The Little House on the Hilltop Project

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HIGHLIGHTS: Our first project fan. Pole building construction book. “Scott, do we have any kind of budget for this?!” The O’Neill Hay Barn (Mr. Gehry, we need you!).

COUNTDOWN: 42 WEEKS* (*Not knowing how long it’ll take for this project, I’m going to use the countdown to our inaugural wine release—around November 1—as something to shoot for, particularly since we can only fit 6 people in our camper comfortably – that’s not a very big party).

With Week One of The Little House On the Hilltop (TLHOTH) Project now behind us, let me share what’s happened.

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Looking at my daily dose of wine news yesterday, I came across the most beautiful picture of a medieval castle, its timeless quality framed by a pine forest behind and an enchanting vineyard out front. How it sat there, majestic in its quiet (Samuel had just gone down for a nap and “quiet” was my word of the moment). My first thought was “Oh, how I miss Italy,” where I imagined this castle was. “Wouldn’t a dose of sunshine—or limoncello— in that land of rustic comfort and fine leather hit the spot right about now?” (it was 10 AM, PST, the rain coming down on a grey January morn, as I sat with my own rustic Oregon comfort, coffee). Then I saw the story’s headline, Wine Tales of The Decade.

“Maybe another Italian scandal,” I thought, thinking of the Brunello troubles. “Or MAYBE,” and this is what I secretly hoped it was, “that old buck of a Prime Minister has a new 18-year old wine heiress-mistress?” and with that thought in mind I settled in to read the juicy news.

Well. I was had.

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There a few things I hope to accomplish in 2010:

  • Work on that attitude of mine;
  • Establish a horseshoe pit;
  • Get our wine sold;
  • Submit another story (or two, but one’s a start);
  • Build some shelter on our hilltop.

Each one you’ll most likely hear something about here at The Uncultivated Life, but it is to the last, the shelter on our hilltop, that I now write because seriously, enough is enough.

Almost four years into this, we need something on our hilltop other than our camper. Just a small something where someone like you, dear Reader, can come out and kick back; to sit and survey, look out and see and enjoy the quiet and the expanse, like a small oasis from the rest of the busy world. And someplace where the dreamer inside can go free. (Not to mention, we also need a place to store our farming gear, get that cute little tractor out of the elements, and clean up the clutter that drives me NUTso). As much as we may have started this for ourselves, it’s always been our hope to share it with other individuals who get it: the inherent beauty of a Western landscape; the timeless, intrinsic connection shared between the earth, its bounty, and the people who work it; the idea of possibility and the determination to go for it; the appreciation of the simple and authentic.

Right now, the camper is probably too simple. Read the rest of this entry »

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