Small non-picture update. Be forewarned, because I’ve learned a ton in this thing, I think I have a tendency to give too much detail. Hopefully it doesn’t bore you too much!

Turns out in the time that our Timber guy has been doing his work (13 years), the current market for our trees is at its lowest. &#^#@ lovely. Short story is that we won’t be harvesting any timber at this point. Obviously, there is a fairly large stack of timber from the clearing, and we were planning to thin the other areas of the propert to (1) make the remaining trees “better”, and (2) gather some more revenue to use on this project. Since that’s not happening, the timber stack will just have to wait.

There is a bright side: time is on our side. The timber that is stacked can sit safely for a while. Most who clear to build have smaller acreage, so they use the homesite as a temporary landing zone for the timber. Then, while driveway is progressing, they get log trucks to cart the stuff off–to accommodate space to build the home. However, our bright side: we have space! We can safely pile the timber off to the side, then get back to it later, when it’s time to thin the rest.

Meanwhile, the Timber guy will keep an eye on the market, and notify us when things improve. In his experience, mid-winter provides good sales prices–supply drops off significantly. So, here’s hoping for huge demand!

I mentioned a post or two ago, that October will be busy. We’re working on the loan; PGE is set to drop by and give us details on running power back to the house (in a trench alongside the driveway). Because of the distance from the road, we’ll need a transformer on the property. Not a huge fan of that idea, but will make for easy power when we build the next house. Verizon will also be stopping by to verify phone service in the area, and dropping off more wiring to run in the trench. I’m having a devil of a time with the stupid crappy local cable company regarding cable TV/internet service–so no news there. Think I’ll call them again right now.

Also, this week we hope to get the driveway shaped, culverts in, and base gravel in place–by end-of-day Wednesday. This is suitable for the well equipment, which is set to arrive Thursday (coincidence on timing, but just about perfect!). So, hopefully a well will be in place come early next week. Also, the scratches for the county’s Perc Test will be in place. Unfortunately, we’re a bit at the mercy of the government to perform the actual test and give us the results (aka approval!), but we’ll have as much done on our end as we can.

To finalize the loan, we need 2 well tests (potability & gallons-per-minute [gpm]), septic approval, and building permits. We cannot file for building permits until the septic approval. So, much hinges on that, and the waiting may just kill me, cause it’s just about do-or-die right now. Feels like a verdict in a civil case or something (though I can’t really compare to that).

I’m sure there will be more to come soon.