So, where am I headed?

If you keep up with the personal aspects of my blog you know I recently set a list of goals for this year.

Goal 1, remove old guest house...

 

Turns out that Goal 1 and Goal 2 are very intertwined.  A portable building per the building code is doable but anything over 14' x 14' (or 201 sq-ft) requires site plans and a $125 permit.  Now this doesn't sound bad except for the line that says while the inspector is on the property they can cite you for any and all code violations they see.  My house is 70+ years old, there are several issues around the roof replacement that need finished (fascia boards, soffit, and sadly gutters--gutters on a house with an overhang cause more problems than they solve) to meet code.  Also it is possible that two large cedar trees will have to be removed--actually I know they need to come out but are so close to the house I have to have a professional drop them.

 

It turns out though I do not need any permits to redo the old guest house as it is an existing structure and bonus it existed before the county had planning & zoning or building codes so it is exempt!

 

I have discovered the building does indeed have a foundation!  It is made of concrete/cinder blocks.  Now the question is how do I work with this?  A lot of research will have to go into how to replace the bottom plates all the way around the building.  Also maybe I should add a solid concrete block to the foundation and possibly back fill the cinder blocks with concrete?

 

This is all going to take time.  Soon to be ex (STBE) is still willing to help finance some of this, but now I'm not too sure on any given day.  Maybe I can get the amount of money that would have been spent on a portable building, and use it toward this rebuild?  All my funding routes will stay active for now anyways.  All money already collected is staying in my Venmo and Cash apps until I need it for aspects of the project.

 

I will still have a sizable amount of material to be salvaged from the South wing of the building, so goals 3 through 7 will remain--I now have a good working drawing for my dining table drafted out.

 

I am now pouring myself into a search for a "normal" job.  I swore I'd never work for anyone else but me again when I "retired" but here I am.  I may have found an angle using my acquired skills that will allow me to slightly change careers so I can work with the arthritis.  I am currently not seeing any viable route toward working from home as I hoped to.  If I can land a job by early February I will have my 90 days in before STBE moves out--yes I sort of have a date range now.  I can bank some cash, some for shop, some honestly to replace things I will no longer have or that need replaced anyways.

 

The ten copper roses have moved to Etsy and hopefully they sell as that will give me some needed cash toward my goals.

 

So where does that leave my blog and YouTube channels?

 

Good question, honestly I will try to keep to a standard posting here as that isn't too hard.  The channel will get recorded as I can and may be more time-lapse than actual footage for Maura the Maker.  I plan to record Cooking with Maura every other week and have a couple of things planned for that aspect of the channel already.

 

Do to the issues involved in editing manuscripts I'm considering recording my books and releasing them in audio book format.  Maybe when I can, I'll get the text edited and publish in print.

 

Basically the hustle continues in all its forms but with the possibility of knocking 50 hours a week--takes time to get places--out of what time I have.  Then take out cooking, laundry, cleaning, shopping, I'm not left with a lot of time.

 

I'll keep the updates posted here, and yes there is potentially other news that is good but as stated before I can't share it yet.

 

So that's where things appear to be heading for now.

 

--Maura

 

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