Clearing the lot

On Monday, October 16, with permits in hand, we began clearing the lot. Or, to be entirely accurate, the contractors began clearing the lot

Our big concern was to leave in as many of the large oaks as possible. We used this as our guide when siting the house, and we think that we’ve found a location where only 1 of the bigger oaks will have to go. As part of the green building process, we’re also planning to leave many of the native plants like the large palmettos.

It turned out that we didn’t have ANY gopher tortoises in residence, though four burrows on our land had been flagged. When the contractors began excavating the burrows, they discovered that the burrows were abandoned and full of water. They had already built the requisite gopher tortoise shelters inside the enclosure, so I will post photos of those below.
This past Saturday, October 21, we went to check out the work that had been done so far. I will post pictures below.

Next steps: Surveyor will mark the house’s exact location; fill dirt will be brought in; the site elevation will be measured to ensure proper drainage to the septic tank; the plumber will rough in the plumbing; then we will be able to begin pouring the floor.

From the back of the lot, looking toward the road:

Looking to the west of the lot:

Another lot photo:

Gopher tortoise enclosure & shelter:

Permit at last, permit at last…

Today is the day: we finally got our building permit from Lake County. What a lovely thing to come home to, especially on a Friday afternoon! Write this in red letters – on October 6, 2006 (approximately 11 months after hiring our designer), we are all cleared to begin.

There was a hold up, because the county office didn’t like something about the engineer’s work. I think he needed to explain something in more detail. Anyway, Woody submitted our plans for permit for a second time on September 25, and today we got the go ahead. WOO HOO!

There has been a slight change in our plans, since my last entry. My husband was actually hired by Disney, who packed up our things and moved us down here to Florida in a whirlwind 3 weeks. This meant that I, sadly, had to leave my job teaching 7th grade English and chairing the Gifted Department and move to my current job, where I teach honking big 6th graders in Osceola County. Approximately half of these children are 14-15, when they should, ideally, be 11. It is truly sad when you can drive to school and you’re only in the SIXTH grade! I’m hoping this school isn’t indicative of Florida’s educational system – otherwise, I don’t know how anyone would graduate before the tender age of 35.

The good news, though, is that now that we are here, I will be able to post much more information & more photos, as we continue the process of building our first home.