Update on the house in Jaguey, Perú - Water!!
I would be disingenuous if I were to say that I am only excited about the new house project in Jaguey. I am excited, but I am also nervous and possibly even a bit afraid. Most worthwhile risks provoke a mixture of emotions, including fear, but I am trying to be cautiously optimistic as we continue to move forward.
I can imagine our homestead in Jaguey, and with the help of a couple of great design teams, we even have some exciting plans for outside around the house and how to decorate the interiors of the first floor as well. As exciting as it is to dream about beautiful landscaping and lovely yet practical interiors, first things first. During this trip, we are going to get things sorted and up and running for our homesteading operation.
We were able to purchase a parcel outside of our wall to the Lima side of things in order to create a pig raising area/operation. That coupled with our plans to plant fruit trees, asparagus, and strawberries, in the first cajón across the lane toward the ocean, means that we need a water supply infrastructure. We were able to sink a well within the wall/house area, and after analysis at a local university, we found out that the well water is clean and can be used for animals and irrigation. SO, we need to be able to pump water up to a cistern on top of the hill that can gravity feed down to where the pigs will live and the irrigation lines will run.
Initially we thought the cistern might be best located within the wall, but the area proved too narrow.
After another trip out with both of the “abuelos” and a friend of Papá Miguel’s named José (who will help us with construction), we decided that the cistern should sit to the right side (when facing the ocean) of the parcel. That will leave us room for a large vehicle gate or “portón” and additional wall around the cistern and pig farm area.
The future sight of our pig business to the Lima side of the wall. To the left in the distance (on the other side of the little lane) is the fenced area where we’ll plant fruit trees and hopefully also asparagus and strawberries.
Tomorrow Presidente Luciano of the Asociación of the local landowners will be out to help us mark where the local road/lane is to go, so that we can stay properly within our property line for the construction of the cistern. Progress is progress, so I’m excited to get one more component into place. Once we have water in place, we can start planting our fruit trees in the huerta!
What is your reasonable risk lately? How are you branching out to work on something new? What are your baby steps that mark out your positive progress? I’d love to know!!
Keep an eye out for these upcoming blog posts:
Milestones to my Ideal - Hacking my brain for 2025
What’s in a word? For 2025 it’s all about the Journey
