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Showing posts with label Highland Homestead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Highland Homestead. Show all posts
Visual representation of homestead
We are meeting with contractors this week and one asked me to bring pictures of what the house will look like inside. Yikes! It's all in my brain. So I'm scouring Pinterest and Google Images, but am having a lot of trouble with the kitchen. Most of today's kitchens are white with black, brown or grey accents. I want something warmer, something that invites you to come in and see what's simmering in the pot or baking in the oven. I want my whole house to be inviting and calming.
First Impressions
We've had good times at The Highlands during the last 17 years, planting trees, camping, star-gazing, and skiing, and we've met our neighbors and some of the community. However, last weekend, I think I made an interesting impression on them.
Monday evening, we were staking out the house and I dressed for the chilly wind and muddy ground. On the way, I decided to pick up picnic supplies at Grabill Country Sales, a bulk food store with bakery and deli. As I browsed the cheeses near the deli tables, I sensed that someone was looking at me. As happens in small towns across the Midwest, a group of local farmers had pulled together the tables to drink coffee and talk. They were all looking at me and so I smiled and they grinned back at me.
It wasn't until I was leaving the store that I realized why they may have been staring at me. They saw a gray-haired lady wearing raspberry pink knee high mud boots, a hoody sweatshirt with dragons on it (inherited from my son) and a hot pink trappers hat with fur ear flaps.
Monday evening, we were staking out the house and I dressed for the chilly wind and muddy ground. On the way, I decided to pick up picnic supplies at Grabill Country Sales, a bulk food store with bakery and deli. As I browsed the cheeses near the deli tables, I sensed that someone was looking at me. As happens in small towns across the Midwest, a group of local farmers had pulled together the tables to drink coffee and talk. They were all looking at me and so I smiled and they grinned back at me.
It wasn't until I was leaving the store that I realized why they may have been staring at me. They saw a gray-haired lady wearing raspberry pink knee high mud boots, a hoody sweatshirt with dragons on it (inherited from my son) and a hot pink trappers hat with fur ear flaps.
Stakes in the ground
Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, Steve and I staked out the driveway at The Highlands. We put a drive from the road to the barn 15 years ago. Over time, people started to cut corners so the location of the base layer was not visible, but the ruts where cars were driven were getting deeper. Without getting more stones, construction traffic would wreck havoc on our land.
So with a couple of spades, a stack of stakes and a hand sledge, we set out to find our old driveway and stake our new drive in preparation of ordering gravel. I took the soundings and Steve pounded stakes. Now to order base gravel (#2s) for the new turnaround and garage drive and top gravel (#73s) for everything.
That done, we decided to rough stake the new house. We didn't have a compass, so it isn't exactly right, but we had fun standing on the future porch, opening the front door, walking through the living room into the kitchen and then the dining nook. Our bedroom seemed small, but that may have been our staking since it looks fine on the drawing.
On Monday, we warmed up by the campfire that heated our supper soup and ate it to the sound of the hooty owl in the pines. This is really happening!
So with a couple of spades, a stack of stakes and a hand sledge, we set out to find our old driveway and stake our new drive in preparation of ordering gravel. I took the soundings and Steve pounded stakes. Now to order base gravel (#2s) for the new turnaround and garage drive and top gravel (#73s) for everything.
That done, we decided to rough stake the new house. We didn't have a compass, so it isn't exactly right, but we had fun standing on the future porch, opening the front door, walking through the living room into the kitchen and then the dining nook. Our bedroom seemed small, but that may have been our staking since it looks fine on the drawing.
On Monday, we warmed up by the campfire that heated our supper soup and ate it to the sound of the hooty owl in the pines. This is really happening!
House Plans
We reviewed the third set of plans tonight and are ready to give comments to the designer. We like it and think it is falling into place, but the scary thing is that every time we look at it, we come up with another good idea. At what point do we say "Go"?
New Year, New Granddaughter, New Home
Do you think I can write more than 7 posts in 2012? That was the number I wrote in 2011. It's not for a shortage of topics, thoughts, adventures, joys and heartbreak. 2011 was full of them. It's that I tend to post on Facebook instead of my blog.
I don't know what 2012 will bring, but I do know two things are pending: a new granddaughter and a new home. Pretty big news, eh? And rather bloggable too.
Madelyn Mae
Madelyn Mae is due to come into the world mid-February, but she is pushing things a bit. Her mom is on bedrest, trying to eke out three more weeks. Madelyn has a two-year old sister. Sister is not too happy with Mom on bedrest, so I can't imagine how she will react to the intrusion of an infant who can't even play with her yet.
The Highlands
In 1995, we bought several acres of farm land on a high bank of the river in DeKalb County and dubbed it The Highlands. Then two months later, we adopted the twins and decided to stay put. Over the years, we built a barn and planted thousands of trees on the land. Last fall, we decided to build a house and move there. We are now deciding how to site house, outbuildings, drives, gardens, orchard, septic and well. We are on round three of a house design and the land has been surveyed and platted.
So with these events, and whatever else 2012 sends out way, perhaps you will see me here more often.
I don't know what 2012 will bring, but I do know two things are pending: a new granddaughter and a new home. Pretty big news, eh? And rather bloggable too.
Madelyn Mae
Madelyn Mae is due to come into the world mid-February, but she is pushing things a bit. Her mom is on bedrest, trying to eke out three more weeks. Madelyn has a two-year old sister. Sister is not too happy with Mom on bedrest, so I can't imagine how she will react to the intrusion of an infant who can't even play with her yet.
The Highlands
In 1995, we bought several acres of farm land on a high bank of the river in DeKalb County and dubbed it The Highlands. Then two months later, we adopted the twins and decided to stay put. Over the years, we built a barn and planted thousands of trees on the land. Last fall, we decided to build a house and move there. We are now deciding how to site house, outbuildings, drives, gardens, orchard, septic and well. We are on round three of a house design and the land has been surveyed and platted.
So with these events, and whatever else 2012 sends out way, perhaps you will see me here more often.