Let Us Break "Ground" Together. . .

Are you ready for some pictures? Finally the day has come when all papers, permits and money are in order and we can officially begin our new home!  But first we have to have the BEFORE pictures. . .these photos were taken on Sept. 13th. This is all I have seen (pretty as it is) since we bought our property and even though you can see the lake through the trees, I have still had a hard time visualizing the view from our home. Hopefully when the trees are gone I can start to get the big picture.

 We met with our builder, Dennis on site September 13, 2010 so that H could walk the around with him, see the layout of the house and how it will be "sited" on the property.

H with our builder, Dennis Carlisle

I was unable to go (this time) because it seems one needs the proper attire to do this. First you need the correct footwear to walk around in the under brush because you don't know what will be crawling around in the under brush.

Dennis told me it was because I might turn my ankle in the flip flops that I had on if I were running back up the hill. . . but I know that was his way of not mentioning the "S" word. (H had already debriefed  him about my phobia)

Prior to and for this official day, I had a special hat made for H to wear on site. The front of the hat has the initials HSA for, you guessed it, Home Sweet Alabama! The back of the hat has H's official title for this project. . . CFO! I have no problem with his new title because y'all  know who the W in C  (woman in charge) is!

H and I left on Sept. 15th for a vacation to go to our favorite spot on the Gulf. We left Dennis along with a bobcat, a bull dozer, some chain saws and truck to start clearing the site. I guess you could say ground was officially broken on Sept. 17 which, coincidentially, was the date H and I met 43 years ago! We were on the beach on that day and raised a glass to the occasion!  That date now holds two very special  memories for us.

WE BE BEACHIN'



If you are lucky enough to be at the beach, you are lucky enough!

Before I get to the AFTER pictures, just  a little about the Gulf (in case you are wondering).  As some of you know, we have been going to Orange Beach for over 20 years and it took us two days for this 18+ hour trip! This year we were in no hurry to get started because we are barely 4 hours away and could leave when we wanted! The weather in September was terriffic! No crowds, no waits!  These 5 days were completly restful and relaxing which we did not realize was so badly needed. We have pretty much been on a roller coaster since February. RECAP: We have renovated a house, sold a house, I retired, packed up, moved to Alabama, moved into a rental, unpacked, visited family in Georgia twice, and once in Memphis, gone to Chattanooga twice (July 4th and Labor Day), bought a boat, went to the beach and are now breaking ground on our new home!  In less than two weeks we will be making a "road trip" with our friends The Masons back to Virginia to attend a wedding.

      We stay in a condo at SeaChase on Orange Beach. This beach is in Alabama and is part of the so called "Redneck Riveria" which includes beaches in Florida such as Destin, Pensacola, Fort Walton as well. The "pink" condo on the left side of the picture is where we stay and from where this photo was taken. This beach really took a hit this year with the oil spill scare.  Many families cancelled their vacations mainly due to the media.  I guess if this was your only chance of a summer vacation, there could be some doubt as to how you would be affected. Bet DisneyWorld was busy this summer! This beach was affected to some degree but not so you would notice.  I probably would not  have thought much about it if not for the BP clean up crews on the beach each day.  The tar balls I saw were about the size of a pea and you really had to look for them.  The water was free and clear of anything other than a little seaweed and I was in the water as usual. H documented this with a photo but I will spare you that visual of me in a swimsuit.

BACK TO REALITY!

 I can say it is the first time I was not entirely sad to be leaving the beach because there was so much to look forward to when we get back. We left the beach on Monday and drove directly to the site. While at the beach, we had a phone call telling us that there had been truck loads of trees, etc. leaving our property daily and we couldn't wait to see. This is what we saw when we arrived.

The trees you can see are down by the waters edge could not be removed without a permit from the Alabama Power Company. The permission to cut these came yesterday and may all be cut down as we speak.  There is a lot of dust flying around on the lake due to no rain, but I'm sure the dust is much better than mud would be!



 

H left this morning to go to the site and meet with Dennis.  I will be back on site on Saturday when H and I will be attending a little Brunch hosted by the Masons to meet more of our new neighbors on The Ridge.  In fact, the neighbors from Texas on the other side of us will be in town for the weekend and will join us as well.  I am not sure when they are planning to build. They should be surprise to see the progress on our place.  They had no idea we would be at this stage when they contacted us to meet us. Needless to say, we are so excited and can't believe  how quickly things will begin to go once the property is cleared.  Before we know it, we will hear Dennis ask, "What  color do you want your roof?"

Now that's exciting!