Update - 1 year

It has been about a year since we officially received our occupancy permit.   So what have we been up to?

• Chris started a job at Software AG - Government Solutions.
• Julie started a job as a substitute teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools.
• Relaxing by the fire pit.
• Clearing the nature trails.
• Trying to drop a tree by shooting it.
• Trying out goats for eating weeds and vines.
• Gardening.
• Vacationing in Tennessee.
• Relaxing on the porch.
• Scouting.
• Landscaping.

Oh yeah,  and we started a business.  www.watermarkwoods.com  The first native plant, pesticide free nursery in Loudoun County.

The End

I almost have a tear in my eye to write this post....Almost.  Mostly I am doing a dance of Joy. 

Yesterday 11-12-13 we received our occupancy permit.  We are just two weeks shy of the 4 year anniversary of beginning this project.

The house is finished.  We can officially live here, pay taxes, use the septic system, drink the water and all the other privileges that come along with officially occupying a home.

Reflecting on the project,  I can't really say whether or not we would do it again.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.  Not just a lot of work but A LOT OF WORK!  We all made sacrifices but we all learned a lot and have made some really great memories and new friends. 

Chris and I were looking at old photos of the house and property and it is truly astounding what we accomplished.  I am not sure what made us think we could tackle this project,  maybe we were a little bit crazy, but we did it! We are so happy with our choice. We do not miss an opportunity to tell each other how much we like this land, or the house, or a tree, or the chickens, or how that tile work came out, or how wonderful the trim looks, or what great paint color choices we made, or how cool that the 4 of us made this all happen. 

Today Jackson asked when are we going to begin working on finishing the basement?  Well,  I guess that means the kids enjoyed the building process, if they want to start another project.  We have lots of projects planned for the future.  They may possibly include:

• Finishing the basement
• Trails throughout the woods
• Greenhouse
• Wood burning stove
• Shooting range
• Picnic area in the woods
• Campsite in the woods
• Clearing vines
• A swimming pool
• A sauna

As we take a break from projects we will also take a break from this blog.  I am not sure who said it but I read a quote once 'There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story.' As we all know, life carries on after the story ends. So we will end this story and prepare for the next one.

Thanks to everyone who helped us, everyone who stopped by to lift a hand or lend advice, everyone who said motivating words, everyone who sent encouraging thoughts and prayers.  WE DID IT!!!!

Fall

With an unlimited supply of wood, 
we have some big fires!

Autumn is in full swing here.  The trees are mesmerizing and the cooler temps are perfect for sitting by the fire.  We don't have an inside wood burner yet,  but most weekends in September and October, we were able to use the new fire pit.  We have also been able to do some entertaining.  Friends have been over to share in the glow of the fire pit or the occasional fire works display.  We even had our realtor out who helped us buy the property.  She said she would never believe it was the same property had it not been for the one pile of cylinders we saved. LOL



We "decorated" the pit with some
of the cooler rocks from the yard.


September was a big month for us.  We finally got cable TV and unlimited internet!  What a relief as we were on metered internet and the internet bill was more than all of our other bills combined.  Getting cable and internet was a big day of celebration for us.


The biggest news for October is the event of our first mowing of the new grass.  The place looks so much more finished with grass.  We ended up using almost 300 pounds of Kentucky Blue seed.  We watered for 3 weeks before we got some much needed rain,  but once the rains came the grass really took off.

Grass!

 I have published these photos below before,  but I think they are worth posting again.  This is a tree we rescued from vines.  It looks so nice now.  I am glad I didn't let Chris have his way and cut it down!




Vine covered tree

After vine removal


 

Three years later.

Chris has finished up all the trim in the house. The to do list is dwindling down to nothing.  We had our new property plat created and the surveyors were shocked at the changes since their first adventure here. We hope to apply for occupancy before Thanksgiving.  It would be exactly 4 years since we bought the property on Thanksgiving of 2009.



Sensational Summer

Completed Shade garden.  Notice the steps on the right...they are from the trailer but make a nice plant nursery.

View from the south, 
Lots of seed and straw.

Yes,  it has been a while since the last post.  We have been busy trying to squeeze some fun out of the last days of summer.  We went to Monticello and Hershey Park,   two really fun trips! The weather here in Northern Virginia has been spectacular.  Even on the hottest days, the cement porch stays nice and cool.  We continue to spend time every day outside on the porch.  Julie had jury duty in Alexandria, which put a bit of a wrinkle in our progress,  but she was able to paint in the evenings so that Chris had plenty of trim to keep him busy during the day. 



A view of where the trailer once stood,
just past the new cryptomeria tree.

Ron moved the trailer for us.  It is only moved to a different part of the yard,  because, unfortunately it still needs a new owner.  He also finished up the grading and only has the circle driveway yet to tackle.  That left us with lots and lots of grass needing to be planted.  One Saturday we planted 175 pounds of K31 seed and 25 bales of straw.  We have one small area yet to seed,  but most of the yard is now yellow and soon to be green.  Let the watering begin!

Front of the house. 
The landscaping is still in it's infancy, 
but at least we have some shrubs and mulch.

We finished up the shade garden and it is so lovely.  The fern area is planted and we have several other areas with only a few plants.  Luckily Julie has a couple of plant swaps coming up and hopefully can score some cool flora!

With school starting we have more time for projects so Julie has started on a terrace garden on the back side of the porch.  Lots of digging and moving cylinders,  but we have high hopes. 


A nice view of the door trim,  but really the highlight of this photo is the new china hutch we bought from some kid out of his garage.

Gotta run,  time to move the sprinklers.





Living the Good Life

The shade garden, a work in progress

With the exterior of the house complete,  we only have trim to finish on the inside and excavating on the outside.  We decided to focus on some landscaping.  I have a ton of plants free from other master gardeners, plant swaps and MG college.  I even have a few we paid for.  It is time to get them in the ground.

We started working on a shade garden since the sunny area of the house still needs some excavating.  we put in a pathway and used up the last of the boy scout mulch.  We got quite a bit done,  but had to stop until we get the trailer sold and out of the way.  Know anyone who might be interested in at 40ft park RV?


This photo will be so much better when we recreate it with landscaping instead of a dirt pile!

We had some friends over for a marshmallow roast and it turned out to be a fabulous evening.  the weather was perfect and no bugs.  Chris made these log candles with the chainsaw and they burned for hours.  The turned out to be the perfect marshmallow roasters and gave out a ton of heat.  We will certainly be making more of these in the future.  It has been so nice to take a break from working on the house and enjoy the porch and yard. Hopefully we will not settle in and forget we still have work to do.



Cooper perfecting his roasting

Allelulia

The siding is finally finished!   I think Chris may have almost died of heat stroke a time or two,  but he finished and it looks amazing.  This means the exterior of the house is complete!  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Chris putting some finishing touches on the garage
gable.  Yes,  our insurance is up to date!

If slow and steady really does win the race we should be coming into a huge prize very soon.  Chris has been plugging away at siding every day for two weeks now.  He is getting very close to finishing and hopes to have the exterior all buttoned up by the weekend. 

We lost another 6 chickens,  all babies, last week.  We think they didn't get into the coop before the door closed and a night predator got them.  So sad,  but the chicken that looks like a bald eagle survived.  We are only getting 6-8 eggs a day, so the extra layers would have been nice.  Hopefully the newbies will begin laying soon.

The garden is coming along nicely.  It is a bit weedy and we are trying to keep up between vacations,  but they seem to need to keep up with the phrase 'growing like a weed'.  We have several baseball sized cantaloupe and lots of golf ball sized watermelons.  We are getting a few tomatoes however small they are still yummy.  We can't wait for the 'mortgage lifters' to ripen.  A few peppers are coming in and I think I should be harvesting carrots,  but am not sure so I keep holding off.

We picked a ton of raspberries from the forest and made a beautiful pavlova.  It was so tasty,  I would have included a photo,  but it didn't last long enough for the camera.

We are enjoying this time of year.  The fruit and veggies are bountiful and the porch is nice and cool even on the 90+ days.  We love it when guests stop by for a cool beverage on the porch.  It all feels very southern.  I think I am going to have to perfect my mint juleps.