Our House
It has begun!
What was a rutted track is now a graveled lane way; the place that was previously used to dump old cars, batteries and oil cans is now the excavation site for our new house. All around us the site is transforming, in just a few short hours it went from a dream to a reality.
Of course the boys are thoroughly enjoying the large piles of mud and big machines lying around the place…
Yes even the biggest boy can’t resist the lure of a large pile of mud. What I’m more interested in is the view from my kitchen…
This is what I’ll be looking at each day as I bake, chop, pickle, can, boil, roast, proof and generally hang around in my kitchen. Our house is facing SW to allow for maximum sun exposure in the winter and the ground floor will be glazed from floor to ceiling (that’s 10ft high) allowing us to feel that the outside is part of the inside. Even when our work or the weather takes us inside the house we only have to glance up to see the beauty of our land just beyond our windows. I really can’t wait to be looking at it everyday.
We do have one issue to resolve this week before the site is pinned and the forms go in ready for the concrete. We need to convince our grading engineers to move the septic down the hill to accommodate the lower foundation height it has been necessary to dig. Stephen talks about it in a bit more detail here if you are interested in more info. For now I’m trying to go with it and accept that we will have to work with whatever solution is decided upon, we just have to cross our fingers for the cheapest version to be the winner.
But it is hard to be too gloomy when we have such nice near neighbours…
They are a quiet bunch but such good company.
Last night Stephen and I drove out to our land, we stood together in the darkness watching fire flies flickering all around us. We smelled that heavenly smell of warmed earth and green hanging like perfume in the air, a sweet smell that tells us the summer has come and that we are at home. Eventually our romantic reverie was vanquished by the mosquito overlords but to know that soon, very soon, this will be our home is really helping us persevere through the trials of now and the ones we know are coming. To finally realise our dream of living under an open sky, surrounded by green.
8 thoughts on “Our House”
Can’t wait to see it! Congrats!
Yay! Soon you will be sitting with me in my new living room having a cup of tea and some quiche. You will be bringing the quiche, just so you know.
A dream we have pursued too. I know the reverie moments face to face with a future that’s coming into shape, the wish for a life surrounded by green land that’s going to be fulfilled. And the pile of mud…what a fun place for boys large and small (I like it too I must say) 😉
It is great… Keep enjoying Emma!
Valerie, you put it better than I ever could! I have to admit I’m struggling to enjoy the process, I’m so keen on the end result! But we will get there, soooooooon!
I am so excited for you! I have a huge 5 foot by 6 foot window above my kitchen sink. I never knew what a difference it could make – to be able to look outside while playing in the kitchen! Just heaven. But, our urban view is tiny. Very tiny. But, I can watch my son play in a fairly well-contained space. And we even made a little garden with digging area for him. There’s a shaded patio as well. Birds visit. Hummingbirds and bees buzz. Squirrels scamper and chatter. And our cat can sun herself there. We would love to be in your shoes – on 95 acres with the house of our dreams (which, my 4 1/2 year old plans to build himself with his Dad’s help ;-). But, for now we’ll enjoy watching yours unfold and waiting patiently in our concrete field 🙂
Rain, that all sounds so lovely! Certainly nicer than our current rental house! We see the odd squirrel but we are also plagued by ants right now, somehow it seems worse when it isn’t our own home. This dream of ours has been a long time coming and taking shape, we’ve moved continents, had 5 houses in 5 years and are building our 6th! Honestly it’s exhausting but so worth it to get to were we are going to be. The opportunities for change come from unexpected angles, we are learning to jump on them as they arise, but spontaneity isn’t always easy with 2 boys, a dog and cat tagging along. This time we are putting down some serious roots and not moving for quite a while!
Oh my gosh – this is so exciting! What a view. What a dream!
(Also, I’ve never seen real, live fireflies. It’s on my to-do-before-I-die list.)
Fire flies are super coooool! They are ugly as anything during the day but at night they really are very special. When we have a house you are welcome to come and look at ours any time : )