Shipping Containers for Multiple Purposes
Wilder by the Week is the new theme. With the shift that needed to happen from plotting a temporary dwelling to plotting a permanent dwelling that occurred over the last few weeks I have been full steam ahead to make it all happen differently. I keep finding out I know less and needing to learn and do more. It is a crazy dance … you dip, I dip, we dip. Pivoting is the constant movement now.
So no well yet! Waiting on an ETA … praying that it is this week as that is the starting point for everything else. Well >>> Electric >>> Septic. Meanwhile, the fencing and the house is in the works. I’ll be meeting the fabulous folks from Guardian Fencing next Sunday and that is scheduled for 1st or 2nd week in July. Check. More on the home little later. For now, I will tell you what happened on the property this week … coz, gosh, don’t want you to miss out on a minute of the excitement!
Funny lesson about land, the longer it sits the more grows! So, the land clearings that I had done several months ago now has growth showing up everywhere. Rain, Pop, Rain, Pop. The rain has been great for growth. However, that means I have clearings on the land with new little bushes popping up everywhere. So, this week it needed to be handled. I set to work with my trusty brush cutter and away I went clearing it all off again. Does it matter?? Maybe not. Could trucks still get through? Yes. But, I like seeing the cleared land. LOL
After I got that done I proceeded to layout where I wanted the new shipping container for the home to go. I walked the area where I am putting the home and mapped out where I wanted everything to go again. I started at the well and looked around the property. After a few minutes I could see it. I could see where the container goes with the large ceiling to floor windows on one end and the two french doors on the front.
I put in the first stake and then measured out the other 4 stakes. I could see it once the stakes were in. The container will sit catty-cornered in the NE corner of the property, at the highest part of the property. The contain has no windows in the back … perfect as that corner faces the corner that joins the property of my two neighbors. There are a few areas along their fences where the woods are a little thin so I will fill those in with trees, etc.
On one end of the container there are floor to ceiling windows that face out into some beautiful trees. On the front, where the french doors are, it also faces out into another grouping of trees. Beyond that is the rest of the property. I can literally see down the beginning of the winding path to the house from the road and all the amazing woods between me and the other corner (SW) of the property. Safely encased in my own little world.
Proud of my work, I then moved to the other area where we will begin the gardens and where I will place another empty shipping container for storage, tools and equipment and for food storage. I again put in my first stake and measured out the four corners. I put it between the garden areas and the neighbor. Once again there are a few areas along the fence that you can see through but I can fill those in. Now, I am ready.
The shipping container for my home is beautiful (Lookie to the right … I put a photo over on the side of the container sitting on the container creators’ site). It is what they call a full shell. That means that the structure is solidly engineered and checked. The outside is painted. The windows and doors are all installed and framed and sealed. The electrical, HVAC and plumbing are roughed into the framed structure. It is fully insulated. They are also installing hardy board sheetrock for interior walls and installing the breakers, outlets, etc.
As for what’s next …. permitting …. permitting. OMG there is permitting. Each piece needs it’s permits and each permit has its tons of drawings and specs. Right now the biggest hoop to jump through is to get the home shipping container permitted. So that entails conversations between the person doing the plans/drawings and the shipping container person then between the General Contractor and the County. Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho. I have no idea how far behind the county may be in reviewing and approving permits. This becomes another push-as-fast-as-possible-and-then-wait … wait, wait, wait.
I keep recognizing that one of the biggest lessons in all of this, so far, is in learning that there are some things I cannot control. Not only that, but I have thought of myself as a patient person. LOL. Well, that was a complete illusion. I am patient as long as I can still figure out a way to get what I want and often the way I figure out has something to do with me doing it. When it is out of my hands to get it done … OMG … my brain goes nuts. So, I am working constantly to un-nut myself.
Meanwhile, Gracie seems to be more and more calm and accustomed to being on the property. She now finds her spots to check out and sleep while I work. If I sit down she will hop off the ground and use my lap as a place to lay (because, of course, my lap is infinitely better than leaves on the ground to lay on). Birdie, the drone, was chill this week and just hummed around at eye level checking things out. Good Grrrls!!
As I do every Sunday on the land, I have posted videos on my YouTube Channel from the visit. Feel free to check them out by clicking HERE. Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂
Who knows what will have happened by next week! In the meantime … I wish you, as always, as much freedom as possible!!
