Major Steps and Making It Work

This will be more photo spread than blog post as I attempt to get you caught up on the last ten months.

As of yesterday evening, we have officially been living on the property for four weeks. Four weeks in about 200 square feet. We did want to go tiny, right? Don't laugh. In truth, it has been a very easy transition. We have all of our basic needs and then some...and as a note of interest, a new toilet! But more on that later.

I hope to be able to post often from here on out. The building process is finally underway. However, I do realize this is construction and often that means that you take a step and wait, take a step and wait, take a step and wait...you get the picture. Speaking of pictures...

Since last I posted, much as been accomplished.

January: David was able to install two culverts. One is in the wet-weather creek, so we can drive across from the street side to the building site...kind of a necessity. The other is helping with the rain runoff down the driveway and into the wet-weather creek.

It took the rental of another piece of equipment to make this happen as the driveway still has a lot of trees and rocks.

That's one big culvert!

This is a pano-shot looking down the driveway at the gulley.

The gulley with culvert installed

In January we also bought Ruthie, our 29-foot fifth wheel, which is now our home until we build the shop house. She has two slide-outs for extra living space and room to move around in the bedroom. There is more storage that I know what to do with. We did some minor remodeling. We removed the sleeper sofa and the built in dining table and benches, replacing them with a leather futon and a small table and chairs from IKEA. While the old dining benches did have some extra storage, they were very 80s and had been around a while, so out they went. We also removed all of the window valences and the fabric headboard. YUCK! Old fabrics hold old smells. We cleaned the carpets and made her quite homey!



The plan was to get the house on the market by February 1, so that was what we worked toward during the month of January. We had already cleared most of the stuff out if you will remember from the last blog post about letting go.

February came, and the house on Highpoint was listed. In short, it sat with literally no showings (okay, there were 2) for 3 months before we decided to take it off the market and try again later. More on that when I get to June. At the end of February, we took Ruthie out on her maiden voyage and headed to sunny Florida. We had secured a campsite at the Gulf Islands National Seashore across the bay from Pensacola. It was beautiful. We rested, visited Ft. Pickens and the Pensacola Naval Air Station, had lunch with my second cousin who lives close by, and ate lots and lots fresh fish. Living easily in Ruthie for a week, we both decided that we could handle living in her during the building process.

In March David began the process of clearing the building site of all trees and their stumps. It honestly looked like a minefield.

The driveway was pitched for drainage. Occasionally I would hike up the hill and help him out. Most of the time I sat on the front of the tractor and drove it forward a few feet while he sat on the back and dug...and dug and dug and dug...

AH! The elusive PushMe-PullYou!

In May he went to work on the septic tank and drain field. He had saved the biggest stump for last, which provided a great spot for the septic tank. That was one giant tree stump! It took some digging and pushing around. Eventually I went up to the site, and with both tractors we managed to get it out of the hole.

That is some stump!

Also in May, he bought a land plane and after removing all of the remaining stumps, settled the clearing so it was nice and smooth and level...or so we thought.

So now we are up to June. The house has sat unmoving for several months. We decided to take it off the market at the end of April and just let it sit for a few weeks. I ran into a former co-worker at Golly G's one day who had just this year acquired her real estate license and was part of an amazing team which is led by her mother and father. She asked how the sale of our house was going, and I told her is was off the market for now. She called me that afternoon and told me that her mother wanted to sell my house. That Sunday they came by and we made a plan to do some remodeling to freshen it up. The bathrooms got new floors, countertops, and our bathroom got a tile shower. Everything was painted including a few ceilings, and the kitchen got new countertops and a tile backsplash. Long story short, we re-listed it at the end of June and 8 weeks later we had a contract. The sale closed on October 1. I couldn't be more thankful!

July came and brought with it a promotion for David at NFD. He was promoted to fire engineer. That was an exciting day.

In August he was back to work on installing the septic tank. We waiting until we had a solid offer on the house to do a whole lot of infrastructure. Now things really started moving.

The septic tank hole was dug, the septic tank placed in the hole...and then it rained.

Think of that massive plastic septic tank as a giant empty milk jug thrown into the ocean. They both float. We had to borrow a pump, pump out the water, re-insert and level the tank, and fill the tank with water so it would stay in the ground. Any by "we" I mean David.

At the beginning of September, he also dug the trenches from the top of the driveway all the way back through the woods to the building site for the electricity and water. He rented a smaller trackhoe that could move through the woods easier than the tractor. He even had some occasional help from friends and a friendly new neighbor. I was able to help a few times. Water pipe and electrical conduit was laid. Did I mention that we had the hottest August and September on record? Nearly every day was in the 90s. He worked hard, drank lots of water and Gatorade, and got it done. What a guy!

























In September before we headed to Myrtle Beach where David was the featured speaker at a conference for firefighters, we started the process of laying gravel on the driveway.

Look how pretty this driveway is!

Then while we were gone, our not-quite-level building site was graded by the professionals. Let's just say that there was a 3-foot difference from one side of the site to the other. The slope was so gradual, we didn't even realize it was there. We also applied for, paid for, and received our permits for the building, the power, the water, and the septic tank/drain field. Inspections were made, lines were pulled, and everything was hooked up and running.

When we got home from the beach, we had about a week to finish packing the house and getting everything ready to close on the sale. Boxes were packed, box truck was loaded, RVs hooked up, floors and cabinets cleaned, and off went our worldly possessions.

Shelters in place

October 1 brought the closing of the sale of the Highpoint house. David installed our new mailbox to make it official. While he was digging the trench for the electricity, he dug up a rock that looks quite a bit like the state of Tennessee. Eventually we hope to get the house numbers on that rock, possibly backlit for night time. Either way, it looks pretty cool there by the mailbox, doesn't it?

Less than a week into the stay, and it rained. That might be an understatement. It actually poured. We were thankful for the rain because it brought an end to the very hot month of September and needed water to the area that was in a drought situation. The other positive note was that we were able to see where we had drainage problems on the driveway. So back to the PushMe-PullYou stance we went to re-dig drainage along the driveway to solve (fingers crossed) the problem. So far, with a couple of other minor adjustments, things seem to be holding.

So here we are, settled into our cozy RV. Our youngest daughter bought her own bumper-pull trailer and has painstakingly remodeled it as her own tiny house. Quite literally, she has replaced almost every surface, removed or rebuilt things, and folks, it is totally her. Adorable, soft, and a very adult space. She is renting land from us, and we are so proud of her for taking this step of "home ownership" and not paying someone else's mortgage.

We also installed a solar-powered electric gate for security out here in the woods. It works like a charm!

Next, to get us officially on the road to building a house and meeting the codes requirements, we rented a porta-potty. Go ahead, make your jokes. We have heard them all!

Now it was time to start breaking ground. In a matter of two days, they had dug the footers, had them inspected, and we had three cement trucks pour the footers so that they could cure before block is laid.

Laying rebar for the footers.

And then it rained again...

But that's okay because we have to wait for the block and a crew to lay it. So far we are learning quickly that you often take a step forward and then have to wait on someone else. So we wait for block to be delivered next week, and then we wait for a crew to install it.

In the meantime, the toilet decided to start leaking, so that had to be replaced...in basically a closet that is about 9 square feet. But it works like a charm, and I am not forced to use that porta-potty we rented.

We are loving life here in the woods. It is as peaceful and pleasant as we imagined it would be. As soon as the next step is completed, I will let you know.

Let It Go!

Go ahead. Sing it. I know you want to. It has been playing in my head all week as I go through the house and do just that. I know I just posted a blog, but this has been weighing on my mind as I work on the tasks of sorting, packing, donating, and trashing. There is a lot to let go of that has accumulated over the past twenty years living in this house. I will admit that I am a recovering pack rat. Over the last ten years or so I have worked on being better at throwing things away. Still, it feels good to hang on to some of those things that evoke strong memories. I truly believe that most people find it easier to hold on to things rather than letting them go. We keep pictures, trinkets, report cards, candles, gift bags, and single earrings. I have piles of towels, pillows, blankets and placemats. Does anyone use placemats anymore? These things have filled closets, boxes, shelves, under bed spaces, attic cubbies, and cupboards. I had to decide if I loved it or if I could live without it.

Last week I filled boxes and bags with craft supplies (so many craft supplies), vases, picture frames, office supplies, trinkets, coats, socks, shoes, mugs, plastic bowls, and of course placemats. They are all piled on a 12-foot trailer ready for the thrift store. That is trip number one. I think there will be a second trip either later this week or perhaps next week. Hopefully the trailer will not be quite as full the second time.  About three-quarters of my house has either been given away, thrown away, or packed into bins and stored in a big box trailer. Before I know it, the house will be listed on the market, and we will be living in a 31-foot fifth wheel camper. Pairing down from almost 3,000 square feet to less than 200 square feet for the next 6-8 months means no more holding on to things.

Holding on to things. I have thought a lot about that over the last few weeks in anticipation of clearing out the house, making it lighter, learning to live with less. Sometimes it is hard to let go of the stuff, and other times it can make one feel many positive feelings. I am sure it releases some incredible amount of dopamine. There is tremendous peace in letting go of things.

I have also thought about how people tend to hold on to negative emotions, poisonous situations, wrongs done to them or by them, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, and the like. When I say people, I include myself chief among those people. I am learning to let go of those things as well. Keeping them in my "mind palace" does nothing positive for me. They only serve to hurt me, not help me. I have realized that I cannot wait for an apology when I feel I have been wronged. Waiting has a negative effect on my emotional well-being. The perceived wrong-doer doesn't feel the negativity. It doesn't weigh on them, cause them to lose sleep, or even feel any need to make things right. I have also realized that situations don't always turn out the way I imagined they would, and people do not always behave the way I think they should. Disappointment in those situations and people doesn't help me and won't change the outcome. Finally, I am learning to be flexible with the future. I am trying to "go with the flow" instead of rigidly adhering to some perceived end goal.  I am learning to let go of things I don't have control over, things like people, situations, the future. I am letting go to make room for more positivity in my life. I hope to be more giving of my time, more encouraging with my words, more positive in my attitude, more content with my present. More love in my heart, peace in my soul, joyful memories, and freedom.

I am convinced that less "stuff" equals more freedom. I much prefer freedom.

Let it go!
Lizabeth

Of Tractors, Trees, and Mud

January 2019 update

So much has happened, and yet so much more has to happen. This has been a slow time with a lot of wait and see. I am really thankful that the process has not been rushed. We have the benefit of taking our time, thinking things through, and searching for great deals. One thing I have learned is not to let four months go by without posting about our progress. There are a lot of photos to go through and a lot of things to say.

First of all, middle Tennessee had more rain in 2018 than we have had since the 1970s. Of course we have. Of course... What that means for us is a lot of mud and not a lot of work. But what have we done? In reality, so much has been accomplished. Let me catch you up. I have included a lot of pictures to save myself writing thousands of words.

September 2018

New lairds of the land

It was an exciting day when we finally closed on the property. We are very thankful for our wonderful realtor, Jennifer Alston and her Q Realty team in helping us find the land of our dreams and closing in a painless although not quick way. That wasn't her fault though. It took a great deal of time to get the land re-platted and to get the closing papers in order. The closing itself was a dream. We immediately drove over to the land, hopped out of the car, and took a quick shot in front of the field at the start of our new 8 acres. Right behind our heads is now the opening in the trees for the driveway which you will see later in this post.

The next big purchase was a new tractor. David's old International is good for some things, but it won't quite cut it with all that has to be done. So we bit the bullet and bought a new Kioti tractor with lots of attachments. We are thankful to the Larry Stovesand Equipment team (including Jesse Jordan, a former student of mine) who helped us with this purchase. You know boys and their toys. Well, I have learned to drive it as well.

The next day David started cutting trees and made some great progress.

This is a shot of the tree line before any trees were cut down.

Truck and tractor in place to start the work. September was a warm month. It was fairly dry and lots of work was accomplished.

The mighty woodsman and his chainsaw go to work.

The driveway opening is now visible in the tree line.

October 2018

David was able to cut the driveway from both ends and meet in the middle. I spent a little time helping to drag trees to the front of the property, but let's face it, he is really the worker here. There is quite a learning curve for me. He has it down pat. He spent a lot of time on the land cutting trees, dragging them out of the driveway, digging ditches and trenches, cleaning up brush, and trying not to get stuck in the mud.

This is the top of the driveway down to the gully.  We purchased a culvert for the gully and some kind of fabric to lay over the driveway before the gravel gets put down. One of the great (or is it?) things about punching in a driveway is discovering some amazing top soil beneath all of those trees. Unfortunately for us, that means the ground is very soft, and we really don't need the soil or the soft earth for all of the big equipment soon to drive down our little road. We did not find a lot of clay and rocks here which are the norm for this area. That means when it rains, we get mud. Lots and lots of mud. That equates to very soft ground and with all of the steep hills, difficulty in getting a tractor in and out. The tractor happened to get stuck at the bottom of the driveway after a decent rain. A chance meeting with some construction workers in the neighborhood netted him a pull out of the mud and a relationship with someone who had equipment to get in and do some digging that our tractor could not do. We are so grateful for the chance meeting and help.

November 2018

Our dear friend Tay Krull came in from Washington to help cut down more trees and clear out the building site. All of the trees were cut down, leaving behind more than 45 stumps that still have to be pulled out. The orange flags are the corner markers of where the building will eventually be. The cedar tree on the left will be right outside our bedroom window.

Here is a shot from the other side of the clearing with the cedar tree now on the right.

The guys saved a tall cedar stump that will be cut for our new mantle for the stone fireplace in the sunroom. Here they are marking the lines to be cut so it can be dried over the next 12 months.

Some of the trees were too beautiful to cut down. This white oak was one of our favorites from the first time we saw the property and the clearing in the middle where our future home will stand.

This beautiful white oak marks the corner of the driveway on the building side and will be visible from our living room window.

That big pile on the right is only part of the residue of all of the trees that once stood around the original small clearing.

Burn pile to the left and cedar logs for future projects to the right.

The best of friends, Dave and Tay. What would we have done without his hard work?

David and Tay in front of the big tree pile

Sharpening chainsaw blades...again and again. He is a master at it!

The week before Thanksgiving we took a hiking adventure to the property with the kids. It was a great time getting everyone over there to see where "the old folks" would be living. A hike down to the creeks and back up to the clearing gave them all a great perspective of this beautiful piece of land. Then we went home to decorate the Christmas tree for the last time at 5075. We are intentional in creating memories during this season. We have so much to be thankful for: healthy and happy children and their significant others, gorgeous creation, clear and cool weather for the day, joy, love, peace, and blessings too numerous to mention.

Nate, Savannah, Ryn, Sara, and Ali

December 2018

The second week of December we took a trip with Robbie, our friend and general contractor, to visit VersaTube and meet with Mike Bond. We sat down for a couple of hours and hammered out a lot of details on our building. We were able to handoff our hand-drawn plans to their engineers and tour the facility. Sadly I did not take any pictures of that adventure. What was I thinking?

We connected with friends who will be allowing us to rent some property from them for a month or two to park the RV on until we can get in to the building site. For that to happen we need to have gravel, power, water, and a septic tank.

Dave got back to the property with Allen Keymon along with a trackhoe and a skid steer and they made changes to the big curve on the driveway, dug some trenches, pulled out some stumps, and put in the culvert.

Dave has done so much to get the property ready. Plans are solidifying for the electricity and water trenches as well as the laying of the rock and gravel for the driveway. We are hoping that in the next month we will be able to accomplish at least the driveway gravel so we can begin putting the rest of the infrastructure.

Last Christmas as 5075

Before the kids tore into their "goodies"

Last "before stockings" picture on the stairs.

Mom and Dad join the steps selfie

Snuggled into our tiny living room. Next year we can spread out in our 600 sq. ft. sunroom.

The end of December found us "inspiration shopping" to look at stone, tile, light fixtures, and some other necessities. It was fun to dream and see products in person, even if it was a bit overwhelming to see all of the choices that are out there. So far we have settled on a siding style (board/batten steel siding), quartz for the kitchen island (Silestone Pietra), and some pretty cool tiles for the kitchen (white hexagon with grey grout) backsplash and bathroom shower.

January 2019

Last week we made arrangements to purchase an RV. It's not as big as I was wanting, but it will be a cozy home for use for 6-8 months during the building process. We did originally want to "go tiny," so this will be an adventure into what might have been. We really only need a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a space to hang out. Anticipating living there from March through October, we will be able to utilize outdoor space quite a bit, which will help keep us from feeling claustrophobic.

The first week of January for me has been filled with cleaning closets, packing what we are keeping, loading boxes to donate, and filling trash bags. I think my favorite part has been going through old photographs and sorting them into bins for the kids to take. Minimize. Minimize. Minimize. Hopefully that task will be finished by the end of the week. Then we will be staging our home for photos and listing it at the end of the month. Once it sells and closes, we will move into the RV and begin the next phase in earnest.

Be looking for more frequent blog posts! Please comment, like, share, etc. Follow us on Instagram (@notquitetinytn) and check out my Pinterest dream board for the house (Lizabeth Brasells, board name: This is not That Tiny House) to see some of our plans for the interior and exterior.

Until next time!