Hold onto yer britches folks!
We closed on the house October 15th and moved into our 2018 Mallard Camper that we parked on the lot of land we own next door to the house we had just sold in Benton. The half acre lot sits at the back of the neighborhood next to the woods. The camper wasn't visible unless someone drove down the dead end road.
In preparation for this we had built a small metal shed and installed a water heater. Donnie hooked up our washer and dryer, refrigerator, and freezer in the shed. He ran a clothes rod on one quarter of a wall and the rest we used for storing boxes. Our large items, like furniture, we have in a local storage building.
The set up was pretty convenient. Especially not having to go to a laundromat. It reminded me of the AirBnb homes where we stayed in Alaska. Last July we used outhouses on a daily basis there.
This was much more convenient than THAT! At least we had a flushing toilet in the camper.
We spent our evenings searching online for land for sale and driving around areas we liked. We almost ended up way out in Paron, Arkansas. The 4 acre lot was so beautiful and I'm still a bit sad when I think of it but there were some issues and we had to move on from it. There was a run in with a crazy man and another man with a pistol. We learned the hazards of stepping onto private property even IF posted for sale without an escort. Eek!
We began searching for land before we closed on our house and one warm day in September Donnie and I went to check out a piece of property that had been listed for sale online. When we pulled up I immediately was in awe of the 100+ year old oak trees near the entrance. We walked toward the middle of the property and saw a cinder block building surrounded by weeds up to my shoulders. It had a shingled roof and the door was knocked down. We made our way inside and saw drains in the concrete floor and there were what looked like caged rooms separated by fencing inside the building. I asked Donnie if he thought they kept pigs or something in there. He shrugged and we kept exploring. Walking through the building to the other side we saw a large chain link fence on all 3 sides and on top also. Again I asked Donnie what he thought they had kept in there. "Could it be chickens?" We saw a rope with what looked like a swing hanging from the roof of fence and he jokingly said "looks like monkeys!" We laughed at that knowing it was ridiculous.
We explored toward the back of the property until we heard a vehicle pull up and went to see who it was. Two men who were related to the owner selling came to see what we were doing out there. We told them we were looking to buy some property. We chatted for a bit and asked about the cinder block building over there. "What kind of animals did they keep in there?" And just as casual as if it had been chickens, one of the guys said "monkeys." Donnie and I looked at each other giggling. MONKEYS!!?? Yep! 30+ years ago a family lived there and they were known for the monkeys they kept.
Since then we have heard more stories and I will tell those later. But to wrap this up I'll tell you that we ended up buying about 7.5 acres out there. The piece of property with the "monkey house" belonged to a brother and the lot next to it belonged to the sister. We got both pieces for a long, narrow stretch of land that is wooded in the back.
There was a lot of work needed to be done on the property to clean it up. We hauled off a burned down mobile home, cut down trees, and cleared some of the land for Donnie’s work shop. We moved the camper out to the property and have been living here on the monkey farm since around January, I believe.
We had planned to build a house once we got the shop up. After looking at the cinder block building we decided it was a good start and cleaned it up, put a new roof on it, added on to the back, and are going to turn it into our home. The monkey house is about 960 sq ft with 2 bedrooms and one bath. We have a working laundry room in the house along with a full size stove and refrigerator. This allows us to take our time and work on things as we have time.
We have enjoyed the land so much. Luke has a fresh dirt bike trail he has made with the tractor. We have eaten fresh vegetables from our garden and are raising 10 chickens that should begin laying eggs for us before the end of the month. It’s peaceful here. We watch the fireflies each night and listen to the frogs and crickets sing. I watch a bluebird eat insects out of my garden while sitting beneath the magnolia tree. I dream of all we will do with the land. And in these chaotic times we are at peace and content with being here in this place. We are content with the work ahead of us. We are content to dream and slowly make progress. I believe this is the beginning of something very beautiful and I don’t expect it will ever be complete. There is always something we can dream up. And we are content in the freedom we find here.
