I suddenly realized I am woefully behind on updating you about the progress on the house. You are welcomed by the front yard antelope that greeted me one day last week.
Antelope in the Front Yard
We are making progress on several fronts. First of all we have completed all of the wallboard, completed mud work and wallboard finishing, texturing and painting. For those of keeping score the exact shade of white is “Platinum”, a very light grey.
Painted Office Kitchen with cabinets
Moving on to flooring, we started back in the Master Bedroom.
MBR Flooring
The flooring is mostly light shades of greyish wood. It is Luxury Vinyl Plank with interlocking pieces.
Master Bath
Continuing to the Master Bath, we can also see the greyish shaker-style vanity.
From MBR through hallway w/ coat closet
The flooring runs from the Master Bedroom down the hallway and into the Living Room/Kitchen area.
Setting Kitchen Cabinets
In addition to the flooring, we have started putting up the kitchen cabinets starting with the corner pieces. The general theme for the kitchen cabinets (as well as bathroom cabinets) is a simple grey Shaker style. In other news this week, we have installed the garage door.
Garage door and side door into Garage.
Since my last update we have also installed the side door into the garage. The siding installation has encountered a minor problem in that they ran short of “J-channel” pieces. They should get it finished up next week or so. Also note the patio off to the right
Starting to set poles for the Solar Power Panels.
Also, during a brief rain shower this afternoon the cement truck arrived to put in the poles to support the solar panels.
Mostly Done, about 5 hours later.
You can see 7 of the 8 poles standing proudly erect. We ran a little short while emptying out the cement truck (we ordered 2 cubic yards of cement. Over the next week we will rent a mixer and buy some bags of cement and fill that last hole.
I occasionally get questions on how the garden is growing. An illustration below is a close-up of a Zucchini harvested today (Sept 4, 20220).
Zucchini
To get a better idea of the size, here is the same picture with a scale.
Foot Long Zucchini
This is the largest of several more that are growing, so I am searching the web for pickling & canning recipes. I had planned to wait until I moved into the new house to start canning, but the Zucchini may drive me to start sooner.
As long as I was in the garden, here is an overview of how things are:
Zucchini bush taking over the planter.Potato planter
Potatoes in the planter have been growing like gangbusters. the ones in buckets not so much.
Corn & Potatoes on the Left
The corn started off fine but seems to have stalled. (Maybe leaving for three-weeks in July wasn’t the best idea.) The tops are dying off while the one or two small ears of corn are just sitting there.
Corn
The house continues apace. A quick tour, I estimate that it’s about 85% done with drywalling. See the tour below.
Back bedroom.Office/Back BedroomLooking towards Living Room from kitchen
The right side of the above is back side of wallboard, the left side is unfinished wall behind kitchen.
Kitchen & Living RoomMaster Bedroom & BathThe garage (and fireproof door into the house.
We’ve been making steady progress on the house over the past couple of weeks, as of Sunday 8/28.
Most progress was made on the spetic system.
Hole for Septic Drain Field
Above is the 30×30 foot hole for the septic drain field. it is set so that the marks on the wall are where the top of the1 foot gravel bed should be. We have already put the 12 inches of “magic” non-draining dirt on top of the sand layer.
Filling septic hole with water
Filling the septic hole & magic dirt with water on Friday afternoon. The pool of water lasted until Monday morning, proving that indeed the magic dirt did the job and prevented the packed sand form draining the water away too quickly.
Laying out the Septic Drain Field
After laying out 6″ of gravel, we started laying out the septic tank drain field. The plan calls for 5 rows of 25′ of drain tile. We ordered a plastic 6 port (one input, 5 output drains) distribution box from Amazon.
Septic Field Layout
Here is the final layout after getting a preliminary layout evaluation from the county health dept. What you don’t see is that the end of each line, instead of being capped, is tied back across like the distribution end. That is an optional layout that ensures that all lines get equally used.
Top layer of gravel. Note the 5′ inspection pipe over distro box
Now the filed gets covered with another 6″ of gravel, getting at least 2″ above the 4″ pipes. Note the 5 foot inspection port over the distribution box and the edge of the 6-7 foot bank on the left.
Covering the drain field
The drain field is about half covered. Note the black fabric weed cover that keeps the sand from filling the interstices in the gravel bed. Also note the inspection port is about 2/3 covered.
After covering/shaping the hillside.
This is looking North up the hillside after grading and shaping the hillside. Note the white inspection port over the distro box just below the rear bumper of the dark vehicle and the removal of the cliff section from the road above.
In other news, we removed another bunch of dirt from behind the house to cover the rainwater tanks behind the house.
More dirt, start of siding installation.
Two more dirt piles that got dumped on storage tanks out back of house.
Covering the tanks out back (~1,650 gallons)
Going back to the above pictures of the dirt piles, you can see the start of the house siding going up. You can’t really see the color of the siding since it’s in the shade (North side of house) but it is only a couple of shades darker than the roofing color.
After covering tanks
This is the finished view of the tank covering. The gravel patch at the lower center is the end of the 10′ overflow pipe. The top of the tank is about 4-5 feet deep in the soil so it shouldn’t freeze. Notice in the east wall of the house is the swamp cooler (in my office). Given the very low humidity (currently 40%) a swamp cooler seems like a lower energy cost solution to cooling. It is extraordinarily close to the swamp cooler we had on Powell Way in Riverside. Of course, I will have AC and a generator if need be, but I think that a well insulated house and swamp cooler should do nicely for most of the year.
Siding done on the North side
Here is one view with the North side siding complete.
Better view of front door & siding on North side.
A better view of the North side of the house with the front door set back under the room. You can barely make out the dark wood of the front door (behind the white vent pipes)
In other news, the break from the hot weather seems to have brought out the flies. It turns out that something in the iPhone screen spectra seems to attract them. I have also seemed to misplace the two flyswatters I have, so I picked up two more at WallyWorld today (2 ea for 97 cents).
Mk 1 Mod 0 fly swatters.
However, in the next display they had a high tech equivalent, powered by 2 each AA batteries.
As sold.
When unwrapped and ready for use.
Ready for use.
Finally, I will try to embed a short view of the storm clouds on the northern horizon. I captured this about 2 weeks ago, but it is typical of how the spotty rains come and go.
I had a follow up at the doctor’s office (back lesion biopsy) and asked about Parkinson’s Disease. She enquired on why I hadn’t asked last Friday so I threw the girls under the bus and blamed them for the questions.
The bottom line is that I wasn’t displaying any specific symptoms. Trembling when attempting to do fine work is more symptomatic of aging; Parkinsons symptoms are trembling while at rest (while watching TV for instance). We agreed to keep watch for symptoms and discuss it in 6 months or a year or so.
I go back next Tuesday to get the stitch removed and she should have the biopsy back to tell if it was cancerous or not. She mentioned that I had apparently spent a lot of time in the sun and warned this may have to be repeated.
In other news, I got the rain gauge installed on Saturday, 2 days into the monsoon event and it shows the below as of today. A half an inch as of today (with another half an inch or an inch that I missed),
Thunderclouds building to the West
This is a view of the thunderclouds building during the afternoon all last week. It looks like the monsoons are gone, and we are back to clear, sunny weather, but the high temps are in the mid-80’s rather than the high 90’s.
Weather forecast on 8/162022
This week we should get the drywall finished, with mudding, taping and texturizing done.
For those of you interested in the state of my health, I have just returned from my doctor’s appointment. One of the key findings is that my measurement of A1C is 6.5. This is concerning, but is most probably related to my weight, currently 254 lbs. Losing 15-20 lbs would probably have much the same effect as Jan 2017 in the chart below.
For historical interest here are my recent measurements of A1C.
A1C measurements
Most of the other concerns (cholesterol, HDL, LDL, PSA) will be determined by the blood panels.
In other news Dr. White went through with the usual questions/answers for depression, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, breathing issues, joint pain, edema, etc., etc.
Overall, her assessment is that, with a couple of exceptions (FAT!) I am in remarkedly good shape for my age. She would like to see me walk more and eat less (and include more fruits & vegetables).
She also did a quick check and there is one mole/lesion on my back that she wants to do a precancerous/cancer screening of next week.
In related news, I haven’t been back to Chili’s since the Monday Grand Opening this week. I expect to be able to get by with weekly periodicity or two weeks going forward.
While driving around town last Sunday I happened to go by the Chili’s construction and noted a hand painted sign on the door that indicated the Grand Opening on Monday Aug 8. So, I had to go into town anyway to get a package from the Post Office (Thanks, Jen & Kate). I stopped in at about 11:05am and was one of the first 10-12 people seated.
The first thing I ordered was a Margarita of the Month.
After getting Grand Marnier ‘Ritas while in San Diego
Interestingly it included Moin Desert Pear syrup. It was very good.
Margarita of the Month (August 2022)
The dark color is the Desert Pear syrup, a dark purple color.
While waiting the local TV crew was filming a piece for local news.
I got the $6.00 Margarita and the $9.00 Lunch Special, so the total bill was $15.00 (plus $0.90 tax). I often look for some evidence that things are meant to be so below is a copy of the check:
Note the server at the top.
Now for the obligatory house info.
House is finally roofed.
Most of last week was consumed by numerous trips to Menards to get the plumbing to get the Reverse Osmosis system functional. So far, we have made 2 each 500gallon tanks of water, only to have to dump them to fix various leaks. I think we have everything working now and will start making water again.
Finally, for the several of you who are concerned, I have an appointment with Dr. Corrie White for this Friday, Aug 12th, at 11:30pm. See the Google calendar for amplifying info.
I am still woefully behind but will attempt to bring us up to date. While visiting the family last month to commemorate Nana’s passing last year, I went on a cruise:
Opening salvo in the annual battle, my liver vs. Jan’s
After the weekend of 16/17 July, I left early on Tuesday morning, accompanied by my sisters Jill and Dawn. We stopped in Las Vegas at the Boxabl factory. Jill was very interested in putting a Boxabl Casita on the land in Wyoming. Unfortunately, the Boxabl company is probably a year away from actually producing them. As an alternative Jill is exploring having Arland (AT) build a custom 20’x24′ – more info to follow.
We spent the night in Provo, UT, went to a great Mexican Restaurant called El Gallo Giro. Great authentic food, with terrific prices.
The next day we drove into Caspar and rescued the cat and showed Dawn & Jill the property. They also got a whirlwind tour of Casper and a sense of why I like the place.
Work on the house continues:
Spray Foam InsulationMore Insulation installed.
Also started plumbing up the Reverse Osmosis System. It will take well water with about 5000 TDI (Total Dissolved Solid) (basically undrinkable) and get it down to well under 500 TDI.
Putting in well water to RO system
Work continues inside:
Master bathroom shower.
I added a set of glass blocks (actually acrylic blocks) to the shower in the Master Bedroom.
Half roofed
Also, the roofers started in the middle of the week. This shows half of the roof covered. As of this afternoon the entire roof is covered and next week they will work on soffits and trim work, to finish the roof.
Finally, while filling up with gas last week, I saw a 1957 Chevy Bel-Aire getting gas at an adjacent pump.
57 Chevy Bel-Aire sedan
Probably only Sis remembers (and maybe Jill), but we drove across the country (in 1959) in a 1957 Chevy station wagon (with the same color scheme). In 1963 it was a just a used car that Dad traded in for a blue 1963 station wagon that Nana felt was a mistake.
We got back from Mom’s remembrance ceremonies and my family vacation on July 20th. The day before we stopped by Boxabl in Las Vegas and took the factory tour. It was somewhat disappointing in that they are still months away from full production. Jill loved the concept, but wasn’t prepared to put a large deposit down, since they couldn’t project when her unit would be produced.
We got into town about 2:00pm and immediately rescued the cat. Jill and Dawn met AT and approved of my decision on the home site. We also discovered that the 12v battery in the trailer had failed (boiled enough of the water away) and without 12v the freezer/reefer doesn’t cool, even in propane mode. So, I spent the first couple of hours mucking out the defrosted food in the freezer and most everything in the reefer. I topped off the battery water and got it back to life.
After a side trip to Wal-Mart, I gave the girls a tour of Casper including a trip half-up Mount Casper to the viewpoint that overlooks the whole valley.
They flew out Saturday, July 23rd, after thoroughly cleaning my kitchen and bathroom. It’s now after midnight on July 27th (i.e. the 28th) and I have many updates on the status of the house, the well water pump and reverse osmosis system to make yet, amplifying info to follow.
So, I left my brother Jon frantically struggling with AT to finish the house-wrap, installing windows and doors and getting the interior walls defined and wired.
I met with my 3 sisters, Dawn (Sis), Jill and Jan (along with Mike, Terry and Voula). Together we attended a concert by the Grassroots (a band from circa 1965-1975. Below is a short intro to the band. (You may have to wait for it to load.)
It was wonderful experience of bonding with my sisters. We also regaled Terry and Voula with various tales of our growing up and early navy experiences.
Over the last couple of weeks, the house has made great progress. See various pictures below.
Exterior walls covered with chip boardView from the pond.Trusses going up!Main House done, now the final garage trussesFinal Truss in placeFrom the Orchard, the house.Chipboard on roofPutting the Fire & Ice sheeting on roof.
The next step is to finish the roof sheeting and continue with the house wrap and installing doors and windows. When that is done the house will be basically weathertight.
