Now You See It, Now You Don't!

We bought a new house this summer. We are still in the same neighborhood, but we needed a basement to store our junk and we needed the house to be configured a little differently. Actually, I began looking for this new house about a month after we moved into our first home in Oak Ridge. I have seen lots of houses and I could tell you minute details about the real estate market, if you asked! Oak Ridge has quite a history - as the home of the atomic bomb - the secret city - where 75,000 people once lived. Now it is a small town close to Knoxville with fabulous schools. This is a science mecca with all sorts of engineers and physicists - and interestingly - such professionals have designed many houses around here. They have random rooms in them - might have to go through the master bathroom to get to the playroom or you might want a swimming pool in the middle of the house - look for a house in Oak Ridge, and you will see it all. I am sure these home design professionals had a perfect reason for situating rooms in such a way, but for the subsequent owner, the reason is not always clear.

Now you know why it took so long to find our jewel. 3 long years and a realtor who would do anything to make me happy - just so I won't drag her to any others! So it was, last December when we were on our way home from Snowshoe, when she called and said she had found a house for

us. She began to read the specs on it and suddenly, I had to see it!

Sure enough, it was a good fit for us. We moved in this past July and we love it. My very favorite feature is the waterfall that cascades down the hill just off of our breakfast room. We have a plate-glass window to gaze through as we are mesmerized by the sound of a mountain stream. Unfortunately, the river birch which was strategically placed just beside the waterfall has aged through the years and the roots have completely penetrated the liner of the stream bed. What does that mean? Basically, that we spent more on sewer and water than we ever did at the old house, in the month of September. Well, not that bad, but it was an outlandish bill.

I have been distraught over the sadness of losing my water feature! It was really my favorite thing about the house. I am happy to report - today is the beginning of a new waterfall. We have a good friend who is going to rebuild just after the river birch is removed. Here is where we are so far:

The pictures are rather dark, thanks to the weather. They are not supposed to be black and white.

I just can't wait to get it looking like this again:

Cole informed me today that the Groundhog must have been wrong (because it was 72 today). I sure hope so, I can't wait for Spring!!!