Smugglers Cove Whidbey Island

We have had trenches dug.  Permits not needed.  Permits needed.  Road is okay.  Road needs concrete.  Electricity is on our side of the street.  Electricity is not on our side of the street.  We need one conduit line.  We need two conduit lines.  We are having some fun.

Those are newly dug trenches, into which will go telephone, water and electric lines.  The one with the red flag starts at the temporary power pole site and it will eventually go to the road.  The photo with the trees is very near to the road.  Let’s have a round of applause for Ryan, the machine operator extraordinaire!  These photos were taken today around noon and by the end of the day, he anticipated having all the trenching complete and the conduit laid in.

The permit we thought we needed…well, not so much, thanks to a fabulous county employee who had our best interests at heart.  This entire project is an absolute maze of plans, permits, ideas, mud, machines and people.  I assume it is much like herding cats, but they are wonderful cats!

What the heck is that?  Well, that is a lovely septic tank and it’s in place!  That happened this morning.  Hole dug, tank in place: covered for now.

Lately, we have had several meetings of the minds.  And happily, we are all on the same page and raring to go.

Trenches are to be dug and filled with the necessities of a home-building project.  Final plans have been drawn.  Another well has been discovered.  That is a mystery!  Two more trees need to come down, but their root balls will be added to the forest floor for amphibians, small mammals and birds!

We seem to be at a bigger, better starting line.  This particular line has been drawn in the mud.  This particular line has been well thought-out.

Bigger is not the correct verbiage to use.  Better is.  We need to do things smart and efficiently.

Those who say cost is no object are not of our world.  We are rethinking and revamping.  We are mulling over possibilities.  We are also hoping for dryer weather.

Big ideas, small ideas, hopes, dreams.  Are you ready?

We sifted through the barn, the house and the property before we left Black Forest.  We gifted items to friends.  We restocked the thrift store shelves again and again.  We sold a few pieces.  We left a few things and hoped for the best.

Bird-feeders..thank you to my friends for refilling them for weeks and weeks.

A deck with hand-made, raised-bed planters and some potted plants that broke my heart to leave behind.

The Island thrift stores are troves of hidden gems.  There are senior citizen, animal welfare and food bank thrift stores.  Each of them is a mecca of possibilities.  They make me very, very happy.

And now…some of the items are coming back.  New to us.  Unfolding treasures.  Walk away.  Begin anew.  Look through different eyes and ponder the possibilities.

So…what’s happening with the house?  Uh, teensy, slow baby steps.  A few revisions to the plans.  The garage will now be more of a workspace than garage.  Do you park your car in the garage?  We never have and probably never will.

The septic system install might begin next week…fingers and toes crossed.

So what have we been doing?  We joined the 1-1-13 Polar Bear Club at Double Bluff Beach.  It was an awesomely fabulous day.  Cold, but terrific.

We take the dogs for walks on the golf course and on the beach.  We have been watching the birds…especially the eagles.  Spring seems to be in the air, as far as they are concerned.  I used to raise canaries and in February, they were ready to go.  Build that nest and lay those eggs.  Spring is always around the corner on the Island.  It never really goes away.  Plants still grow and flower…yes, flower!  There are camellias that bloom in winter.  Kale is alive and well.

We have tickets to an all-day education fest and to a hilarious-sounding play.  We go the the library on a regular basis.  The library system is wonderful.  We visit the gym and work out.  We peruse the thrift stores for treasure.

We read and watch the groove tube and make stuff and cook and before we know it, the day is done.

And so the New Year is soon upon us.  This will be a year to remember; to cherish and to keep track of!

Propane is expensive.  After refilling the tank last week and seeing that bill, Bella will have to wait for the wood-stove in the new house.  The pictured stupid-stove is off!

We are planning such an energy-efficient home, that having a small wood-stove will be for ambiance and not much else.  It will heat the entire house easily, but we’ll already have heated flooring.

And…we’ll have SIPS.  If you don’t know what SIPS are do a little research or wait to see how they are used in our home.

Patiently (not) awaiting the end of the holiday season so the septic system construction can get started.

Do you remember that movie?  Paul Newman?  Steve McQueen?  I drove down Sunset Boulevard and looked up at the high rise buildings and just groaned.  I love movies!

Well, we had our fire and now it is gone; done and done.  The land has been beautifully leveled and just in the nick of time.  The weather has turned storm and very rainy.  Good timing and totally accidental.

Now we wait for the holidays to pass.  Not a lot gets done during the holidays.  Well, not construction work anyway.

So, we wait and watch the eagles and hawks and herons.  We take the dogs for walks and there are always birds to be seen.  We also fill the bird feeders and watch those little guys.  There are even hummingbirds this time of year…not in Colorado, that’s for sure.  When the sun peeks out, we are out in it.  Grabbing the gold ring…we try.

I think this is when we are supposed to be adding daily messages…because things are really starting to roll.  Unfortunately, we are mentally and physically exhausted when we arrive home and the blog suffers. Look at how much better the house site is!  Ryan, the heavy equipment guru, is an artist with those machines.

Yesterday, we arrived early and got the burn pile going.  It took about a 1/2 an hour to get it hot…then it just got hotter and hotter!  Periodically, Ryan would dump a load of slash on top and that fire kept going all day and all night.  Mark was there all night watching it burn and I’ll go out this morning with coffee and dogs.

This morning, we are supposed to reset the house stakes, but it’s been raining for awhile and I don’t know if it will be too muddy for the bulldozer.

So, the house site and expanding garden/meadow site look phenomenal.  I have to admit it was all a huge mess before Ryan got to it.  This whole deal is getting really, really exciting.