Sunset Ridge Shop Build

 Well, it's going to happen....

A couple of years ago we bought our dream retirement home in the foothills. Its a nice house on 6 acres and sits at the top of a hill. The house is oriented lengthwise North-South with a back deck facing East and the front porch facing due West. 

One of our favorite things is to have coffee on the back deck and watch the sunrise and later to have a glass of wine on the front porch to watch the sunset....Hence the name Sunset Ridge.

Over the past 2 years, we've been working on the unfinished basement, clearing the property of manzanita and other overgrown vegetation and a ton of other small projects to make it what we want it to be.

Last year, we began the planning for a barn/shop on the lower pad below the house. At the time, it was just that. Looking at websites, playing with design software, imagining the look, feel and usage of the space, budgeting estimated costs, etc....pretty much just dreaming.

Well, this week that all changed from a dream to reality when I put the deposit down on our 32x30 metal barn building. 

It's going to be a bit of a process still as we have to wait on engineered plans, then submit to the county for permits, send to concrete contractors for bids and wait for all of the pieces to fall in to place. And while this is all very exciting, waiting has never been one of my strong suits....

Fasten your seatbelts folks, we're in for a bumpy ride......

Trying to get back in the groove....

 So, here we go....

Its been several years since I've sat down to write and one of my goals this year has been to try to get back in the groove on a regular basis. It's both fun and cathartic and actually allows me to have a conversation with myself without doing it out loud. (People tend to frown on that)

Between now and August we'll be preparing to finish the renovation of our house in the foothills, finish clearing our land, build a metal barn, quit our jobs, sell our current house and move up the hill full time. Oh yeah, and I'll be having shoulder replacement surgery and we'll both still be working full time until the move....

I figure my life isn't really that interesting to anyone but me, but some of these projects and changes should provide good content and writing has always been a way for me to work through some of the stress that is sure to come with the changes.

Where are we currently? 

Well, we're both blessed with good, stable jobs and income which we recognize is not something everyone has. We own a nice home in the SF bay area and a nice home on 6 wooded acres up in the foothills. We're both active and in good health and have families that we actually love hanging out with. We're not young 30-something kids that have the energy to go all day and into the evening, but also not so old that we can't put in a full days work. (with the help of Tylenol of course)

So, since I'm big on lists here's my current one.  (I mean after all, what better way to see how much you're not getting done on a daily basis than to write everything down and not be able to check it off)

• Build metal barn - Technically, its spec, order, prepare for and pay for metal barn installation. Although I think I could bumble my way through a concrete pad and assemble a metal building kit if I was not working full time and had several weeks to figure it out. Right now, its a matter of bandwidth and I have none.
• Decide on size, design, color, doors, windows and a million other little details - CHECK
• Get bids from various vendors, read reviews, check licenses, make decision - CHECK
• Pay deposit - CHECK
• Wait on plans for permits and begin qualifying concrete contractors to bid on pad - PENDING
• Begin permit process
• Finish clearing/grading pad area
• Award/schedule concrete pad install
• Schedule installation
• Start going through/clearing out current house in preparation of move - ONGOING
• Continue working with financial planner to see if we can afford to do what we've already decided to do (yes, we've got this a little backwards, but I think we're ok)
• Itemize list of renovations/work to be done for foothill house to be completed
• New flooring
• Painting of exterior
• Finish clearing of bottom portion of property
• Work through surgery scheduling
• Hire replacement at work and onboard/train

I'm sure there are lots of other things I haven't or can't think of right now, but this is a good start....we'll see how it goes...in the meantime, a couple of pics of the future home