Spring 2004

Feb. 29, 2004
Our second Spring Break in Julian, we wandered around trying to imagine what it will be like to live here. We saw evidence, a foot print in the snow, of a bear. It seems late, or early, for a bear to be out and about. We met with our team of Architect par Excellence, Michael Haluga, and Ameron Excavation Lead Engineer, Steve Balkey. We got all lawyered up again and signed on for the house on March 2, 2004.

While the Baroness was straightening her left toe, the Baron visited his construction workers to lay out the site and semi-finalize the floor plans with Michael. We can change things up to the beginning of construction without much bother, but after that it will cost time and money.

He cleaned up 17 bags of trash: cans, bottles, shotgun shells, and other detritus of a by-gone era. Trash will not do at the Barony. We had our house plans, so all we though we needed was the big shovel. We were, of course, still waiting for Joe Hall, King of all Septic Plans, to decide on our fate. We aren't too happy with him since he signed off on our first plan which was then kicked back to us by the Pa Environmental Protection Agency for being too close to the drop off. We had to start the whole process all over again including paying new fees.
Our southeast corner is adjacent to Paradise Ranch, a 777 acre hunting resort. They have an 8' high fence to keep us out and, presumably, the exotic wild animals in. Our side is a wild tangle of grapes, roses, and barberries. We'll call it our Bear's Lair. This corner is our lowest corner at about 1,000 ft above sea level.
The northeast corner is near the top of Blueberry Hill and the Jennifer Trail, the old logging trail that runs north/south most of the length of the property, down to a great, private camping plateau. (We haven't yet named a good Shannon trail.) It's close to the highest part of the property at about 1300 ft.
Following the northern boundary is an easy walk down hill, but tracking the orange ribbons on trees and "posted" signs can be tricky. The boundary takes a slight jog about 2/3 of the way down and crosses a seasonal trickle of water. The northwest corner is near a hemlock patch.
To find the final corner requires a hike up hill, across the meadow and driveway, and back into the forest. It's west of Paradise's fence, but we haven't actually found it yet.