Little M, Part of the Team

Little M is a valued and sweet member of this home-building team.

Her unbridled excitement as we head west toward the land is infectious. She bursts out in song "I love the mountains!" and says "I can't wait to get to the land." 

Once there, she naturally spends hours of contented play in the elements, never complaining about dust, wind, cold, no bathrooms, portable meals, etc...

Fishing at Water Rock

Pretending inside the footer framing

Bravely watching the huge cement truck in the blazing midday sun

 "This is the best cement truck in the world!"

I imagine that things seem big from her perspective. 2x12's for footer frame

A child-sized wheelbarrow from Aunti G.

 But more of her time is spent doing normal things like...

Seeing Papa off to his day job

'Painting' the deck doors at home...

...and her play house, blue apparently.

and taking care of no less than 4 babies at a time.
That's our little M.

I Caught the Baby

12 April 2016 was the day of delivery.

I had no idea the labor would be so long...but I guess they say first babies take a long time to come...
It was Mark's labor, Fall through Spring and countless hours. And I caught the baby.

Little M and I 'caught' the baby (a.k.a. picked up the drawings) from the County Offices...

...And displayed them in the tree-mounted-weather-proof box for field use...making our building site official.

It was all of a short morning phone call announcing that our permit was (finally...gasp...at last...) ready to pick up- as if it were that simple! Mr. Plan Reviewer's signature assures that our house plans meet building code and we are free to proceed. 

Big M gets the credit for designing a lovely little creative house from scratch, maximizing building code, drawing with architecture software,  navigating processes, officials, and engineering, and building up the stamina to work around all the corners of a full-time job and family. I worked my brain's tail off to provide practically accurate opinions about a house I can't see but will live in, and empowered his hands to be free to design, while wrestling not a little with my role as labor support. Anyway, together we've stepped across the "Building Permit" line in the sand!

Garden Shed

Well there it is. The first building on our property! (picture is from January)

This garden shed was designed for and made of about 50% re-purposed materials and tucked into a sapling grove near the lower path to the woods...

"...Tucked??!! My eyeball!"--
 Okay, okay. That is the indignant cry of the men who precariously maneuvered the roof into place; who moved and re-moved the heavy beast through muck and slopes and frigid temps; who hauled, hoisted, and stacked the foundation rocks and steps. It was several days and teams worth of work-- Tucked indeed! 

But I say, it's darling. I am pleased as punch...and grateful!

...Uh...Anyone want to help with roofing and siding? :)

The garden shed represents my experience of 'quickening' in our building process.
In pregnancy, women call 'quickening' the first true experience of the baby's movement. It's a moment when the mystery changes into concrete reality...and excitement about what is to come.