The History of Honey Hill Farm, Part 5

Steve called the attorneys who were to preside over the auction to inform them that their information was in error. They HUNG UP on him. He faxed it to our realtor, who contacted the title company. Then he tried the commute BACK to Honey Hill. There, he moved a box of videos BACK to the old house. It was going to be a LOOOONNNNNNGGGGG weekend. Friday, it SNOWED. Saturday, it SNOWED. By the time it was over, we had added 20" to our 16" base. Sunday, we began to dig out, wondering if our homestead was still standing under the weight of 36 inches of snow. Monday, the world was closed, but Tuesday, Steve managed to get to work, and drove by the house on the way home. He picked up more mail--ad flyers, confirmation from Verizon of the start of service, and ANOTHER foreclosure notice--AND notice of a certified letter from the same attorney being held at the Post Office. He parked his car at Tom's house, and trudged up the driveway. The snow was up to his knees, and his feet WEREN'T on the ground. There was a treetop fallen across the driveway. But everything was standing, and the heat was on. The phone didn't work. He trudged back out. Wednesday, it SNOWED. Another 12". We dug, and dug, and dug, and dug. And that was just at the old house! On Thursday, we were able to drive down to the farm, but we couldn't get in. There was a 5' berm of ice and snow across our driveway and along the road. With some melt, some compaction, and lots of blowing, we have at least 3.5' of snow on our drive. We were given a price estimate of $400 to plow in. And our mailbox was no longer standing. The horizontal support had broken a spot weld, twisted one of the bolts, and was of no use. We'll need a stronger support, larger bolts, and a hacksaw and cordless drill to repair it. Not to mention the fallen tree, which we can't get to until we plow--but we can't plow while the tree is across the driveway! We also met our OTHER neighbor, Mary D., whose family used to own the property we bought. And we met another neighbor from down the road a bit, Jay A., who was plowing Miss Mary's drive. Everyone takes care of Miss Mary. So here we are: a house we can't get to, a broken mailbox, foreclosure proceedings against Adam and Susanna underway even though WE own the house, and who knows how much more oil is in the tank before the heat goes off AGAIN, and the pipes freeze? This was a bad month to buy a house.