I got a call last night from the neighbors behind me. The happy news is that they AREN'T moving!

You may recall earlier posts of mine about their plans to move to Tennessee (land of cheap real estate) because they over-improved their house and then he lost his high-paying job. They could no longer afford to pay their property taxes, which amounted to yes, $18,000.

They originally listed the house in the $900s. After lowering the price several times, down to $699K, with nary an offer, they decided to create an illegal apartment and a room for rent.

They will be living there too, of course, so I'm not too concerned about it. She feels that the income from the renters, plus income from her husband's future job, will be enough to pay the bills.

Right now, the husband, who worked as a toy designer, is trying to get his own puzzle business off the ground. While things still look very promising, he can't draw a salary for at least a year.

But she wants him to get a f/t job and continue the toy business thing on the side. Any job, she said, any job. He's a very talented guy, but not in a conventional way.

He has long wanted his own mini farm. They tried chickens, once, but when they became infested with some kind of parasite, he had to kill them all because the fleas or whatever they were infested everything in the barn and he was bringing them in the house on his legs, etc.

She would rather not have the mini farm because she feels it's too much work and as they get older (they are my age now) they won't want the responsibly or expense.

But now they've bought a miniature cow and they are also on the lookout for a sheep. I tried to convince her that these are herd animals that do much better in at least a small group, but she feels the sheep and cow will consider each other as their "herd." They also got another 20 chickens.

They want the cow for milk, the chickens for eggs, of course, and the sheep for, well, eventually they will eat it.

It does sound like a lot of work. The cow will need to be milked twice a day, every day. All the animals will need to be safely put away in the barn each night so the local coyotes don't bother them. (Good luck with that.)

They also started a vegetable garden.

I am glad they intend to stay now, for they have been super nice neighbors and have helped me out from time to time. I hope they get good tenants

I got fingerprinted on Wednesday for my job and it looks like i should be official on July 21.