Young Ben .....the cat

Okay, so I was just a bit excited to have actually bought my lot with all the fruit trees and a place for my small house.

I was so much excited that the first day that the property was actually mine I headed out with my tent and sleeping bag to claim my space!

Now if you look real close, just to the right of the two trees that stand together in the middle of the picture....you can see the ocean. This will look nice from a second story I think.
It will be a small house on top of a ground floor basement ...  making it big enough to keep the City happy.  It will be small and will have a view of the ocean ... which will make me happy.

The lot was quite overgrown with tall grasses. The figs, plums and hazel nuts were far from ripe. The apples had not been selectively pruned and had three or so on each branch which were the size of ping pong balls. My neighbours told me that the deer have been enjoying them. The cherries were ready for picking and I picked all I could reach from the top of the ladder.  The rest would have to be for the birds. 

I stayed for a few days and I met Young Ben.. the cat.

I named him Ben... the Young Ben from 'Who Has Seen The Wind', by W.O. Mitchell. 

He seemed very much at home in the tall grasses, leaping at all the bugs buzzing about.  

He allowed me to stay on my property, but he kept a close eye on me.

The Young Ben greeted me when I arrived back to my tent in the evening, and was glad to sit with me in the day.  Although I had to bring my own bench!

I think the Young Ben has a home somewhere as he sports an ear tattoo.  I wonder how Dora and Diego will get along with him.

I will have inside cats and I will have outside cats.
And I will have coffee while I think about it...

It was a short few days but enough time to meet some of my neighbours.  I had a great talk with a couple who had a huge garden and many solar panels on their house. They sell power back to the grid.  

I will have to learn how to take care of all my trees and I located a garden centre just two blocks away who will be of great help to me.  I learned that the tree pruning should be early next year.  

I already knew that my lot has some slope to it, but I discovered the area for the house is not really flat. This I discovered from my sleeping bag atop my foam thermie as I settled in to sleep.  It was a slippery sloped sleep.

Right now I read, I watch, I talk to people and I plan and design my small house.....

Timber frame with SIP walls, wood stove, radiant floor heating,  solar panels for energy, rainwater harvesting? How will I heat my water? How much will I actually build?.... another cup of coffee first.

And I wait, somewhat impatiently for my house to sell.. to begin the project.