Tuesday, April 3, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

My mom and dad have been helping us figure out house plans. FYI, here’s how you build a really cheap (but decent quality) home:

1. Ask your municipality (or regional district, if you aren’t in a municipality, like us) for their building & zoning restrictions. The Cowichan Valley Regional District sent me a whole whack of pdf files with arcane charts, etc. on them, which I forwarded post-haste to my daddy for translation. Also, it helps to have a dad who builds million-dollar homes for a living.

2. To save costs, use pre-made trusses (the thing that makes your roof pointy) so your home will have an “A” shape. Also, use a “slab on grade” foundation instead of a crawlspace/basement/proper foundation. We’re lucky — we live in the enviro-bubble known as the West Coast, which prevents us from having four-foot deep frost levels (or something like that). We can use cheap-ass foundation styles. Yay!

3. Build small. Decks can be added later, and they are super-cheap to build — with outside furniture and the occassional heater, this will add a lot of space to a small house.

Don’t I sound wise???

This week we’re getting the “perc test” done, which determines whether we can have a septic field (cheaper) or need a septic tank (expensiver). Also, Dad is going to help us figure out blueprints, which we’ll need to get our financing figured out. (Oh, and provide a place for us to live as of June 1.)

Yesterday was our 1 year anniversary (from our first date) — we drank champagne and watched the sunset from our penthouse deck, and read garden books, and Brock decided he’s going to be an artsy landscaper.

Any bets on what we’ll be doing in another year?

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Here are some blueprints that Brock designed — essentially Brock measured our king size mattress & couch, then drew walls around them:

[sorry, no image available — imagine a box]

Also: we’ve decided not to do a perc test before we buy the property. Tony (the septic guy) had a look at the farm and decided there wouldn’t be any issue. We save $400 or thereabouts, and get to remove another “subject to” in the contract!

And, upon discussion with mom, I’ve learned that a septic field and a septic tank are not opposites. It’s field + tank, or nothing. So that’s good to know.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

We made a list last night of all the things we have to do over the next 2 months. It was exhausting. Previously simple moving chores, like “change hydro,” have become “install hydro.” We’re planning to rent something (an apartment or hotel room or whatever) in Duncan for June while the septic and foundation is prepared, then build our wee house the first-ist week of July and move in. Also, Brock’s brother Craig suggested we get an old shipping container (the kind that CN Rail carries, then they’re filled with stuff and shipped via boats to China) for storage of all our books, etc. A co-worker of Brock’s did this, and she’s investigating cost & logistics for us.

AND: tomorrow is my 27th birthday 🙂

Here’s a plan my Dad did for us — it’s perfect . . . except that we want the longer (sunny/view) side to have the living room and kitchen:

[again, no image available — imagine a nicer box]

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Saturday, April 14, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

I forgot to mention last time — the landmark attraction that’s existed for eons at our intersection (TransCanada & Bench Road) is a run-down, generally sketchy nightclub called the Galaxy. Last time we visited/stalked our farm, we noticed a huge rezoning sign on the Galaxy property: someone wants to make it a strip mall, with a restaurant and etc! This is WONDERFUL news for us. A strip mall will draw more people off the highway and onto our side of the road. Business hours will certainly be better than a nightclub’s. There’s a restaurant that we’ll be able to sell our farm stuff to, and maybe a convenience store. It’ll be easy to put up a sign: “Stretch your legs! Walk a few metres and visit our farmer’s market!” And it’ll provide a walkable-source of services for us. Hopefully it’s also a sign of development moving south of Duncan — which means more neighbours/customers for us. Anyhoo, that’s exciting.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today I was offered a new job!!! I’m ridiculously excited. Everything’s great about it, but the things that I SHOULD be excited about are: 1. it’s in Duncan, so I won’t have to commute to Victoria from the farm, and 2. the excellent benefits/pay. However, the thing I’m most excited about is that I’ll be exposed to marketing and advertising stuff, which I suspect might be my Calling. My new boss is a really friendly, experienced professional who will teach me everything I don’t know. And it sounds like a perfect balance of individual accountability + team brainstorming . . . perfect.

With Brock in Victoria and me in Duncan, we’re totally going to corner the farm eggs & fresh veggies market on this island.

Today was also the deadline for our last “subject to” — I faxed the form this morning. So from now on we either REALLY own a farm, or we lose our $8,000 deposit.

There’s so much change and excitement in my life these days that I’ve decided to host a Tupperware Party, to ground myself in the practicality of plastic storage products.

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Monday, April 23, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

We spent the weekend driving around Southern Vancouver Island checking out free stuff. Once we were done scouting, we picked up a 16-foot rental van (yay Budget!) and loaded it with free wood, glass, a really heavy desk and a massive wood table, and dropped everything off at Brock’s parents’ house and the farm. (Farmer Matt, the current owner of our dirt, was kind enough to let us store some things there even though we don’t take possession until June 1.)

It was exhausting. Then Sunday we drove out to Metchosin and learned how to make a greenhouse out of sliding glass doors, and then we toured Marigold Nursery, and by then I was too grumpy to continue so we went home and Brock made me tacos.

Not a very relaxing weekend, despite the sunshine, but it was certainly productive! Brock is all excited about building his greenhouse, and I’m in love with our new table — it’s 8×4 or bigger and perfect for my rooting/potting plans. We’ve decided that I will be the seed/rooting person in our operation, and Brock will do everything else farm-ish. And I’m doing compost too. Or Peter is.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Where do roosters come from? I’ve learned that there are two kinds of chickens: egg layers and meat birds. The egg laying kind are all female (obviously) — the males are “disposed of” at birth. Meat birds are both male and female (I think). So are roosters actually male egg layers that were allowed to live? How were they selected? Or are they a third species altogether? In which case, where are all the female roosters??????

Farming is so complicated.