After buying the property in 2006 and building our home there in 2015, we loved Neighborly Lane like a dear friend. So, saying goodbye was terribly hard. But we're ready for new adventures in a totally new place. We're leaving behind home, friends, boating, and the beautiful northwest with gratitude for having been here and anticipation for living in Arizona.
August 2022
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Selling our beloved home
After 14 years developing the five acres and building a house, we had created a beautiful place to live. The work had been a lot of fun. I, for example, really enjoyed pulling up stumps with our tractor. Gradually the work became less fun and more like honest to god work. Creating a driveway was satisfying. Weeding it was a pain in the butt. Likewise with the lawn and forest management after windstorms. But boy did we have fun. Here are some of the things we did over the years. Life at Neighborly Lane
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The property in 2007
In the beginning, 650 Neighborly Lane was just five acres of woods with an RV pad and small shed. But it had water, sewer, and electricity, so it made a perfect camping getaway on Whidbey Island, about an hour north of our home in Seattle.
Building the shop
With five acres comes equipment and stuff in general. So, our first project was building a 2000+ square foot shop. In time, it'd be very full. And, we'd be living in it.
Wild (and not so wild) life
Over the years we saw the usual array of Northwest wildlife: rabbits, deer, birds, and an occasional coyote. We heard owls, and, but it took until 2019 before I got a decent picture. We also had a pair of nesting eagles that lived a few blocks from our house. They delighted in trying to "shop" in our neighbor's chicken pen. One day we were standing outside and an eagle flew close over our head with a baby rabbit in its talons. Fred said, "Oh no, they got Ralphie!"
2015 Building the House
We debated for years about whether or not to build out in the woods. We were at the end of a mile long dirt road and saw the day coming where we couldn't keep the place up anymore. I thought it'd be about 2032, but reality set in much sooner. At the time, though, we were still having a ball.
Landscaping
When I talk about lots of work, what I really mean is lots of yard work. Which included a lot of tractor- and chainsaw-required work to take care of the trees that continually threatened the house and outbuildings. I loved using the tractor to dig up stumps and level the ground. But Fred had to take on a lot of physically challenging stuff just maintaining the lawns let alone cutting down dozens of trees over the years. In all, when we sold the place we left 20 cords of split firewood. That's what was left after we'd heated the shop and home for the entire time we lived there.