Exciting News...Exciting News...Exciting News...

We have finally decided that lack of debt was making our lives miserable and that the only way to be happy was to go a quarter of a million dollars into the red. Of course, we're getting a new house out of the deal, but it's the debt that's important, isn't it?

But seriously, folks...the double-wide we have all come to know and love over the past twenty years has reached the point where it will no longer sustain Linda and I as a primary residence. It would cost more to have the old place refurbished than we could get as a loan to do the work, and what with the cost of purchasing a new mobile home being very close to the cost of having something built, we went with building.

Here is what we're starting with:
http://www.ubh.com/choose/homes/savannah.php

We adapted this to our needs and we're looking forward to being able to move in about the middle to end of July of this year.

Gone is the front fence and all the cedar trees that were there. Gone also are most of the persimmon trees that had been in the front yard. The garden area has been scraped and waits for me to get the tiller serviced and start working the new garden. The half-acre on the other side of where the front fence had been is now a huge mud slick due to the site preparation work and there is a trench that runs from the well down the driveway and out into the field. We now have a moat! At least, it seems that way.

We have been taking digital photos since the day we signed the contract and I'll be creating a website that has these photos as soon as I find someplace that will give me the space I need for them. By the end of summer the old homestead will look mostly different, and we're really excited about that.

Now, as far as the existing structure, we are going to divide it into two sections: An apartment and a workshop. We will go in and put up a wall with a door that goes across the area where we now have the wood stove and what was the little bedrooms and den will become an open-space workshop, while the other end, the end with the living room (office), the kitchen, and master suite will become the apartment. We'll be doing basic repairs as we get time and resources but that apartment will be kept ready for anyone who needs it for a visit or an "extended visit."

As of today, we're not sure what the construction schedule is. The builders tell us that the average completion time is 90-110 days after they start cutting up wood and nailing things together. But they have to show up first, and for that to happen it has to dry out enough so they can dig and pour the footing for the house.

Oops...students at the door...much like barbarians at the gate. More Later.