Jonathan rides Midnight

We had adopted some Mustang colts a few years back. Four yearlings, two males, two females. The black male was special. He had a beautiful coat, and nice form. We had him geld, and had him trained by a horse whisperer to the point of accepting a saddle. He was young, and wasn't ready to have a rider at that point. The next spring, when it would have been time for a rider, my boy Jonathan called his mom from his cell. He was down in the corral, on Midnight, and wanted her to come see! She led them around a while, had a great time. Here's a picture.

Aerial View

This is an aerial view of our lake and the Hovel. You can see the dam to the lower left area of the picture, and the entrance road to our property snaking down from the upper right. You can see from this photo why we want to keep the main house on the current site, it is ideal. Our problem is, there is no area to work unless we remove the current structure.

The beginning:

Our little hovel of a home was intended to be a brief stop on the road to building our dream home. We made the purchase of our dream sixty acre farm understanding the house was less than satisfactory. Our kids were young, and the farm is beautiful, and we can do anything.... Nine years latter, the kids are bigger, the double wide trailer is smaller, and we have yet to start our dream home project!

Don't get me wrong, the last nine years have not been without significant changes and challenges. A new baby, the last of five for us together. A new years fire, a total rebuild of the first floor and roof mandated by insurance. [Can't just pay off the mortgage and build new! That might promote fraud.] Our oldest moving out, leaving two adults, five kids, several dogs and cats, to spread out in the spacious double wide on a basement in these western coal fields of Kentucky. The kids want more room, we want more privacy, but all express a certain nostalgia for the closeness of our current digs.

After many months of deliberation, hesitation over the current economic market, and years of changing plans, we have finally decided on a strategy to attain our ultimate goal. A family home, here on the best site among the 60 acres, the current site of our little hovel. Susan has decided on a house plan she likes, I have been reluctant to commit, as it is quite large... but with the prospects of our five younger kids having to stay past the high school years, or perhaps return to the nest latter in life, size may be important down the line. My prime concerns are for sustainability, and affordability.

We will need to tear this one down to do the build. The house sits on a peninsula that jutts out into our own three acre lake. We have toyed with renovation, or staged building and tear down, but the only feasable option is to start with a clean slate. To that end, we will need alternate housing for a prolonged time.

The answer... Build the barn we need, but fit it out for us to live in 'till the new house can be done. Now comes a whole new set of challenges. How to build this structure with as little debt as possible, saving the debt burden for the ultimate goal. How to satisfy my desire to build in a sustainable fashion. And how to get this project on the fast track, as we don't want to spend many more winters in this current box! Specifics to come latter.