With all the tumult of our lives this year, my husband and I got this semi-wacky, semi-savvy idea to go buy acreage in central Wisconsin as a personal "retreat" for ourselves. Initially it was a quest for inexpensive, undeveloped, wooded land, perhaps near a creek or pond. That search revealed some properties in our price range that were more "turnkey" - sizeable lots with small homes already built on them, many sold fully furnished.

We stumbled upon a really cool-looking, low maintenaince, charming, and exceptionally "rustic" hand-hewn log cabn. Yes, Log Cabin, as in Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque. As in you'd still feel like you were camping in the woods, log cabin. Alas, we weren't the only ones to discover this little gem in the Wisconsin Woods and we lost a bidding war for it.

But in the grand scheme of things, I'm GLAD we didn't get it. In retrospect I think we rushed into this without evaluating our real needs and wants in our existing home - like the fact that we really need to put some siding on it to keep it from falling to pieces!

We had plans drawn up last year to put on an addition but the bids came  in so high and at this time neither of us want to deal with the prospect of living amidst construction.

Now, if something exceptional and affodable comes on the market in our area of interest, then we may re-visit the idea of a second home but for now I'm going to focus on our little cottage in IL that could use some attention.