XXXV. The Nest
One could have one nest, two, as a many as they want, because dammit if you work as hard as most of us have and have been wise and smart with your income then you should.
The most important thing that one has to do is make someplace, or places, their home. Essentially, build yourself a cozy nest. For the people that want their home built on their own land, this idea is for you and your future nest or nests. I believe as most people do that once you have your nest; work, exist, travel, or chill, go forth into this world and live your life. When you’re done living it up out here, live in that magnificent nest, or nests, you built.
I sought land, and a small piece of land sat diagonal from my grandmother’s house that a church owned. It had sat there vacant unused since 2007 or 2008. I and my aunt acquired about that land years ago and I didn’t have the money for it. Upon contacting them and asking if they had sold it in June of 2024, they had not, so they sold it to me. I never expected to get land. I’m blessed, grateful, and am forever happy about it.
While I worked, and peacefully so; I sought to get a small house built on that land. Thus the beginning of the nests for me and my pet, as well as a place for my stuff. It was all easy peasy, paying the taxes and keeping the grass cut. Now, all there was to do was get the structure built. Easy enough; right?
WRONG
We’re in the era of price gouging. Almost every company was trying to make as much money as they possibly can. There are small to tiny houses that cost $50K and $80K. At first I shopped for a particular house frame. I wanted a company to sell me their wood frame kit. If I wanted to expand the house in some way, an unfinished frame could easily be adjusted. Companies charged too much for their kits. Some sites had some of the most beautiful frames, but they were Timber Post & Beam and HUGE; way too big for the land. I appreciated a lot of these Timber Post & Beam sites because they showed the picture of the frame, the size, and the cost so there’s no mystery as to what is expected. A hollow kit, literally only the wood frame of the house with no doors, no windows, no plywood, the cost for this pre-cut wood is $13K and $18K and that doesn’t include shipping. But to buy the wood from Lowes for your entire frame, this costs $1K or a little more.
Despite the disappointments, I wasn’t in a desperate situation, so I took my time scouring the internet looking for all manner of homes and ideas. I researched everything, sites and videos alike. On one of these busy days I was sitting over-thinking and I remembered my grandad’s shed in the backyard. Then it came to me; I could buy a room, a wood shed, and convert them however I choose to.
Wood sheds in the South are tough. They’re built to take a beating from the weather, 150 mph wind, and they’re built to last. 2 x 4 studs 16 to 24 inches apart, a top plate, bottom (sill) plate, structural door and window beams, cross-braced roof rafters, plywood sheathing, and a wood siding, does a room make.
My granddad’s shed is still standing and enclosed and not a single drop of rain has gotten into it for years. It has flooded here and that shed has not moved off those bricks an inch. There have been hurricane winds, tropical storms and tropical depressions here, and still that shed hasn’t moved from that spot or been rained in through the back, sides, or the beaten and bruised front doors. The overall build of these sheds contribute to that. This is what I desire out of a house. I decided to create my ultra comfortable nest using structures with a constructed foundation. Also, they aren't too expensive, so they can easily be replaced. Thus the design began, a nest, all of which would be about the same size and gable. Everything should be moving along nicely. No silly issues; right?
WRONG AGAIN
I wanted to establish the fresh water line and find the sewage line to set everything up. I contacted a gentlemen and he said he would get started over there but the weather became awful. I didn’t move forward, and I placed the property to the side because I was sent out into the States to work again; it was December 30th 2024. In March 2025, or April, my family member contacted me and told me a Sheriff came by with a summons and she accepted it on my behalf at my grandmother’s address. I’ve always used my grandmother’s address for paper mail. I’ve been working from state to state for the same company since roughly 2021. I had established no permanent nests only temporary places. It was a civil summons to appear in court. The civil summons claimed taxes were owed on the land to the Town of Williamston department which offers water services, trash pickup, supposedly sidewalk stuff and charges for this. Regarding my land, there used to be a house on it back in 2008, the house was torn down. The land just sat there from 2008 to 2024 as no one is really interested in moving to Williamston because it’s a rural town, there isn’t much to do, there is no hospital or ER anymore, no industry to support labor, and then there’s this kind of thing. The owner that bought it had to pay taxes on it in order for the register of deeds to allow the deed change. I filed a written dispute against it while I was working. Unpaid taxes would lead to a lien on the property so these are charges not taxes, I never received a bill, an account number, a notice of an account, or late notices from the Town of Williamston, but, I sure as hell has fire received a bill, account number, and a welcome letter from where property taxes actually go which is the Martin County Tax Office. The land had no liens, the person and church I bought it from didn’t ignore payments. The reason why a lien was stated as having happened, and a court date was issued in March 2026 while I was still working out and all over is because a law firm called Zacchaues in NC supported the Town of Williamston claim. I paid money that’s not owed. I know the money wasn’t owed because there’s no transfer of land where taxes are owed, and also, on the court date the person and church that sold me the land showed up in court with receipts and also offered to pay any amount owed. They called me on the phone and put me on speaker so I could hear the representatives for the Town of Williamston say nothing was owed and the issue was over in front of a judge even though today they have yet to dismiss their own case. I had paid the amount the Town of Williamston law firm wanted the day before and secured a receipt anyway. The money came off easy as I’ve worked for years, invested, and made excellent lifestyle decisions. Overall, someone in that department will likely put what I paid in their pocket in time.
Now we’re to the point where you’re probably saying, toni, I wouldn’t have paid them jack-shit; they would have had to use lawyers, their demons, a Ouija board and a hag witch to pry that money from my bank’s cold dead digital vaults, also, why did you tell me this white collar crime bullshit and weird-ass way you’re building a home. Well, I communicated this to remind people to be wary of lawyers, and keep an eye on your stuff, some lawyers will support a claim even if it’s fraudulent, in my case it even LOOKED like fraud at a glance, and also, keep up with your stuff because you never know who’s trying to steal it from you while you’re away working or vacationing, or your back is turned. But the most important reason why I wrote this is to share the method of building the nest, it's a fresh way to build yourself a home, or even a space to use when you want complete control over the build and don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend all at once. Work has to be done on them to make them usable, livable, but that’s not something that causes one to spend a ton of money. You have a frame to work with and you get to take your time and build the home or space you want. And the design of the spaces would be great, because it would be specific to you; a design for each specific room. As for me, I’ll spend my days working and traveling, it’s been awesome and I’m blessed. I use my land for my stuff currently and this is really what it’s for. I travel, work, and do all things good for me. Don't forget to keep an eye on your stuff. Hope this finds all who need it. Take care.