Friday's Meeting with Charlie

We had pretty much decided where to build a new place--up the hill, near the other structures, out of the wind (let me make the bold, out of the wind), when he called to say that upon researching the rules with the county, we can pretty much do what we want where we are.

This news sent us into a tailspin, opening up an option we thought had disappeared.  So we met this morning with all options open and took a tour of the sites we are considering.  They are shown below.

We ended up with sticking with our current location, the view (and the sounds and the smells, as well as easy access to the well and the septic) being too tough to give up.  The caveat is that we want to know what the county's regs are--do we have to build within the current footprint?  If not, how/where can we go outside?

We also talked with Charlie about what it is we want in a house.  This is the tough part.  Ann, bless her heart, pondered long and hard about what it means to 'give up' her ancestral home.  She thought about what her father might say, and decided that he would say, 'It's only a house.'

But specifics?  Not only had Ann and I only talked about general wants/needs/wishes/dreams, we hadn't been forced to agree on anything specifically.  Charlie wants us to clip pictures and put them on a story board.

We left things that he would re-check with the county and begin some design that we could pick apart.

We're excited and scared.