Emily

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Emily

Day 186

We have a basement!

Well…a hole for the basement, that is.

We’re doing a partial basement, approximately 500 square feet, to house the water heater, HVAC system, electrical panel, etc., and to serve as a storm shelter. We decided against a full basement because we will have plenty of room in the house itself and we do not want to be tempted to “collect” a lot of items we do not use. We’ll see how that pans out, but we have high hopes for our anti-hoarding selves.

Or perhaps we could turn it into an indoor swimming pool…

Check out the different layers of soil. It looks like a medium/medium rare steak to me.

Miraculously, we didn’t hit any rock. You never know in Tennessee so we got lucky.

The basement is supposed to be poured next week! I’m as excited about this as I was about Santa Claus coming when I was five years old.

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The only critter of note on the trail camera was a coyote. It’s been very windy the last week or so and thus we have 79 videos of the branch shaking in front of the camera. I think it’s time to reposition the camera….

Posted on April 19, 2020April 19, 2020 by Emily · 2 Comments

Day 181

We have a partial driveway, folks!

Josh could tell from here that it had not been graded per the plan. More on that in a minute.

As we drove in on the easement, we could see a bunch of new rock on the easement itself. Evidently the developer we purchased the land from did not build up the easement road properly so one of the dump trucks delivering gravel sank into it earlier this week. Oops! Thankfully, our contractor was able to repair the road and keep things moving through the week.

Hey, guess what?

This is our driveway. Nifty, eh?

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We had several videos on the trail camera of the driveway coming to life.

See where that dip is between the trees? Yeah, that’s not supposed to be a dip anymore. Josh was not pleased. But, good news: it can be fixed! I keep telling him this.

Back to other progress. They have gotten the house pad pretty well set. Next up: digging the footings and the partial basement.

The spot where Josh is standing will be graded down a few feet for the driveway.

Joshua, step away from the heavy machinery.

The first bathroom has been installed. Ready for guests!

We decided to take a walk around the perimeter of the property to asses the trees. Though they’re really close together, Josh wanted to keep both of these. One is a sycamore and the other he believes is a birch.

We stumbled upon an ephemeral stream. I just learned this term from Josh yesterday.

Since we’ve started this process, “ephemeral stream”, “cubic yards of dirt”, and “earthwork guy” have been part of my vocabulary.

Boy, does having a partial driveway make this feel more official.

We brought this sapling from our current house. It was growing in the landscaping right up against our back porch. Josh thinks it came from one of the gigantic oak trees we have in our yard.

We planted it in one of the back corners of the new property. Hopefully it survives and thrives and becomes an eighty foot tall tree in the next fifty years. We named him Craig since that’s part of our current street name.

We didn’t want Craig to be lonely, so we searched in our woods to find a few more saplings to plant in the other back corner.

This one is a beech tree. There were several others that were slightly bigger, but Josh was concerned that they had already developed “a habit” and wouldn’t transplant well. Nobody wants a tree with a bad habit.

My dad loves beech trees so we decided to name this one for him. Meet Barry.

This is Dora, the dogwood. I don’t know anyone named Dora except for the explorer.

And this is her sister dogwood, Darla. Also don’t know any Darlas.

Let’s hope they all make it!

This tree did not make it.

According to our neighbors, much more of our property used to be forest, but a tornado took out a lot of the trees about twelve years back. Many of the remaining trees in the open space have a narrow span or have no branches except at the top. They are also really close together, which works in a forest setting, but not so much in an open setting where they will start to crowd each other out and compete for resources.

My husband is rubbing off on me and I am now a tree expert, in case you were wondering how I know all of this fascinating information.

So, Josh decided this tree needed to go because he wants the tree next to it to thrive.

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My dad, Barry (beech tree named for him), helped move the sectioned tree so we can use it later for firewood.

It was a red oak and it smelled so good!

OK, just one more thing to end this rambling post:

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We’ve hired Tom as security at the front gate.

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Emily

Day 174

Despite a beautiful week of weather, it seems there was no progress on the property. Still waiting for an explanation of this. Hoping everyone is OK.

Josh and I spent several hours on-site yesterday doing very fascinating things.

First, we flagged the driveway.

Josh was measuring and placing the flags as I called out the measurements to him from his plan. If you squint really hard, you can see the orange flags.

I’m so glad he knows how to do these things. I just told him I’d like 1) the driveway to curve around for a pretty approach to the house, 2) a place for people to park out front, and 3) a loop so it’s easy for people to get in and out without a 75 point turn (a challenge we have at our current house). He takes this information and produces a lovely plan to make all of my driveway dreams come true. I think I’ll keep him.

This is his “Why are you taking my picture?” face.

Because I’m so glad you’re my husband and a landscape architect!

It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that we are building a house, which will sit between these two piles of dirt in the near future. Hopefully, this time next year we will be living in it and we’ll be able to have people over and give them hugs without fear.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying improving the property so it is beautiful for us and our future guests to enjoy.

Our second activity was cleaning up this hot mess:

Among this tangle of vines and trees are two dogwoods, a black cherry, and a cedar tree. You wouldn’t know it except for the dogwood blooms.

Josh quickly got to work on this with his chainsaw. And before long, it looked like this:

Much better!

Josh hauling off all of the brush to the woods. His truck looking like a Chia Pet.

While Josh did the heavy lifting, I reviewed the trail camera footage.

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Not much action in the last few days except for Tom desperately searching for Jenny. I think she may have moved to a different block…

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Sorry, Tom.

Well, if my boots are any indication, I would call that a successful trip to the property.

Posted on April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 by Emily

Day 171

Things haven’t changed much in the last few days. Apparently, the ground was still fairly wet under the surface, so earthwork dude was letting it dry out.

We had a safely distanced meeting on-site with our builder to discuss the next few steps. There is some more grading to do and then the digging of the footers and the basement. I must find my pink sunglasses Josh got me before it’s time for me to inspect these items.

I did a little practice inspecting today.

Looking good and level.

I had to check out the view from Pride Rock…er…Pride Dirt Pile.

Josh decided to have a little too much fun with photoshop after I started calling our pile of dirt “Pride Rock”. Here I am presenting our house cat, Bu, to the kingdom.

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I blame it on the quarantine.

Moving on.

We moved the trail camera back to its original location because I have recently learned about myself that, to me, watching dirt being moved is like watching paint dry.

The usual suspects showed up: Bambi, house cat, opossum, and a few curious neighbors.

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Then came one of the funniest videos yet.

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It started with a young lady turkey casually strolling by. I’ve just learned this is called a “jenny”.

Hey, Jen.

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Then a few seconds later she inexplicably picks up her pace and exits stage right…

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…because here comes Tom!

I think the quarantine is getting to them, too.

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Emily

Day 167

It’s really happening!

I got butterflies as we turned onto our easement drive and saw the big pile of dirt in the distance.

Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?!

(*Fighting back tears*)

This is where the garage will be.

And guess what? We will actually PARK in the garage, unlike the other 99.3% of Tennesseans who have garages and never park in them. I don’t understand it.

That looks like fun!

But, I will say, after reviewing the SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN 10 second videos our trail camera captured from the first day of moving dirt, this is a very VERY monotonous process.

Though having seen many a hot mess of a construction site, I think our guy is very methodical and trying not to disturb things any more than necessary.

Please cross your fingers for clear days so we can make good progress!

Posted on April 4, 2020April 6, 2020 by Emily

Day 166.5

Yesterday was quite a day on several fronts. I didn’t want to take away from the HUGE DEAL of the groundbreaking so I decided to do a separate post about the other happenings.

Los Tres Amigos Mexican Restaurant & Our Future Normal

Joshua and I have a borderline disturbing attachment to the local Mexican restaurant near our current house. When times were different and we could dine-in at restaurants, we would go there once a week. Given the current situation, we have ordered delivery from “Tres”, as we fondly call it, every Friday night and it is pretty much the highlight of my week when the fajitas and sangria arrive.

Well, last night, we had quite a scare.

At 4:58PM, I picked up my phone and called to place our order. It didn’t ring. I got that “beep, beep, beep” sound that signifies a call has been dropped and my phone said the call had been “canceled” (What does that even mean?!).

I kept trying for the next fifteen minutes and the same thing kept happening.

Emotions were running high and I was distraught. We tried calling from Josh’s phone. Same thing. Panic had set in.

Josh suggested maybe we look into ordering from a different Mexican restaurant. I couldn’t even talk about it.

So many things were going through my head:

Los Tres Amigos was closed for good because they weren’t making enough money from delivery and take-out during the pandemic. I should have ordered from them every day! How could I have let this happen?!
All of the people who work at Los Tres Amigos were sick with coronavirus. OMG I hope they are OK!
Will I ever get to eat Los Tres Amigos again???

I tried one last time and miraculously the call went through. I was so relieved! Evidently since the tornado last month, their phone lines haven’t been quite right. I made sure to tell them they gave me quite a scare.

After this traumatic experience, it occurred to me that I may not make it out in the country and a 50 minute drive from Tres.

2. Tiger King & A Moment of Self-Reflection

After savoring every morsel of our Mexican food delivery with a new-found appreciation, Josh and I decided to start watching Tiger King.

About 2 or 3 episodes and 2 or 3 glasses of wine in (don’t judge me…it had been a long day and I certainly wasn’t driving anywhere), I was wondering how people become “large cat people”.

I reflected on this blog and how I’ve spent that last 100+ days fascinated by the “exotic” creatures on our property.

I turned to Josh and said, “Let’s not turn into ‘large cat people’, OK?…well, I guess we are ‘large ‘house cat’ people’.”

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Emily

Day 166

Well, nearly 6 months into owning the property, the momentous day finally came – we broke ground! I never thought I would be so excited to see a pile of dirt.

Unfortunately we couldn’t be there in person for the big moment, but BOTH of our neighbors sent us photos and videos. Nothing is getting past them, which is a good thing so far.

One neighbor sent us this on Wednesday that the equipment had arrived.

Then, yesterday morning we got these photos from our other neighbor…who was practically standing in the pile of dirt.

Last weekend, we moved the trail camera to the tree on the right, so hopefully we’ll have more thrilling footage to share!

Try to contain yourselves.

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Emily

Day 161

I’m starting to think we actually live in Portland, Oregon, not Nashville, Tennessee, with the number of rainy days we’ve had the last few months.

This weekend, however, we’ve had two lovely, dry, and mostly sunny days. Let’s hope this trend continues into next week and for the next few months so they can grade the spot for the house, pour the basement, and frame the house without further delay (ha!). Word is that the earthwork guy is showing up rain or shine this week. We shall see…

I have many pictures that look like this. I’m looking forward to having pictures from this angle that have a house in them.

Back to the nice weather this weekend. Friends of ours that live very near our current house were taking out some landscaping that had become too much to manage. They generously offered us some boxwoods and azaleas so we went over to help dig them up and then headed out to the property.

We planted them in the two front property corners so they would be out of the way during construction. Once the house is complete, it is likely we will transplant them to the landscaping beds, but for now they are anchoring the front of the property.

The landscape architect, carefully placing the shrubs while I document from a safe distance.

Though it appears they are practicing proper social distancing, the reason for their spacing has more to do with ease of mowing than a health risk.

Aren’t they cute?!

Here’s how they look from the future front porch. Josh had to limb up the tree a little bit more so construction vehicles can maneuver.

My phone camera is not doing this justice at all, and the orange septic field fencing really isn’t helping, but this is one of many beautiful “volunteer” dogwoods along the edge of the property.

This past Christmas, we asked for contributions to our landscaping fund along with the gift giver’s favorite tree, shrub, or plant. Now that the weather has turned a corner, we are excited to start planning for more planting around the property!

Posted on March 15, 2020March 15, 2020 by Emily

Day 147

Well, we’ve owned the property nearly 5 months now and all we have to show for it is some temporary orange fencing around the septic fields.

Oh, and we also have some animal planet worthy trail camera footage.

To be fair, we have been doing a lot behind the scenes so that when things do start, they can move efficiently. I have selected and specified nearly every detail in the house down to the door hardware. We may even be ready to order the windows next week!

The things that excite you when you’re an adult…

Also exciting is the fact that the earthwork guys should be there this week to start moving dirt, especially given all that has happened here in the last couple of weeks. Since my last post, we’ve had another 47 inches of rain, a devastating tornado that came within a mile of our current house in Nashville, and coronavirus hysteria has set in.

Regarding the tornado: Many people around us have lost their homes and businesses, which certainly puts into perspective how lucky we are to be safe and to have a roof over our heads. The night of the tornado, we had just minutes to wake up and realize what was happening, grab the cat, and get into the basement as the tornado passed us. The large trees in our backyard were swaying back and forth 30 feet, but thankfully, we were spared any damage.

Though I was ready to nix the basement in the new house for budgetary reasons, now I am really glad Josh insisted we have one. The homes near us that were destroyed were almost identical to our current house. All of them had basements and everyone in those houses survived because of that. Pretty much everything above grade was flattened. I still get chills thinking about it and I know that compared to what these people are going through, being delayed in building my new home while I have a perfectly intact home is really not a big deal. So, we are prepared to be patient and to help however we can.

Next topic: coronavirus. We are self-quarantining as best we can. I will be working from home and avoiding as many meetings as possible. I have requested that Josh work from home for the foreseeable future, too. His company did a trial run Friday and as far as I’m concerned, it went extremely well. It seemed to me he got a lot done and was able to eat a proper lunch. Let’s keep it up!

Thankfully, the population density around our new property is so low that the chance of running into another human being while onsite, or within 5 miles, is next to nothing. With these statistics in mind, we ventured out earlier today to check up on things.

Earlier this week, during his meeting with the contractor and the earthwork guy, Josh determined that the tree directly in front of where the house will sit is actually a pecan tree. Now, I was pretty sure that we had decided to eliminate this tree (and plant many others in its honor) due to the fact that it would be smack dab in the middle of the parking pad and be far too close to the house for comfort. Well, evidently my landscape architect of a husband has had a change of heart and as of now we are trying our darnedest to save this tree.

He limbed up the tree with his chain saw. Here he is surveying his work.

While he was doing this and dragging the large cut limbs away, I was reviewing the trail camera footage in the comfort of the truck.

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Pardon the glare, but these people are well past the highly visible “no trespassing” signs on the trees to their right and left.

One of these folks was also observed on camera several days prior, scoping things out. It’s going to be awkward if these people are our neighbors…

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.43.15 PM Not sure who this was past our Fort Knox gate, but if he/she wants to leave his/her truck for us to use, that would be super in exchange for trespassing. Thanks.

Then there was a rogue group of turkeys fanning their tail feathers…

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So, I know I’m partial, but I think this is the cutest shot, with my husband, Josh (middle), the earthwork guy (left), and our builder (right), all walking along as dudes discussing moving dirt like it’s no big deal.

I’d like you to know that Josh is extremely proud that “earthwork guy” is now a part of my vocabulary.

Posted on March 1, 2020March 1, 2020 by Emily

DAY 133

Well, a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks:

We got our building permit! After the “plan review fee”, the “privilege tax”, the “educational impact fee”, and a handful of other absurd fees, I’m pretty sure we’ve paid for a county employee’s annual salary in order to obtain our permit.
It has rained approximately 67″ this February, which has put everyone in construction behind and has delayed us breaking ground until the earthwork guys catch up. Patiently waiting…..
I had surgery and Josh has been buried in his Finance class so we hadn’t been able to go for a site visit until yesterday.
Our neighbor’s barn is nearly finished. Our construction envy is growing by the minute.
The critters have come out in full force! We had a record 60 videos on the trail camera this time, which is about 5X as many as we’ve had before.

Neighbor’s barn. Maybe one day there will be a structure on our property, too. Not jealous or anything.

Focusing on our wildlife for now.

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I think this is an owl on the ground to the right of the trees. Josh agreed with my assessment for once.

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Up close and personal with Bambi.

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Practicing for her real ID picture.

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Turkey invasion!

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House cat makes an appearance.

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Turkeys are back for the first recorded snow since we’ve had the camera!

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Our resident black squirrel with white-tipped tail dashing by on a sunny day. I can’t wait for Bu (our indoor house cat) to lay his eyes on this guy. He’s going to lose his mind.

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Evidently our neighbors believe in free-range horses. Exhibit A.

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Exhibit B.

Remind me to look into a property fence…

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Pretty blue bird on the ground below the trees. Looked very busy.

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Cute little bunny! Another creature for Bu to go nuts over from his indoor perch.

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And finally, more snow! It didn’t snow at all at our current house on the other side of town. I can’t wait to be in the new house and watch it snow this time next year.

Patiently waiting…..

Primm & Property

Author: Emily