Over this past week Jennifer and Joe Brown, along with Sasha and I have done some major cleanup work on the property. The perimeter has needed to be cleared and Sasha's done almost all of the edges in preparation for the plot to be officially surveyed and staked so we can put up temporary new fencing through the building process. 

The health of the trees has been a big concern, both those that were transplanted but the new ones and grape vines too. The snails multiply buy the hundreds it seems, overnight so I painted the scented white paint that's popular here in Ukraine, it's usually goes on at the start of the season. We're a little slow, that's all.

These are our 10 grape vines of varying types and colors, though labeled, we may just have to wait a few years to find out for certain what kinds they really are.

This area will have a foundation on it, we pray, this next year.

Spent a few more days this week working the land that will be the therapy garden plot for Stephen's home. With the hot sun these days, watering the transplanted trees is the main focus, though weeding is going to be a never ending endeavor if we don't try something new. 

So we bought something we were told is comparable to Roundup and sprayed it yesterday. Today the weeds all look the same. I don't think it's comparable!

Considering the price we paid for it, $4 to make a 5 liter spray container, tells me it's not the same. Sasha's willing to wait a day or two, I'm willing to maybe go look in another store to see if they sell Roundup. 

The soil is rich in Darivka. It's wonderful for growing plants, we drove through fields of blooming sunflowers this morning on the way to church. The problem is weeds grow just as quickly, if not faster. The vine that's formed across the entire garden area is all connected and it's roots are a bear to get out, well if your like me and have little upper body strength. The hoe I use is sharp, but requires a few more wacks to get to the bottom of the problem :-).

We have about 20 of these two or three year old fruit trees around the perimeter of the 

therapy garden that were transplanted this past fall and spring from the plot you see in the upper left corner where we will build the home. 

(The variety of trees: apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach and 10 new grape vines that are about 2 feet tall now. We also have a Japanese flowering tree and a walnut tree that will become the center of the garden area.)

I'm trying to be prepared for anything and everything to change at the drop of a hat, because that's what's been happening lately concerning my understanding of legal requirements and how they differ in so many ways depending on location. "STANDARD" is a foreign word in Ukraine - but seriously, nothing happens the same way twice, there's always a loop hole or glitch some where in every case whether it's plot contract or visa registration. The plans we have for the house, pictured below are the plans we are building with, but they are too big for the plot on one side  (the right). So on that one side, where we are purchasing the adjacent property, we have to go through the process of purchasing the plot of land to make it legally owned by PROMISE, which will take about 2 months, maybe 3. Then we can work once again with the architect and bring the designs back to her to approve. This bumps our start date for building back to May of next year, 2016, but this is our best option all the way around. Peace that only the Lord can give is sufficient.

This page shows two separate levels of the house in one image

The lofted area on the upper left is the attic/storage area in a rafted area of the ceiling accessible by a drop down ladder. This is the only part of the entire house that has not been made handicapped accessible. 

The center basement area has an extra long run on the stair case as we've made the rise of the stairs much lower (4 inches) and the run longer (12 to 14 inches) to allow those who can walk to easily help get food and other items out of the cold cellar.