Entries Tagged 'Living Fully' ↓

The quality of our lives depends on how we focus our energy and our attention.

Hmm. Either that bug that laid me low last Saturday came back in a milder form, or I just have a bad cold with some minor aches and pains. Whatever it is I’ve been fighting it since Wednesday. So I’ve been taking good care of myself and trying to get something constructive done…something that doesn’t take a lot of energy.

I decided it would be a good time to go through all of my unorganized files and pictures on the computer. I’d been putting that off for a long time, and it turns out it was a good choice. The pictures brought back all sorts of warm fuzzy memories, especially of dogs from the local shelter. For a while I used to go over almost every day, and I truly loved some of the dogs. The above two pictures are of Samantha, an elderly dog who had no problem getting adopted because she was the mellowest, most cheerful dog I’ve ever known. She’s still lifting my spirits after all of these years.

Some people think oxytocin and warm fuzzy feelings rev up the immune system. I don’t know about that, but it certainly makes recuperating more pleasant.

I’ve also been listening to a lot of good audio books, which also helps. What about you? What do you do when you’re feeling under the weather?

художник на икониИкони на светци

 

 
At some point earlier this evening there were four fire trucks outside in the driveway. We have no idea why they were there. The local newspaper may or may not tell us Tuesday (there is no Monday or Saturday paper).

It was a little hard sleeping last night because the wind was rattling our windows, and Andy plowed today because of the drifting snow. We only received about 2″ of snow, which wouldn’t be enough to cause problems if it hadn’t been for the wind.

We were supposed to meet with our kitchen designer yesterday, but I suddenly got very sick Friday evening and spent most of Saturday in bed. Andy checked to see if it made sense for him to keep the appointment, and the designer was happy to postpone it. For some reason she is having trouble with utilities to her house and needed to deal with that.

The most interesting thing for me was that after being so sick and spending 14 hours in bed, I was almost back to normal last night. Who knows what was going on? Another mystery of the universe.

Has anything unusual been going on where you are?

 
As I indicated at stresstopower last Thursday, we now have permission to use the shed for storage. We also want to insulate it and install a heater so Andy can use it as a workroom. That, of course, needs another permit, a Permit to Complete Construction. Who would have guessed it?

Have you ever had to jump through hoops in order to do something?

 
As we’ve said, this has been quite a year for us here:
 

 
What about you? Has your life changed much in the past year?

1977.
 

2006.
 

For the past 35 years our tradition was to go up to our land and cut down our tree shortly before Christmas. We clearly couldn’t do that this year, so I bought some lights, garlands and a little artificial tree:

2011.
 

That works too…it pays to be flexible. How have your traditions changed over the years?

I hope you all had a great day.

 
It pays to be paranoid. We thought we had the final approval for the shed so Joe could start insulating it and hook up the propane heater. Andy checked just in case.

I’ll spare you the details, but it turns out that idea was too good to be true. Someone has to go up to do one more inspection. Besides the fact it’s a long trip that no one wants to make, the county doesn’t have a key to the Forest Service lock, and it’s almost Christmas and more snow is expected. What do you think the chances are that this will be resolved before Spring?

It pays to have patience and a sense of humor.

 

 
They uncovered the house slab Friday and it had only one small crack. Steve hasn’t looked at it yet, but he already warned us that hairline cracks are almost possible to avoid and they’re no problem. He says if there’s no flaking (there isn’t) then things should probably fine. He’s planning to go up to look at it sometime this week.

I went up with Andy this afternoon and started marking off the thickness of the walls, where the various rooms are, etc. As you can see from the first picture, it was a glorious day. (A camera can’t capture the feeling of spaciousness, but it’s better than nothing.) We still have a lot more details to decide before the plans are complete, so we’ll be going back to Santa Fe this week to look at kitchen and bathroom sinks and fixtures, etc. We’re also doing a lot of research on the internet and have found the propane refrigerator we’ll probably get. It’s just one step after another, and doing our best to enjoy the process.

What about you? Have you had to deal with any big projects lately? If not, are you glad? If so, are you enjoying the process?

Our shed. For higher resolution click on picture.
 

Our well-covered house pad. For higher resolution click on picture.

 
Joe was originally going up tomorrow to do more work, but they’re predicting more snow with highs around 20° F. for the next two days. Not exactly building weather. We’re hoping this unusually early cold snap won’t hurt the new concrete. Time will tell.

Andy practiced plowing the road yesterday and will probably plow again tomorrow because it will need it. Winter has come!

What about where you are? Cathy and Evan will be dealing with summer instead of winter, of course.

Ready to pour footings for the house. For larger image click on picture.
 

Smoothing concrete pad for shed. For larger image click on picture.

 
We were lucky this week. Thursday the inspectors gave us the go ahead to pour the slab for the shed and the footings for the house. And in spite of Veteran’s Day, four concrete trucks and about a dozen men came up Friday to do the pouring.

If all goes well this coming week they may put up the stem walls for the house and install the propane tank. Andy will phone tomorrow to schedule a build date for the shed. That could take some time depending on Tuff Shed’s queue, and, of course, the weather.

It’s only been four months since we’ve been able to get up there, and in spite of some delays we are doing very well. Again, we will keep you posted.

(Andy took 39 pictures of the process Friday, starting here. That’s a lot more pictures than most people will want to see. I am not one of them!)

This past week was a productive one. Andy filled the back of the truck with wood to give it more traction in the snow when he plows:
 

 
The well driller installed the new lid for our well house (now being painted):
 

 
And Joe managed to get all of the permits we need for the septic system, house, and shed and dug the trenches for the house foundation:
 

 
The plan for this week was for Joe to put the rebar in and get approval from the building inspector to pour the concrete so we could order the shed. Unfortunately we had a bit of snow this weekend and there’s a winter storm watch for tonight, so who knows?
 

 

 

 
For more, and higher quality, pictures start here.