Progress Report #18

As you can see, we've updated our heading photo. We took this photo on Saturday, January 24, while we were meeting with our third excavator. Our first bid was higher than we were hoping, so we got a second bid. Unbelievably, the second estimate was almost TWICE the amount of the first. I know heavy equipment is expensive to transport and operate, but, really, $30,000 just for excavation? Thankfully, our friend, Joe, thought of a local man who had some equipment and who might be interested in doing the work for us. Hubby contacted him, and we met with him last Saturday. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that he is very interested in doing the work for us, and he promised to beat our previous estimates. He actually has a source of free shale that we'll use for the first layer of our driveway, and that fact alone should save us thousands of dollars. Quite a blessing...and yet another benefit of our patience in waiting these additional months. We are anxiously awaiting his bid.

Also, our builder's father passed away last week, so he has family matters to attend to. He is getting us new prices on building materials, since we cut the additional square footage we originally added to the plans. We hope to have his bid within another week.

Still looking at windows...again, there are so many choices...and the ones I would purchase "if $$$ were no object" just are not fitting into the budget. As long as the windows tilt-in to clean, I'll be happy. Otherwise, I don't know how I'd clean those windows on the third floor?

Our supplies for the radiant heating are also coming in high. (See a pattern here?) We will probably use our present estimate for the bank's purposes, but see if we can source the materials ourselves, probably on the internet.

So...just a few more numbers to confirm, then "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the bank we go!" Hoping interest rates stay low for a bit longer, we can qualify for a bit more $$ that way, and keep our payments within our target range.

Back to the new heading photo, you can see a lot of the wood that is down from the previous owner's timbering...we hope to clean up this lower part of the land as one of our first projects. I don't like the way it looks in the winter, and in the summer when everything is grown up, it's hard to walk through there because you can't see what you're walking on. I plan on keeping it as natural as possible, but clearing it out enough to walk through and enjoy. There is a wonderful area at the bottom of the land that is flat, with several small streams running through (the area where we put the culverts last fall). I want to clean it out (it's loaded with jewelweed in the summer), and possibly make a small pond for fish. That won't happen until 2010 at the earliest, I imagine. Oh, the possibilities!!! I'm giddy just thinking about it all!

The photo below is taken from our neighbors' property looking across to ours. We had to park at their home Saturday, because our driveway had not been plowed (because we don't live there, yet), and they were very gracious to allow us to park there. Luckily, they were also spreading ashes on Wills Hollow so their daughter could leave, or else we would've been stuck there until the spring thaw. There is a lot of ice there, several inches thick, probably, so that will be a consideration next winter. As long as we have material to spread on the road I think we'll be fine.

You can see a trailer in the right foreground. This trailer was the object of a lot of our activity and hard work from October to December. Yes, it is crooked. No, my husband has assured me, it will not fall over. I pray he's right.
On a personal note, hubby had his hernia repair on January 13th. He had a rough couple of days post-op, but went back to work this past Monday, and is getting around "almost" good as new. Our good friend, Bob, is giving him a ride to work, as he is not supposed to drive for 6 weeks! Thanks, Bob!

Stay tuned,
Kris

Something Beautiful...

going on over here.

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #17

Thought it was time to pop in here and post an update. Although it seems like this project has come to a screeching halt, we have been hard at work "behind the scenes," as you could say. The project that took the bulk of our time since I last posted was the moving of a lot of our belongings into a less expensive storage facility. At least we THOUGHT it was going to be less expensive. The plan was to consolidate our three previously rented storage "rooms" (I never know what to call them?) into one larger facility, which would cut our rental fees in half. Because we decided to wait until spring to build, saving that much money looked appealing...appealing enough to actually move all our stuff - AGAIN!

Despite gut-wrenching dread, we began. Weekends were spent loading and unloading the truck...stacking boxes...restacking boxes that had fallen over...rearranging things to utilize every possible inch of storage...only to come to the realization that IT WOULD NOT ALL FIT!!! ACK!!!

It's times like these that in order to maintain sanity, one must just LAUGH. Because we were able to empty one of our original rental spaces, our monthly fees remain the same. But, we incurred fees to "initiate" the new storage (privacy prohibits me from explaining any better), and we did all that work for NOTHING!

It reminds me of a favorite quote:
"There is nothing that I may decently hope for that I cannot reach by patience as well as anxiety." -Wendell Berry
Perhaps, patience would've proven to truly be a virtue in this matter, instead of worrying and fretting about lost money. We have now lost both time AND money.

Because we spent time in the fall re-moving our belongings, we didn't spend the time we should've spent cutting the last of the trees that we need to before construction begins. That will be a job for early spring.

As we've had time to re-evaluate things, we've returned to our original plan of heating our home with primarily radiant floor hydronic heat, using an outdoor wood furnace, instead of solar. I recently heard that 1 acre of mature forest will produce 1 cord of firewood per year with no net loss of wood. With our 11 acres, and considering the wood that is already down from previous timberings, I don't think we'll ever run short. Solar is cost-prohibitive and not as reliable as wood.

And we are finalizing our plans with the builder and getting fresh estimates for labor and supplies. We have also made another change...scaling down the house to the original blueprint size. Originally we had wanted to add 4 feet to each end of the north- and south-facing sides to increase the total square footage by about 400. Our excavating estimate came in a lot higher than we first thought, so we needed to cut somewhere. If we don't see a large decrease in cost from the first estimate with the extra 400 sq ft, perhaps we'll keep it. I hate to loose that much space...but, it's all about the money, folks!

It's funny how our perspective has changed throughout this whole process. We began with a list of things we really wanted. Then, prioritized those things. Cut some of them out completely. I still have my list of 3 non-negotiables: walk-in kitchen pantry; fireplace; wide windowsills. Hubby wants a jacuzzi tub. No granite countertops, no central air, no pot-filler over the stove. (For $900, I can carry water 6 feet in a pitcher, thank you!) And we DID splurge on the most awesome front door...saw it at Home Depot, then found it on Ebay for half the price. The kids thought it was cool, Hubby and I thought it was cool...I have never, ever been to a home that had a door like that. It is unconventional. I have seen similar ones in "The Princess Bride" or "Lord of the Rings" to give you a clue. You'll just have to see it for yourselves...someday.

Living without 90% of our belongings for almost 6 months, with probably 6 more months to go hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. It is an odd feeling, having all our stuff in boxes... like a part of you is missing, in a way. I can imagine unpacking it all will seem a bit overwhelming. God has given us a peace about waiting and we know it is only for a season. But, we do long for a home of our own. The boys want to run around and explore. J-Bird and his best friend want to build a fort. I-Bird and T-Bird are fascinated by the creatures that live there. I can't wait to plant flowers. And start a garden. And have chickens. And enjoy the peace and quiet. And sit on the deck and watch sunsets. And go for walks. And build a firepit. And host cookouts. And grow old there with my man. So many dreams...

As a Christian, I should understand longing. Longing for Heaven, longing for completion, longing for a pure relationship with God that will not be marred by sin. I'm ashamed to admit that I've had a hard time grasping it. We long for so little in this country. We have a gross abundance of everything...longing for ANYthing is uncommon. Our present situation has helped me begin to understand what this longing should feel like. We are comfortable here, at my mom's house, my childhood home. Our needs, and most of our wants are amply supplied. But, it is not OUR home. Our stay here is a temporary one. One day we will move on...to a new life, a new future, a new home. I have vivid pictures in my mind of what that life will be like. I LONG for that life. As a Christian, this EARTH is not my home. My stay here is a temporary one. One day I will move on...to a new life, a new future, a new ETERNAL home. I have vivid pictures in my mind of what that life will be like...even so, it will be infinitely more. I LONG for THAT life. Do you?

Stay tuned,
Kris