Up To Now

Back on the Horse

2009-10-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

OK!

Now, 9 months later ...
I've passed both electrical and framing inspections
with flying colors, first time,
thanks to expert help from Lama Solar and Mark Sjoberg.

Exhaust for on-demand water heater and bathroom air vent

now both go through the roof, water proofed - thanks Mark!

Metal pipes: bathroom left, waterheater exhaust right.

Insulation is now 90% done.

A guy about 5 miles away has a herd of yak (yaks?).

They'd look nice next to a ger (yurt)...

More soon, promise!
Drywall intensive begins Tuesday next week!

Still Here...

2008-12-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

Brrr!

Well, things have slowed down on my building project. I did install my electric system, and everything was looking good, until I called for an inspection, only to discover I CAN'T install my own electric system until I've taken and passed a "homeowner's electrical examination."

The Panel

OK, I took the exam, and failed. Plus, the examiner (also the electric inspector for my part of Taos county), on looking at my plans, noted that I'd used #14 wire for all lighting and sockets, and told me this is incorrect - I must use #12 wire (thicker) for all sockets. This means that most of the work I'd done now must be ripped out and redone...AND I have to wait 30 days if I want to take the test again. My advisor says the inspector is wrong - stay tuned.

Ready to do over...

So, here I sit. Until I pass the electric inspection. I can't have the final framing inspection, and until I pass that, I can't insulate and put up the drywall … and get warm.

I'm trying to decide whether to take the test again or just hire an electrician to do it for me, or at least sign off on my (redone) work.

In the meantime, we've gotten a lot of snow, and nighttime temperatures are below zero most nights.

The ditch ran for a little while after the first snow.

The animals like fire.

The Big Change

2008-07-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

July - Zip! The big change is that the money is about gone, and I'll be doing the rest of the new addition on my own, with as much advice as I can get. I'm actually pretty excited to dig in.

Here are a few pictures to bring you up to date:

Quite a month... There was the family reunion at
Lake Metigoshe on the North Dakota/Manitoba border...

Thanks to my nephew Brian for these two photos.

The lake (and all of North Dakota) was gorgeous.

Back in New Mexico,
I made an outdoor box for my very noisy computer.
When I finally upgrade, this will be Dali's doghouse...

You never know what Dali will drag home...
This an elk foot (she brought two). She's so sweet!

You can see the bare beginnings of my mini-aviary,
which will cover all 4 windows with a wire "cage,"
allowing small birds to come and go,
but restricting cats, dogs and other big critters.
Just wait, you'll see...

Many projects begun..
I'm about to wire the house - something I've never done.
I'm getting guidance from my mysterious benefactor,
without whom...
Here he is - John at the bridge at the bottom of the La Junta trail, Wild and Scenic Rivers park, only 10 miles from my house. John and John paid a quick visit from Maui, also in July.

Electrical parts all ready to go.

Roof insulation... actually a little premature,
but I couldn't stand the heat anymore...

My current living situation.
Office is under the bed.
Can you find the cat door?
Finally, just today I started on the rain gutter.
Doing 4 or 5 things at once is my style...

Loyal fans, I'll try to update more frequently.

Inspectors

2008-06-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just passed the plumbing rough-in inspection on Friday, and passed the septic system last week, too! Batting 1000 so far on inspections. I guess I hired the right guys...

Plumbing by Redwolf

Left to right:
vanity, water heater, toilet, tub/shower

Shower hardware installed but no hot water yet...

Outdoor faucet!

Bedroom closet!

Larkspur!

Piñon flowers, and...

Piñon cones!

Reflecting in the bedroom window

Plumbing (Out of) My Depth(s)...

2008-06-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Another burst of activity!

Oh My God! Running (cold) water - in the house!

And it drains out, too.
And dig that science homeroom style faucet...

Water and vent pipes fill the wall between the bathroom and the pantry.

Vent pipes... more to come...
If these windows opened, we'd have to move the pipes. But they don't.

The tub/shower.

1,000 gallon septic tank, ready to install.

Tank in (beneath green covers), and distribution field going in.

Only the tank covers visible now.

Two big loads of gravel, for the distribution field, and the driveway,
and the French Drain on the north side of the house.

The distribution field now invisible!

Gravel over and gravel under 4" leaky pipe.

French Drain,
carrying water from the north side, away from the house.

Through the wall!

2008-06-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

All kinds of progress:

The roof style is called "Brai." Above is the base and galvanized drip-edge.

Cliff Bain, a Brai specialist, uses a torch to heat-seal the tar-based material.

The top layer has sand embedded in it. This matches the existing roof.

The finished roof. We'll be adding flashing and trim under the windows above the roof. The 4 small windows on the newaddition were lifted from the original structure.
The variation of color on the walls will fade as it weathers (I hope).

Bedroom windows. The one new window is on the left.

We've cut the wall openings into the new addition!
Pardon my messy house...

The fridge is temporarily in the corner, actually where the washer/dryer goes. The boards on the floor are the bottoms of the walls:
bathroom left, pantry right.

The plumber is scheduled to appear Monday. He'll also be putting in the septic system. We're approaching the next big round of inspections...

Closed in!

2008-06-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the walls are up, and the roof is ready for tar and sand (a Brai roof), window holes are cut.

The east wall, last wall to be skinned - note the just-completed window framing.

East wall finished.

West wall with evening shadows...

North wall.

Fascia detail - the extra strip at the top is to bring the drip-edge away from the fascia.

Mark cutting windows.

Inside.

And, finally, the 5 window views: bedroom(3), bathroom(1), and pantry(1).
...with actual construction soundtrack...

Setbacks, but Nonetheless...

2008-05-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Builder Mark took a fall over a week ago, and work on the addition has slowed to a stop, until today. But the days have been filled with work on the ger and its platform.

I re-painted the large areas of solid orange (the color that matched at Questa Lumber was "Tomato Soup"), and varnished over all painted areas. The varnish really makes the original paint colors POP!

The Mongolian painted filigree was beginning to chip...

The deck is now waterproof and ready for the ger.

Mark is back on the job, and if the spring winds will give us a break, we'll begin putting the roof on tomorrow.

Spring is gorgeous, by the way..

...and Dali has a boyfriend
(fortunately he's a eunuch).

Dali gets Ditched! I get Framed!

2008-05-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Temperatures are around freezing at night, and 70º in the daytime. Perfect for working - hot days coming soon!

The irrigation ditch at the top of the property began running yesterday. It's a main ditch, or mother ditch, or, as they say around here, acequia madre. My dog, Dali, who's about 8 months old, has never seen anything like this. She was a little hesitant at first, but now she is Water Dog:

In the two weeks since my last post (sorry, fans) there's been major progress on the addition.
A few pictures will bring you up to date:
Wall #1 up, #2 almost ready...

Wall #2. Note the bedroom window view...

Wall #3...

...and the roof framing.
We'll have some kind of roof and walls by the end of the week!
Doghouse. My design... Hey, Dali likes it!

Tub/shower, delivered and waiting...

Slab-o-licious!

2008-04-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

We have a foundation!

Completed slab with snow and dog tracks. This is well after curing.
The slab came out good. Here's how it all came down:

Mud up and over

The pump truck guy Scott, on the right, is controlling the position of the mud tube. as Mark feeds concrete into the foundation and the other Scott assists.

Screeding begins -we had to call for an additional yard - one full truck - 8 yards - wasn't enough. We needed the proverbial whole 9 yards, which we finally got.

Mark floating out the foundation, finishing the slab.
And, finally, a movie - I don't know how much they're worth.

The mud-boom (yes, it says "Schwing") coming slowly back to the truck.

What a day that was - this was all actually Tuesday the 7th, over a week ago. Sorry for the delay - we've been curing.
TODAY the lumber for the addition arrived. In a few weeks, I could have something like a real home! Stay tuned...

My New Invention

2008-03-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

Removing sagebrush from areas of the property is much easier with this device - pickax plus chain. The first link at one end of the chain is pounded onto the pointy end of the pick. By wrapping the chain around the small bushes I can "unscrew" them with much less effort than pulling or digging them out.
Sage is great stuff (aka wormwood), but it puts out aromatic oils that inhibit the growth of just about everything else. The exceptions: juniper and piñon don't seem to be affected.

I'm looking into getting some native grass seed. More landscaping pix coming soon!

Dali, the Surrealist Dog

2008-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

I'd been thinking that Dali's ears resembled Grommit's,

but now I think it's more her nose...

The house?
Oh yes, I've received the building permit and passed my first inspection! - the plumbing and septic... Below you can see the pipes of the septic system under pressure, ready for the inspector.
Then, thanks to friend Pozzi's truck, I was able to bring in 2 loads of "crusher fines" to go between the dirt and the concrete.
This layer of very coarse gravel-y sand will draw water from the fresh concrete - and it fills in nicely around the plumbing...
A network of string lines assures that we'll have 4" of concrete. Now we're really getting close to pouring time. Next Mark will complete the metal reinforcement - wire mesh and rebar.

It's Tubular

2008-03-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

As Browser observes from the ger roof...

...the plumbers get busy installing water and sewage lines for kitchen sink, bathroom sink, tub and washing machine.

Somehow it's much more complicated that I expected.

Not much left to do now but wait for the building permit and the first (ulp!) inspection...

Getting Ready to Pour

2008-03-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

My builder Mark is motivated, and we've been busy. Some pix:

Trenches cleaned and
forms and insulation added:

It's time to bring back the plumber and electrician for their pre-pour set-ups. I haven't been to my PO Box in a week, but I don't expect the permit is here yet.

The addition site is staying pretty dry, though. After meticulous prep, Mark wants to do the whole slab in one "mono-pour".... about 9 yards, I guess.

The weather has been changing continuously. I manage to collect enough firewood in the the woods day by day to stay warm. Keeping the ground water moving is a daily deal. When things dry up a bit, the natural water flow will be easier to work with, such as it is... This IS a desert, right?

The dog is now Dali.

Snow Blown

2008-03-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

We set up the ger on Saturday, Sunday we had a mini blizzard, about 2" of blowing snow. I just came in from sweeping most of the snow from the roof of the ger, and it looks like we'll have a couple days of sunshine coming up...

It does look nice - inspirational in a challenging Winter.

The woodstove is the "Sheepherder's" model, a name which delighted Urnaa, my Mongolian visitor.

The stove still needs a little adjustment - another section of stovepipe and more protection where the pipe goes through the roof.

One more note - Browser, my cat, was attacked Saturday night, possibly by a coyote (they're howling every night now, very close). He's coming around, favoring his rear right paw, but is otherwise uninjured except for some matted hair on his back. This morning, 36 hours later, he's still a little shaken. He'll be more cautious from here on...

Mongolia Calling!

2008-03-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

My old friend Bari (we met about 27 years ago at Lama Foundation) and his new wife from Mongolia, Urnaa, came to visit, set up and blessed the ger, and spent the night. Her many insights and affinity for the lifestyle greatly added to my continuing education in Mongolian cloud houses.

Video of the blessing in Mongolian...

The weather, very warm for the first day of March - about 60º - makes mud still a real problem, but because of the cold nights, at least it's melting fairly slowly.

The road to my driveway...

I've been diligently keeping the dug footings for the new addition dry after chipping out the accumulated snow and ice. The boards over the trench let me easily throw a tarp over the whole thing when snow or rain threaten (like today).

We've made a list of materials for the next step - creating the forms for the concrete and all the structural, plumbing, and electrical doodads that will be a part of it.

Ice to Mud to Ice to Mud...

2008-02-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

I finally put in the building permit application on Monday, and the zoning clearance appeared at the top of our driveway Tuesday, less than 24 hours later. Hopefully with the construction slump - and this being February - the permit process will be faster than usual, too.

Zoning clearance!

Guess somebody changed their mind...
A contrail halo appeared as I began setting up the ger wall.
Just having the wall up will keep some of the dogtracks off the deck.

Dogs in...Dogs out...

Cool, huh?

Springtime in February

2008-02-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

This edition is dedicated to Mom, recovering from a stroke in a hospital in Fargo ND. I hope she can get back to having fun soon... She's the Karaoke Queen, you know.

The morning of February 9... about 14" of white stuff:

Here in the hills above Questa, the deep snow is melting fast is a mini heatwave. 5-15º at night, and up in the 40's in the daytime. This is making a mess of my construction site...

but!
The deck is done!
Still needs to be sealed, on the next sunny day.
Oh, and I've taken in a stray, still nameless:

She looks to be 7 or 8 months old, a blue heeler mix. There are cut marks around her neck like she escaped an unpleasant situation, tied with thin rope or wire, and she was very skinny 5 days ago, when I picked her up at my neighbors who had found her. But now she's very perky, already housebroken,

getting along with the cat - and she's gaining weight.

Almost Mongolia...

2008-02-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

The ger (yurt) platform is approaching completion - the framing is finished and the redwood decking is to be delivered on Wednesday.
The footings are adjustable, to allow for settling when the snow and ice begin to melt...

This is going to be so cool!

The cat's outdoor entrance is finally up to his standards.
Browser uses it many times day and night,
keeping tabs on bunnies, birds and coyotes...

He's also all over the ger platform:

Lumbering

2008-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

99 birds at the corner ofCamino de la Placitas & Paseo del Pueblo Norte...

(click to count)

The wood for shelving, bedframe, outhouse roof, and,
of course, the yurt deck's support structure, arrived Monday:

Mark put together a very nice basic bedframe
and I stained it - shelves, too:

The bed is screwed into the wall and supported by one 4x4 post.
My office will be underneath, opening up a lot of space in my tiny digs.

Meanwhile,
Mark and assistant Scott are beginning the deck by
preparing a level surface:These rebars measure the slight settling of the blocks,
so they can be shimmed as the as the warm weather melts the snow.

The outhouse roof in progress...

Lots of action now. Trying to keep working on all fronts at once - teaching, web site clients, and this construction site. And blog!

Sage Suede Shoes, part 2

2008-01-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

The dish is in place! I'm online (obviously...)!

Also check out the cat's outdoor entrance.
Browser has to climb the scratching post and jump up onto the ledge,
and he does!
...but it makes me nervous, so I'm looking for a cat ladder to replace it...This is the future home of the ger -
I'm leveling it as much as possible before we build the platform.

I scalped two tall "flagpoles" that stood by the parking lot and recruited them for a clothesline.

Sage Suede Shoes, part 1

2008-01-16T14:21:00.001-08:00

I'm in Questa, out of Taos! Taos Telecom installed my Wild Blue dish yesterday and I finally got back online. Embarrassing how much I miss the net, the web... I'm caught!

One-half mile of Llano Rd, and "My Road" are both covered in semi-permanent packed snow/ice:

Llano Rd (left) and "My Rd."

Many many simple needs have creative solutions. Today I joined the Northside Spa in Taos, for occasional deep hygiene, and steam!

My outhouse (indoor plumbing is still far down the road) doesn't have a hole (or a roof [coming tomorrow]) - It's rigged like portable camp toilet, cash and carry:

Washing dishes now involves carrying water from

the outdoor hydrant (good water pressure!),

boiling water on a campstove,
dipping water from a white plastic bucket,
and when I rinse, the water drains into another white plastic bucket...

I think you pretty much have to be a bachelor to live like this - but it's not bad, and getting better...

I've just unloaded the camera -
Stay tuned, if you care to see pix of my ascent out of Taos, into chaos...

Curtains!
Heat retention and privacy...

We've replaced the 4 smallwindows we removed -
and taped them, on the inside - they're double paned.
When the addition is finished, the lower row will be indoors,
with no windows, and these guys will be part of the new addition:
Browser the cat has his personal entrance about 10 feet above the ground:
Here, still under construction...

almost done - Browser's already gotten the hang of it.
The indoor part of the catwalk is almost done, too:
He didn't have much interest in the wooden ladder at first:
Oh, NOW you like the ladder...

More excitement coming soon - Wood for the ger deck arrives tomorrow!
Stay tuned for one more installment of
Sage Suede Shoes.

Also waiting in the wings:
a long-lost cousin, and a long lost friend with new wife from Mongolia!

Ready or not, I'm moving in!

2008-01-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

I want to be sleeping here by the weekend...

The chimney's up,

and the woodstove got its first burn.

My stuff is piling up...

...and the range and refrigerator have arrived.

The refrigerator will be in the new addition, in the distant future. For now, I think somewhere along the back wall, out of the sunshine, will be best.

Browser was a little anxious about the move,
until I found a box just his size!

Meetings with Great Men

2008-01-01T07:54:00.001-08:00

Happy 2008! It's morning, January 1st.

New Years Eve day was an incredible coup, thanks to the generous spirits of these guys, plus Pozzi. Pozzi loaned me her big truck for the day, and I made two trips, the first of which is documented below. The second, assisted by Ed and Christopher again, brought the new range and refrigerator to the property.
This is Eric (son of Mark), Mark (my builder - his big contribution today was a tub from the guts of a broken washing machine, to be used for thawing frozen earth), Ed (he gave his day and truck to moving my big stuff), and Christopher (also gave his day and truck to moving my big stuff). Huge Thanks to all and a hearty New Year!

The trucks have arrived, filled with yurt and outhouse!
Yay!

The yurt is now stowed under the green tarp...

The outhouse is now in the general area where it will be installed as a chemical toilet.

Back in Taos at sunset in the Smith's supermarket parking lot.

The light!

Today I head back up to settle the deeds of yesterday and prepare for occupation...

Back to it...

2007-12-27T06:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Mark and Torre's was wonderful, the real deal, but my upcoming move to the neighborhood was always creeping into my thoughts. Gotta rent or borrow a truck to move the outhouse and the yurt. Get the refrigerator and range delivered and hooked up. The yurt platform!

About 2" or so of snow fell immediately after the dig, and yet ANOTHER 3" or 4" Christmas night... The most recent snow is waiting up there now for me, armed with a new shovel and pushbroom.

Building is going very slow now that the ground is frozen - I'm hoping to somehow set up my Mongolian yurt for a little more living space while I wait out the winter.

We're going to focus on the yurt platform now - something fairly simple, screwed together, that could be dismantled and moved if I myself should move on someday. Legally speaking, I'm not supposed to be living in the house while it's under construction, so the yurt will be my "construction trailer."

The ground is frozen deeper every day - kind of discouraging - I can't imagine pouring the foundation in this cold, but apparently it can be done, with special cement and insulated blankets. Mark says we can do the whole foundation in one pour if we plan it right.

The woodstove is almost hooked up -
just need to screw it together and add the cap on top:

Spent parts of Xmas Eve and Xmas Day raking up after the Big Dig.
Here's the new hydrant and the water shutoff...

...and the place where there was a 5' deep trench 5 days ago:

...and this is the freshly dug foundation,
with electric water and sewer hookups ready to be integrated into the addition:

Water and Electric to the House

2007-12-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

The well-share has now been brought onto the property, with a functioning hydrant at the parking lot; as well as electricity, temporarily outside the house, both underground. Below is the trench that made it possible - water 5 feet down, electric 2 feet down, coming up from the neighbors':

The water hydrant and shutoff to the house.

When we get the addition finished, there'll be water and electric inside, but for now this is a great improvement. The weather has been VERY snowy, with about 2 feet of snow in the last month, delaying the process at every stage. I'd hoped to have the yurt up by now. Here's the yurt (ger, for all you Mongolians) being set up at my book premiere way back in June 2006 at the Taos Solarfest:

Before the yurt goes up, I want to construct a platform for it, to keep it warm and dry. This will be the next big push before actually building the addition - the ger will be my "construction trailer."

After putting in the addition footings, and the trenching and back-filling, we got another 2" of snow...

So, on Xmas Eve, I STILL haven't moved in, but I'm much closer. Almost all of my personal belongings are up there, except what I need to work on web sites and eat and sleep. In the next week, I need to put in some kind of cat door for Browser, and pick up a few bits of furniture, like a bed, table and chairs.

Reprieve

2007-12-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

Today marked the beginning of my 5-day countdown, but my landlady has now opened the door to the possibility of staying as long as necessary, until the Questa place is livable. We got a little more snow last night, but it looks like we may get a few days of sun now.

Here's the road at the top of the property a couple days ago, when I visited with my latest prospective big equipment operator, Redwolf (Ruben Martinez):

Above is Ruben's truck at the top of my driveway - no way were we driving down to the house in 18 inches of snow on top of a couple inches of slush...

And here are a couple before/after-the-snow pics, in case, like me, you've forgotten what it looked like a month ago:

The house......and

the driveway, looking up from the parking lot.

Incredibly, Ruben says he can begin Monday, assuming the main highway is ice-free. At least, he'll shovel the drive, but there's actually quite a list for the as yet unhired excavator:

Trenches for electric and water lines.
Septic system, including trench for sewage out, hole for tank, and dispersion field.
New addition foundation, in preparation for pouring the concrete pad.
AND, shoveling the drive...

Bah!

2007-12-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

Looks like we got a few more inches of snow here in Taos last night, and they say we should expect another 5-10 inches today above 7500'. The property in Questa is at about 7777'...

It's been about 4 days since I attempted to get to the house, and failed. At that point I would have been the first to drive (my '97 Honda) on the nameless road that leads to my house. Now, I'm thinking it may be time to ask if I can stay put in Taos for another month, even though I'm nearly packed.

There's not much to do now but wait out this storm. Getting supplies in is going to be very difficult; big equipment, almost impossible. The roads will open eventually, then we can begin again. One of my excavators IS willing to come out and look at the job in Questa, maybe even tomorrow - we'll see...

The amount of snow we've received is just awesome. Bah.

How much snow? Maybe not as bad as much of the midwest, but we had major damage to a tree in our "zen garden," here in Taos. Here is it this summer:

And here's what happened this morning.

3 out of 6 major trunks hit the ground, under the weight of wet snow:

(This view is from the opposite side.)

Shifting Priorities as Necessary

2007-12-07T20:45:00.001-08:00

Hmmm... beginning to look like winter...

Rain, rain, rain here, probably snow tonite.

Mark (the builder) came by today with the first page of plans for the addition. See below.

We should be ready for the Planning Dept on Monday. Apparently you can save almost a week on receiving the building permit by hand delivering and picking up the plans and application at the main office in Santa Fe (70 miles). I'll talk with the people at the local office on Monday to make sure my ducks are lined up neatly.

I still need to choose a window for the bedroom - I want to put it near the north corner of the west wall. The view will be kind of like this:

The nice view will be near the ceiling, but the egress requires a lower profile. Mark has a new legal egress thermopane window (vertical) that might work - I have to get the dimensions.

I bought a grounding rod today, and a sledge. This will make it possible to get the phone hooked up.

I had a septic system guy up on the property day before yesterday, Carlos. He thinks we might be able to do a field big enough for 2 bedrooms - the tank would be the same - 1000 gal. He needs to call the gravel guys before he can give me an estimate - 28 tons for 2 bedrooms.

The weather has been very wet, however I do have a couple other septic guys who will be coming up soon. Right now, it's VERY muddy - I think I'll be graveling some paths to get around if this keeps up.

I'm also working on weatherproofing the yurt. I got some plexiglas to cover the ring at the top. The yurt door needs some sealing.

The house windows need sealing too, when it dries out...

The floor is now stained and sealed, 2 coats. We'll be securing the kitchen unit this weekend, and installing the woodstove, weather-permitting.

Mark wants to punch and frame the holes in the north wall, then insulate and cover them with the T-111 on the outside temporarily, so there'll be less dusty intrusion later on, when I'm inside.

I have a few weeks off from school until the next semester starts, around Jan 23, so the timing is actually good for moving, etc., etc., etc....

Boy, there's more news than I thought...

Masonite Floor

2007-12-03T07:25:00.000-08:00

The floor is stained now, with one coat of sealer:

Well, it LOOKS like masonite - it's really cement - it'll be darker. This is only about a half-hour after the first coat of sealer. The look is very uneven, like Mexican saltillo tiles, but a dark coffee color. In case you forgot, here's the concrete floor, before:

Here's a picture taken through the car's front window (carefully...), coming down into Questa. The property is out of view here, I think, but it would be almost in the center of this image (the tiny red arrow - click picture to see it BIG), in the foothills of the big mountain, hidden here by the ridge in Questa town.

Another view, from my parking lot, looking south, toward the hill seen in the above image on the right, below, on the left...

The big one in the background here is Flag Mountain, site of the Lama Founation and the huge fire of '97(?).

Finally, here's the old cistern (just a big cement tank, no pipes in or out), in danger of further deterioration because of a combination of wet and cold. I've been covering it with cardboard, but some water is soaking part of the concrete, turning the cover back into gravel in the hard frosts.

More Weather

2007-12-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

We had about 2 days of sun after the snow, but it rained yesterday and melted most of said snow. Somehow in all this, I managed to stain the floor:

The picture above shows the acid stain soaking in, before removal. I've since sopped all this up and rinsed the floor many times. The actual color is going to be more like black coffee, I hope (for max solar gain, as they say).

Yesterday, friend Steve hauled hauled up the bookcase I sold him long ago, which I just bought back from him... I was intending to seal the floor then, but rain had gone through the big thermopane windows... around them.... There was a bit of water on the floor, and obviously a lot of wind came with the rain.

So, today I'll work on sealing windows. If the sun comes out, I'll seal the floor.

Not sure about contractors... Sun and wind (good) and cold (bad) are forecast.

And what about the cat?
Meet Browser.

New Floorplan Finalized

2007-11-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

First, before it all melts, here's the first snow of the year, about 4"
(as with all these images, click to see a larger version):

Below is the layout we'll be going with. Convenient. practical, with the best views, this is basically a mirror of our first idea (south is up).

Thanks to Mark, the builder, for this great suggestion.This layout may affect the place we bring the water a power into the house. I'll be meeting with a septic system installer today [Didn't happen], who is also an excavator, and he'll certainly have some good suggestions.

Yesterday afternoon, my last act was to stain the floor of the original structure. Too dark to photograph by the time I finished, the effect is going to be dramatic in the light of day. The color is dark, a mix of two shades of brown, chosen to increase the solar gain.

Today, I'll be cleaning up the stain, in preparation for sealing, which has to wait until the floor is completely dry. Once the floor is finished, we'll be cutting a hole in the ceiling for the woodstove.

Gratuitous Snow

2007-11-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

Day after Thanksgiving, 4" of snow and still snowing...

I haven't been up to Questa since the snow, but here's what it looked like day before yesterday:

We pulled most of the north wall off and got a glimpse at the structure underneath. Mark removed the windows (below) and we covered everything in clear plastic (above).

As much as possible, we're trying to save the wood for re-use. We'll selectively undo the plastic to insert the door openings (to bedroom and pantry), and to install electric.

I picked up a small woodstove:

So much to do! The stove needs to be installed in the south room, and the ger platform is coming up soon.

At Thanksgiving I suddenly saw myself as a Questa person visiting Taos... get packing!

Oh yes, most important of all, my brother Herb and wife Janice appeared briefly the night before the night before Thanksgiving... They got to see what I'm up to and ply me with gifts - Strawberry jam and pear butter and a pumpkin pie - all home made - and candles and a mountain of tupperware.

Without further ado, here they are:

Janice & Herb

One last pic of the walkway, removed for the electric and water, maybe for good:

Snow pix from the site, tomorrow!

Fixing to Blog Blues

2007-11-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

As a coda to yesterday's post, here's the possible view from the bedroom window if we mirror the current house plan, from the bathroom if we don't:

Nice?

Today the phone man and the Septic Inspector came around, the visits overlapping but distinct.

The phone wire coming out of the ground by the shed is dead. Phone man came with a metal dector, and we were able to find a live phone wire nearby. He brought underground phone cable to the house, but can't hook up until we have the ground cable that comes with the electric line. No. 6 cable from ground to phone box (northeast corner on the east side).

Phone line trench - I guess the phone box will go on this wall... kind of visible...

The leach field for the septic system needs to be huge for even a single bedroom cottage - for a two-bedroom, some trees will have to go, for a three bdrm, it'd be too far uphill...

yellow line is leach field - good for one bdrm, tight for two bdrms...
green line is 25' from arroyo.

Fine with me if the improvements on this property are small but well-made, though. Today I decided we could perhaps do a trench around the patio for water and electric, threading through the trees, to the far northeast corner of the addition - with a ditch witch, if Edwin has access to a smaller trenching device.

It'd save some beautiful flagstone work... So much digging soon, soon...

Holmes Sweet Holmes

2007-11-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Saw the comet last night.

I haven't tested, but as of right now, I think the phone is on ( just on a wire coming out of the ground) and the electric is on (but only to the meter box. 200' from the house).

Mark suggested trying a mirror-floorplan instead of our former. Compare these floorplans (Up is SOUTH on both. The original structure is the green rectangle at the top, including the porch):

before flipping:

mirrored - not everything is flipped, though...
Muddy feet carrying groceries into the kitchen,
THEN taking off boots and entering house, livingroom, bedroom, etc...

Anyway, this was just a thought of Mark's, worth considering. Looks good to me.

My bro Herb and wife Janice may be here for Thanksgiving. Moon is waxing. The big move happens right at solstice, the light slowly returning even as the days get colder. The days have been short but warm and bright, dry dry dry.

Getting Ready for the Big Stuff

2007-11-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday afternoon cutting back the piñon trees that reach into the building area. Most or all may have to come out, to accommodate the concrete pad and septic system, but at least now I can see what's going on. The trees, at their trunks, are fairly far from the foundation, but I'll leave their fate to the experts.

View of the north side.
The addition will come off this wall, with the roof line of the new part coming between the two rows of windows. The trees obscuring the house will be severely trimmed or removed - sorry, guys. The area of ground seen here will be part of the septic system.

I began moving rocks from the building area as well, beautiful rocks - some solid granite, some porous lava rocks. Today I'll return to start dismantling the low wall of thick light-colored flagstone along the north side of the existing structure, along with thin slabs of red flagstone, gravel and other decorative stones. All the rockwork around the studio is very well done (by a nice guy from Crestone CO named Steve) and a shame to take up, but this is where I'm building, and everything will find a new home in the future.

This is also the beginning of the hard labor I'll need to get used to. Part of my arrangement with John, my financier in this project, is that I myself will do every step I can, or can be trained to do. Not just a boon, but an education.

As the days get shorter, the nights colder, and the chance of big snow greater, the project will become more challenging.

Spider's Last Days

2007-11-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

The spider in my shower survives again. I give a him chance to run for cover every day, turning the water on slowly, urging him up into the drain vent every time. When I move into my new house and leave my small but luxurious upstairs adobe apartment in Taos I suppose his fate will be sealed along with all the other creepycrawlies I allow tenancy here. And why not? I'm just one more, with as much right to life as any.

Looking at the west side of the house.

The new addition will grow to the left(north).

Today I began making a trench for the underground telephone cable, the least protected of my new utilities, and the first to get hooked up. Wednesday the phone man installs the phone box outside the house and I'll be able to communicate from the job site.

The job site becomes my home full time on December 20th, 39 days from now. By then I hope to have water and electric lines to the house, as well as a septic system and, with luck the pad will be in place for the new addition. The existing house by then I hope, will be sealed against the winter, while work begins on the addition, which will consist of bedroom, bathroom and utility room.

Also, by then, god nosing, the yurt will be standing on a wooden platform nearby, extra space, a refuge from construction. Until the addition is complete, I'll also have an outhouse, kindly donated by my current landlady and longtime booster, Suzy Starr, a beautiful outhouse which has sat unused in the hard here in Taos for years, originally property of the National Forest Service.

Focusing on getting my ducks in a row - builder, electrician, excavator, septic installer, plumber all have been secured, plus many the necessary permits and signatures - has let me avoid thinking about the actual mechanics and scheduling involved in the construction itself, but today reality begins to set in.