The First Acre is the Hardest

I have finally been able to acquire a property that I can comfortably refer to as Seanland!

It is a new house for my mother. It is on just under an acre, however, offers a close location with unlimited possibilities! It contains two smallish outbuildings - think garden shed size - one is insulated, one IS a garden shed. Beyond that, it has two larger strucutures, one is - what I will call - a farmer's garden. It is where the equipment is store, such as tractors, mowers, ATVs, snowmobiles, etc. The other larger structure is a two bay garage with a hoist. Yes, a hoist! This is a handyman's dream (I have some skills to gain)!

Since this property is only, approximately, thirty minutes from the immediate family, I am hoping this can become the property the family will flock to. We did like the property as it had a mini-esque basement apartment for us to use; a single bedroom, bathroom and living room/kitchenette. This provides the three of us with more than enough to stay for a short period of time or an extended period of time. There are tons of spots to park a trailer and/or pitch a tent for out of towners. There will also be a spare bedroom for an individual or couple.

It's great! It also provides the space to start building out some of those projects I have always wanted to!

Greenhouse

I have always wanted to have a full grown greenhouse. Somewhere we can grow a large amount of fruits and vegetables (and fish - yes, always wanted to do Aquaponics) in a controlled environment, optimizing the space provided. Beyond that, I was really hoping to automate it as well. Long term goals included adding sensors for temperature to open and close windows, adding solar power for some minor power and maintaining the systems, building out automated feeders for an aquaponics systems, metrics around the temperature, moisutre and water levels, the list goes on.

Mini Spa

A basic area, with a sauna, firepit nearby (part of Outdoor area further down), cold bath, outdoor shower and wood fed hot bath/tub. It should also include some aestetics, such as fountains, rocks and foliage. Just an area to chill out, have a beer, relax and promote healthy living! This will be a lower priority item, but, I definitely think it would be awesome.

Tiny Office

The insulated shed is my future office space. That is the one piece that I have mentally set in stone. I suspect there will be days I have to drive up to the property and will be working remotely there. I will need my own space for taking calls and just working in piece. Apparently, that structure, is a now 80 year old chicken coop, that was converted into the former owner's mini house and will be Sean's office. I will definitely have to redo the flooring, which I had now done one time with my brother, so I am almost an expert!

Dog Run / Backyard

This will be number one of the list. The first plan for the property is to fence an area. Beyond fencing the area, the second plan is to build a bathroom for the dogs. At any given time, there will be two to four dogs on the property. That's a lot of poop if unmanaged, heck, two dogs generate enough poop as it is. This space will also double - to a degree (see next point) - as the backyard. We should have a space for backyard games, such as spikeball, mini soccer, ring toss, etc. I am sure some of this will overflow outside the encaged area, to be figured out.

Outdoor Entertainment Area (kitchen, firepit, bar)

Last but not least, the outdoor entertainment area, this is basically the hang out space if I were to describe it as a different way. The place you go to sit, hang out, have a beverage, chat, etc. The pieces I want to add, are an outdoor kitchen, firepit and bar area. To me, the outdoor kitchen should have a grill and pizza oven, those are the criteria. The firepit, a group of chairs around a firepit. The bar area, is the debatable content, does it have TVs, or taps, or a bar top, power? This is still up in the air, however, the "area" is not.

Beyond all the major projects listed above, I want to enhance the orchard (maybe add some trees to it, or move it to the greehouse, etc), well, the two big apple trees already in place. For the winter, it would be awesome to have a rink of some kind, I recall doing that when we were really young. There is a tiny deck, that could be finished up and be a great place to have a coffee in the morning! Anyways, I am sure this new property will help mix up the blog content a whole lot more!