Pilgrims Progress?
by Linda Johnson
24th January 2005I've had people come up to us at markets and ask how our house is going, as I haven't published any updates since November 2003. So for those who are interested, here's our progress to date.
When I look back at the last update I can see that we have made some progress, although everything happens much more slowly than we had hoped. What we have had to learn in this business is infinite patience.
After waiting for well over a year we were told that the electricity poles would be installed in September 2003. They told us we'd need to clear 20m on either side of the wires so we did lots of lopping around the marking poles, especially the first post which was across the road on another property. After that we talked to the representative on the phone and he said 'Did I tell you 20m? Sorry mate, I meant 6m'.
As you know from our last update we still hadn't seen the power poles by November. Christmas came and went, and then one day in April 2004 we looked down the hill and saw an electricity truck putting the poles in - without clarifying where they were supposed to go. We raced down the hill as the second one was going in and fortunately they were digging where we had moved the marking poles the week before as a possible location. We asked them if they had the diagram submitted to the power company but they don't bother with that, they just put the poles where they see the markers. We asked them why they didn't contact us and they didn't have time as they were in a hurry... we'd only waited 2 years for this. Of course, when they went to erect the first power pole where the rep had marked, they realised he hadn't left enough room to actually stand the pole under the existing wire so they moved it a couple of metres away. The poles seem to be all leaning in different directions but we were assured they straighten themselves up in time. Hmmm.
Next, we had our own electrician connect their wire to our meter box. At last! we thought - we can use our electricity. Unfortunately not. Apparently we had to get somebody back from the power company to turn it on officially. So we rang them up only to find there was only one bloke qualified to do this in the area and he'd just gone on holidays to New Zealand for a month, then would have lots of work to catch up on. We asked them to contact us when they were coming out next. So over the next few months we waited patiently to hear from them again. One day, just out of curiosity we plugged a drill into our meter box only to find the power was on. I have no idea how many weeks and months it had been on, but again they had come out and not bothered to tell us. So we now have the electricity on and it's only cost $13,000, a lot of time, and some trees so far.
As you know from our last update, we gave up on trying to find a builder and designed a kit home that would suit the sloping block. The design allowed for a basement with the house above it. On the high side of the hill the house would look single story but from the low side you would see two stories. We initially had the design so you could drive through the basement leaving the land around the house free. To do this a retaining wall would need to be built about 2 metres high and three times as long as the house. As we began to research the costs of this it became apparent that the great wall would probably cost nearly as much as the house. So we changed the design to make the basement into the retaining wall and dig that into the hill, filling in around it. Even with the additional drainage costs it was cheaper to do this than have the retaining wall.
So we finalised our plans and put them through council without much problem. Next we had a concretor and earthmover come in to make roads around the house site and to pour the slab. Fortunately these guys were competent and at last we had our slab.
Because the basement was being dug into the hillside and supporting the house we decided to use reinforced concrete blocks for this. While I know that concrete will not be ascending, I am guided to use these materials at this time so we can build a home and workplace which will serve our needs for our near future. If our needs change as we and Earth ascend we can be guided as to what to build or where to live at that time. For now I'll be happy to live somewhere that two people can pass each other at the same time.
So our next challenge was to find a blocklayer. We got quotes from several people which varied greatly and decided to go with the cheapest. When we rang the man to commence work he decided to put the price up by half again as it was 'so far to come'. We live 30 minutes out of town. Ironically, in the city it can take 2 hours to get from home to work, but here in the country where people are used to driving long distances we are frequently told we live too far out. We were obviously being guided to do this ourselves and since we were running out of money this would probably be the best thing. We figured that it couldn't be that hard putting one block on top of another and since most of the wall would be buried or painted over we could afford to learn on the job. So this is the job we will be undertaking soon.
In early December 2004 our kit home arrived which includes all the external items like frame, roof, cladding etc. The truck was absolutely huge (see photo) and they sent a second truck with a four-wheel-drive fork lift to unload everything. The truck was too big to drive around the house site and had to back out all 36 wheels. There was a scary moment when some of the wheels went down the hill but eventually he got out (wiping out our gate) and had to drive for a few kilometers up the road to find somewhere to turn around.
So we now have all the bits to start building the house. All we need is the allen key:) We have one more thing to do before moving our caravan on site. We have a water tank but need to tap the natural spring to start flowing into it so we have drinkable water. The novelty of living in a 16ft caravan has well and truly worn off and there's too much junk to secure to bother taking it away anywhere. So we bought a little old 10ft caravan that can be towed at a moments notice allowing us to travel to various markets as needed. After being in that one a few days you appreciate the bigger one. I don't know what I'll do when I have a house to live in and a flat surface available to put things on!
I abandoned my original veggie gardens down near the creek as it was something I was rushed into doing by other people and having to drive a few kms every day to water them, hauling water from the creek for things that I didn't yet need became a pain. We've since had some proper terraces put in the hillside and I will be making a good garden up on these and build a chookhouse there too once I'm living on site and can tend them properly. We planted some fruit and nut trees during winter and these are coming along well. I will put some more food trees in the ground over the coming year.
On the ascension front, we have been parked with relatives for the last 18 months and now understand there was karma there that needed releasing. I feel that this is now complete so we will be moving soon to our own land. Although this is nearby and we will see them regularly, we no longer need to occupy the same space.
We regularly use our fields to release records from the land when we go visiting various places. When we initially came to the country it took a while for our fields to adjust to the higher vibration and release a lot of the 'city baggage' but we feel much more attuned to the land now, especially to the part where we will be living which has a different vibration to where we are now.
I was drawn one day to the local pioneers museum. It was all interesting but when I went into a room where there were aboriginal artefacts I felt a strong surge of energy as my field passed over them and records were released over the course of a few minutes. I don't know what was in them but the ancestors must have been waiting a while to do this so I feel priviledged they chose me.
For a while there it was hard to concentrate on ascension and it is still difficult when you are not in a private or quiet space but I've been able to do more lately, even from within the small space I have. Within the coming weeks we will be moving to our own block of land and I can start restoring and anchoring my own space around me. It will be nice to get some exercise too - lots of walking up and down hills carrying concrete blocks should help!
So, even though it feels to me like nothing is happening in a hurry, when I look back over the last year or so I can see that things are gradually happening. I will write another update when I have something new to report.thanks for listening,
Linda :)
Copyright 2003 Linda Johnson www.newage.com.au