Although the temperatures have been a bit cool, this weekend has been a great Fall weekend. We have had lots of sun, a light breeze, blue skies, and the Fall colors are still present along the Colorado River and tributaries.
I did fire up the furnace for the first time this season as overnight lows dropped into the upper 20 degree range. (The outside cat water dishes froze pretty solid last night.) Even though I had vacuumed out the vents and put a new filter in the furnace, the first time or two it runs we get that “dusty” smell out of the vents. It can’t be helped, I guess.
Yesterday afternoon I took an ATV ride into Wild Horse Mesa (after completing various routine chores). Here are a couple photos from that ride:
Rock formation – Wild Horse Mesa
Colorado River Valley from Wild Horse Mesa
It was a very pleasant, if cool, afternoon to go for a ride.
All the Sanderling firewood for the season has been delivered to our local friend. She reports she’s already heating her rescue pet building with it on these cooler nights.
Closer to home, I have begun some preliminary work on the OC-3 crawler tractor. I removed, cleaned, and rebuilt the carburetor but have not yet reinstalled it; that will be one of today’s tasks. I have a set of manuals on the way which should help me move ahead on repairs. Some general clean-up is about all I have done for far, but I did remove the spark plugs and put some penetrating oil into the cylinders. This should help the engine turn over a bit easier when I get to that point.
Pam’s retirement house hunt has turned up an interesting listing: there is a small church for sale in an out-of-the way Washington town.
Church for sale in Wilkeson, WA
Here is the link to the full listing which includes 13 photos. On acreage with a stream, the building is 1,200 square feet (rather small) and not very ornate inside. This used to be Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church out of the Seattle Archdiocese in its previous life. Nearest large town, Puyallup (Pew-all-up), is about a 20 – 30 minute drive away. Not exactly what we had in mind, but an interesting idea to contemplate. An internet search turned up several ideas on how to divide and decorate what is basically a rectangular box into an attractive and functional living space. We have been looking for unusual architecture…
I’m planning a solo driving trip back to Wisconsin to visit my mother. This would be during the last full week of October and needs to be a quick out-and-back visit with no side trips. Lots of driving involved (yippee – Nebraska) but any later in the year and weather starts to become a real factor. More on this in my next post.
That’s about it. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
Hey-ho, we get another ten minutes of Fall. I’ve been scoping out pet heaters for the garage cats, quite a gang of young’uns out there this year. Time for the heated outside water bowl too, I guess. I mentally resist this change of seasons — but — resistance is futile.
Contemplating changes in 2018, the house hunt being only one of several factors at play. Employment issues at work appear to be pushing me toward semi-retirement earlier than I had originally planned. (I’m trying to listen to The Universe, as my departed friend Mary always advised me to do.) Watch this space.
Happy Trails.
Interesting church property.
I’m thinking that it would cost at least as much as the asking price to refurbish. No doubt bridge maintenance is “thrown in”, plus what I’d guess is a somewhat unique bathroom setup — an “outhouse” of sorts, though with “his & hers” bathrooms!
Difficult to “roof” the parking lot for autos, etc. I’m wondering if & how the church is heated — little indication on the photos…
Definitely a nice trout stream along with a sizable meadow.
I have to assume that most of the asking price is for the property…
The church is on city utilities ($100+ per month for water and sewer). Renovation would cost about $65,000 for the interior plus $35,000 for garage + outbuildings. So, half again the asking price. Which means the asking price has to come down, doesn’t it? Since there are four city lots, the seller may be looking for a residential developer. The city has to approve the zoning, whatever lands in that spot. Correct, the land and water frontage are the selling points. The teeny tiny town, not so much.
I’ve watched too many televised “city council” meetings to be anywhere near comfortable with city approval.
First the engineering report along with zoning (with mandated upgrades, etc), then whatever they have as a council sticking their own requirements in.
Still, a nice looking property…
You are totally correct about small town politics and land use issues. There’s also the additional issue of determining a tax assessment amount on this parcel, since the church was a tax-free entity so no prior tax history. Washington state property taxes are quire high – on a par with Wisconsin state property taxes, actually. Several hurdles in the way, but same for others as for us. Biggest roadblock is the asking price; it needs to come way down for individuals (not developers) to consider this purchase.
…that would be “property taxes are quite high”…