Up to today

OK.  This post follows the one from a few days ago,  and should bring this up to today, so that future posts can be short and sweet.  If you want a chronology,  read the post prior to this, then this, and you've got what's here, in terms of history!  


Shortly after we were FINALLY able to close on the land (having won permission to build a house on it)  we decided to put in a vegetable garden -- despite not yet having running water -- as a kind of exercise in making our claim.  An effort it was....

But it served the desired purpose....   
Later,  when the dryness of our summers here set in, we had to do some creative thinking about how to get up here with enough water to keep everybody alive... if not happy.
 The driveway up to here at this point was just in its initial stages of being cleared,  so getting that little contraption up the rd filled with water
was more of an issue than you might think.  

Just to give you sense,  here's a "then" of the dogwood that ends our driveway:  

This is a slightly more recent view of the same area : 

 I won't bore you with all the details of getting the driveway and electricity and water and septic field in.  Suffice it to say there's a fair amount of work in getting all those systems set up.   Once we did get settled here, the next priority was  keeping the house building moving.  So, we got to work on digging the foundation hole right where we want it:   
 Again,  it's all a lot more work than a few photos make it look like...  In any case,  this too is accomplished now:

 


  And you can stand inside what will be  our basement in the future.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.  I did want to tell about the first week or two of living here in our mobile.  They were downright funny.  In preparation for the hard work to come, and despite having sworn years ago that I would never move myself again,  (but that was in the days of moving from one 5th floor walkup to another...) J and I moved ourselves with a big truck and our own two hands.  It was two weekends of pretty much hell,  but we got through it in good humor and spirits.   What followed were some of the most interesting trashy weeks of my life,  with our stuff scattered about the place,  and bulldozers and tree chomping machines showing up early in themorning to work on the site.  I particularly like this photo,  which happened at about 6:30 one morning.  J on her stairmaster,  outside the mobile home,  interrupted by our need to decide which trees the excavator should take down....  Moving trash still not taken away to the dump.... what a sight: 
Notice some of the marvelous cabinetry strewn about -- it's stuff I removed from the mobile.... lovely!

Within about another week we had rented a "pod" which will serve as storage and tool shed for some time,  and I have put up a little patio of paving stones, so that we can enjoy our temporary spot.  Here's a shot of that in progress (see the start of a little terrace in front of mobile home!):
 So the next step, and final one that I will document on this post,  was the arrival of the building blocks that I will use for the house's entire shell.  Getting them up the road was a job for the same driver that brought the mobile home,  and when they arrived and were perched there on the side of the foundation hole,  it was a bit of a stomach chruner for me:   In fact, next thing it was my job to get them off this truck (2 loads 30 pallets each) and stacked up as I need them around the site,  using a "rough terrain forklift" that we rented and I learned to operate,   lets just say, on the job: 
 Again,  it seems simple enough,  but given that there is not one spit of level ground on this site that we love so much,  it's actually a challenge that requires use of all the nifty things that a machine like this can do.  And some concentration, too:   I am always happy when learning a new skill    and this was no exception.
As of today, (Monday the 11th of August) we await an inspection needed before we can pour the footings, hopefully tomorrow.   Shortly after that my work will change to that of laborer -- and I'll be laying those blocks and seeing whether I can beat the rains, at least to a first floor. 

In February,  before it was clear we would ever own this spot,  we moved some "furniture"up  and had a ceremonial first seated meal:


Today,  we've made a funky temporary home that most of you would find comfortable and entertaining, if not charming:   We have a guestroom with double bed and half bath of its own.  We've had two visits already!
So get over here and check it out.  We love visits.  If you can't come in person, come to this site and share your moral support!


More - but much shorter-- soon!  xxxB