Thousand Oats Farm Restoration.

Well... After all the dust settled it was clear that there was to be no reconciliation between Shauna and Irene so we had no choice but to dissolve the partnership (if you could call it that) and divvy up the assets (there would have been a lot more if Irene was on the ball all these years). I was hoping that it would go better that it did. We practically supported Irene and her daughter Megan for over fifteen years but Irene was blind to this when we came to the agreement to buy her out of the farm interest. All she could think about was to get her share (half) of what the property is worth. Never mind that in order to do this in the first place (buy the farm) we all took out a loan (to bail her out of losing the farm) which 'we', her included, still owed on meaning nobody owned half the farm. She clearly owned more than us however she also still owed on the loan, like Shauna and I did, and Shauna and I had been paying for most of it. And the feed. And the vet bills (when she would allow for a vet). And the taxes. And the repairs (what little she did).

The real disappointment of all this is that Irene never even paid for the farm. She had made some stupid deal with some people that, knowing Irene, naturally figured that she would pay them a bunch of money on a (initially) great deal and then never be able to come up with the rest (balloon payment) so they would get the property back and still have the original money (sharks). And to top that off the original investment money came from Irene's mother Donna. Irene never put in a penny for the farm (not really true but close enough). But still it was clear that the farm was never going to move forward with her anchoring it to the past. So bye bye Irene.

Now in order to pull this off I had to bargain with Irene to pay half now and pay the other half in a year. My apprehension was because as a result of the change to the property title Shauna and I now also had to renegotiate the loan (we still needed to carry it) and because of our current status this turned out to be impossible. Therefore we had to secure the loan with the remainder of the cash we had. Which we also owed Irene. Ugh! But trying to explain the finances to Irene and how this is not a fair deal (in her state of mind) was going to be futile. So we decided to pay her off and move on.

In the long run... Irene got way more then she deserved (our opinion). But at this point we just wanted to move on. As painful and unfair as it was we just paid her off and wrote her off.

So... Now we are on our own. Kind of lost and confused. Wondering what do we do next?

The Horses Haven't Been Getting Proper Nourishment.

The Hay Shed Still Needs Repair.

So Does The Loafing Shed.

As Do The Fences.

The Pastures Are Right Up There Also.

We Are Also Having A Real Problem With Insects.

I Had A Good Idea For The Water-Troughs Though.

My Neighbor Is A Cow.

We Love Our Barbecue.

I'd Still Like To Have A Garage.

And A Proper Shop.