The results of our trip

Sorry its taken so long to get this up. Most of us were sick the week following and I completely blame it on crappy fast car food and a kinda yucky hotel.

We'll definately be getting a Cook shed for the land. We're going with the 12x32' model with two 10 x 12' loft sections which will be the kids bedrooms since there is quite limited head space up there. I also got a call that they're reducing the normally $300 security deposit (which just sits there until you give it back or pay for it) by half over the next 3 days so looks like we'll be putting the dsposit down soon! The only question is when to get it delivered. I love my land, I want to go up but I do not want to deal with six to eight hours of car riding plus waiting around for the delivery trucks with five kids in tow.

I've had about as much travelling as I can take right now. I want to be home. Though it'll take ten to fourteen business days to get it delivered which is plenty of time for me to get used to the idea of going back.

It was raining when we were there and a good bit of the property is basically a swamp. Which consisitently puts THIS in my head. This has had us change the placement of the buildings now being closer to the Southeast corner of the property rather than due East by the treeline.

We'll get the 8x40' metal shipping container delivered on the same day which will at least limit the number of times we have to go up. We're researching various off grid living methods for the shed, which I want to call a cabin and Rob insists is a shed so we'll just call it a shabin and be done with it.

Here's a sample of one of the issues. We need some sort of energy. We can't get electric without the building plans being on the books (which costs permit money and we're not ready to do yet), we can't get electric to the shed without a billing address and we can't get an address for a shed. So we're researching generators and propane. Another issue is human waste disposal. And yet another is water: comsumption, aquisition and disposal.

One thing about doing things off the norm is that nothing is ready made. Every issue in the shabin, and eventually the house and barn and workshops and garage, will need to be addressed separately. Not just "lets deal with the water, then electricity" seperately either. No, more like, how will we power the fridge? propane? electric? how will we get water to this specific sink? What will we do with the water from said sink? Do we want a composting toilet or septic?

It's seriously complex but in the end will be well worth it, I believe.

Though in the interum, while we're trying to figure out all these things, it's a bit more than a little daunting.

A Few Photos

Where the mower cut a swath in the brush.

Pretty yellow flowers on a pretty red tree.

Another of these red leaved trees. (what are they?)

Watching the grasses get cut.

Me on my land.

I need help figuing out how to merge this blog with my original blog Solidity of Rainbows. I'm not sure how to do it and not have to pay for hosting and all those other fabulous things. I'll have more updates on our trip up to the land soon but if you know or have ideas on how this might be done. Please let me know!

All Set

The mower guy has been scheduled for Sunday. The hotel for Saturday night has been booked. We have directions to the shed place and a vet appointment scheduled for Leeloo who has reservations at the kennel. Tomorrow I pack up a nights worth of stuff for seven people which is far more than you'd ever expect and bright and early Saturday we'll be all set.

New ideas

We have had zero luck trying to find something to camp in for our stays  up on the land. With our lack of luck in that department we'd better get a surplus somewhere else. But until then we've thought up a new idea that just might work.

Our county doesn't require permits for ANY premade (meaning delivered fully assembled) structure. No plans to submit, no permit fees, no inspections. Even if later on we want to add electric, water and septic to it we just have to go through those departments. Where they have a no-permit limit on structures we build ourselves, the largest being 8'x10', these are good to go. Hmmmm... The largest prebuilt shed we can get is 12' by 32' with a loft.

It is completely discouraging to look for mobile home structures like RV's, 5th wheels, campers, small mobile homes. People just want too much for things that are almost as old as I am, and needs repairs, refinishing or some sort of work. They are averaging three to six thousand -for the ones we could afford. Even for a twenty year old bus the price is up in that range. We have limited funds so forking out that many grands and still needing to pour more money into it is frustrating to say the least.

Again, the sheds might be an option. They have free delivery, no to little deposit and low monthly payments with no bank financing. Even the largest unit's monthly payment is reasonable. Not having to shell out so much initially makes fixing up a shed to be livable easier. In three years (assuming we don't pay it off early, or pay extra monthly) it would be ours. Plus working on the shed is good practice for building a house. 12'x32' is a good size for a studio for me or a school house or converting to a small barn or even just using it for a shed. We have to have somewhere to stay after our three hour drive up, hotel stays can add up fast and we have a dog now too that we'd either have to kennel or get a pet sitter.

Speaking of pet sitters, we've been toying with the notion of finally getting chicks. I'm just about desperate for them and have to really stop myself from picking them up (and bringing them home) when I visit the feed store. I see the possibilty with them, the materialization of our dream and hope that we can do this. That we are doing it. Leaving them to go up to the land to build is something that we have to recognize and find a solution to.

But then again, we're nothing if not solution finders.

Dayle, you're a winner

We have a farm name:

Heartsong Farm

has won our hearts thanks to Dayle over at Hidden Creek Farm.

Dayle, email your address over to uumom2many@yahoo.com and I'll send you a little something in thanks. You've made our day.

Farm Name

We've been searching for a name for our Farm. We've been told that when the right name comes we'll know it. Problem is I have an idea...he has an idea...and we've not met in the middle yet.

So, here's a task for anyone that stumbles upon this blog...Give us a suggestion in the comments. If you read my sister blog Solidity of Rainbows it might give you an idea as to what we're all about. I'm leaning away from anything cutsie or silly, though I do get laugh over some of the creativity out there.

If you don't read that blog here's a recap of what we're up to.

We want goats, chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, wool rabbits, dogs, cats and a milk cow at least. We love music, we eat meat, we have 5 kids, we homeschool. We want to be self-sustained as far as we can go. We're trying to build our house debt free with our own sweat and muscle. We're Unitarian Universalists. I love crafting with just about any medium. Rob loves technology, wants to learn to weld and likes working on our cars. We love books.

I can't think of anything else to sum us up more than that without rolling out another blog post. So there you have it, have us. I'll be waiting for suggestions with baited breath.

The Obsessions Spreading

I've been working on the floorplan for the new house...a lot. Alex -whose 7- has been asking me if he can play in Visio and make his own house plans. Since I can't fing the program and the only one is on my pc I've been putting the poor kid off. So he took matters into his own hands.

I think we've got something here. Though he does seem to have a few too many hallways. We'll have to teach him about small footprints and utilizing space next.

As soon as I have our plan cemented a little more I'll post screen shots of it. We're basically going with the plan for the 20x34' Universal as is with a few modifications, we're dropping the bathrooms down to 1 large one and creating a regular staircase to the attic which will help us utilize that space for either storage or later refinish for additional rooms when the kids become teens. A few other smaller modifications and that's the new house.