Ever do that? I do it when I can't sleep - I think of what I want - it begins with wanting to have a small cottage-like house all by myself - nobody - no man, no kids, relatives, friends . . . just me - a hermit living in my cottage with no 'man of the house' growling about time, money, all the stuff men grump about.

My mental house plans get as far as the porch - closed in for my plants, and that's when I go into who is going to have which room - naturally the daydream goes on to include Jeff (my husband), my grown daughters, their kids . . . ha ha!

I have never truly lived on my own - I don't think I could do it.

But that house . . . now - all on one floor, please. Or split-level - 2 bedrooms on the split, maybe an extra in the basement. A small room with a window that looks out on my garden for me to take Ms. Dell in to write.

A workshop for Jeff - outside, please. Outta' my hair . . . when I visualize a small house, it's always a mellow yellow shade, with a deep red shingled roof.

Don't know why that is . . . maybe my muse likes those colours.

I've got one too planned out...
***But I need to win the lottery first..***
SERIOUSLY!!!!

I have mine! Its not much but its ours and my darling husband bought it right behind my parents.........How many men would do that? Its where I grew up and played my whole life. I feel so blessed to have it. The house sits right where I used to build my "log cabbin" at as a little girl, when I played little house on the prairie. There are lots of things I want to do to the house and a few changes I want to make, but I would never leave it for anything bigger or prettier. To me this is home!

Oh, that's so nice.

When my kids were young we lived in the parents' house - I liked seeing them out playing in all the places I played in.

Once I saw Cheryl (about 8 or so then) sitting outside the corner store with a popsicle, watching the world go by - it was like seeing myself - that's exactly what I used to do. Get a popsicle from that same store, then sit down against the wall and eat it.

Carly, I had that same dream, half of it came true. I got the house but damn it came with the man and kid. Just kidding. It's all on one level though.

The miners are investigating our area to put in an open pit mine (hope it falls through)if not, I'll have to rebuild somewhere else or buy a new place. I'll never find a place as nice as what I have here. Kind of saddens me at the moment.

I have mine, too. I bought it three years ago and am living in it with my wife, son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and a black, lop-eared rabbit, named Two Bean Bags.

I have always dreamed about the house I wanted also and how it would look etc...Well about 3 years ago hubby and I were not getting along and he was going to move out...So I found an OLD house on an acre of land in the country. It had 2 small sheds, its own water well and septic. Of course hubby and I made up and he said if you want the house and YOU can get a loan then fine, buy it. Well LOL he didn't think the bank would finance it since I had only Social Security Disability for income. The bank never batted an eye and gave me a loan, Hubby is not on the loan or the deed. He was not very happy, but what could he do??? Move OUT??? Anyway the place had no flowers & bushes, only a few huge trees. I now have flowers all over the acre a 50'x50' veggie garden and more plans to add more each year. So dreams can come true, just don't ever quit dreaming, and be prepared to start from the bottom and work upwards to achieve you dreams!!!

That's amazing - you got a loan with only Social Security & Disability?

Yeah - husbands and kids tend to get in the way, don't they? But we need the husbands to do the initial work when we move in - then you invite them to move out - ha ha!

(Only kidding, Jeff - just in case you're lurking here)

Yes it was amazing and hubby was very shocked, to say the least, So all I can say is that it was meant to be for me to have this place. I only have about another year and a half before I will have My house paid off. I think the reason I had no problem at the bank is because the man who owned the house sold it for less then it was worth so the bank didn't have anything to lose on the deal. I also might mention that here in Arkansas & Missouri the ground is very rocky and never flat, but this acre was relatively free of rocks and flat. Come to find out there was once a truck garden on the empty 1/2 acre where my veggie garden is, so the soil was great and rock free thanks to someone else's hard work in the past.

Tamara? I just realized I hadn't responded to your post about the open pit mine - well, that is the 'pits', eh?

They are expropriating you? You realize you can hold out for more money?

Then you'll have enough to buy the land and build one just like it.

So Comfrey? What are you going to do with the sheds? One's for gardening supplies, I guess and the other?

My grandparents (maternal) had a little summer house on their property - just a small thing, big enough that you could go take a nap in it on a warm afternoon.

My paternal grandparents had a place in Whitby for a while - it also had a summer house on it - my cousin and brother and I played out there a lot.

Hey, Thornius . . . don't mean to be ignorin' ya'. Guess you're gonna' think I'm jealous, eh?

Who me? Naaaaaaaaaa!

(Don't I look good in green?)

OK, Weezie ... now we gotta' win that lottery. Ours is around 30 million right now.

I only want 2.

I AM workin' on it!!!!
The Mega Millions Jackpot for October 28, 2005 will be $147,000,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well one belongs to hubby for his tools etc, the other one is mine it has my lawn mowers, tillers, some flower pots and hoses in it...Then we decided that we didn't have enough storage area, so we bought another one which is mine also..It has ALOT of canning jars, more flower pots, ALOT of landscaping type pots I got for free from a landscaper who was throwing them away, and some excess appliances..and all are full and we are thinking of getting a couple more sheds...One for me to make into a seed starting/potting shed and one for hubby to tinker in.

Dreams do come true, as long as we keep dreaming!

About those sheds - good idea - I was hoping it would be for something sensible like gardening equipment and a toolshed. So many people have sheds outside and all they do is put old trash in it. What a waste.

How true and how sad...You'll find no trash in any of our sheds, unless your not a gardener, then it might be trash LOL I am always interested in what other people have in their sheds, barns & garages. I also love old root cellers and have found many great things to carry home from them, alot of people who have these are afraid to go into them...Not me.

Oh, really - why would people be afraid of them, I wonder? Insects? Burrowing animals?

Well spiders usually alarm most people, if it has been open for awhile, there could be a snake, mice, rats, or other critters, But I am not too alarmed by most of these, and its worth the risk to just be able to look in them...I am cautious though.

Ah! I'd just open the door, then go bang on the back of it and see what runs out.

As for spiders . . . yuck! Wear something over your head, I guess - a scarf, a webbing for your face.