Waiting...

I am usually a very patient waiter.  Most people who know me well will agree.  I don't shake Christmas packages. I open gifts in an organized manner.  I can sit in a waiting room for quite a while before I get too antsy.  However, this is getting old. 

It is hurry up and wait. We had the appointment with the County for the building permit last Friday.  It went well.  Permit in hand in less than an hour.  Very good.  The excavator can begin immediately.  But...   The block fellow can't begin for, oh, a couple months.  The contractor is trying to get someone else.  He has been promising a new estimate since last weekend. Still nothing.  Is every single competent dependable block laying group busy?  Apparently so.  At this rate, it will be Winter before we get the building process underway.  The driveway will not be happy.  Neither will I.  I say this has gone on long enough.  I realize the block fellow could not just sit and wait for us to be ready, but 2 months?  Really? 

Enough whining.  Maybe. 

The old guy has flagged out a pond.  It is supposed to be big and deep enough for fish. The grands will be happy, especially when they get to fish. For now, there are some trees that will have to go so the digging there is able to progress, when we get a block layer.

In the meantime, we went up last weekend with the excavator and staked out where the house will actually set on the hill.  It is too close to the driveway for my taste.  Fifteen feet is not far enough.  If you consider the gardens that will certainly be put around the house, when winter comes and they plow the snow, driveway stones and stuff will be in the gardens.  And maybe on the steps.  I want it pushed back at least 10 more feet.  I will see if he listens or if we simply progress the way it is laid out.

There are trees around the perimeter of the house that will need to come down, too.  Ash is dying pretty well across the state right now and there is no fix for the pest causing the die off in sight.  Anything that is close enough that, should it fall, would land on the house, will be taken out before the building begins.  This is smart, and gives the old guy something to do while he is home and waiting.  It will also make  firewood for the syrup making in the Spring.  For how long we will continue that no one knows, apparently there is a bug in the sugar maple trees, too. He also plans on clearing out around several dogwoods that will be close and maybe he can find a new sumac to replace the one that we lost earlier this summer.  It was a very nice sumac, with lots of berries, or whatever you call them.  Anyway, they were pretty. 

For now, we will wait.  I am sure that later in this process, there will be times I wish we had a little time to sit and wait. Just not right now.