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.