Sprouting a Home

    This adorably humble scene has become the hub of our new little Volcano life. We cook and eat here, take naps here in the afternoon and do our scheming, scheduling and planning here as well. This little sprout of a kitchen will be remembered fondly as we begin to move onward and upward to the next evolution of our home. 

Besides indulging in the beauty and deliciousness that Hawai'i has to offer, Byron and I have been preparing some space on the land for our house, as well as the driveway/parking area and the 15 foot bell tent that we will be living in while we build. We plan to excavate these three areas in the next couple of weeks.

The driveway is first up for excavation. We want to dedicate a pretty big area for parking, since there is no space to park on the street. As simple as it sounds, we are so excited to transform this area and begin parking on the property!

Our biggest project these last few days has been choosing a site for the house. We decided on a spot in the rear area of the property that is the highest, flattest ground and has a lovely view of the meadow and forest. Byron got to work felling some trees there while I cleared the vines and hauled the branches.

Some of the larger logs required the use of a 4 to 1 pulley to move out of the clearing. Byron rigged up the system using the trees as anchors and we got to work, pulling the logs out inch by inch.

The logs were hoisted onto a lumber rack that Byron fashioned out of... more logs. We plan to mill out some of the larger logs to build our tent platform, while the smaller guava trunks can be used whole for building furniture. In fact, the bench from our kitchen photo was made entirely with guava tree trunks.. as well as Byron's magical building skills, of course.

After a couple full days of cutting and clearing, we are left with this little bubble of open space for our building site. We look forward to seeing this area transform wildly over the next year and showing you the progress along the way!

Right now, though, we are heading to Kona for a few days to do some tree work and spend time with friends! So kick back and have a coconut, on us. Aloha!