I am back from a long "vacation" in the wilderness. I didn't mean to stay 2 weeks, but, I could, so I did. House still standing so I didn't miss anything eventful here... except what looks like a lot of rain.
I can even more see myself living there. NC is beautiful, which I knew, but it will be a long while to get my fill, if ever I do.
She has been selling timber so some clearing is occurring, which brings refinement of plans for what goes where. The space for my idea of Sunrise Coffee Bar has been defined and my sketches continue to refine the build plan. She has a high point from which 2 directions show mountains now, with the thinning, and that is probably where her house will eventually go. I asked that I get a view, out the front or back, I don't care, just a mountain view. She likes the kit cabin idea, and maybe a cabin culdesac that would be great for family reunions. She is a teacher, has taught around the world, and will be putting up a classroom that will be a multi-purpose space with a library. That will be near the coffee bar, which seems perfect. Get your coffee, sit and enjoy the outdoors a bit, then get to learning!
We did some touristy things, getting around to various parks, etc., and visited a bamboo expert to learn a bit and figure out where to start a stand of them to harvest. Built a mound garden, enjoyed some fresh veggies ready for harvest, time and again visited the nearby Amish family for sawdust from the mill, some fresh veggies we don't have, and their super yummy baked goods.
It's weird to wake up completely indoors and use actual plumbing (composting toilets are not a problem for me - they make toilet seats that snap right on to a bucket and sawdust covers leavings so it's not like a rank portalet - it is only a bit weird to make the middle of the night trip to the deck outside). I won't be putting on snake gaiters to go up the hill or down to the stream today. I will miss that.
We made great progress on channelling a spring to create better than existing waterfalls and eventual swimming hole. When I was a kid, "don't throw rocks" was a thing, so I never did it. But I did indeed partake in the naughty fulfillment of throwing rocks into muck spaces. Boulder Rolling was a highlight, quite fun to watch them bounce and bound down a hill and land with a thwawk into muck below. It was great fun to remove foliage, etc., and begin to have more sounds of water. I only brought home 2 quartz rocks, so managed to contain my joy of pretty rocks. I look forward to continuing to refine "The Spring Walk", a space that will at some point contain a teepee in the valley, we cleared a great space for it. There were what I would call ruins of a rock wall, half of a rectangle, that I think we can get water into for "a pool" that would be nice to have on those hot days. It will take time and effort, but we seem to have 2 to choose from, one that already seems to collect a spring. The natural springs are going to be darned handy!
Chores back at home are somehow a big fat drag compared to hard labor outdoors...
I am lucky that we get along so well, and that she appreciates a lot of my whacky ideas. Sunrise Coffee Bar is one that she Really Likes, especially as I added the Meditation Garden plan as the adjoining feature (she likes yoga, says she would like it even more among fragrant beautiful flowers). There are apparently 4 of us planning to live there, so, the community has a start of people. Not sure how long until any of us actually do it, I'm aiming for spring.
Telling my family will wait, they will not understand and not be supportive, I will get snarky criticism from sibs. Just because they couldn't conceive of it for themselves does not make it a terrible idea for me, and I am not yet up for their pooping all over it. I would not expect my sister to ever visit me there, and I'm ok with that. I feel at home there. I very much want to help build the place out and attract guests. There are a lot of parts of her plans that she was hoping to outsource to others and many of those assignments are right up my alley, so, we complement each other nicely. I have more ideas, she has more of the plan and build knowledge. She has little patience for gardening, while I took lots of vegetables and flowers and continued the beautification.
It would be great if I could get my mother to move south with me. I would be within 2 hours of her only brother, so she could live near them and my travel time to her would be less than it is now. That's just a dream, I don't have any belief that she would move, but, you never know. I plan to word carefully, to include "get rid of the overwhelming homesite and expenses I have now" as that parallels her situation.
Travel-wise, much more traffic than I expected. Depending on where and when, masking was hit and miss, although many businesses did post mask required to enter. It didn't seem to be enforced but I did my part. From the touristy areas we visited, it looks like people are very much wanting to "get out there". It is not clear that small town down town is going to be much open for a while, but, it depends on which downtown, and what the biz is. Few dine inside options, but plenty of outdoor seating in the shade has been created.
