Neighbors

We went to work on the house again today (surprise -- what day don't we work on the house?) and met our neighbors on either side. To the west there's a couple with two kids, 5 and 3, and to the east there's a couple with a 9 year old daughter. They described the other people living around us, some retirees but mostly families with young kids (3-9 years old). Unfortunately, they didn't seem to know of any kids around a year old. Seems like most of the kid-having happened in a bunch a few years ago. Guess A. will just have to learn to play with older kids.

The neighbors also told us about the older couple who owns the "ranchette" behind our houses. That's where the two cows live. Apparently the couple is very nice and love kids (theirs are grown and gone). They're also pretty country, and spend a number of days shooting (at their range, at skeet, at squirrels and birds). Doesn't bother us -- it's better than the shooting at people that happened around our apartment in Hayward.

We found out some interesting information about the house that we bought. We'd figured that it was a rental, since the owners live in Washington state and bought two houses in the area around the same time. In fact it was a rental, and had been since it was built (through two previous owners). We'd figured that the renters had had a dog, what with the smell. Turns out that they had at least 3 dogs, and at some points as many as 5. Plus some cats. The driveway was full of cars, many of them not running. The HOA had considered taking them to court for violations of the neighborhood agreements, but never worked up to it.

So, as you can imagine, our arrival in the neighborhood is most welcome. Ours was the troublesome house, and the people around us are very happy to have a family of homeowners settling in.

I keep getting more and more pleased with the neighborhood. The people we've met have been great, and the number of kids around is fabulous. I can't believe we got so lucky as to get this house.