Catskills - Sullivan County - Ulster County Real Estate -- Catskill Farms Journal

Now I’m pissed. I just spent a good hour liquering up to the correct degree, downloading some pics, queing up some Tom Waits – I mean, really taking the time to set up the atmosphere, - and I’m nearly complete with the opening genius of a great blog paragraph when somehow my reflexive hands hit the 4 wrong keys at the same time and 17 pictures and a paragraph of genius is gone baby gone.

So then you are left which the indelible instinct to go watch some Law & Order instead of writing about this total love and affection for life’s little travails. And the thing about it, the travails really usually aren’t that trivial or nuanced, they are serious and attention-getting and in the end, really just the guts of life.

'Now the sun is coming up and I'm riding with lady luck freeway cars and trucks stars are beginning to fade and I leave the parade' - --- just me trying to stay up with a Tom Waits tune -

These Modern little houses like the one above repel people like a Tom Waits song can do to the wrong crowd, - like a bad David Cross joke, or a sick Gavin McInnes plot line, or a lame joke about burned butts - these new little modern houses really have a tendency to rise the ire of the long-time country set. The 2-D version of the plan submitted to my friends at the building department always motivates some gutteral real negative response.

For me, I love them. Retro Ranches, turning the joke inside out on themselves. Proving the often proved cliche that you can't please all the people all the time.

By Mr Waits - " i spent all my money in a mexican whorehouse, across the street from a catholic church, and then i wiped off my revolver, and i buttoned up my burgundy shirt, i shot the morning in the back, with my red wings on, i told the sun he'd better go back down, and if i can find a book of matches, i'm goin' to burn this hotel down. well willard's knocked out on a bottle of heat, drivin' dangerous curves across the dirty sheets, he said when the bitch is wound up, and her parents are gone, man you ought to hear her with the siren on. you got to tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong, how do the angels get to sleep, when the devil leaves the porchlight on." I mean, this is no Nantucket talk, Martha Vineyard's whisper, Key West line or Aruba tunage. This is strong stuff for strong stomachs. Waits always kicks it clear of good taste and foot-tapping cleanliness. Mr & Mrs Mitchell's 2600 sq ft farmhouse on 20 acres has never looked so good. Nearly 60% complete, without a hiccup, a home starts the big bend towards the home stretch of finish and livability. "Down the shore everything all right, don't you my dreams come true when I'm down the street with you..."

My wife and young son are out of town for a 11 days - not just out of town, but out of touch, in rural Ohio, for some wedding way out in the boonies. Lisa always accuses me of not listening, but I definitely didn't catch the part that she was out of touch - no cellphone, no landline, no passenger pigeon can reach this girl of mine. The Callicoon Farmhouse on the hill outside of Callicoon Center is really taking shape. Talk about kicking ass and not taking names - I mean, this was hillside pasture 800' off the road just 2 months ago - and now we we will be painting in another 3 weeks.

And Cottage 29 just about wrapping up. Just a few faucets and sinks and countertops and grass growing and then we will really have something.

Here's Van and Eric checking out Cottage 29. They are building a very nice new design with us - Cottage 31 on lot 11 on Lake Ridge Road. That house will start construction here in about 10 days.

And Barn III looking real sharp. I don't when we got the building permit but this house will be finished in 7 days and the Tenkman family will be in, enjoying the fall breezes by the end of the month. I'm currently in shorts in my office, and the chill in the air is decidely Autumn in character.

This big wide open barn with 2 bedrooms and a grand loft is killer space.

Above, in these pics, we are installing the handhewn beams across the ceilings that really made the whole house pop.

Steve working away in the bath.

And the bad ass red countertop. I love it - I mean - bam - what a risk - totally worked and a great accent.

Van in the house, getting some ideas and inspiration for his soon-to-be-construction abode.

Screened in porches are all in fashion all of a sudden.

Here's the whole crew - James in the foreground, and Nikki and Gary and 2 very handsome children in the background. Van with the man purse and Eric taking it all in.

Here's a beauty - Cottage 28.

and Susan's Cottage 20.

And the entry way to Ranch III, which we are just finishing up and set to close on Wednesday.

And some great pics of some deep sleeping beauties. Lucas looks like he is 15 already - 'who's that man in my bed?!'

Big long weekend - every one of my homes seems to be occupied this weekend - pretty cool to provide the country way of life to so many.

Hot, wet and humid - and no, I'm not describing my first spring break fling at Panama City. I'm describing the Town I have been dying to visit for at least 20 years - a town wedged in my mind as Southern, Sleepy and Romantic. Seldom does such a lengthy build-up reveal a city that can live up to such an advance billing, but Charleston exceeded any measuring stick I mentally set. Beside the Indian food delivery guy taking 12 minutes to take my order in a perfectly southern fashion, it was perfect. It even rained half the days, and was a typical sweltering 98 plus humidity on the moments when not raining. Like a frickin' brick wall of heat when you stepped Above is King Street, and below is obviously Mr. King's car, shadowed by the cannons that protected the Battery during the mid 1850's.

I can't say I got any super inspired architectural ideas, although I did love the architecture. A lot big stuff, ornamental stuff, old stuff, but no perfect low country bungalows that I saw. Granted, I was kind of memorized by the glitz of Old Town, probably not the place where the little cottages were typically built.

On the pic below, Lucas was cooling off in the community fountain, playing around with lots of other southern kids. He's learning a lot of words and he just really took a liking to 'poo poo', so whenever Lisa and I are going into a bathroom, with or without him, to do whatever, he starts screaming 'poo poo - poo poo' - Lisa said she was reduced to saying 'no lucas, it's only pee pee' a few times while traveling just to make it clear to all the other people hearing this exchange.

And at the Charleson aquarium.

And after a hot morning walking round. Lucas loves his leisure. Lisa and I seem to choose towns we can walk around in - Charleston, Key West, Florence, Portsmouth NH. I like to pick up one of those multi-colored tourist maps when we first arrive and then trace or mark every road/alley or street we walk during our trip so we see as much as possible. Lisa thinks its embarrassing, like wearing black socks and tennis shoes on vacation. She's square that way.

Lucas is a bit of a drama queen, so after the flash went off in his eyes once, he then proceeded to close his eyes any time a camera came near.

Then we were heading down to Savannah GA on a day road trip, but ended up in Beaufort SC which was pretty cool, on the water and a great place to waste an afternoon. There are a bunch of islands that stretch out beyond it.

Lucas loves hotels, loves to run down the halls of hotels, loves to push the buttons on hotel elevators and loves to scream as he is running around. This is our hotel in Atlanta, the real destination of our trip - where one of Lisa's 4 cousins was getting married. I, on the other hand, have 94 first cousins. Some weddings are big and fancy, some are perfectly planned, others at exotic destinations - this one between Paul and Lindsey was all the above, but mostly was one of those weddings that seem to reinforce the institution in general - you could feel the emotion of the participants.

So, that about wraps up our trip. Caught up on the latest Blog Cabin episodes on DIY - first the kitchen show, now the living room show - both seemed like a lot people taking credit for our design and workmanship, but hey, I guess that's Hollywood (although this show is out of Tennessee). Barely a mention so far (although pretty much everyone on the team has had a little face time, or since they are mostly working, butt and back time), but we have high hopes for the end of September finale. Stopped in Lancaster PA to see the folks on the way home and arrived home to his intriguing letter in our mailbox - "Hi - I stopped in front of your house yesterday and took some pictures. My inlaws owned the house in the 70's and 80's. What a great job you have done to the property. The red roof over the porch is spectacular! What an eye-catcher and I love the soft green of the siding. We used to bring our 4 boys there when they were young and they always talk about the good times we had there. For many years the house seemed to be empty and unkept. It is great to see it taken car of and improved so much. i hope you have many happy years enjoying your home."

About the land for sale I posted about the other day, that has now been reserved by Van and Eric. That's how quick things happen for us, and while I always feel sales-manie when saying our houses and land consistently move quickly, they do, in fact, move quickly.

I'm in Atlanta, just arriving after a 6 hr road trip from Charleston SC with a 22 month old. Challenging for sure. But at home, Curtis, James, Janice, Casey, Deborah, Edwin, Mark, Henning, Job, Bryan, Russ, and Matt are kicking it in a wide range of business building activities. Ranch III, above and below, is taking great shape, and by the end of next week will more or less be finished, and Greg and Kat will be our newest homeowners on Lake Ridge Road, Narrowsburg, NY - our 5th.

Getting a headstart on the winter sales, we signed up Van and Eric on a version of Cottage 31, and Gianni and Kelly on a new iteration on Cottage 29. And we have Ranch III and Barn III coming in for soft landings here in the next 4 weeks, and probably Ase and her husband will sign up with us as well over the next month.

The barn house with the cedar shake has made a lot of progress here as of late - by the time I come home we will be painting the inside.

And Cottage 29 had the floors finished this week, and will be wrapping up shortly. This is Cottage that is owner-less currently, a rarity for us. But it's a nice to be able to build and design a home - we do a lot of collaboration with homeowners, and it's nice to go solo every once and awhile.

Tonights the big launch of the DIY show. I'm in a hotel that doesn't have the DIY network, so I will have to wait for someone to write and tell me about it. It's all good, that's for sure.

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