There has been some progress this week. They’re installing the insulation and heater in the shed:
They’ve now cleaned and painted the inside of the well house:
And the birch tree that Andy’s father brought us from Montana years ago is showing signs of new life :):
Joe is still trying to get the plans for the house from the architect so he can start building. Presumably in the fullness of time….
Love seeing the pictures of the progress each week!
bikehikebabe,
Thanks!
Must be very satisfying to see day to day progress. Soon it will be all done and you will heave a big sigh of relief.
Cool seeing the progress.
We’re officially in a drought now and a heat wave is starting. Everything is SO dry it’s scary.
We moved here in 1980 during a bad heat wave and drought and there were fires all over the area.
Yeah!!!! The birch tree!!!
Rummuser,
There are no guarantees. We’ve now had 35 years of experience up there and have no great expectations. We’re more curious to see how the house turns out. Not surprisingly the cost is a lot more than we were told in the beginning and we don’t have any contingency money if something goes wrong. Andy cheerfully says if it ends up with the roof on the ground so be it. We’ve both agreed we won’t spend more than the insurance money on it so we’re treating it as one great adventure. It does look as if he will get his shed and solar power and watering system. He would be disappointed if that part didn’t work.
Mike,
This will be a bad fire season in New Mexico too. They’ve been warning people here in Los Alamos about keeping defensible space around the houses, etc. Our place up in the mountains should be safe for a while. We have one humongous firebreak.
Kaitlin,
We knew you would be pleased. 🙂
Mike,
Around here they warn us to have evacuation plans, including ways to get back in contact if families are split up. What sorts of things are they saying where you are? You don’t have as many treeless areas as we do here so how far would you have to go if you were forced to leave? Have you plotted your possible escape routes?
Never dull moment. I just got an email from our kitchen designer saying our check and contract got lost in the mail. She will pay for canceling the check but could we write out a new one? (Andy signed the contract and gave the check to her Monday.) She can come by and pick it up.
As the saying goes, “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.”
There’s not a lot of pre-planning here (i.e. none), but, where we are, there are plenty of roads for getting around. The wind doesn’t blow here during the summer like it does out west, so, most of the time, the fires don’t travel very fast, if we have a bad fire season. As a result of a bad fire season in 1980, we have a lot of rural fire departments, so that helps. The closest station, with 2 pumpers and a brush buggy (for getting into the woods and brush with a load of water to squirt on hot spots) is just a mile from us.
How do you get the water up from the well?
Evan,
We have an electric pump at the bottom of the well and in the past the electricity came from a gasoline generator. Hopefully the power now will mostly be coming from the solar panels, but we have a propane generator as a backup.
love the “birch” regrowth…and good it was a part of a “memory” – long may it regrow 🙂
certainly looks like progress – step by step 🙂 🙂
Cathy,
Thank you! Also for the link to your video. I’ll watch it tomorrow.
I doff my topi to Andy. And you too for the cheerfulness that both of you show despite the uncertainties.
Rummuser,
Thanks. We have had a lot of practice. 🙂