In my previous life as a marketing manager with long hours, deliverables, and accountability; and during our time as small business owners, with demanding clients, overhead and even longer hours; I often told myself – and others – that I sometimes wished I could just go dig a ditch. The opportunity recently arose, in a big way, and will again soon.

This is no ordinary ditch mind you, and it’s just one of a few that will help divert water from our roof away from our house via the new gutters we recently had installed.

Honey-do projects are one thing, but installing gutters are another. Yes, we could have easily hung DIY rain gutters. But going seamless is not just about aesthetics, it’s the smart choice up here in the mountains.

The issue is not so much that snow will pile up and tear off gutter sections – it can, and does as we’ve seen happen down the road. It’s more about what happens as snow thaws in them, freezes and repeats. Seams simply can’t take it.

Back to that ditch. As illegal as it is to collect water off our roof according to our subdivision’s augmentation plan, René wanted to try. Apparently I’m building a box garden when we get back to Jerry’s Acres next Spring. But there I go digressing.

I obliged by inquiring about nonperforated drainage pipe at Home Cheapo. Thus we learned why using such a thing for the amount of ditch I was digging is a bad idea. Stagnant water sitting in solid pipe stinks. Quite literally. I for one am very happy to discover this before burying all the pipe I did.

About ten inches deep by 40 feet long in less than six hours. That’s how I spent last Saturday. An impressive feat if I don’t say so myself, but then, I just did. This weekend calls for another 30 feet, easy. Well, not exactly easy. Remember my Colorado geology lesson from the ranch?

There’s a reason they call these the rocky mountains, and I encountered more than a few Leaverites. Ya know, those rocks that you hit and realize … you better leave ‘er right there.

How to Dig a Ditch

The right tools make any job easier. But if you must dig a trench by hand, here are a few pointers:

• Know your terrain. Unless you’re digging up a soft lawn, recommended tools include a pick axe, pointed shovel, square shovel, and rake hoe.
• Don’t bend the blade on your pick like I did. See Leaverite above.
• Keep drainage pipe ditches at least 8-10 inches deep. See Stink.
• Loosen ground with pick by swinging big and letting gravity do the job
• Square off legs and shoulders, holding pick handle low.
• Use your legs, not your back.
• Use hoe to remove movable rocks before digging.
• Switch tools often to avoid burnout and work all muscle groups.
• Avoid buried gas, water and electric lines at all costs.
• Stretch and stay hydrated.
• Don’t dread what remains to be done, keep your eye on the goal.
• Wear eye protection and listen to rockin’ tunes, or railroad work songs.
• Never, ever, try to dig a 40′ ditch in one day.

A few weeks ago we jumped the gun. In our excitement to actually commit to something tangible again, we told you about a fixer-upper house we were in escrow on.

I’d like to apologize for our premature announcement. We didn’t get the house.

Instead, we pulled out of that nightmare-waiting-to-happen, but only until our offer for a better property was accepted.

We haven’t wanted to say anything, fearing that we might jinx the deal. But now it’s safe to spill it, since we are closing escrow Monday at 11 am.

What Really Happened

We are now the proud owners of a 3 bedroom 2 bath mountain home, on 4.98 acres in Red Feather Lakes, about 50 miles northwest of Fort Collins.

A few weeks ago we learned that our fixer-upper had a very questionable foundation lying underneath it. Cosmetic repairs are one thing, but buying a house with bad foundation can be a horrible mistake. The heartbreaking news brought back bad memories of our previous money pit, of which we had to put a $23,000 foundation underneath. I cried as we debated whether or not to move forward on the deal.

That’s when we received a beautiful statue of St. Francis, from our friend Heather.

St. Francis was sent in honor of the 9 month anniversary of our Jerry’s departure, which happened on the Feast of St. Francis. Heather sent this to us on Jerry’s behalf, with an encouraging message essentially telling us to hang on to our dream. She had no we were already in escrow for the fixer-upper. “It’s out there,” she said, don’t give up.

Days later, as we were just about to give up on our search here, we saw the listing for something that sounded too good to be true.

Why We Bought It

Priced way below market value, the sellers are divorcing and just wanted to dump their weekend getaway. As soon as we saw it, we knew this was the spot we’ve been looking for.

It fits our criteria perfectly. It’s a simple, affordable property that won’t get us into debt. It sits on manageable mountain acreage near a town we love. And it’s almost within 2 hours of a major airport (Denver). The house is 9 years old and has hardly been used. It’s in perfect working order; it even has running water and heat! Other than the ugly kitchen cabinet doors, we love it.

The house lies in a beautiful mountain subdivision with exorbitant HOA fees, but they get us year-round road maintenance, and all the fishing Jim wants on about a dozen private lakes and river frontage. We could live here all year if we wanted to.

At 8400′ above sea level, Red Feather Lakes is a cool summer escape and a winter wonderland for Fort Collins residents. There’s a small community nearby with a couple of restaurants, a bar, a convenience store, gas station, and a post office. Many people live here year round, as Fort Collins is an easy drive to make. What more do we need?

It’s as close to perfect as we can get, but there’s just one problem:  Unlike the last place, which had a big flat space for RVs, this house sits on top of a gradual slope. and the driveway isn’t big enough for more than two RVs, at least until we do some grading. But, the good news is that the subdivision runs a nearby private campground with full hookups ($20 a night) for property owners’ guests.

So, with many thanks to Jerry and his pal St. Francis, and everyone who encouraged us to hang in there, we can safely say that we have found our dream property at 21 Hopewell Court, Red Feather Lakes Colorado.