Mine won't even be on the same property--you'll have to drive to get to it.

Nuh-uh. You should get a pony to ride there.

You should get a pony to ride there.

I like the way you think, brenda.

When we were looking for rentals in NoVA, I found a place in Great Falls. The property was large and wooded, and well off a quiet street. The owners lived in the main house, and were renting a tiny little jewel of a cottage tucked away in the woods. You had to cross a stream by a little footbridge to get to it. It only had 2 rooms and a sleeping loft...I jokingly told Robert we'd have to separate, and he could live in the District. Somewhat jokingly.

Mine won't even be on the same property--you'll have to drive to get to it.

Nuh-uh. You should get a pony to ride there.

My grandparents had a big spread of land that they built their house on. it had two houses left on it from previous owners (and assotrted outbuildings, but those were in use as barns and sheds and so forth) - one that was in complete disrepair and we were forbidden from going near it without supervision, so of course it seemed like a wonderful and exciting place to me that I was aching to explore. The other was a small house with a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and an enclosed porch. When my uncle turned 15 he moved into that house. My dad lived in it for a year when he was transferred back to California, my sister and I slept on the porch that summer. My brother lived in it for a while (couple of years, more or less) with what seemed like a huge number of roommates. Maybe 6.

Someday I will have enough land to have a separate little house of some sort. Even if it's just a glorified shed.

My parents have sold about 50 acres (out of 80) since my dad retired. There are new houses being put up on some of the land. It seems wrong to me - I wanna tell them, "You're supposed to grow stuff on this land, not dig it up and build houses!"

My parents' goal for the land they bought in Canada (my generation was getting too big for the existing cabins, and it was easier to just buy more land and build on it than to try and haggle ownership rights of the current properties) is to have one main big cabin and several satellite cabins that are basically just bunkhouses, maybe with little kitchenettes. It's going to be AWESOME.

(I'm also angling for a waterslide from the main cabin down to the lake, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Maybe I'll build one when I inherit.)

It's not even ten o'clock here and I need a nap.

We had what we called a greenhouse (structure with very low walls built against the property-dividing walls, and with metal pipes that came up and over, like oversized croquet hoops all lined up neatly, with planks lying atop them. Inside said greenhouse (probably 6' by 20') was an aquarium with cracked glass, three steps up to a platform by the wall, and flowerbeds. It was all ours. It didn't need to make sense.

We also had what we called an outhouse which was really a big shed (20' x 20'? maybe bigger) where garden stuff went. And where the dog was locked when she was in heat, and when that failed, where she had her litter. There was also a bathroom in it. God forbid the gardener should come inside to pee.

And then there was an attached apartment. The door off our kitchen had a deadbolt, and on the other side was a pantry/small kitchen, laundry room, TV room, bedroom and bathroom. God forbid the helper should live in our house proper.

Grandma developed the land a couple of decades ago. Her house is still there, but the "little houses", as we called them, and barn and everything are gone. It's a small subdivision, now.