Sandbox and Slumlords

Dada in her sandbox

Here is a picture of Dada in her sandbox, newly relocated from our old house to the new house in anticipation of renting the old house, which we've done. We are now officially slumlords, having secured a tenant. I was able to find a property manager who was in turn able to manage getting the old house repainted, cleaned up, fixed up, and recarpeted and found a tenant all within about two weeks. The lease officially started Monday.

We won't be making money off the rent but we'll be losing less than we would have if we had sold it and had had to pay the commisions to the realestate agents. We're betting that either we'll be able to raise the rent to cover the costs, refinance to lower our cash outflow, or sell it in a year or so at enough of a profit to recoup our investment. We'll see. But at least we've staunched the flow. And it means we don't have to worry about the old house any more. It was really hard for me to move the last few things out--I guess I didn't quite want to let go.

It's been pretty busy--we've started going to the pool almost every day, which is pretty tiring but Dada really enjoys it and it's one of the few things we can do outside in this heat.

Last night we ended up not going to the pool until after dinner and Dada and I happened to be coming home via Congress avenue about 7:30 only to discover that the bats were emerging from the bridge in huge numbers. Normally the bats don't emerge until closer to sundown, but I guess because it's been so hot and dry, they are coming out earlier and in a bigger rush. We drove up and back a couple of times, slowing down to watch, and then at Dada's insistence we stopped and went up on the bridge to finish watching. [Note: this picture was taken by Flickr user HiWattAmp, not by me.]

Tonight we went to the pool earlier but Dada fell asleep on the way (she hadn't had a nap) and we ended up napping in the car at the pool until 6:30. About 7:00 Dada said "I go see bats, Daddy. Go see bats", so we swung back by the house and picked up Julie (who had stayed home to have a little adult conversation with Jay and Kay). We got to the bat viewing area at about 7:25. There was no sign of bat activity (usually they circle around by the bridge for a good 10 minutes or more before they fly off to wherever they fly off to). At 7:35 it was like somebody threw a switch and the bats erupted out of the bridge. By 7:45 the first wave was out and there were just a few bats flying. By that time we had gone up on the bridge to watch. By 8:00, as we were leaving, the second wave was emerging.

We'll probably go back again tommorrow.

The chickens continue to thrive and to roost on the porch. The other night we found them perching on the clothesline, which stretches across the back porch. You don't usually think of chickens as birds that perch on thin wires, but they were doing it.

And I finally finished up the landscape timber border around the playscape. Peggy visited over the weekend which made it possible for me to do some projects that I otherwise can't do because I'm busy watching Dada or because Dada is asleep. Now all I have to do is move the rest of the gravel...