Changes....

In the short 2 1/2 months that Jim and I have been dating, we have both made quite a few changes.  For him, he took down his wind mill out in Fremont MN due to issues with the county planning department and then moved his 6x10 house- first to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in mid June, and then to my land out in North Bend.  A week and a half ago we poured the piers for it to sit on, and put in a pole for the solar panels on my land.  Last week we set up his house, renting a big forklift as it was too heavy for his tractor, and within that same day we hooked up water from 2- 330 gallon water tanks and have pressurized water, and ran the wires to get solar power hooked up.  2 days later, Jim got up early and hooked up the solar hot water panels, so now we have hot water coming out of our shower head hose and can take wonderful showers!  We also have a mini fridge, air conditioner and internet here on my land!  The last picture shows the tent that my uncle gave me- a 16 foot army tent where we store many things and can have guests sleep =) Yesterday we spent the fourth of July hooking up 2 more solar panels to our pole, making an amplifier so we can have music inside (he taught me how to solder and I got to make most of it), and then taking the truck out to Fremont to get the outdoor shower, where we got stuck in the driveway and met some nice neighbors, Bob and Crystal who helped us out.
I now have my building permit, and the front end loader got fixed on the tractor today, so as soon as it is nice out, I will be renting an auger and starting the piers for my cabin =) My original plans of building a 24x28 foot cabin have been currently put on hold, and I will be building a smaller, 14x16 foot cabin this year.  In a  way, I guess it is my practice cabin, and may be my workshop or art studio later on.  But, it will give me time to figure out which direction my life is headed, and still give me a place to live and be on my land in the meantime.  I am pretty excited about it!  I was hoping to start sooner, but apparently permits and all that paper work were entirely under estimated.  It seems everything takes about 3 more steps and twice as long as anticipated, but I am still excited about all the progress out here.  I now have a small flower garden and have been planting a lot of wildflower seeds in one part of my yard I have decided to keep meadow. I have also planted 2 apple trees and 2 blueberry plants, thanks to my Mom.  Apparently, I also have TONS of raspberry and black raspberry plants also growing out on my land.  I am still hoping to plant pear, plum, and a few more apple and lilacs, but those might have to wait until next year.
The Midwest Renewable Energy Fair was a lot of fun!  Jim worked the whole time, but I went off and went to hear speakers about building green, building smart to save energy, composting, building with stone, biodiesel and grey water systems.  I came back with lots of ideas and a lot more knowledge about building.  I look forward to going again next year!
On Saturday, Jim and I celebrated his Mom's birthday by paddling the Black River.  We launched from my crick, and headed south for 22 miles.  The temperature was 89 degrees at 7:30 at night when we headed back, so I imagine it was well into the 90's while we were paddling.  Despite multiple re-applications of sunscreen we got a bit of sunburn which I still feel when I turn on my side to sleep.  It was a beautiful trip though, and I enjoyed seeing more of "my" river =) Today is another rainy day, so I am heading to the cabin to celebrate the 4th with family and eat a ton of food at dad's cabin.  I wish Katie a very happy birthday!!