Holmes Sweet Holmes

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

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.