Justa Vent

[boss mare]

Funny there are so many of us eastside folk here! I grew up in Fall City. Yes, Issaquah and the Plateau have transformed beyond recognition. When we first moved out there, I-90 was just a two lane road. I used to ride my bike on the logging roads that are now SNoqualmie Ridge. Some of the changes have brought more convenience, and I appreciate the new diversity (get a kick out of it when we go out to eat in North Bend and now seem to be surrounded by as many Chinese-speaking families as we see in a typical restaurant in Beijing!). But the congestion is not fun and I don't like seeing so much cookie-cutter development.

lhamo

MY mother grew up in Carnation ( Tolt High School 1959 ) When I was a kid we would go visit her friends this was around 1966 to the mid 1990's

[JaneV2.0]

I just drove through Bridle Trails last week on my way to Bellevue, thinking how lovely it was with all the trees and still some pastureland. It's hard to drive anywhere around here without encountering soul-bracing beauty.

(Cookie-cutter developments have ruined Issaquah. Such a dramatic setting; they could have done far, far better.)

[boss mare]

Even when the new owners take care of it, it can be a shock......the first time we went back to look at our Little House at Big Pond after we sold it, the shock of seeing the huge pine trees having been cut way back, a fake stone side wall of the house where the owner had ripped off our solar greenhouse (I guess matching the original redwood boards was too expensive, but the fake stone was quite jarring to the eye), and the beautiful bush at the corner of the house that turned a brilliant red every fall, gone, gone, gone, was hard.

We stopped in to visit (new owner had been our housesitter, then our tenant, and then had bought the house after we'd been gone nomading for more than five years), I almost wished I hadn't, because while it was very nicely kept, the sight of my pantry room, which once went into winter with 500+ jars of canned foods, plus tubs of bulk flours, grains and beans, etc., had been turned into quite a flossy, large bathroom right out of HGTV........oh, gosh, I mourned for my pantry room..........

But.....life goes on....if we'd stayed there, we'd have missed out on all these years of wonderful adventures, so I just treasure my pictures of the little house, nestled in its pine trees, with its little solar greenhouse on the one side open to the southern sun, as it was in "the old days", and wish the present owner well in all HIS ideas for the place.

I think it would be really hard, though, to see a much loved place having really fallen on hard times. At least the present owner of our place cherishes it, even if his expression of that is very different from our own.

I know the feeling about making changes to houses.. The house that I was talking about was not set up as horse property when I bought it in 1989 I told the lady who owned it what I had in mind she thought it was great her adult childern all had horses I spoke to the neighbors and everyone had no problem with me having a barn and bringing horses in The current place I have I told them that I was going to have a barn and indoor arena that is 84x120 other than that I have only changed the flower beds and vegatble garden to different places

[redfox]

We quite clearly need to have a Puget Sound meet-up!

[boss mare]

Hey Red sent you an e mail through your profile did you get it ?

[Gregg]

Managed to drive by the house I grew up in last year. It looks fairly well kept up, but very....weathered. Of course, 35 years later, so do I. The truly sad part was that the giant elm tree in the back yard that I basically grew up sitting in (great tree house) was gone and a rather plain Jane 2 car detached garage was in its place. Life goes on...

[pony mom]

Five years ago I moved out of the house I lived in for my first forty years. We keep in touch with our former neighbors and have heard how bad our house is now. When we were there, it was the cutest in the neighborhood--people used to stop by and tell us. Since the day we moved out I've never been back. It'll just break my heart, since my parents put so much hard work and love and money into it. They've seen it since and say it doesn't bother them, but it must.

Here in NJ, so much land has been developed over the years. Quite a few of the barns where I rode or boarded are gone. The farms that are being built are large equestrian center type places, with large barns and huge indoor arenas, with large monthly boarding fees. Most are geared towards horseshow people with money. The smaller farmettes (I board at one) are usually surrouned by non-horsey people who want to move to the country and live in McMansions. They're the first to complain about the smelly horses and the flies. They also have the dogs that run loose, kids trespassing on the property, ATV riding on farmland....more trouble than the horses.

In my sort of rural area, there should be someone to inspect farm properties. Old barns ready to collapse, rusting machinery in fields with horses and cows. and the fencing!! A rusty old wire one foot high off the ground around the property (with little strips of cloth attached..ooh! that'll keep the animals safe!). Horses get loose and are hit/killed by cars, horses/ponies/llamas attacked by bears/coyotes/loose dogs. People are so ignorant and irresponsible.

Whew! Venting feels great.

[boss mare]

Five years ago I moved out of the house I lived in for my first forty years. We keep in touch with our former neighbors and have heard how bad our house is now. When we were there, it was the cutest in the neighborhood--people used to stop by and tell us. Since the day we moved out I've never been back. It'll just break my heart, since my parents put so much hard work and love and money into it. They've seen it since and say it doesn't bother them, but it must.

Here in NJ, so much land has been developed over the years. Quite a few of the barns where I rode or boarded are gone. The farms that are being built are large equestrian center type places, with large barns and huge indoor arenas, with large monthly boarding fees. Most are geared towards horseshow people with money. The smaller farmettes (I board at one) are usually surrouned by non-horsey people who want to move to the country and live in McMansions. They're the first to complain about the smelly horses and the flies. They also have the dogs that run loose, kids trespassing on the property, ATV riding on farmland....more trouble than the horses.

In my sort of rural area, there should be someone to inspect farm properties. Old barns ready to collapse, rusting machinery in fields with horses and cows. and the fencing!! A rusty old wire one foot high off the ground around the property (with little strips of cloth attached..ooh! that'll keep the animals safe!). Horses get loose and are hit/killed by cars, horses/ponies/llamas attacked by bears/coyotes/loose dogs. People are so ignorant and irresponsible.

Whew! Venting feels great.

Well at least there are horse places going in... even if they are training barns LOL The area that I am venting about has lost 6 horse faculites totaling an easy 300 stalls and there are ginormus housing develpoments in their place with very strict HOA rules. 3 more have been sold and are sitting vacant or have trainers/boarders in there month to month until they start bulldozing.

[boss mare]

I will be updating this with a new post