To put it in a nutshell, I have had enough of gardening 5 acres! Hence with neither of us getting any younger we have decided to move into town. Not Bellingham, too full of liberals but Lynden full of fascists, ten miles up the road.
Now it is generally accepted round here that unless you are of Dutch origin and belong to the Dutch Deformed Church, not mow your lawn or wash your car on Sundays and accept that shops are closed all day for religious observance and sidewalks are rolled up it is better NOT to live in Lynden, picturesque as it may be. Oh yes , and must be related to farming folk.
Even worse, there are wonderfully restrictive by laws, all lawns must be mown, picket fences must be maintained, no junk in yards, no gunfire, no bonfires in town, no garbage cans left out , local dog licenses, the list is as long as your arm.
And enforced!
Wonderful! Such restrictions make it positively charming, utterly serene and totally racially homogeneously NW European. No jiving racial minorities creating havoc.
Actually I don’t believe in Sunday opening of shops or lawn mowing on Sundays, it always used to irritate me beyond endurance in the Chilterns there was no quiet enjoyment of one’s property. I never make phone calls either to locals, it just isn’t done round here, considered bad manners.
I digress! We have found the above ‘Tardis’, in the centre of town, a 1920’s teensy weensy grottage from the street but built into a hill and amounts to 3000 square feet on three levels from the back. It has the most stunning views to the South and East of Mt Baker and the Two Sisters rising up majestically above the landscape as giant snowcones. It has always been a source of gross irritation that we must currently own one of the few houses out here in the County that doesn’t have a view of the peaks from the property! It has a small garden but enough with a small veg patch.
And, and it has DOORS, if there is anything I hate and detest it is open plan living with bloody silly arches instead of decent woodwork and doors, cheap crap building in my estimation. I like doors, keeps, people, dogs and kitchen smells in their correct places!
And, and it has real central heating, proper radiators, oh mirabile dictu! How I hate this damnable blown air, even with humidifiers it is so drying to the skin in winter you need to cover yourself with seal oil like the Aleuts!! It is of course the wooden shack construction but at least it is made of real Western Red Cedar which will see me out without re-siding.
And it has the original magnificent wooden strip floors throughout the house, beautiful mellowed wood.
Can’t wait! So we are making an offer next week and getting this place on the market at a hot price to get rid of it quickly if poss. How I have always disliked this house. I hate houses on one level, the ceilings are too low, too open plan and I dislike the windows, the garden was always nice and the setting beautiful but I shall be very glad to leave this house, it irritates me architecturally !
I have my plans laid, one has to have an answer to the opening gambit of have you found a church yet, sweet God the place still has the ‘Welcome Wagon’. To which the mendacious reply will be- “Oh yes thank you, we are Episcopalian and it is SO irritating that there is not one in the town so we shall continue to to go to St Pauls in Bellingham” Thus the invite to attend with them is spiked. Only a lunatic would announce they are atheist in Lynden! Get you burning crosses and an exorcism in the front yard, well nearly! Certainly social ostracism. Plus I actually do have a Dutch sister in law married to the farming brother so that should ward off the local evil eye! I also already have some good friends in the town through my various clubs so do not anticipate too much trouble integrating, spousal unit couldn’t give a shit anyway and does his urbane ooze if and as required, all the ladies think he is lovely.
Time will tell and we have to buy it first. First house I have liked in a long time.
Boadicea's Chariot 
CO, a Good New Year and best wishes to you, Spousal Unit and the hounds..
Having googled, Lynden sounds very interesting. Home of the first drug-smuggling tunnel from Canada to the US and named after a reference in a poem by a Jock, if Wiki is to be believed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynden,_Washington
Whatever, it sounds a fascinating spot and somewhat akin to the Highland and Island Scotland of my youth when, as they say, we kept the Sabbath (and everything else that we could get our hands on).
I hope that the move goes well.
Looks idyllic, but did you actually take in that bit about ‘no gunfire’?
OZ
Sounds very much like the Orange Free State back in the ’60’s and ’70’s, also founded and run by the Dutch.
This little gem from JM’s link made me smile ‘Lynden has a zoning ordinance against serving liquor in the same establishment where dancing occurs.’
Reminds me of the days when dancing was banned in the Free State on Sundays and a tale of a young couple, the story ends with the girl refusing to have sex other than the missionary position with her man on the Sunday lest it be considered dancing!
Good luck, hope everything falls into place for you.
Good Luck with the selling and purchasing!
I’m not sure that I could manage such a religious environment – although there is much to be said for enjoying the peace and quiet of one’s property.
Trying to find anything here with doors is also a problem. I loathe and detest ‘open-plan’ houses. Especially the recent tendency to build en-suites that are ‘open’ to the bedroom.
JM I’ve never actually read the Wiki site on Lynden, fairly accurate! The tunnel went from a farm North of town, one of many that they are continually digging up, generally spics and the vietcong doing a roaring trade in BC bud!
They most certainly do not live in town.
This house is on the same road as the windmill, no 115 Front Street.
They are right, there are more churches than anything else in Lynden
The town itself has a good tourist web site, it is much visited by Canadians. A lot of Canadians live in the town to get away from the multicultural hell that the Vancouver suburbs have become. Full of chink death stars and the like!
OZ you can own a gun in Lynden and kill people if you like but just not shoot it in the air for nothing raghead style, quite rightly so!
I have never ever known a town with so many byelaws Suits us because they prohibit everything we don’t want to do anyway.
Another thing, idle youth are not allowed to parade up and down the town doing nothing in a state of undress, they are sent home by the police and found something more worthwhile to do with their time.
All in all a very civilized place. The only time you see them in gaggles is the raspberry fair and the NW Fair, fortunately this house is the other end of town from the fairground.
BO absolutely disgusting! Must admit I expect they are here too but I never view new houses don’t like them, too blown together and not enough building so to speak. As you know I don’t do the tar paper shack bit! This place has wet plaster walls still intact not drywalling, much better soundproofing.
Round here it is a choice of religious maniacs or PC liberal lovers of the multiculturalist scene, not much in between, very few towns in the County, three others but they are all working class dives so it is a choice of Bellingham or Lynden.
‘Lesser of two weevils’ if you know what I mean!
Mrs O. I like the look of your intended house. My guess would be that property is taxed on the basis of street frontage and some enterprising Dutchman has made the most of the rules. Good luck with the purchase and the move. I’d be a bit cautious of all those Hollanders, someone once told me that drawn copper wire was invented by two Dutchmen fighting over a penny (or was it Scotsmen?)
Does the city code require you to have a door knocker shaped like a pineapple and a Hex Sign by your mailbox?
Looks delightful, Christina. I hope they accept your offer. 🙂
fingers crossed then
How exciting for you both. You husband has taken more character in this blog! He seems a decent man. I am sure we can’t wait for the stories of your encounters with the ‘church’. Very best wishes on this prospective move.
LW I bet you are right, it is exceptionally low on rates payable only $1600/annum for 3000 sq’. In our current house with 1800SQ ‘ + 5 acres we pay $3500/annum.
Well spotted.
PG I swear he’s human, really!
Sounds like your cup of tea, CO! may your god go with you! 🙂
Good luck with your sale and purchase, Christina. Has the new place got the canine seal of approval?
I’ve got a real problem – I dislike both Religious and PC maniacs equally.
However, I could be tempted to live in Lynden if there are real raspberries grown in the area! In my opinion it is the most magnificent and delicious fruit. But, unfortunately, it is horrendously expensive and, more often than not, rather tasteless here!
It seems ideal, and you are right; very unimpressive at first glance but plenty of space. I don’t blame you for moving. Acreage is something one can cope with to a point, but as one gets older, one’s requirement change. These days, I want a large enough plot to keep a civilised distance between neighbours; more than that is a burden.
I hope it works out.
Good luck with your move, CO. I understand the sentiment having spent some time living on a small farm as well.
A propos the NW character, a company I worked for was purchased bysome bankers from Portland, Oregon. They were without exception the least pre-possessing, right-leaning, arrogant tw*ts I have ever met. I’m sure they were atypical. 🙂