Come on Summer!

Dan debarking the logs hopefully for use in our home!

A beautiful new view!



Timber!

Dad rigs up the rope to direct the fall!

Exploring the beach on red island

Sandy Beach!

Kali loves this stuff!

Dan and Kali ashore!

Today we spent the day exploring the islands that will soon be our neighborhood. We loaded up the canoe and set off from the Government Wharf. The tide was on it's way out making our paddle up the channel a simple one. We explored two islands- Red Island and Bobby's Island, finding some excellent camping spots, beautiful Sandy beaches, and spots to dig clams. We can't wait to plan some overnight trips out to the islands!

Although here in Nova Scotia we are still waiting for summer, July has come upon us quickly. Our last few months have been spent doing lots more clearing- with all of this wet weather we have been happy to get to burn the endless piles of brush! We've had a number of estimates for building our road and will be ready to have it built in late summer or early fall.

Dan and I have also been spending lots of our time attempting to make progress with respect to home design. We have lots of great ideas in our heads and have spoken to many helpful contractors and designers but continue to have some trouble making a link between the three. Getting our ideas into a concrete plan has proven to be quite challenging. We are searching for a designer that can put our rather simple design on paper and help us to add the custom touches that will make this house ours. We've found that we are falling slightly in between two ranges of home design, we want more than just a person who 'draws plans' and are slightly lower budget than an architect who customizes every last inch. As we continue to search we learn more and get closer to our design, that will fit our spot on 'the hill' perfectly.

The Significance of a Place

Copied from Our Wedding Website

Our Story
When Dan was a child, the first place he truly understood the meaning of peace, tranquility, & beauty was at the cottage; at the end of the wharf overlooking Sole's Lake. He would dangle his feet over the edge... staring and dreaming for hours.
When Shelly was a child, the first place she found her serenity was also at the family camp; for her it was on a grassy field encirled by alluring crab apple trees, nestled atop the panoramic shores of Chezzetcook Inlet.
Little did Dan know that the water that flowed beneath his feet was on its way to her, his future wife, as she danced in the field and climbed in the trees; as she wet her toes in the very same water that had just soothed the soul of a dreamer upstream.
Just as this flow of water connects Dan and Shelly to their beloved sanctuaries, it shall also unite the celebration which will join them together in everlasting love...

Continuing to Begin

Arrival at High Tide and the water was glass! Amazing day!

Today we spent a wonderful spring day on the shore of the Chezzetcook Inlet continuing to cut, and burn brush from fallen trees. The shoreline is looking lovely and ready for the green of Spring to arrive! We spend our days there physically working hard and mentally trying to picture where and how a building may go and trying to figure out which steps come next. Building is an exciting, but also stressful thought! There are lots of steps to think about and we don't want to leave anything out! Other than clearing brush we are also spending time getting ideas on paper for home design, following the proper steps with our engineer for permits, septic, etc. We are also thinking it's time to contact the proper people to give us estimates on our road.

We'd love to hear from any of you with suggestions on the process, the people (builders, designers, road builders) etc!

Beautiful Kali Rose

Kali is the happiest dog in the world while we are down there- free to run, dig,swim, chase sticks, and roll in the stinkiest stuff she can find!

Every Girl Should Have a Good Pair of Rubber Boots!

Slipping into a pair of these boots on changes everything. No worrying about your hair, no worrying about your clothes getting dirty- kind of the way putting on your mud suit felt when you were a kid! Spending a day cutting and dragging brush along the mud flats, feeding the fire, and trudging up and down the hill makes me feel the best kind of tired. Physically exhausted, fully justified in cracking a beer or two, with any mental stress just lifted away.
Rubber Boots bring Happy Times!

Here we Go!

Saturday afternoon while out in the fresh air, pulling brush, chopping trees, and enjoying this place so special to my heart, I decided that keeping a journal of the thoughts, the ideas, the memories from the past, and the memories that continue to be made each day would be a good idea. After a bit more thought I decided this would be a great opportunity to try my hand at blogging. A blog about Chezzetcook and the journey we take as we prepare to build here on this little piece of heaven. I asked Dan what he thought of me writing a blog, recording our progress in words and pictures, he laughed and asked where I thought I’d find the time- I guess we’ll see.

My plans for this blog are casual, in it I’ll write a personal account of our days in and around Chezzetcook. My current plans are to write about the past, the present, and the future. I’ll write about our trials and tribulations as we prepare to build, and as we go through the process. Hopefully, what we will be left with is a collection of memories that we can look back on while we sit on our sunny deck, watching the beautiful sunset over the Chezzetcook Inlet.

I welcome any stories, ideas or advice that you may have in relation to anything I may post, Chezzetcook, and/or the process of designing and building a home. I also ask you to be gentle with any criticism because if I am to get my thoughts into print, I won’t be taking much time in the way of editing.