hours she wrote me and said, “There are SO many snakes. I thought they might be copperheads, it’s the right season. But she said they were black and yellow.”
Dad: “Black and yellow are fine. They are Kingsnakes.”
Angel: “I thought so too. But there ARE coral snakes that color because the red is so faint. Also, there are some rattlesnakes that are a sort of yellow, and blackish.”
Dad: (talking about his own farm in Tennessee that I’ve watched him and Mom develop for the past 45 years) “We are going to double the size of your pond this year (they have 3 ponds, named for each of their 3 children). We started on it and ran into a lot of copperheads. There are water moccasins on the far bank of the creek in front.
Angel: “The house side or the road side?”
Dad: “The road side.” I watched them develop their long front creek over the years. It is Tennessee limestone, shallow, and about 1000’ long. It highlights their 200 acre farm and is a show piece. I’ve watched as they started with 30 acres of landlocked woods they bought for $3,000. in 1974. I was in High School. I walked with Dad all over it the day he bought it. He was SO excited I could barely keep up with him as he explored it. I told him he was Davy Crockett. I watched him sign the contract kneeling on the floor of an ancient teeny house, as it rained, the owners and salesmen around him, rain dripping through the roof.
From that day I watched as they developed it like a pet project over decades. We live in Texas, their farm is in Tennessee, mine is in Arkansas. For part of that time my late husband, Robin, and I did a similar idea, we moved from our Houston townhome, bought a 40 acre grist mill property in Tennessee, and spent 6,000 hours, each, developing it by hand, ourselves. Dad’s $3,000. initial investment is now worth over a million. Robin and I did the same. Now I’m developing my two properties by myself, based on 45 years of watching/helping/initiating the process. It is SO much fun! Plus I write my stories as I go.
Angel: “You know how you and Mom subscribe to the local Tennessee newspaper to keep an eye on the area? I do that too. I have local Facebook groups for both my Ozarks farm AND my Florida farm.”
Mom: “Oh THAT’s a good idea.” My mom’s Oklahoma farm was in our family for 70 years. I grew up visiting my Grandaddy every 2-4 years and exploring the farm with my cousins. Mom sold it a few years back which prompted me to buy my own 2 properties - so no one could sell MY farm. I have always loved our farms. So, no, I don’t fit in. But, yes, I do. xoxo
Copyright 2023 Angel Isaacs All Rights Reserved
Written May 29, 2023 @ 10:38 am
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1Angel Isaacs