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!