Abandoned

The girlfriend is visiting from England and it's almost Christmas, so it's been good times in the nickarmadillo household.

We've been super busy with Christmas prep and setting up roof work.  I've been so busy that I forgot to mention that all on here.

After the last roof debacle, I had another roofer come by and check out the rest of the roof.  Surprise!  The inspector missed that the WHOLE roof was bad.  It also leaked all over my freakin' house and ruined the plaster in 3 rooms.  Great news, huh?

So, we are getting a new roof and interior work done.  The total cost: approximately $13,000.  Yikes!  Now it just comes down to who is paying for it.  The inspector, who failed to do his job and performed a shoddy inspection or the trusting homeowner who relied on the inspector to correctly perform the task for which he was paid $300 an hour.

So, in light of these new developments, the mid-century collecting has been going a little slow lately, as money is super-tight.

However, I did find these photos from a couple years back.

I'm sure you've all seen old farm houses like this with junk lying about everywhere, but the odd part about this place is the sheer quantity of stuff as well as the fact that it's right smack-dab in the center of a typical middle-class St. Louis suburb.

In fact, it's right behind my parent's home.  I guess the developers bought up the land to develop the subdivision but the owner wouldn't sell out, so they just built it up around him anyway.

I can remember having tons of childhood adventures back here.  My brother and I would suit up in our exploring gear and go play and build forts around the old outbuildings and farm equipment.  The old man (picture your typical 90 year-old rural hermit) usually left us alone as he had become a hermit, but would occasionally chase us off on his tractor armed with a shotgun.  He'd always threaten to shoot us/our dog, but I think he was bluffing.  I hope, anyway.

You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff back there.  You can find old toys, furniture, farm equipment, trucks, cars, tractors, sports equipment, furniture, a whole overgrown in-ground swimming pool with fountains and diving board, and multiple abandoned homes (I think there are about 4-6 abandoned homes on the property), sheds, and barns filled to the brim with junk.  And since the guy never left his house or threw anything out in the last few decades, its all vintage stuff.  It almost looks post-apocalyptic back there.

I've never plucked up enough courage to venture into the homes or barns (I think the man has passed and the property is completely abandoned by now, so it should be semi-safe), but it might make for an amazing adventure.  Maybe I'll get up to it one day if I can find a brave partner.