LABOR Day Weekend

Labor is definitely the operative word! We sanded and prepped the floors for stain and stained them. My arms feel like they are going to fall off and I can barely walk, BUT the floors look awesome! They are exactly how I envisioned they would be. Jon is going back up this week and will get the polyurethane down. Then we can install the cabinets and get a functioning kitchen upstairs. Oh Happy Day!! Now, for a nap! LOL!

Slowly but surely........

Well, we now have wood floors installed. I actually haven't been able to see them in person yet. Jon's been going up and getting that done. They are all down, they now just need to be stained. We put down pine floors and we are going to stain it a dark espresso color. I can just see it all done.....but really can't wait to ACTUALLY see it. Stay tuned.....

.......and here we are.

So, now we're in the present. We've got a bathroom, yay! Now to get the living space upstairs going. It had been at a stand-still FOREVER! Subfloor, stud walls, open rafters. Um, can you say cold in winter and hot in summer. First, we finished the insulation. That was no biggie. Then we decided to tackle wiring upstairs. Yep, WE were going to do it. And we did. And it worked. We installed all the recessed lighting. That was so awesome! From there we got Rick (our savior up there) to install the wood stove and brought in someone to install the sheetrock on the ceiling. We actually really, really hate sheetrock.........but that's what the budget allowed, so that's what we have. And now that it's up, it's fine. We're actually going to make a grid pattern on the ceiling with wooden slats to try and make it less "sheetrock" like.

About 2 months ago we then took another major step. We decided Jon would leave his job here in Beaufort and getting things finished in NC would be his new job. He's doing great! The majority of the wood plank walls are done upstairs, as well as the wiring. This past weekend the last of the outlets went in and the plumbing for the kitchen got done. Now the planks can go on the last wall. Then........floors!! Stay Tuned......

Time Marches On

So, for quite a while things went on this way. We did a few things here and there, but not a lot of appreciable progress. Then, in the summer of '08, the company I had worked for since 1997, went under. Yep, just like that. The upside is I was hired by another company in my same industry the very same day. The downside....I would now be driving an hour each way to work and would be making 1/3 less in wages. That was a tough pill to swallow, but a 1/3 less is CERTAINLY better than no wages!

Even with that happening, we were able to have a well drilled and get the septic tank installed. WE HAD WATER! And we could now have a REAL toilet! I'm a low maintenance girl and all, but there is something to be said for indoor plumbing. LOL! From there, we finished off the bathroom....sink, tub, etc. Also, the hot water heater......because what's better than just water? HOT water!! Oh yeah!

OK, downstairs is functioning, now, upstairs!

Back on Track

As I mentioned, in the latter part of '05 and the majority of '06, not much happened at the land. We were able to do a few things. We had the driveway graveled, which if you are familiar with NC red clay you know this is a BIG deal! We also had the power run up to the land and had a temporary pole in place. We went up to "visit" our land when we could, but it wasn't very often and it wasn't very productive.

I lost my dad on August 25, 2006. That didn't help much with being motivated to get things done. I didn't know it then, but when I look back now, I know I suffered from depression after his death. I didn't really care about doing much of anything.
Fortunately, I didn't stay in that state for long. With much help from my wonderful husband, I got back on track and WE got back on track. In December of '06 we started construction on the "barn". The barn was to be storage below and living space upstairs. It would be our house until we could build the main house and then it would serve as a guest house. That was the plan. I'll tell you more about that later.

I remember coming up the driveway right after construction started. It was just in the framing stage, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I wept tears of joy, literally, at the first sight of it. We were REALLY doing this. My dad would be so proud!

By February of '07 the building was built. It was completely enclosed but unfinished inside. Why you may ask........well, because the money ran out! We still just had the temporary power pole up and had to run cords and rig lights for lighting inside. There was no plumbing. There was no water. We didn't care! We went up every weekend. We hauled water. We took a camp toilet. We even made an outdoor shower. (Propane burner, big pot to heat water, a 12 V pump to pump the water to a hand held shower head = hot shower! AAAAAAHHHHHH!) We were so happy! We took furniture up that we weren't using at home and made a living space upstairs. Couches, tables, an air mattress for our bed, a grill to cook on. Life was good!

Delusions of Grandeur

Well, here we are. We have our land. Now let's get to work! It's summer in NC (= hot!). So, what sounds like a GREAT idea??? Let's go up and clear land.....with just us and a chainsaw....and tent camp. Yep, that's what we did. Well, that's what we attempted to do! LOL! Don't get me wrong, the camping was great. We just loved being up there knowing that we finally had our place. The clearing of the land.........less than successful. The bright side is neither one of us ended up with heat stroke. Somehow.

So, after several unsatisfactory attempts, we soon figured out that it was going to take more than the equipment we had to get anything done, at least to get it done while we were both still young! To get us going we called in a local guy to clear a small portion of the land and cut in some paths. And then things sort of ground to a halt.

Shortly after we bought the land we had a trip planned to the UK with Jon's mother. After we returned, my dad's health took a turn for the worse. So quite a bit of time went by and nothing happened at the land. We were ok with that.....other things had to be tended to; but areas of land that get cleared don't just stay that way!!

A Little About Us

Before I start telling you about our experiences on the land thusfar, I thought I would tell you a little about us and how we got from there to here.

I was born and raised in SC and have lived in Beaufort since I was 13. Believe me, my hand never had to touch a hoe growing up! LOL! I did grow up hearing all about my great grandma's and grandpa's farm. I loved to hear my mom, aunt, uncles and grandma tell the stories of that time. While they would talk about the hard work and hard times, their was such joy and sense of family in those stories......and in all the old pictures we would have to pull out at every family gathering. It was great. I still love to get out the pictures and look at them all. Maybe from all of that is where my desire to live this lifestyle comes from. I'm not sure.

Jon is from Australia, and it would require a whole new blog to give you the story of how he ended up in Beaufort. :-) Growing up in Australia he and his family lived in rural areas, but he is not from a farming or homesteading background. I think his thoughts on "getting back to basics" is a little less romantic than mine. His is more matter of fact. Depend on yourself, not on others........and your life being full of "things" does not mean you have a full life.

Anyway, we met in 1988 and were just friends for a long time. Well, not that long I guess.........we were married in 1992. We married young (I was 21 and he was 24) and at the time had no big plans for what the future would be for us. In fact, we had no plans at all. We worked hard, but we sure didn't have the 'what do we want to be when we grow up' thing worked out. I don't think it was until around '99 that we really started talking about a place "away" somewhere.

It started with wanting a cabin in the mountains. Well, it didn't take long to figure out that if you've got a cabin on a mountain, then the land is pretty darn steep and could be a bit of a challenge if you want to actually USE the land. So, as time passed, the plan evolved. What the needs would be. What the wants would be. What did we really want to do.

It still took us years, as you've already read, for us to find the land....but it did help to know what we were looking for. So, that's us. Now I'll tell you what we've been up to.