I remember the evening we found our perfect lake lot and to be completely honest... it wasn't so pretty on my part. I was mad. And when I get mad, and I mean actually mad, it takes me a long while to work through it. I had been poring over listings and begging to go see this camp or that camp, any and every camp that happened to come available for sale within two hours driving distance of home and every... single... camp we went to look at, Enz had refused to even consider, "it's too old... it's too far... the shore has reeds... it needs a complete rebuild... the driveway is too steep... there's too much lawn... there's not enough lawn... there's no electricity... I don't want to use a compost toilet....." and the list went on; I had had enough. So, when Enz came home from work a day after viewing and shooting down two more camps (one which I had absolutely fallen in love with) and asked me if I wanted to take a drive to look at a lake lot out toward the US Border after dinner, it went a little something like this:
"Fuck off" I told him.
"I'm serious, there's a lot that we need to look at."
"Sure."
"Gillian, I'm being serious! They guy said it's only forty minutes from town."
"What guy?"
"The real estate agent."
"You talked to a real estate agent."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Today. After I saw a listing."
"Where was the listing?"
"In the paper."
"You don't read the paper."
"Not the paper paper... the Real Estate News, I read it at my dads this morning."
"Why were you at your dads this morning?"
"To take the mail in; I told you, he's away for a week."
"Yes, I know that... but you usually just stop over after work."
"I went this morning instead."
"To read the Real Estate News."
"To go to the bathroom... the Real Estate News just happened to be in the mailbox when I got there so I flipped through it."
"You have a bathroom at work, Enzo."
"I didn't want to go to the bathroom at work, Gillian!"
"Why? You go to the bathroom at work every other day anyway?!"
"For fucksakes... Gillian!!! I had a stomach ache, okay??!"
"HAAAHAHAHA*giggle*snort*bellylaugh*breathcatch*laughingtears*... And you *snort* couldn't just have *bent-over hysterics* just started with that?? Hahahahaaa!"
"Who the fuck would want to start with thaaat???!!"
"Okay, so, let's just start this from the beginning so I get the whole TRUE picture... You were at work, diarrhea threatened, you bolted for your dads house in search of privacy..."
"Privacy like I'm not getting right now... yes."
"And you found then took the paper in with you, that's gross by the way, what if I wanted to read that listing?!"
"I didn't take it IN with me, I read between rounds."
*hysterical laughter for Gilly, a disgruntled, exasperated sigh for Enzo *
"So *snort*giggle*wipes tears* okay... okay *hahahaha* you found our perfect lot between bum singing rounds....."
"It was another lot actually... and seriously what's wrong with you!?? Nothing of this story is even remotely funny!!!"
"Okay *haaaaaahahaaa.......* another lot... *snort*chortle* go on."
"So I called the guy about the listed lot and he told me about this other better lot and gave me directions. I think we should look at it."
"Fine, I'll go, but I'm gonna be REALLY pissed if you're just wasting my time and humouring me again!"
"I'm not. I'm serious. Let's go."
"Can you make coffee to take on the ride?"
"We're losing light and I want to be able to see the full lot, can we just make coffee when we get home instead?"
"But you know part of looking means snacks or coffee on the ride to camp so we can judge what snacks we'll need for ride time... because I love snacks and snacks are an important part of camp. But since we just had dinner and I'm too full for snacks we need to at least test the coffee timing b'cause you know that if I don't have time to drink a full coffee before reaching camp... it's not far enough away to be considered a getaway!"
*Enz stares at me, holds back his frustrated argument then turns toward the pantry to pull out the coffee beans, grinder and filter*
"Coffee's ready, let's go."
"Okay. But first we need to high-five on your diarrhea..." *offers hand for high-five*
"I'm not high-fiving on that."
"You have to!"
"No."
"Enz, you have to! Your diarrhea might be why we found a lot, we have to celebrate it so it might bring us even more luck in turning out to be our perfect lot! ... C'mon, high-five..... pleeeaaaaase???"
*Enz finally gives in and accepts proffered high-five*
"And can we do it again with a big WooHoo!??"
"Gillian! I am NOT woohooing diarrhea!! Just get in the fuckin' CAAARRRRR!!!"
So, I got our sweet Day (we hadn't yet found our Play) cozily into his jacket before settling him into the car (he LOVES car rides) and that was the night we found our perfect lot. We made an offer the following day which was quickly accepted and two weeks later the land was legally deeded to us.
 |
| Our first view of the lot and it was early enough in Spring that the leaves hadn't yet filled in so it was easy to find a path through to the lake shore. |
 |
| I was still in giggle-fits off and on at poor Enz... he tried to ignore me..... |
 |
| Once we had reached this spot that opened to the lake, we knew it really was the lot we had been searching for! |
Once the lot was actually ours, our grand plan was to just make ourselves a little path to shore clearing the first year so we could go out and have picnics by the lake and just enjoy the beauty in nature.
Buuuuut... once we had spent a couple of hours there the first week, we just couldn't justify not using for more than just picnics and we decided to instead clear the land that first year and maybe just buy a small trailer or tent-it for the following couple of years so we could better enjoy the property while we planned our future build. It just made sense; buy the property then save up a little again to comfortably deal with building costs because we aren't willing to take out a mortgage or go into debt to build our vacation home, the place we are supposed to be able to relax and not have to deal with overhead worries.
So, we cleared...
Now, just to explain the lot a little 'cause it's a little confusing... The lot has a single lane private drive that was mistakenly built, years ago, through about the first third form lakeside of all of the properties so we own both sides (where the 'sold' signs are on either side of my car) as well as the section of road and the few people we share the private drive with all have a legal agreement that no one will ever block the drive for the other few property owners on the road. I was a little unsure at first glance but then I realized how much easier it made for building because had the road been put at the rear property line it would have been a nightmare to have to blast through that much forest and cliffage to make a driveway to lakeside... nevermind trying to get building supplies in.
Enz had first decided that we were going to start clearing the land ourselves... Ridiculous! I wasn't about to spend all summer cutting down trees; my days of buckin'up'wood ended when we sold our first country house that had been heated by outdoor wood stove!
"Do you have any idea how long it's going to take us to clear enough space to build in??!"
"It's not gonna be that bad, a few weekends maybe."
"You're being ridiculous. I'm not doing wood. Day won't be safe there and it will take forever... not just a few weekends, it'll take a year at least! If we get a machine in here, it'll be one day, maybe two..."
Enz ignored my argument and he did go out for a day to start cutting trees and the following day he had called in the professionals for an estimate and made the appointment to clear...
 |
| The top layer came off pretty easily but we quickly discovered just what we were in for and Enz was suddenly glad he had subbed out the land clearing! |
 |
| Nonno protecting our Day and covering his ears from the noise as the machine crossed to to some more digging down below. |
 |
| More digging and piling for easy loading as the dump trucks came intermittently to haul the debris away. |
Once the top layer was off and the machine operator started trying to break back through the rock, well... the digging got tough! We had envisioned being able to clear to road level but it proved only possible to dig halfway without using dynamite. The man doing the awesomely incredible clearing work stopped, came to stand with us and said, "That's as far down as she goes... we've hit the Canadian Shield and there's no budging her further."
 |
| It actually looked pretty cool, even through the mess! And I do love still having lots of bushland nestled behind us... with lots of wild blueberries way in the back. |
 |
| A closer look of what clearing this land was really all about... not easy! |
As I had predicted, hiring out the land clearing had us cleared building sites in a single day. The second day was spent bringing in load after load of gravel to build up our solid base to fully buildable! Having solid Canadian Shield for foundation is as good as it is difficult to level... and it all worked out in my mind's eye design so thankfully we didn't have to blast and instead just brought in LOTS of gravel to help us work with the land instead of trying to fight against it.
 |
| Still taking piles up to the dump trucks while levelling off with the sand and gravel... quite a different view already! |
 |
| We left a few trees but did clear most of the lake side open for the view. |
 |
| And right where our vehicles are parked is right where our eventual cabin was set to be built... eventually. |
 |
| First on my list of demands was a biffy... but not just any biffy because I just don't do biffies. So, on top of our beautiful Canadian Shield top rubble, we started our biffy foundation, even though we'd said we were ONLY clearing the land that year..... but I'll save the biffy for the next post! |
Once we had cleared, Day and I took every chance we could to just walk down to the shore so we could watch and listen to the water... how grateful I am to now have this as our everyday view!
To be continued...
Do you have a special getaway place you love to disappear into? A place that feeds and refreshes your soul? Do you go on actual vacations instead? I want to know how YOU spend your down-time! Please share with us all in the comments section!
No comments:
Post a Comment