Something else that I've been thinking about is how things that you think you want before living in the country change after living there. I grew up in the SF East Bay Area of California with about ten million other people. It has been a dream of mine to have a few acres and live out in the country. I had all sorts of things that I wanted when that happened. Now that it's happened, I've learned that it's nothing like I thought it would be.
A few good examples. I wanted to be able to sit on the porch and enjoy a fire. That just seemed like the greatest way to spend the evening. The first time I did it, I loved it. Then the next few times, it sort of lost it's appeal. I still like a fire, but sitting out there and watching it isn't all that interesting after working a burn pile that's 40 feet long and has dozens of trees burning in it.
Living out here, I spend all day outdoors working on the land. If it's light out and not raining, then I'm going to be doing something on the land or my equipment. It could be mowing, picking up limbs, taking out trees, moving dirt or cleaning out ditches. The list is never ending, but it's always outdoors. When the day comes to an end, I'm not interested in the view or what's happening outside.
I wonder how ofter you'll actually sit and enjoy that view, or relax on the deck? I'm sure it will be used allot at first, that goes without saying, but after a year, will it be as big a deal as it was at first?
Instead, how much fun will it be carrying load after load of firewood up the stairs. How many loads will you burn in and evening? How many loads during a day in the middle of winter? When I had a wood fireplace, I would burn four loads a night when it got cold out.
Where will you keep that firewood? How many chords will you need to get through winter? Some guys that I've read their posts on storing firewood will have ten chords or more for winter. If you only need half that, you'll still be spending allot of time cutting, splitting and stacking firewood. Then you get to carry it up the stairs a couple times every night.
Where will you store your log splitter? Then take up allot of room. How will you get the wood from where you are splitting it to where you will store it? Do you have a truck for this? Allot of guys use their tractor and carry it in their front loader. Others carry the whole log with a grapple on the front of their tractor and work the wood at their shop or woodshed.
You didn't address any of my other concerns, which are things that I never thought about before moving out here. Mowing and maintaining roads takes equipment. Equipment need maintenance and wears out. Parts break and need replacing. Where will you put your air compressor and welder?
Will you have a generator for those times the power is out? We lost power for 4 days this year. Others have had power out for weeks. You can heat the house with your fireplace, but what about keeping food cold or hot water for bathing? Where will you put that generator?
The list goes on and on. I realize that you have set some goals with your building, but the reason for those goals seems to be where we differ. If you build it like you have it, I'm worried that you might very well regret it and wish you had done it differently.
Eddie
