# 553 - Country House Construction in a Rural Setting

May of 2015 for Texas has been odd. Most of all, it rained and rained to the point of waters rising and swirling and sweeping homes and people away, forever. There has much to mourn about this May here in Texas. The rains were coming every day; you stepped through the yard that had become a mud pool as others took a canoe to get across their street.

But, as for us, personally, things have been going well. The best part of this month was the week we kept our grand-daughter Coraline for a straight week. The good thing was...we returned her to her parents unharmed, she still had both her arms and both her legs, proving we can do a bang-up job as caregivers!

Coraline loves being with her Pappy.



Coraline and her Pappy

The week we were wrapping up with our grand-daughter went straight into another week with our niece, Shaye. I was thrilled that she was able to come to our place and to stand in the middle of the dirt field that will soon have a house upon it, and we got a picture of her next to the apple tree that Sgt. Dave planted this past year.

And I have to share how my faithful friend Howdy looks pretty darn cute himself!

Howdy at the lake on our acreage.

Now our home-site is FINALLY cleared enough to take the next few steps needed for us to start building the house. These are truly exciting times.

The future home-site coming together...tree and stump free.

The timber clearing crew got some major help when Sgt. Dave came home with a Stihl chainsaw, an early Father's Day gift. He says that chainsaw cuts through wood as if it were butter and we have LOTS of "butter" on our acreage.

Sgt. Dave helping the clearing crew by playing, I mean, working his
own new chainsaw to take down some big trees.

I think we have learned our lesson with buying tools and such. We no longer wish to spend money on less expensive versions because the better quality tool usually holds up longer and performs exceedingly above expectations. Over the years, that chainsaw will definitely come in handy. But, Sgt. Dave is in Man-Heaven.

A rolling hot fire!

 

The bonfire got smaller and smaller, until it turned into a heap of ash. Either tomorrow or the next day, we are having several loads of fill-dirt delivered to elevate the actual homesite and pad for the detached garage along with the outdoor kitchen zone elevated so we won't have drainage issues. This week, we might actually get to put in the foundation piers and start building an actual HOUSE!

Each step is very exciting to us. The weeks and weeks of rain was a real bummer. Having good weather sure makes all the difference in the world with either moving forward or coming to a dead stand-still and it sure is great for all the people working in the construction industry who NEED their weekly pay and depend on good weather in order to work each day.

This week, I even enjoyed hikes across the acreage by myself. Of course, I had my walking stick, my three dogs, a .38 on my hip and my daughter Stefie on the phone. I was PREPARED for lions, tigers and bears!

Before the entry was widened a couple of feet
on each side. This is actually the second part of
our entry.

After the entrance was widened a bit more. We will do some more
upper limb trimming ourselves.

The above photo shows the drive toward the home-site...the forested area on each side is something we purposefully kept so that our privacy would be a priority. However, we are having about two feet on each side removed so that we can have additional space on each side to drive through the area without scraping vehicles.

This undertaking is not for the faint of heart. Our new construction of this country home is set deep in a rural area and that means we are far removed from the comforts and conveniences that come with a "cookie-cutter" neighborhood where several families are building their own new construction project, near your own. As for us, we're pretty much the only one for miles building a new home out here.

And we have discovered, the hard way, that "rural" means "I am sorry, we don't deliver to your area." I should have figured this would be our situation after we lived without any possible pizza delivery for TWO YEARS --- I can tell you that sacrificing our weekly pizza delivery was a huge initial adjustment to country life in itself. HaHa.

But, I love it. I love every bit of it.

We are getting exactly what we want. We are living a dream.

You know how there are times in your life that you savor? THIS is one of those times for me and my husband. Yes, we all have bad things happen, rough times, suffering and such, but this is one of those moments in time that feels as if it really belongs to us and that we should enjoy it to the fullest.

Sgt. Dave hosing off my rubber boots for me.

My teeny tiny corner of the world feels as if it is changing for the better. And that's a great thing and a good feeling!