Juniper Fields Cabin

It is 5:43 p.m. I just removed wet boots, put on dry socks, and am toasting cold feet in front of a disk heater set on high. This isn't the first time this journey has frozen my toes, but more on that later. This morning at 9 a.m., almost 9 hours ago, I was wandering Juniper Fields with the engineer who will design the septic system. Juniper Fields is the name a daughter came up with for the land I am about to purchase.  "That's what you first noticed about the land, she said. So that is a good name for it." Proposed cabin site is just beyond that juniper behind & slightly to the left of the fence post. So practical the daughter. She would not have waited nine hours to change into dry socks and shoes. Is it any wonder the daughters worry about their momma? Today's news is hope-filled. It is possible that the septic system can be located on the former field, instead of adjacent land made available by an easement. That is good for a va...

After five months of hard conversations, brainstorming, and seeking counsel, we agreed on a move from my 900 square foot two-story house to a 676 square foot log cabin. In those hard conversations, it was easy coming up with solutions that ultimately wouldn’t work. Getting down to need and innovation, however, was challenging. Smaller space with less to mow was our initial idea. What about a condo? No, can’t control the chemicals in the lawn, or scents from attached homes. What about a cabin out in the woods? No, they were either too far from an emergency room (more than 20 minutes) or would require a four-wheel drive vehicle. What if the kids helped out more? While they were willing to try, I didn’t see how they could do that given family and work responsibilities. Besides, one lived six hours away.  What about buying a different house? Cost prohibitive or issues, such as carpeting, duct work for HVAC. The list of needs grew as the conversations went on. These conversations ...