THE LAND 2

So as time has marched on nature has reclaimed the land again and it is almost as over grown as it was before, which is to be honest more than heartbreaking as before we literally spent every spare minute getting it cleared the first time……… So we start trimming, chopping, strimming again and remember what bought us here in the first place – tantalising glimpses of the view that caught us last time! ……. but time has indeed marched on and we are not as young or as healthy as we were and cannot work as we once did so Jamie [our 18 year old and much more energetic son!! ]  gets on and strims etc with some help from some local workers….So something to be considered as you look for your land is how much you actually need … Here in Greece there are regulations regarding being in and out of village boundaries, how much you can build etc etc – so always make sure you check all of these before you start, and then of course think about how much you actually need to live, will you want a pool? a garden? a garage? and so on…..it can be truly amazing how once you really get down to designing your dream home if there are parameters to stick to which you were not expecting just how creative you can become!

So after much walking round the land and seeing what there actually is after it has all been cleaned the next debate is where and at what angle to put the house…..and much debating as to which way we were actually facing and where would the solar panels need to go to get the best light for the maximum hours …. all these sort of things which you have to think about!

You may find there are a few things which will become your favourite tools – a VERY long tape measure and some spray paint [for marking the ground] it is always a good idea to get at LEAST 2 colours as if you don’t change your mind and need to make a new mark in a different place it will be nothing short of a miracle!! –  a compass [or an app on your phone that is a compass ] and even with that you may be hard pressed to believe you are facing the way it says! LOL….. an app on your phone to tell you where the sun will be on any given day and time – this may sound strange but if you live in a place where the sun plays a large part of your life, it is amazing how you may look at your space on one day in February, but then in August realise in the position you have chosen, you have no shade and will cook with so many glass windows…. I used an app called Sun Locator [ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.genewarrior.sunlocator.lite&rdid=com.genewarrior.sunlocator.lite ] – there are quite a few to choose from……… and then of course there are your plans – Andy [husband ] decided to be very dedicated and made to scale models of the containers …… if nothing else it gave us all a laugh and kept him busy for a while – the picture above is the result!! 😉