Wednesday, June 29, 2011

We Have a Deal

Well we met with the builder and spent quite a while going over the plans. Some of this was difficult because of the translation of technical terms, and the fact that we build things different in Canada. But in the end we came up with a price to finish the first phase of the house. This will include the ground floor pad, the walls, windows, doors, and stairs. Also the upstairs bathroom. The deal included Anchalee and I being part of the crew, so it will be a five person team, minimum, and it should take about a month for phase one.

When the builders are finished there will still be a lot to do and I will have to do a lot of it on my own. There are some new floorboards to add, new outer walls on the second floor, the kitchen needs to be built, and there is all that floor tile to put down. And, we haven't even thought about paint and ceiling tile.

It is probably a much bigger job than I imagine but we are very excited to get going. Today we found a floor tile that we liked and it seemed like a really big deal. We have been so patient, waiting to get some forward momentum with our vision. Now it is all coming at us like it is the easiest thing in the world. We should not forget that we have been working towards this for nearly three years and there has been a lot of prayers from us and our partners. We have such good people behind us that we find ourselves wishing for ways to adequately show our gratitude. And thank you Lord for guiding our steps.

More evidence of great partners is the fact that we are also getting some help to buy that truck. I don't want to mention details, but we are nearly 30 percent of the way to buying a good second hand truck.

Thank you everyone. I will try to make another update before we begin the build. After that I can't guarantee I will be around much as we will spend a month or so working on the house.

PS: Sorry to add this after I posted, but some of you may want to know what happened to the kids who stole all the frogs and fruit from our place. I hear that they were all brought before the village headman and were soundly spanked.  Hopefully this immediate justice will have some bearing on these 11 year olds.Can you imagine if this penalty was part of the western legal system?

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Toilets and Frog Snatchers


Well we still haven't met with the builders, I guess it will be a few more days. We are quite anxious to get rolling. In fact we went to a big home depot type store and bought some things for the house. We bought three windows, a front door, and a couple of western style, sit down, toilets. We felt that if any of our western friends came to visit us some day they would appreciate that simple touch of home.

Actually we bought these things so we could get the measurements. The lower walls will be going up right after we pour a floor, and we needed to know about plumbing too. At least it feels like the project is underway.

We received a bit of bad news today; some kids came to our place in the village while no one was around. They stole everything of value they could haul away and sell at the market. This included all of our mature frogs, fruit on the trees, pineapples, and assorted other edible things. Anchalee's dad managed to catch one of the boys and he will be brought before the village headman. I have no idea how they handle stuff like that in the village, but it is a reminder that there will be new challenges for us moving up there. Especially because I will be the only westerner for many miles. But given time they will notice that not all westerners are rich.

I will report back here after we consult with the builders, it should be soon.

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Saturday, June 11, 2011

The Shed

Well I am back from the village, it turns out I can get there from Chiang Mai by motorcycle in just under three hours. This was the first long run for my bike and it performed quite well. No need to downshift on the mountain slopes.
The purpose of this trip was to have a good look at the old granary/shed  to see if it can be modified to be something useful. You can see by the picture it is pretty rough, so I think I will have to just make something better just in front of it and then perhaps, some time in the future, we can make the old part better too.
We have a pretty solid plan but now we are waiting for some builders to become available so we can get started. Unfortunately we won't be meeting with them until the 20th, so we will busy ourselves with other things.
This week we are trying to connect with some people that grow vanilla here in Thailand. I think this would be a great crop for us to get involved with. It is complicated and requires extra care, but vanilla is popular and has a high value. It is also easy to ship. Did you know that vanilla is an orchid? Hopefully this week we will make some progress towards  getting some plants.
Other than that, we are busy with the kids of course. See you next week.
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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Welcome To Our Blog

Some of you already know that Anchalee and I have made the decision to move to the village where she was born. I am intending to use this blog to talk about the experience. So far we have made plans to renovate Anchalee's house from a a small wooden house on stilts (600 square feet), to a much larger 2200 square foot house with four bedrooms and modern features such as a kitchen and indoor plumbing. So follow along as we, in faith, attempt to do this big job on a tiny budget.

In order to move into the house, we need to use the entire lower area of the house. This area is currently being used as dry storage by Anchalee's father. He keeps his plow there and the corn he harvests. He also uses this area to fix motorcycles, which is a sideline for him. And the under part of the house is where people go to get out of the sun. if we take all that away we will have to make something else in return. So the very first part of this project is to make another sheltered multipurpose area.

On the property there is a half building where he stores his rice. It is made up with rough lumber and it is quite a mess, but I think we can make it into something much better. Tomorrow I will go up there with my bike, take some photos and make up a plan. It will also mark the first long drive (3 hours) I have made with my Chinese enduro motorcycle. I have been looking for an opportunity to give it a good test.

If all goes well I will back in a few days with an update, and maybe some photos too, if I can figure out how to add pictures to this blog. See you soon.