Green Stewardship Lived

Change of Plans

2011-08-01T09:35:00.002-04:00

It's been quite awhile since I posted anything here, because we've gone through a loooooong process of trying to figure out how to overcome obstacles and even whether or not we should try to overcome them. I wrote about this on my other blog, Good News Stepping Stones: http://gnmforum.blogspot.com/2011/07/7-9-2011-news.html.

To make the new house more affordable in today's real estate market, we have lopped off the top floor, the one we've called "The TreeTop Room" and "The Upper Room." While it's impossible for Ralph and me to put this room back on, nothing is impossible for God, and we will just have to wait and see if it's his will that we should have this Upper Room for his glory and purposes. Meanwhile, we feel content to live without it.

Here's what the house now kinda sorta looks like.

BTW, if you know anyone who wants to buy a small cabin cruiser (25-foot Larson Cabrio), we are selling ours in order to build our house. I love this boat and have had great times on this boat. It's a sacrifice to let it go, but here it is if someone else wants it: http://rtmodica.net/boat4sale.

Here's what are house will look like:

2010-07-16T16:48:00.001-04:00

Drilling for Solid Ground

2010-07-16T15:37:00.001-04:00

Today we tested the our land to make sure it will hold our 3-story house. It will! Four holes were drilled, three of them down to 25 feet, passing through some solid limestone rock. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Now we can move forward with confidence that we'll be well grounded.

Next steps: getting a street number assigned to the property and drilling the well. It's possible that we'll break ground in August. Where's our shovel?

Mapping the future

2010-07-09T09:19:00.001-04:00

We've finished designing the new house. Now it's time to map out its location on the property. See the photos!

The challenge we now face is to figure out how to pay for everything. God has a plan, of that I am sure! He has made it very clear that he has provided us with the right builder, and step by step everything else is falling into place, too.

God has also made it clear that we are to take my parents in with us after the house is finished. This is the reason we ended up with a piece of property that requires (by law, not by the lot's history) that we build high off the ground (supposedly it's in a flood zone), giving us a ground-level "basement" that provides extra space. And to forward this part of the plan, God even worked a miracle, inspiring my dad to actually want to move to Florida despite his enjoyment of living in Pennsylvania where he has a lifetime of history and friendships.

The next miracle we need is funding for the green features of the house. Building high off the ground is costly, but I fully expect that God will provide not only for my parents but also for the environment, i.e., for our desire to make this a very eco-friendly house.

In future posts, I will showcase the green features we add into the house and the suppliers of these products. I will describe why we chose these products and why we like the companies that are supplying them to us. Our wish-list includes:

Geo-thermal air-conditioner
Solar tube lights
LED lights
Foam insulation
Compost bin
Reclaiming rain for watering the landscape

Our builder, Southern Oaks Homes, will be recycling all construction debris.

Starting to Design the Green Dream House

2009-08-31T09:03:00.009-04:00

Restful Waters

2009-08-25T10:18:00.002-04:00

When it's summer, it rains in Florida, and when it rains, LOOK! We have a stream in our woods! It runs alongside the western edge of the property on its way to the Alafia River.

Our first "house"

2008-11-24T08:29:00.007-05:00

On Sunday afternoon, we visited our woods and set up our first "house" on the property, i.e., a screened tent for relaxing in. I also plan on using it as an "office" with my laptop and air card. Yeah!!
If you live nearby and would like us to share our wilderness oasis, let me know. I'm serious! We'd like to share our blessings with others. You can visit it even (or maybe especially, hehehehe) when we are not there. Just give me a call when you'd like access to the property for quiet meditation and de-stressing. The accommodations are simple: just a screen to keep out the bugs, and two chairs.

It's Ours!!!

2008-11-17T18:42:00.009-05:00

Today we closed on the property.

We now have our own little piece of the woods!

Closer and closer to ownership

2008-11-02T07:11:00.002-05:00

We're waiting on the final survey to be drafted and delivered, but everything looks good, praise God! We had "Scoop" the septic system guy come out and do a core sample of the dirt, and he called in someone from the Health Department. Both say that the land is very do-able for a septic tank and field, without requiring extra measures that would make it expensive. Yeah!

Yesterday, we took bright yellow string to the property and tied it from one corner to the next so that we can visualize the exact boundaries. That was fun! We had to forage our way through underbrush and palmettos.

One of the advantages of this property is that the neighboring lots are large, and there is no fence at our boundary lines, making it visually seem even larger than it is -- adding to the beauty and the peacefulness of the place.

Also yesterday, we bought a tree trimming tool for low-hanging branches over the driveway. The investment in the future makes it feel even more like taking ownership of this lot is really going to happen. Past almosts have kept me from fully believing it.

We're also starting to plan the first things we'll do when we own it. Like make the long driveway from the street to our woods smooth and flat. And to sit and enjoy the place like our own little park, we might buy a canopy with screen sides. But if anyone visits for awhile, we will then need a porta-potty or else be very friendly with the neighbors, hehehe. If you know someone who has an RV in good condition and is willing to donate it or sell it cheap, send 'em to me! An RV (Recreational Vehicle) could serve as a cabin in the woods for guests, too. Think of the possibilities!

We finally found our place in the country!

2008-10-26T22:19:00.001-04:00

Like to go camping -- I mean, totally roughing it? There's no electricity and no plumbing yet (but someone suggested installing an out-house, LOL), but in a few weeks, we should be able to invite you to pitch a tent.

Ralph and I may have finally found the answer to our prayers for buying a piece of land. It's 2.67 wooded acres so far back from the road that any house we build will not be visible from the street or to the neighbors -- it's the peaceful, reclusive setting we've been searching for a long time to find.

It better than everything we've looked at since we began this hunt 5 years ago. It's in the Riverview neighborhood we had chosen as our number one preference, in an area near the Alafia River where no property is smaller than an acre. Lots of trees! Quiet streets. Friendly neighbors who watch out for each other, many of whom have lived here for 20 years or more. Our realtor (a friend from church) has lived here for 25 years.

We had learned of this particular lot a few months ago, when the asking price was $200,000, which meant we didn't even want to look at it. Since that time, the property went into foreclosure, and the bank that took it over put it up for sale at a small fraction of the original price. A real bargain! Even if we decide not to build on it, we can sell it for a profit in relatively short time, even in today's market. And in the meantime, we can have our own little "park" to go to.

We went into contract for it on Wednesday Oct. 22, with 15 days allowed for researching the property to make sure it's buildable. I've asked God to close the door on this opportunity before it's too late, if He knows it's not good for us. So far, everything is going well, moving forward, even faster than expected.

The Environmental Protection Commission had flagged some of the lot along the edges as protected wetlands, when a previous owner had started a survey. By "coincidence" (praise Jesus) the EPC wetlands expert received my voice message at the same time the scientist, who had done the survey two years ago, was in the office. They found the old file and reported to me that the property has lots of available land to build on.

On Friday Oct. 24, our land surveyor and an EPC scientist, and Ralph and I and our realtor Rex, converged on the property. It is highly unusual for the EPC to get a scientist out to a property so fast. We had been told it could take up to two weeks. But now the land surveyor will get the EPC report in a few days and will then be able to give us a thorough report.

We're hoping that the land survey will show that the lot's elevation isn't so low that we have to raise the house expensively high so that flood insurance will be inexpensive.

Our Wilderness Oasis

What should we name our new property?

2008-10-26T13:00:00.003-04:00

I kinda like using the name "Modica's Wilderness Oasis" for our "green" property, because one morning while at daily Mass last week, the opening hymn was Hosea (© 1972 by Gregory Norbert):

Come back to me with all your heart.
Don't let fear keep us apart.
Trees do bend, though straight and tall
so must we, to other's call.

Long have I waited for your coming,
home to me and living, deeply our new lives.

The wilderness will lead you
to your heart where I will speak.
Integrity and justice,
With tenderness, you shall know.

Long have I waited for your coming,
home to me and living, deeply our new lives.

You shall sleep secure with peace;
faithfulness will be your joy.

Long have I waited for your coming,
home to me and living, deeply our new lives.

I thought: Perfect! This is the theme song for the property we want to buy, if there is such a thing as a piece of land having a theme song.

But other good ideas have been suggested by people reading my blog. For example:

Modica's Heavenly Haven - Away from everything but always under the Son.

Modica's Resurrection *Wilderness* (named because of the abundance of resurrection ferns in the trees; there's a photo in the online album that shows it)