The radiant heating system has been laid and the house pad has been inspected. Everything is ready for the concrete to be poured. We had thought that might be postponed because of the storm that’s supposed to hit us tomorrow, but tonight Joe phoned to tell Andy to be at the gate 8:30 tomorrow morning to let the concrete trucks in. I will let you know how it goes. 🙂
Joe has also been working on getting county approval for the shed. We’re not yet sure if that has gone through…we’ll believe it when we get an official piece of paper in our own little hands. We’re not supposed to start using it until then. Presumably in the fullness of time, or hopefully sooner.
How did your week go? And how is the weather where you are?
My week has been pretty good. A brief excursion to warmer Brisbane. Sydney weather distinctly unsettled. From summer to warmish winter temperatures in the space of a few days.
Waiting in anticipation for the same storm system you are talking about — expected Sunday.. to stall out and dump lots of rain over already saturated ground. Heat pump has malfunction with the outside fan staying on when the heat pump cycles off. Hope to get it serviced.
My week as usual was uneventful except for a couple of major events about which you will read tomorrow! The weather has again gone up to 9 degrees warmer than usual and it is not like winter at all. But it is comfortable and since I am under house arrest, quite nice.
I’ve been trying to remove all the expensive useless stuff around the house. Too much. It doesn’t matter how gorgeous it is, it’s clutter. No more space to hide it away to be interchanged with the other classy but useless stuff.
How can I complain about such a problem? I’m the problem. I’m a collector but like the stark modern look.
A heated floor! How classy can you get?
Well I haven’t been pouring concrete or putting in radiant heating leads…and in fact life is slowing down here which is good. As Summer and the Silly Season arrive almost at the same time, my groups/communities also slow, some already have gone into Summer Recess.
More time for other pursuits including the major race to declutter a lot more before end of this month when it will be almost useless trying to “move” treasures onto other houses/people.
Weather: well it’s be so changeable it really is difficult trying to work out what to put on/take off and everything in between. This morning it wasn’t very warm – then a stiff breeze came up and the sun came out – so methinks the humidity is up as well. There will be a lot of sunburnt necks and arms come Monday…
At the end of next week all my communities will have celebrated end of year feats and none will return until basically February although a few will have a small get together in mid January…
I’ve had a couple of exciting things happen…mostly to do with my new vegetable garden exploits including see the 1st fruit on my zucchini (courgette) arrive. I might try and remember to get a photo tomorrow of them…and write a little missive 🙂
Evan,
At first I was surprised that the weather would be so much different between Brisbane and Sydney because they’re both along the coast. But San Francisco is a lot cooler than cities along the coast further south. Your comment made me think. Thank you. 🙂
Mike,
Good luck about the rain. So far we only had a skiff of snow up there. It was cold, but it wasn’t bad enough to keep them from doing the concrete pad today.
In general how well does your heat pump work? I’ve heard about them but we’ll have limited electricity and plenty of wood for our wood stove. We’ll also have a propane heater.
Rummuser,
I enjoy your weekly report/gratitude list. Thanks for doing that.
bikehikebabe,
I like the stark modern look too. Unfortunately I have a natural talent for making messes and a lot less aptitude for cleaning them up. 😀
Yes, radiant heating was on my wish list for a house since I experienced it when I was in sixth grade. Andy wasn’t that interested but Steve said the tubing was so inexpensive to put in that he wouldn’t pour the concrete slab without it. It will cost a bit more to hook it up, but well worth it.
Cathy,
Does that mean you’ll be moving into a smaller space soon?
Good luck with your garden. Do you have much problem with insects and pests? We tried for several years to have an outside garden, but we were greatly outnumbered. And even though we were willing to share, the animals weren’t. They were a lot hungrier than we were.
I’m wondering what happens if something goes wrong with a tube when it is buried in concrete.
Evan,
If that happens we will be very annoyed! I’m a cautious person so I asked Steve about that. He said he’s put in a lot of these systems and that has never happened. I’m assuming we would shut off the water, drain the tubes, clean up the mess and forget radiant heating.
Everything is a gamble, and this one sounds less likely than others to go wrong. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more stories to tell as time goes on.
The heat pump works well. It does have to work harder in the colder days to eke some heat out of the cold outside air. I’d like to install a geothermal heating system with a heat pump using the ground (avg. temp is 55 to 65° year round) as a heat source in winter and heat sink in summer, but can’t justify the expense right now.
The weather is very windy, but the week has been delightful. My daughter tells me there was an inch of snow in Albuquerque.
I’m not moving as such…just trying to make a “move” more manageable if it should occur. It’s also a trip down memory lane, working out if I will ever need xyz again. Most of the things are from recent or near recent decades. Mainly books…
On the other hand, I would love to move; this house isn’t in good repair and there are lots of problems that should be sorted out – if I was a nasty tenant, I could make a lot of trouble, but on the other hand, I can work around all the oddities…and the rent/$$ is of a very low level, which is fine with me. I see them personally about once a year, although if I need something repaired, a repair person is called…
Insects are the main problem with the garden, also Momma blackbird who is now feeding an offspring…so she like to scoop up the garden soil for worms I guess. Fortunately, I manage to rescue a couple of plants she inadvertently scooped/buried. It’s a not a very big garden, 2 mini plots but it’s a start!
We definitely don’t have squirrels or other such animals that like to “play at a type of gardening” – our only wild creatures are possums and their tastes are more the fruit trees – of which I have only a few old citrus.
Mike,
If we had a heat pump it would have to be in the ground. (The air is way too cold in winter.) Like you we can’t justify the expense.
Looney,
So far we’ve accumulated an inch or two down here and from 2-6 inches up in the mountains, depending on how warm the ground was where it fell.
Andy practiced plowing up there today. It wasn’t really necessary for the roads but it’s a new truck and new plow so he thought he’d better do the learning when things were easy.
Cathy,
I agree that it’s a good idea to go through our stuff once in a while to see what can be tossed/recycled. Even if not much goes out, it means I have a better chance of finding something when I need to. That’s definitely a good feeling.
The real plus for sorting through one’s stuff is that you find long- lost useful “stuff” along with tossing/recycling the rest.
Cathy of NZ, I’m wearing a “surprise” I found today; some slacks made in NZ so I’m thinking of you. Makes the world seem smaller.
bhb: you are wearing a rare commodity – most of our garments are made overseas now, including our own branded wares 🙂
Jean: I have certainly located a number of items I have forgotten about…interesting re-reading certain items (I’m still strolling through books!) and then deciding “do I want this?”
the reason I want as much gone now is that once the Silly Season really gets underway…people zoom off for holidays as it’s Summertime here. So I’m unlikely to gather many $$.
When that happens I will be sifting still but getting ready to hit the online auctions come mid Jan/early Feb.
bikehikebabe,
At the moment I’m having trouble finding my winter gloves. It’s a great incentive to start uncluttering. It’s cold out there! 😀