I'm coming up, so we better get this party started!

Building permit granted. Further permit fees duly paid. Inspection scheduled. Hopefully the man who is coming will be able to give the nod and won't make us wait five weeks for paperwork, because the drywallers are booked for April. Followed by electricians. Possibly followed by septic people, depending on finances.

I'm looking forward to actually working with my hands on the place, for a change, instead of just doing paperwork. I want to paint, pull up carpet, pry nails from recycled wood, rev up the sander, use some muscles.

One question has been bugging me throughout this latest part of the process. My taxes are already paying the salaries of the township and county people who are issuing the permits. Why do I need to pay for a building permit, a septic permit, a driveway permit, a sewage inspection (especially in light of the fact we're getting an entirely new septic system), and all the other nickel-and-diming? Shouldn't the paperwork all be included already in the mere funding of the office? I mean, I get paid a salary to do my job, and I don't expect extra pay for every piece of paper I produce.

A point to ponder.

Galloping toward spring

We've met with the septic designer. We've had two companies come to give quotes on the brick pointing. (Want to get that done before it's warm enough that we have to worry about wasps moving into the crevices.) Little by little, we're moving forward, picking up momentum as we go. 

I want to find a week where I can focus on doing nothing but pulling nails out of the salvaged wood and sorting it to see what is usable. My husband has pointed out that my plan to put a stretch of bookcases along the front of the balcony won't do, because small children could climb them like a ladder. Oh. Yeah. Duh. So I will have to rethink the shelves I was going to build. We also have to come up with a way to raise that balcony railing to at least 42 inches, for safety's sake.

I am thinking I will have a big book sale in late spring, when people have returned to the trailer park by the lake. I have plenty of books to stock the Book Nook exchange, and plenty more to unload. It could be a fundraiser to save the stained glass. 

We have cancelled our planned trip to Scotland and Iceland yet again, and my son and his partner have agreed to help watch the home garden when I'm away, so I will have a little more time this summer to devote to renos. It would be great if we could get permission to finish the drywalling, because then we could install overhead lights and outlets, which would certainly come in handy.

A little progress and a lot of hope

We were to meet the septic designer, Planning Dept, and brick pointer today, but the weather had other ideas. A slick coat of ice over everything and eight inches of snow clogging the roads. We will err on the side of caution and aim for another day.

Once we have the septic designed and the flood door installed, we'll be in the home stretch. I've been collecting ideas of what to do with the stained glass windows, and have hit on a tentative plan. Would people in the village be interested if I host a workshop on how to restore stained glass? Each person could take one section of window to work on, and together we could put them all back together again in a lot less time than it would take me to do them alone. They could learn a skill and have the satisfaction of knowing that they contributed to the preservation of their village church. And they could come visit "their" window anytime they wanted to.

Maybe an idea worth pursuing?

Rezoned!

Happy days are here again.... she sings loudly and slightly off key. The appeal period is past and we are officially rezoned residential. It has been a long and expensive haul to get here, but it feels good to get past that first hurdle. Thank you to my soon-to-be new neighbours for not protesting!

Now there is a jumble of permits and what-not to get through to get occupancy permission, but that process seems a bit more predictable and hopefully less costly. There's light at the end of the tunnel, and for once it's not a freight train heading our way!

I'm pleased to report...

In spite of all the rain we've been having, the basement has remained dry. It seems we've finally got that leak in the utility room under control. (Knock on wood. Is it tempting fate if I say this out loud?) Grateful to Paul Davis for sticking with us until all was well.

I really think, though, that if I ever build a home in the future (I can hear my husband howling at the thought), it will be built on stilts. Ground water has been a constant issue (no pun intended) at both properties. Better to build as they do in Hawaii, with the house raised so that water can flow through and past without damage.

A good metaphor for everything in life, I suppose. When challenges come, let them flow and inundate and then subside without inflicting harm. Be above all that.

Moving forward

January 9 is the public Council meeting to consider our rezoning application. Fingers crossed!

The kindness of neighbours

We seem to have lucked out with the neighbours around the church. Kind people have raked our leaves, hauled our garbage to the landfill, brought us food, weeded our sidewalk, lent us a wheelbarrow, offered the use of their car, picked up fallen trash bins, taught us how to point brick, and even phoned us in the city to let us know lights got left on (and went in and turned them off for us using the lockbox). It's good to know people are looking out for us. I kind of see this whole renovation as a community project. A lot of people are invested in seeing this church be preserved, and we've been welcomed to the neighbourhood more warmly than I anticipated. I can't wait to be able to become part of this community fulltime!