Bah!

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

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...