January 2022 Update: We're Building a (real) House!

The fast-moving progress continues this month. Although the summer and fall felt like ages (waiting is hard, right?) now this winter things are chugging along and we couldn't be more thrilled.

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To think that in the beginning of December we had a plot of raw land and in January we have plumbing - what an exciting month! From chainsaws to port-a-pottys, check out what's going on in this neck of the woods.

Next she'll be needing gardening gloves!

Almost a year ago, we listed our beloved town center home for sale. The reason was our daughter. She was not even one year old yet when the 2020 shutdowns began. Once at about 9 months old, she was in her carseat with a binky in her mouth and someone asked if it was a mask. It was a friendly man who didn't mean any harm, but I remember thinking in that moment what a bizarre world this has become. I mean, aren't kids supposed to, I don't know, play outside until dark and eat dirt or something? Okay maybe not eat dirt, haha, but seriously, I wanted her to have the kind of wild and free life I remember as a child. I dreamt of her growing up swinging from trees and taking care of animals and learning to make things with her own hands.

In case anyone needs it, these are the boots my daughter loves. She outgrew the first pair and she's so excited for the next pair in purple!

Mainly, I wanted to teach her to respect nature and take care of it in gratitude for God's beautiful gift. I do believe all this IS possible anywhere you live. Even in the town center neighborhood, we had a little patio garden including herbs, all kinds of peppers, fruit trees, tea plants and more tomatoes than we could eat. As soon as our daughter learned to walk, she used to follow me around watering the plants and teeter over to the cherry tomatoes to eat right off the vine. And we could have done more. We could have gotten a pet. We could have made friends with folks in the equestrian area 40 mins away and maybe our daughter could have ridden horses there. We could have added more potted plants to our patio. I don't think anyone NEEDS to move to be content, and we could have remained perfectly happy where we were. However, we preferred to make a lifestyle change and so we did.

There have been many moments where we just hope we did the right thing. Let's be honest, we gave up a lovely house in a nice neighborhood and now we're in a rental in a different town for an uncertain period of time just hoping the house I first drew on a piece of sheet paper turns out. Hmmn, when I write it all down... what was our brilliant plan, again? Haha. Also, although our construction plans were done in June, due to permits and ordering supplies and Covid delays, the (visible) work didn't begin til mid-December, and it all started to feel hypothetical for awhile. So, when I look at the picture above and see that big smile on my little one's face and watch her embrace the rural lifestyle with gusto, it makes this mama's heart very happy.

Things are moving right along!

Now we've reached that thrilling point in construction where every week there is something new to see. This is really an exciting time. After months of waiting for everything to line up including permits, design, and construction availability, suddenly there is fast-moving progress! Everything feels so real.

These clay piles came in handy later.

END OF DECEMBER UPDATE: Right after posting our December update, in the last few days of the month more progress happened! After Rene (Taylor's Tree Service) finished clearing the lot, he was nice enough to notice clay on the land and dig up two piles of it for construction's future use. This was much appreciated, as the clearing in was all sugar sand and not safe for regular vehicles to drive on. The construction planner had mentioned we may have to purchase clay costing hundreds of dollars per load to remedy this.

Now we can drive on our driveway, yay!

Since Rene piled up clay already on the land, when the site prep guy showed up the next week, he used the existing clay to cover the driveway and also to level out the homesite. We didn't end up having to bring in any additional materials. And now we can easily drive our 2WD the whole way up the driveway. Yay!

Also at the end of last month, another surveyor came out and placed new stakes for the exact placement of our home. It's starting to feel real!

One of the holes from the compaction test.

JANUARY: This month, the footers have been dug, everything marked exactly, and the plumbers came out to lay plumbing prior to the foundation being poured. We also need electric to be run before they can lay the foundation.

Above is a photo of a sample taken for a "compaction test" which was required before building could progress. Who knew all this is needed! I certainly didn't know, having only built homes in planned neighborhoods before where we never even saw any of these stages take place. Fascinating!

The plumbers dug these trenches by hand over the course of a few days.

It was pretty fascinating to watch the plumbers work. Honestly it was a lot more hard work than I previously knew. They dug trenches by hand about 3 ft deep all through the house then laid all the pipes. Two men worked for two days on this.

The house is done! Just kidding. :)

In other news, the port-a-potty was delivered to the edge of the property and later moved near the driveway. Its first location was right behind our "future home" sign which gave me no shortage of laughs. When I first saw it, I immediately said to my husband, "The house is done!" Haha jokes...

It's really happening!

Also, a permit box has been placed for the benefit of inspectors, I assume. It all seems very official now! Every step is exciting for us as we watch what was previously a thick jungle we could barely navigate into our soon-to-be family home. A dumpster was also delivered, and the construction guys built themselves a little makeshift bench in front of the house too, which I thought was clever.

It's private property.

One day we were driving in and a whole other family was driving out. I'm sure they were just looky-loos, no harm done. But naturally it's a bit unnerving when you drive up to your property and realize other people were basically hanging out in your yard. After that, David placed a chain with privacy signs across the driveway. Since then, we haven't seen anyone else except contractors.

Our little lumberjack.

Speaking of the driveway, we did some of our own clearing by hand over the course of the past few weeks. David used a chainsaw and an ax, I used branch loppers and a hand saw, and we both hurt ourselves and reminded ourselves of our age. We cleared about 15-20 feet on each side of the driveway so that in the future we can plant flowering trees lining the driveway.

David puts out the flames.

The pile from clearing such thick brush is really remarkable. We spent at least 5 days burning it just to clean as we go. The picture above shows the very end of one of the burns. I should have taken a photo of the pile before we burned it. It was so large and hot we couldn't get too close. In the future, I'd like to use a wood chipper to repurpose the brush as homemade mulch. We also saved the larger trunks to cut up later for firewood.

(Note: Don't worry, we don't take our daughter with us on days we're burning brush, in case anyone is wondering.)

What's the old Latin saying? When the chainsaw fails, take to the ax...

A Five Hour Tour: We've had our share of challenges and are certainly learning on the job. David's chainsaw has gotten pinched in several trees. One time it got stuck in the tree pictured above, a big one that fell blocking the driveway. While our small SUV fit, we were concerned that the construction trucks may not have been able to get past and we didn't want to hold up progress. Not knowing when the next contractor may arrive to the job site, we didn't want to leave the site unattended in this state. We eventually got his chainsaw out but it was broken. David then had to chop up the tree the old fashioned way. At this point, his ax got dull and we didn't have a file with us. I went to Arby's to get us some snacks while David stayed behind.

Curly fries help everything, and eventually we got the driveway clear as well as saving the trunk for future firewood. In total we were stuck there working for about 5 hours on a day we only intended to be there for a short time. Exhausted and dirty, we finally came home, everything was sore, and we hadn't gotten anything else done that day. But that's how it goes sometimes, and there is something particularly satisfying about working with your hands. We certainly felt we earned our supper that night.

The rebar and plastic are done, just waiting on concrete now!

The other day when we drove past, we saw the rebar and plastic wrap has bs done. They're flying along at this point prepping for a foundation. Almost every visit we see something new. We can't wait for each next step closer and closer to being able to live here!

My favorite view.

There is something so peaceful about being outside out of view of any man-made structure, just us and the trees. If we had stayed in our old neighborhood, we planned to start taking camping trips like I did growing up. If you're like us and you want a bit of a return to nature scenario for your family, or maybe just for yourself, there are lots of ways to connect that are more accessible than literally moving into the woods. Campgrounds, state parks, petting zoos, nurseries, and even small family farms that allow visitors or volunteers can be great options to get a little bit "farm-ish." In fact, we are currently considering camping out on our land some night. What a fun memory that would be! Correction: It would definitely be memorable. I suppose that "fun" part is up to the bugs.

I don't have this tent (yet) but I think I love it! It's on my Amazon saved list to give a try this winter.

As of the day I'm writing this post (it will publish overnight), David did the walk-through with the construction manager to okay the site for pouring concrete. By the time February rolls around, he says we will have a foundation. Suffice it to say, we're already excited for next month's update! Thanks for reading as always, and if you have any comments, please feel free to leave them on this page or my Facebook or Instagram posts. Talk with you soon!

With Love,

Molly

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