Our House

About fourteen months ago we did a short-sale on our house. We had been living there for 5 years. It was a large home. Lots of space. Plenty of room to move around. Inside. But outside, our yard was small. Not too much room to run freely or plant a garden. The previous owners had landscapers who put a tree in the middle of the yard and while it was a beautiful tree, it took up a lot of the already limited space. I prefer open space for the girls to run about and play.

I never liked that yard. And to be honest, I never loved that house. Yes, it was large and on the newer side but it never felt like us. The neighborhood never felt like us. HOA rules meant everything looking the same, few trees and bushes along the wide sidewalks. The streets looked bare, almost sterile to me. For our family, it just didn't feel like home. We tried to make it work but each time we would go out in the yard I would find myself fantasizing about a bigger yard; more outdoor space for the girls to explore the natural world in.

                  
                               Distant view of our former housing scheme.

Living in a home for 5 years, with such a longing for something else never felt right. It felt like I was not content, not living in the moment, in the now. How could I live in the present house when I dreamed about a different house? We talked about moving but weren't sure because we bought in the height of the market. But I would often tell Don that everything was in Divine Order and that what was meant to be would be.Guidance as to what to do came when the market crashed. Why stay in a home that we didn't love especially after it lost more than half it's value? We tried to do the right thing with the banks. I won't even go there. Such corruption. But still, I kept thinking about that yard and we really, didn't want to stay there. 

So we decided to short sale.The final confirmation about moving came when we put the house on the market (while on holiday in Florida) on a Thursday and had an offer by Sunday. We knew Divine Order was guiding us out of that housing scheme to something better for us. Our short sale went so smoothly. We were even paid to move to our new home. Ah, Divine intervention. Ah, Divine Order. They are some of the only real securities in this world.

Castro Ranch Road which is the start of the Alhambra/Pinole Valley.



The valley is 20 minutes from urban Berkeley & 30 miles to San Francisco.

When it came to moving, we looked at several rental houses within a several mile radius of where we were living. We love the area (outside the previous development). The El-Sobrante/Pinole Valley area is a special place. The hills are mostly spared of development and in rainy season it is like a rich, green carpet has been laid down.

Cows graze freely along the hills, as do wild turkey. Many a night, I have heard coyotes howl, seen more than one red fox run across the road, passed many a deer or fawn on the hillsides and seen countless hawk and falcon soaring overhead. And of course there are the skunk, raccoon, chipmunk and other more common, wild creatures. We also have our domesticated friends.

There are goats and sheep that also graze along the hills. And about 4 miles down the road, on a small farm/vineyard live several llamas, emu and sheep. We have been visiting that 4 legged crew for years. I am sure they know us by now as they often come up to us when we near the fence. The girls love to stop by and say hi. A few years back I got to see a 3 minute old lamb there.

Spring sheep and lamb, who graze in the hills in front of our current house.

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One of our emu friends. They are so friendly!

So we knew we wanted to stay near to where we were currently live. Don and I put on paper what we were looking for and posted it. We looked at it every day and it helped us to manifest our next home. We knew we wanted a 4 bedroom, sunny, quiet home with a larger yard. So when we came upon our current house via Craigslist, I knew right away we had to see it. (We agreed I would do the initial visit and then Don would come for a second tour if it seemed like a possibility.)

I noticed right away similarities to our other home (layout) but with smaller rooms, wood floors and no ugly Roman style columns throughout the house. (I hated those.) The kitchen was larger and the bedrooms smaller but it was still large enough for us to have lots of space (we went from 2780 sq. ft. to 1900 sq ft.). There were two buildings out back (one not available) which would be great for storage. But the thing that really sold me what the 1/3 of a flat acre. There are lots of hills in California. And very little yards (so different than growing up in New York where we had back, front and side yards), if any. I knew, once I saw that yard, and once the girls took off exploring in that yard, that we would live there.

Celebrating Don's birthday last year.

Since we moved in we have had lots of outdoor time. We play, we paint, we have celebrated birthdays. And this year, Don finally got to build a raised bed for gardening(it took a long time, as not much goes easily, smoothly or quickly with two little people but it's in). And there is space along the back fence next to it for more planting.We are south facing so it's perfect. The previous tenant also loved gardening so there are rose bushes and fruit trees. Wild poppies have sprung and made the yard come alive with color. Last spring we planted strawberries in wine barrels and they are growing again this year. The girls love to water the garden. I love that!

We aren't sure how long this will be our home but for now we are happy and present here. And for that we are most grateful.