Friends and neighbors

The forms going up for the walk-out basement.

Denny and Barbara's home.

The front of the Dull home.

Another angle of the front of the house. Click on photos to enlarge.

The top photo today is of forms going up for the walk-out basement for Blossom Ridge Cottage. As of today, the basement has, supposedly, been poured. We will check this weekend as we will be driving by the area.

Today's blog is about our friends and neighbors who live adjacent to or near the farm. Some of these people qualify as friends, some as neighbors, and some as both.

The first neighbor we will discuss is Richard Hansen to our north. You may see photos of his beautiful log home in previous posts. We aren't quite certain what Richard does for a living, and we would have to check his business card for confirmation, but he might dabble in the gold market.

Richard lives in his log home with a variety of people, or so it seems. He has a large, gentle dog named Regan, and there is, more often than not, a second large dog at the home. His son lives with him (or did) and there are various cars and people coming and going from the home on a daily basis. We see Richard to wave to and that has been about it since he graciously gave us a tour of his home about a year ago when we knocked on his door and introduced ourselves to him after purchasing the two acres next to him. Perhaps there will be more dialogue after we move in. Richard's home has been for sale since before it was completed. The original price has been reduced, but in today's market it may be a very long time before it sells. Bonnie spoke with Richard once at the airport and came away with the feeling that he didn't really care if he sold the home or not, and only would for the right price.

Denny and Barbara Dull, our underground neighbors to the south, are everything you could hope for in neighbors. The first of today's photos of their spread shows their barn, a small out-building that is currently housing our tiller thanks to Denny's generosity, Denny's observatory (he says that light pollution from the city of Fort Wayne interferes with what once was a great view of the sky), and an entrance (from above) to the house below from its "roof."

Two other photos of the front of Denny and Barbara's home shows how it is tucked into the hillside. This house is in no way dark as there are windows all down the front of it. These photos also show Denny's gazebo. His veggie garden is between the gazebo and the barn.

Denny is retired from GE and living, with Barbara, what appears to be a very comfortable life. Denny is a bear of a man about our age, while Barb is a very petite woman. They are clever, witty, generous, and we consider them our friends. We look forward to having some wonderful times with them. Denny keeps his eye on our property in our absence, and more honest and caring neighbors would be hard to find.

Jonathan and Olivia Kline own Camp Timber Lake, and it was from Jonathan that Bonnie purchased our 2-acre farm. We understand that Jonathan knew from a very young age that he wanted to buy the campground, and purchase it he did, right out of high school. What Jonathan and his family have done in the few short years they have owned and operated Camp Timber Lake is staggering. Jonathan is a Jack-of-all-trades, and there is not much he can't do when it comes to developing the campground. Olivia, also a hard worker, does much of the mowing, cleaning and, I am sure, many other things that go uncredited. She is a recent college graduate with a degree in graphic arts if I am not mistaken. The age difference between the younger Klines and us will probably keep us from developing more than a casual friendship with them. We have, after all, children much older than them!

Jonathan and Oliva have been helped enormously in the development of the campground by Jonathan's parents, Rex and LeAnn Kline, and LeAnn's mother, June. Also on the roster of campground developers is Don, who is 85, and has been a fixture at the campground for many years. Don is currently recovering from back surgery which has forced him to participate less in the more stenuous activities at the campground. As of last year he lives year-round at Camp Timber Lake in a small cottage that used to be the campground office and which was moved to the location on the largest lake where he had a summer cottage that was not set up for year-round habitation.

Rex is a retired plumber and electrician whom Bonnie has contracted with to do all of that type of work for Blossom Ridge Cottage. LeAnn still works parttime but puts in many hours, still, at the campground. Rex and LeAnn love to ride their bikes on long (50+ miles and more) trips with groups and friends. They are always busy with one project or another. They recently put a metal roof on their lovely A-frame home and Rex, though retired, continues to work as a plumber and electrician as much as Social Security will allow. We feel blessed that he agreed to work on our cottage. The advice he has given us has been invaluable.

LeAnn, like Kathy, rescues kittens and cats. We have lost count of the number of cats she is currently housing. It makes Kathy's three cats seem like nothing. Not all of these cats are housecats, but they are well taken care of and loved. Homes are being sought for some of them. (Perhaps Possum will post their photos on his blog.) Again, we feel fortunate to have Rex and LeAnn for neighbors and hope for more of a friendship with them down the road.

June is a wonderful woman. She keeps herself busy in her retirement with her veggie garden and volunteer work. She has a wonderful little rescue terrier named Scooby. A visit from June is always a treat. We hope to also have a deepening friendship with her over the years.

Moving to the cottage will also cut 35 minutes off the drive to Logansport to visit Kathy's mother and two brothers, a trip that usually takes 90 minutes. It will also put Kathy closer to geocaching partner and friend, Rick, his son, Ricky, and Geodog, Patrick.