Laying the Blocks For the Basement-December 17

Hurry-Hurry-The Blizzard is coming -Now these blocks are covered in plastic because it has been snowing ever since (today's date Dec. 30)

More Pics From the Digging November 24, 2009

Just in the Nick of Time

We had to leave for Thanksgiving and for the Winter in Key Largo on November 25 and finally on Saturday, November 21, the grader Harold and his 84 year old father brought the heavy equipment over to the lot to start digging !  It was so exciting seeing them use the big dinosaur claw to clear the trees and then, eventually, to dig the basement and driveway.  They worked all day on Saturday and all day on Monday and even got the septic tank in.  Now all we do is rely on photos that the builder sends us.

Septic Permit Tomorrow !

If you are following this blog you must be as frustrated as we are about the lack of activity.  Well, I guess not as frustrated as we are because that is impossible.  Last week we met Alan from the health department and he told us where we could put our septic on the lot we want to build on and eventhough we will need a pump, we were excited that we could finally start the house.  But...the next day Harold, the grader, and Chris, the builder went out there and said that there would not be enough room for the driveway leading to our mudroom which we designed to provide easy access for us to unload our groceries.  the only way we could get it to work way to go back on the underside of the lot which would take away some of our view.  Rick was not happy about this so he called Alan and asked him to please go out there and check the lot again and see if we could get 10 more feet.  Naturally, that held us back a week and a haldf because it rained most of the week.  Saturday he checked it again and said , NO, so we gave up and we are supposed to get our written permit tomorrow.  Our goal noqw is to see the lot cleared and the foundation started before we leave to go  back to Florida November 25.

The good news is that we have been spending our time picking out our kitchen, stone work, granite, windows etc. so we are very excited about the finsihed product.

The weather has been beautiful the last two weekends, 70 in the sun, and we ar praying that it continues.  We are suppossed to get a little rain this week but it doesn't look too ominous.

Next....site plan, signing the contract with the builder, approval from the developer, grading the lot and building permit.  Oh why , oh why couldn't we have found a resale.  Just kidding

Made the Decision to Definitely Go Forward

EEKS !  Scary  A big decision for 2 people with no income or present job .  Much thought and prayer has gone into this decision and we feel like it is the right thing to do.  We met with Chris today out on the lot and he is giving us a good price so we are getting excited.

Tomorrow we have to talk to the health department and find out if the septic permit and well and site plan are ready.  We have to wait for that to begin the grading of the land.  If we don't get started by the first of November Chris says we will have to wait until Spring.  We are going to push to get things going.

The weather has turned to beautiful and cool.  Only the maples have changed to red and most of those leaves have fallen but the goldens have not turned yet.  It is cool sunny and dry-my favorite temps.  Today I collected wild flowers in Fall colors for a home arrangement.

Preliminary Preparations

September 15, 2009-Tomorrow we will meet with the builder we think we are going to use but we are waiting for him to give us a bid. An architect formally drew the plans my husband created and now we are waiting for the builder to tell us how much it will cost. We may literally be starting over at square one. After we visit some relatives in New Jersey, we are coming back to Fleewood and will rent a cabin so that we can watch, and hopefully expedite, the house building endeavor. One other thing we need to get started is the heath and the building department to OK our septic permit and locate our well. We will go there tomorrow and find out what's up with that. In order to build in our community, Eden's Gate, we will need the approval of the developer/architectural review committee.