Well done VLLB Congrats.
I am fast approaching the 2,000 posts milestone too. I admit I have posted a lot more since I packed in work. Very pleasant sitting outside in the cool of the evening (29C) surfing the forum and not having to get up early unless I have a water skiing lesson!!
Have bought the land now and will start building my house soon.
Had a quotation from some builders which was 50 grand over. Imagine there surprise when I produced my own material price lists and started to question them on concrete and mortar mixes and dimensions of rebar etc. They left thinking " maybe this stupid white foreigner actually knows what he is on about" and soon came back with a much more realistic quote.
Will try and post some pics of progress once we get underway.