Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yeah, that's more like it, I've given up farming, dental floss or otherwise. I've always like John Denver...

Thanks everyone, for all the good wishes an words of encouragement! The new place will take a bit of gettin' used to, it's such a tiny place, only about 20 acres. Hey, after living on 500 acres, 20 is actually pretty small.


I'm not getting rid of all the toys just yet, still keeping this one: With the backhoe, all the different buckets, post hole drill, and pallet forks, it's just too useful to give up...

Just in case anyone's interested, here are a few pics around the new place:

Beautiful scenery, nice land! Be happy, my friend! You'll be fine!

wow -that looks beautiful cj- (the new place,not the tractor so much...)

Best wishes, CJ. Sounds like you have plenty to look forward to and I'm sure you'll enjoy the change of scenery without the machinery!

rickenbrother wrote:Beautiful scenery, nice land! Be happy, my friend! You'll be fine!

Um, is there a guest house?

Well now CJ, who else would know about THAT song but another JD fan?

ajish4 wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:Beautiful scenery, nice land! Be happy, my friend! You'll be fine!

Um, is there a guest house?

As a matter of fact, there is! Has indoor plumbing, and everything. My wife wants to turn it into her art studio though...

I do have a fairly big garage, so setting up a band there shouldn't be a problem...

Good luck with the move, CJ!

At least, now you'll have time to actually play your basses.

Nice spread, for a measly 20 acres.

WOW, that's beautiful CJ, so much green and mountians around,
I am not trying to be nice, it's simply breathtaking, especially for someone like me from Israel - we don't get to see such views very often.
So if I got you right - you downsized from a 500 acres land to a 20 acres land? 20 acres is not that small too, are planning on doing anything with it? where is your new home? is there a spare room for unwanted guests from Israel?

Hi CJ !!

I'm glad it's all working out.

It looks like a great part of the world. Does it snow there in summer too????

20 acres will probably feel a bit like a market garden after having 500, but there's still be enough space to have some fun in the Bobcat.

I hope the wife is happy. There is an old Australian Aboriginal saying " Happy Wife: Happy Life.

Best Wishes for the future.

gibsonlp wrote:WOW, that's beautiful CJ, so much green and mountians around,
I am not trying to be nice, it's simply breathtaking, especially for someone like me from Israel - we don't get to see such views very often.
So if I got you right - you downsized from a 500 acres land to a 20 acres land? 20 acres is not that small too, are planning on doing anything with it? where is your new home? is there a spare room for unwanted guests from Israel?

Yeah, we had to sell the farm, which was 500 acres, all irrigated. And yes, 20 acres is not all that small, but it really is a matter of what you are used to, it's been decades since we've lived anywhere near that small. We spent a lot more than we should have, but it will be a nice place. It's kind of embarrassing, we really tried to find a place in the 5 acre range, they just seemed so small and closed in...

Those pictures were taken about 1 month ago, in a year with a longer, cooler spring than usual, so things were still very green. It's gotten hot now, 85F-95F (30C-35C), so things are drying out and the green is changing to brown, at least the grasses are.

Our old farm is near the town of Malta, Montana, in the north eastern part of the state. The new place is about 450 miles away in the southwest part of Montana, about an hour south of Missoula.

We've still got a couple of horses (used to have about 40) and we're going to keep some of the sheep. The 20 acres is irrigated pasture so should be good for raising some sheep (which will keep the brush and grass mowed down to reduce the danger from fires). Nah, I can't totally give up the farming/ranching stuff...

longboard_ric wrote:Hi CJ !!

I'm glad it's all working out.

It looks like a great part of the world. Does it snow there in summer too????

20 acres will probably feel a bit like a market garden after having 500, but there's still be enough space to have some fun in the Bobcat.

I hope the wife is happy. There is an old Australian Aboriginal saying " Happy Wife: Happy Life.

Best Wishes for the future.

It's a lot nicer than where we live now, much prettier, closer to actual civilization, but quite a bit more expensive to buy land/houses. It doesn't get as cold in the winter, but there's more snow (well, there's not nearly as much wind, so it piles up instead of blowing away ). It's higher elevation, about 4500ft (1370m), so there can be some snow rather late in the spring.

And yes, Lauren's happy with it. We'll have a lot more time to do fun stuff again like riding the horses and other outdoors stuff. We are about 1/2 mile from a huge Federal Wilderness area so there are lots of places to go right from the house.

I'll have to keep my "day" job a while longer (things seem a bit more stable there lately too ), but I'll really only have one full time job instead of a full time "day" job and a 24 hour per day farm to run. That should leave some time to try to remember how to play music again...

I thought you could buy Montana for $45K.....

wints wrote:I thought you could buy Montana for $45K.....

Not since it was discovered by the Californians...

My very best wishes for your next phase of life, CJ! May it be 100 times more fun!

Buy more music gear, I say!

paul_yan wrote:Buy more music gear, I say!

Yeah, my fretless ZON!

I may have a fretted one available, too.