About Huron County, ON

A few weeks ago I took my dog Lola for a hike to Hullett Marsh. This incredible property of over 5400 acres was a delight to see. Lola and I enjoyed our walk so much that I told my husband I'd like him to see it on his day off last week.

Hullett Marsh is so large that there are many different entrance points and trails. We followed a dead end road, parked and headed onto the trail. We passed by swampy areas and a point where canoes can enter into the water, before coming to an old iron bridge where there must have at one time been a road.

After crossing the bridge I recognized the area from my last visit. On my previous hike this particular part of the trail was underwater and I wasn't able to reach the old bridge. My husband and I continued on our way walking along the dykes and enjoying the views of the trees and wildlife.

At one point we were overcome by a swarm of bugs. I have no idea what they were but luckily they didn't bite. I have to admit I made a couple of mistakes prior to our setting out on this particular trail. I didn't bring the map or look at it before we left home to see how long each trail was.

I also didn't bring any extra water or snacks with us. We walked, and walked and walked. In my mind I felt we should be circling back to the car. Getting pretty tired, I got a bit excited when we saw what we thought was the old bridge we had crossed near the beginning.

Then my husband informed me it was a different bridge. How many old iron decommissioned bridges can there be ? At this point we had to make an executive decision to turn around and retrace our steps. It just made more sense to take the long trek back since we had to admit we were a little lost.

We finally made it back to the car safely, thirsty and with sore feet. Our nice little hike had lasted 3 hours with a five minute break sitting by the water on the way back. Needless to say my husband wasn't too happy with me. When we got home I checked the map and found the little trail we ended up on was the second longest one at the Marsh.

We'd just done a nice little 7 kilometer or almost 4 and a half mile hike. I will definitely go back to Hullett Marsh to try the other trails but I will definitely be a little more prepared next time. Here are a few memories from our hike that I brought home with us.

Cabin in the Woods Design had the privilege of assisting the newest Habitat for Humanity homeowner in Exeter with colour selections and more. Working with the Habitat team in general and the homeowner, in particular, was a wonderful experience and one I hope to repeat with the next Huron County in 2010. There was a real 'buzz' on the Open House Reveal Day in August and pride in her new home was evident on M's face! We had worked closesly together to come up with a palette that would reflect her family's taste and personalities as well as inject energy into individual spaces. The end result was fantastic!

Septic Systems are designed differently depending on what Province or State you reside in, although a common element to designing a septic system is based on the amount of bedrooms that are located in a home. The general rule is each bedroom constitutes a hydraulic load or production of effluent since you are housing more individuals. Due to this the septic systems must be made larger or use an engineered system to ensure the effluent (lets say dirty water) has enough area to disperse into the ground and be treated properly

I just had the expereince of testifying at a court case where the above paragraph weighed heavily on the courts decision, Once the decision is made public I will post the link

The case involved a recent new homeowner suing the Municipality(me), the old home owner, and the Realtor for; Negligence, Violating The Building Code, and Falsifying Information. The case was based on the new home owner moving into his new house, and with in 3 months his septic system was breaking out all over the ground creating a health hazard for the new home owner.

Now to back the story up just a bit the house in question is ten years old. The septic system also ten years old was designed for a 3 bedroom 3000 sq ft home, and has had regular maintenance done on the system, and was fully functional at the time of the sale.

The basement was finished 10 years ago when the house was built and 4 rooms were constructed in the basement. On the construction plans those 4 rooms were indicated as "library", "office", "media room" and "study" and were indicated this way since none of the above headings are listed in the building code as an increase to the hydraulic load on the property (remembering only bedrooms increase the hydraulic load), and thus the developer did not have to go through extra cost to install a larger septic system.

Now to the present, the home owner lists the property with a realtor, and such listing is listed as a 6 bedroom house. This is double what the septic system was designed for. The house sold and a family of 8 moved into the house. With in three months of 6 kids between the ages of 13 and 22 and 2 adults the septic failed as it was not designed for this load.

The new homeowner took the position that he was buying a 6 bedroom house and he felt the septic system must have been designed for a 6 bedroom house. Guess what he won!, The municipality (me) was cleared since we designed the system correctly for a 3 Bedroom house which was indicated on the plans, although the old home owner and the realtor did not make out that well being fined quite an elaborate amount of money as the Justice of the peace found both the Homeowner and the Realtor did not do their due dilligence to list the house properly, and falsified information on the MLS listing.

I'm not agreeing with the Justice of the peace and his decision, although I do feel for the new homeowner that was mislead by the old homeowner and the realtor

Just to let everyone know and to protect themselves and do their due dillegence when listing a property