A New Perspective

I don't know how far we can take this on our own, but I really feel determined to try our best to finish this barn. We had come to rely on Bob to make our lives easier and it was nice not having to think about it, in a way, but also it relates back to what I've always believed but can't always employ-that when you come to rely too heavily on anyone but yourself, you not only lose control of the situation, but things never turn out the way you want them. Besides, it's never as satisfying.

This is not any judgement of Bob, he's well within his rights to choose how the project would proceed, and in the end, it was a good thing because the price was too high, and Ruth and I were very apathetic about the whole process. Hell, I didn't even look at the quote, which was totally irresponsible of me. Truth be told, we really just want to finish the barn so that Bob and Joanne can spend more time with us and have a real house to live in. That is our only motivation, so now that we're kind of on our own, we'll use that as our guiding principle, because this isn't going to be easy, to say the least.

The first order of business is to have a plan. I was reading somewhere that building a house is 80% planning, and though we are going to do this piece by piece, and it may take years, we still need a plan. The problem is, where the heck do I start?

My first inclination is to start reading, and I've been finding that books on how to build a house are not that prevalent. There are plenty of how to books on how to work with a contractor, but what I need is how to do it with your own hands. I haven't asserted myself, and I'm sure there are good references out there, I just have to keep looking.

In the meantime, I'll do what I do best, and that's ask friends for guidance. Homestead Gary said he'd be happy to help, and I'd like to pay him for his time, so that's a start. I'd love to hit the ground running come Spring, or even begin now and just chip away at the stone, but we'll see where this goes.

In the meantime, I still have assorted home improvement projects that I need to address. The darn front porch still leaks, big time, and there are clapboards galore that need replacing, not to mention painting that needs to be done, but that will have to wait til Spring. Water leaking issues are the biggest deal.

And, of course, there is the septic system. I need to contact Dan Clay to give him the latest update, but we're looking at Spring.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.