Put another peg in the ground ...

Who else spends Boxing Day standing in a muddy paddock, new compass in hand, arguing about true north? That's where we ended up after a fractious Christmas Day involving over-excited men, GoogleEarth and a multitude of opinions about exactly where the sun would be at any given time of the day. It turns out that north is about 20 degrees off, anyway, thanks to a strange difference between magnetic and true, so after much stamping around, we finally agreed on a new, ideal site for our new house. I want the view, he wants solar maximisation, and neither of us liked where the pegs had it sited.

Ah, siting. Before you can say the builders will be here next week, make sure you agree exactly where the house will sit. We're at the end of a long stage one in this project (2 years of design, change, compromise and budget blow-outs) and now it begins.

This is the year of the house, when we finally make the move from small but charming Christchurch cottage to larger, eco-friendly house in the country, the beautiful little village of Woodbury in South Canterbury, to be exact. New house, new stage of life, lots of plans.

This blog is my regular diary to record the pleasures and pitfalls ahead as we head south - downsizing in a way, but plenty of ideas for expanding our horizons, too, both literally and figuratively. This week we meet the architect on site and re-site, so lots of pegs and stringlines ahead. And the builders say they're starting on the 21st ... hhmmm.

Of course, there's a lot of back story to all this, some of which will emerge in the weeks ahead. How hard can it be for a middle-aged couple, no kids, strong views, GSOH, social drinkers, to realise their dreams?