To ensure that the money arrived as early as possible to Spartan FX so that they could make the payment, Kimberley and I stayed up until 00.01. This is exciting! This is dreams becoming reality. The kind of journey that a few years ago you could not see yourself making.
Imagine the excitement that when we wake up, we can see that at 5.43 am, the money has been deposited with our lawyer. Now all we can do is wait. We are so good at waiting…..not!!! Of course, what you can do is take baby steps. Act ‘as if’ (it’s already happened and you’re celebrating). Have fun.
Today’s baby step does all of this. We have Jacques coming over to CasaBo to discuss our project and give us the benefit of his lifetime of experience in civil engineering, forestry, agriculture, fire and water management. This is the day when we truly cross the Rubicon.
We are talking about the three-stage plan of what we will do with CasaBo. Stage one will be access. The widening of the entrance gate, the putting in of two driveways, the building of a shelter from the sun or rain for TUT, the cleaning of the big well and making it fit for purpose and drinking, and some solar. In short, everything we will need to stay in TUT for an extended period. This ability to have our own area to just “be” is very exciting.
Stage two is about the building of the house. Our own little property that encompasses all that we fill together. It will need to have space and light, it will need to connect to the wonderful land and scenery, and it will need to be unique and special to us.
Stage three will be land management and maintenance. How to make the most of the views as you walk round. How to find ways to inspire all those who bless us with their presence and love on CasaBo.
At a little after 10am Jacques arrives, and we spend the next two and a half hours in the most exhilarating game of what can we do with this piece of land. Jacques, without prompting, confirms nearly everything we had considered ourselves. In addition, he comes up with some ideas that we had not thought of such as rain harvesting using a concrete channel rather than a gutter. Making the shelter a whole load bigger for little extra cost. Stage one can be done before the rains come so it will be ready for our nextvisit in November.
As we move onto the house, Kimberley and I become truly excited about what we can do with the old barn/shed. We discuss the agriculture rainwater tank, the use of solar and most importantly how to be pragmatic with our solutions. Jacques has a truly holistic approach to the whole project.
This is the best two and a half hours we have spent for a considerable period of time. When you consider what has happened in the last few weeks, that sentence takes on an enormity all of its own. This project feels very real right now, even though we do not actually own the land yet. Remember, take baby steps, act as if it’s already happened, and have fun. I think we can tick those off for today.