Preparations continue

After leveling the hill and removing the oak tree, Steve suggested we move the building slightly to the west and north. This will allow parking in front of the building without blocking the driveway. Good call.






Picture provided by Steve.

Ground breaking.

The site prep has begun.

Click on the shovel to see the progress.
Pictures are provided by Steve.

It has begun

The site has been chosen; the contracts signed; the preparation begun.
This was the chicken coop; to the north (the camera is facing NNW) was the barn. The knoll to the east will be lowered and the new shed built there with its north-west corner near where the north-east corner of the chicken coop is now.

The old house is just to the right, along the woodline; the new house will be a littler further to the east, and up the hill.

Sticker Shock

Did some research on expenses today:

-Electricity-around $25 per month, minimum;

-Phone, Internet, cell phone, and cable come in a variety of packages and prices like everywhere else. The phone company offers all the services. There are other cell businesses around, too.

-Insurance for the building-around $163 per year

Not to bad, but then I got the bid for the site prep for the new building...slightly more than I had budgeted for; twice what I had expected.

It's a good thing that I have an awesome banker at home :-)

My neighbor's new tractor is under warrantee and was fixed without cost. Get this-$50,000, or so spent on a tractor and a $.25 electrical connector (for one of the many safety switches) that was dislodged from normal use, completely disabled the machine!

The order is in.

I signed the order for the machine shed. The first site-prep folks that I talked to will be working in the area in mid May so they want to do mine then, too. The builders, Foltz Buildings, say that they will try to build during the first week that I'm home after school lets out for the summer.

Wouldn't you know it: Of all my years of school experience, both as a student and as a teacher, this is the first time in my memory that the school year has been extended because of snow!

Today, I took down the building that needed to go to make room for the new one-I used my neighbor's new tractor.
New tractors have a lot of safety switches and rules.
A good operator shuts off the tractor before dismounting to clear debris-I'm a good operator.
Did I mention that new tractors have a lot of safety switches. You can't start the tractor if even one lever, or switch, or guard, (or even the operators hat, I believe) is not in the proper position.
Did I also mention that this is my neighbor's new tractor, and she's working, and I must have slept through the safety lecture because my neighbor's new tractor is now sitting amongst a mostly demolished building, and I don't know how to start it. I BROKE MY NEIGHBOR'S NEW TRACTOR! And it was such a nice shade of blue.

Northern Lights

So why do I want to move to the wilds of rural upper midwest?

It could be having breakfast with 'the guys' and saving the receipt for the most kind-hearted man in town. He'll come by, shake hands, chat a bit, then collect the receipts as part of a fund-raising program for his church.

Maybe it's having contractors come out to spend a few minutes surveying the building site so they can prepare a bid, and then spending an hour or so chatting about family, the weather, and anything else that comes to mind: Chatting as if we've all known each other for a lifetime, even though we just met.

Maybe its the wild animals:
-the loons call as they fly overhead
-the deer watching as I drive by
-the pair of geese nesting a hundred yards from my sister's house
-the many white spots on the lakes that turn out to be swans, so I'm told
-a pair of what appears to be endangered whooping cranes living in a beaver pond on the farm. (If they are whooping cranes, the DNR wants to know so they can monitor the bird's increasing numbers).

Maybe it's that I counted all the cars that passed by today...on one hand...and had three fingers left over.

Or maybe it's the Northern Lights! They were out last night. A new requirement has been added to the house location. My first is to have the morning sun come into my bedroom upstairs, and breakfast area downstairs. Now, I will also add an unobstructed view of the northern sky-maybe even run the deck around...

The site (shed)

Where to put the shed? The hill in the pigpen (former pigpen) looks good. Not too much work to get it ready for the building. BUT! Awefully close to the road. Awefully far from the house. And right out the back door is a low swampy area where I could get my equipment stuck everytime I take it out to...um work.

Where the barn was turns out to be a much better place. Higher elevation, good drainage; further from the road and closer, but not too close, to the house. But, I have a four-foot difference in elevation from one corner to the opposite one; and, the saddest part, I will need to remove a big oak tree that I remember being a rather small oak tree back when we were both a bit younger.

Then I remembered our family history. It was about 92 years ago that my grandfather was making the same decisions as I am now-where to put the barn; where to put the house; etc., etc., etc. These thoughts came to me as I was planning on setting up a small living area in the shed where I can stay while I work on the house: Grandpa had set up a living area in the new barn for the family to stay while their house was being build. I hope that I can finish in time...

More to come...