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Bonney & Jeff

Let the Project begin!!

The morning came swiftly and our waking ritual was interrupted by a knock on the door....

We had come up to Camano Sunday afternoon to do a major dump run. The garage and our storage room had much to contribute! We have come to love the local dump. The people are friendly and helpful; the policies are terrific. We hauled off years of stuff. Recycling, chemicals, fluorescent tubes, you name it! On our second pass over the scales, the cashier recognized us and gave us a "frequent-dumper" discount! We had made a huge dent in removing a lot of trash and it felt good.

Back at the beach, things were really empty.

But the Aero bed was remarkably comfy.

We brought the picnic table and plastic chairs in for furniture. Our dinner was carefully planned to be reheated in the microwave; the eating implements and plates were disposable. With the fireplace warming us up, we watched a DVD on my laptop. I love 'Mystic Pizza', and can watch it over and over.

A very productive day, and a very comfy last evening in the old house.

But I digress. Back to the knock on the door, it was Sebastian, who heads up the deconstruction crew.

He was ready to go with two of his team. They got right to work removing the interior walls and insulation and deconstructing the upstairs while we hurried about emptying the downstairs. This is how it looked when they went to lunch.

Deconstructing looks like this. Not just a heap of stuff in the dumpster.

Meanwhile Jeff and Jim worked hard to get the kayaks situated in their berths. It was windy and storms were in the forecast, so they worked hard to lash the kayaks down firmly.

Our friend Shelly made this wonderful owl. She spent many summers on Hood Canal and made these little critters so often that after many years on the high plains of Bend, she still remembers and put this sweet thing together on a recent visit. We call it the Shore Owl and think that it will be our new travelling partner. Here, Shore Owl is pictured as we leave the beach; our storage locker is in the background. Hopefully future locations will be more inviting!

The ride home turned ugly. As we got onto I-5 the wind was whipping up. A big blast hit the side of the car and Jeff feared that the kayaks had shifted. We pulled off the highway to find that indeed they had. The hardware that was attached to the car and holding the kayaks, had popped off.

Luckily Jeff had recognized a 'disturbance in the force'!

You know the saying "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb". Maybe it will hold true for our project

.

This is our farewell portrait. We'll miss the old house.

But, there's another wonderful story to follow! That's for another day... I'm tired.

The Agony and the Ecstasy and Whatever's In Between

OK, OK, I'm cribbing a title line, but that's how we feel.

We've been trying to build a home on Camano Island for over two years now.

About 7 weeks ago, after our permit had been with Island County Planning for 7 months, they told us they'd come to a decision. But they wouldn't tell us what it was. And they wouldn't tell us when they could tell us.

We'd been struggling with this Planning Department for a long time. Ever feel like you badly need to just break something? Yeah. Friends would ask how things were going, and we'd just shrug our shoulders. At one point we considered having T-shirts made with the words "No, not yet!" on the front.

Finally, we received their determination. It was a page long and said we could build (Yay!) but we had to raise our foundation height 2" because we were in a brand-new determined flood plain. Two inches.

We were pretty invested at this point, so we had drawings redone and reengineered for the new foundation extension and flooring.

Then, with happy hearts (see previous posts and pics), we went off to empty out the house so it could be deconstructed and we could begin building our new home.

We spent several days emptying everything out of the house. Huge props to our adult offspring and SOs for pitching in with a will - we couldnt' have done it without them. We gave a LOT of stuff away and stuffed everything else into a heated storage unit.

Yesterday, after all this work, we received word from Island County Planning that they'd made an error - we needed to raise the foundation 2 FEET, not 2 INCHES. This was based on a pre-emptive US Army Corps of Engineers survey that had been done that contradicted the FEMA survey. See how weird this shit can get?

After some conversation, Bonney and I realized we couldn't build the foundation 2 feet higher - it would look incredibly stupid and ugly. It would also have way too many stairs for a home where we hoped to live to a ripe old age.

When I tell you that Bonney was in tears, I also tell you that this was breaking my heart.

We went to bed. Slept poorly, woke early, sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating buttered toast (a sovereign remedy for most ailments). Then we got a call from our builder; our architect had rung in on this. As it happens, the Corps of Engineers used an incorrect datum point for their survey.

The result? We didn't have to raise our foundation 2 feet. We didn't even have to raise it 2 inches.

You might think we'd be dancing in the streets - and we *do* like to dance - but we're really feeling whipsawed. On my part, I just don't know how I feel, I'm only mildly glad that we'll be able to build our home and am still infuriated at a county planning division that took over 200 days and much heartache to issue a permit. Unlike in the private sector, we have very little recourse outside the courts to recover any of the money we spent due to Island County Planning's errors.

OK, we're going for a walk. If you see a couple walking in Seattle holding hands spontaneously burst into a few steps of Merengue - it's probably us!

As we get ready for the project....

We've had some wonderful times in this place.

There were visits from Karen and Bruce, including their summer visit spent shoring up the deck and doing ongoing maintenance on the house. And refacing the garage door! Not to mention the crab sushi....Thank you Bruce! Karen and I picked so much crab that Amy was working hard to be sure we ate it before the freezer destroyed it!

Judy flew in and we had a great time! Gardens, Mariners games, good times with our daughters.

Mom and Dad, Allison, and Emily were here for Amy's graduation. Here Mom, Emy, and Allison are posing behind the giant poppies that grew in a crack in the driveway in front of our garage door!

Michael has visited a number of times over the years, helping out in many ways that included installing our 'Dish' on a frigid December day. He and Art sunk the far end of the pulley line eight years ago at a very low tide. It allows us to pull the boat to the shore to do our crabbing, then send it out into the bay to ride the waves. It is still in place.

Kate and Dave, James and Alex enjoyed good times at the beach. Crab rolls, relaxation, music, and bocce. David's vision for our future house set us on our course.

Many friends over the years enjoyed the Smelt Run, each February in LaConner with lunch at the house, followed by a nap!

Here are just a few pictures.

And the Smelt Run will continue!

Brendan celebrated his 29th birthday here in lovely weather...

And Victoria celebrated her 60th with good friends, roast suckling pig, a big bonfire, and a gorgeous November day.

And of course the dogs: Mickey, Jazz, and friends have enjoyed this place in more ways than we care to describe!

Jeff has established his work station at the dining room table, except when the weather is more inviting.

Over the past eleven years, this place has grown on us- we've come to love the calm and quiet and have engaged with the slower pace of life on the island. We've met a few new friends and look forward to meeting more as we move ourselves into a permanent living situation in the new home.

And speaking of new home, we'll have more pix and blogging upcoming as we begin to deconstruct the old home and build a new one. Our builder is setting up a camera on the garage. It will take pictures every few seconds, which should give us an interesting record of the work!

We'll miss the old place - but not, I suspect, for long - Jeff and I have always been pretty adaptable to our living situations and the new home will be beautiful.

Stay tuned.

Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Easter, Smelt Run

We've enjoyed so many events and holidays here, but all will agree that the 4th of July is the highlight of the year! The day begins with a neighborhood parade down the street. Yes, WE are the parade. And sometimes there's music! Jeff calls it the Parade of Farm Implements!
(click the arrow for a real treat!)

Linda Cole was such a good sport agreeing to play son Sam's trombone while husband Jeff provided the boombox back-up.

The extended Cole family has become a part of our tradition.

As have the McCartys.

and Beeray!

At the end of the parade there is a gathering which the Swigart family has hosted for the last 15 years. We pledge allegiance; the cannon fires; we sing an anthem. There is usually a fly-over of jets, helicopter, and /or a cargo plane from Whidbey Naval Air Station. Sometimes eagles even make an appearance. Occasionally a sailor from the base addresses the crowd. There's a sense of pride in our country and gratitide for our freedom. It gives me goosebumps!

Then there are popsicles!

The afternoon is usually spent hanging out; eating, playing, enjoying the beach, the day, and each other. Then a fine meal and finally the long awaited fireworks all up and down the beach.

Looking forward to 4th of July 2011!