Unveiling the Dream

You know how when you tell people something it becomes real?

Well, on Christmas day we took our family out for their first visit to the block. We stood on top of the hill and explained our vision.

“Can you see it?” I asked. “The horses grazing native grasses down in the flat. An off-grid sustainable home on the hill. The long drive with mature gums lining either side?”

Their responses, “Um. Sure we can. Yep, we can see it if you can see it.”

Oh crap… they can’t see it.

I can tell by Mum’s face that all she can see is hard work. As always, she is thinking of us first. Why would we do this to ourselves? We have a perfectly lovely home right where we are. The kids are thinking… where is the pool?

We sit on the hill for a while and finish our beers. A long silence settles over the group and all of a sudden I can feel something shifting. The magic of The Sandhill is starting to sink in. There is absolute quiet apart from a few birds in the trees. There is stillness. There is peacefulness.

My dad has been for a wander through the trees along a fence line. The farmer in him has been checking out important things like fences and drainage. He comes back and gives me a nod.

“I can see it,” he says.

Oh, thank god! Maybe we’re not completely crazy after all.

Blend it your way,

Lisa

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How (Not) to Build a Sustainable House