Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Weather delays

Well we are finally getting desperately needed moisture here at the Backwoods of Hell, but unfortunately it is not enough to really help or to refill ponds, though it is enough to make the site unworkable.

So in the meantime I simply plan out the forms and the build process, and wait for clearer days, which hopefully won't be so cold as to prevent concrete from setting up properly.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

More progress!

Well today marked the absolute last bit of work that I will have to have done before I can build.. Since the backhoe and Captain Rob were still very near by, I decided to bring him back to the site to lower the entry area a bit (it was higher than the rest of the floor area) and to dig me a small trench for the french drain insurance policy.. Well he lowered the floor a bit, then preceded to dig a trench large enough to drain the great lakes!

But I am not complaining. The trench is deep enough that I can guarantee drainage and prevent water from ever building up in or above my home, so this one goes into the better safe than sorry file..

Tomorrow I start figuring what I need for concrete forms, french drain supplies, and the precise methods to be used in both...

This home looks like it might just happen after all!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Photo time..

Well still no luck with finding the cable for my camera, so I brought out the old one from retirement to get these, just before it perished..



Coming up the drive..



From above the homestead. The major progress is the opening up of the entry (the cut away to the right/downhill) as well as opening up the bedroom window are in the back of the photo, downhill corner.




Standing just outside of the front entry looking to the back wall.


From just inside looking out the front entry. To give an idea of scale, the dirt on the left side is about 9 feet high, and though this photo doesn't show it, where the dirt ends outside of the front entry, is about 15 feet above the undisturbed ground.. Needless to say I am building on a rather steep slope.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

No pics

Well at some point in my travels I misplaced or otherwise lost the cable for connecting the camera to the computer. So for the time being no pics... I have one place left to look before I decide that I simply don't have it and have to get a new cable.

In the meantime, I began digging the trench for the french drain. Once this is complete, then I can fill in some low spots in the floor, get gravel in to level the floor area, and then begin work on the forms for the footings.

It is so good to know that I can make progress now, that it is under my control to a large degree.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Progress!

After so many delays, after so many times of being told that this final excavation would happen, after so many months, the final excavation is under way. With any luck it should be wrapped up tomorrow and I can begin laying out forms for the footings on which the posts will sit.

To make things better, we also received a bit of rain here at the Backwoods of hell... not enough to really break the drought but enough to raise spirits a bit.

I will strive to get photos tomorrow and post them, though we are supposed to get rain again.. regardless I'll have some up ASAP!

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Forgetting politics for the moment despite this tragic day, I have enjoyed a wonderful mess of greens this evening.. henbit, mustard, turnip, rape (brocolli raab, and some asian radish..)

Beans on the stove, going' to let them cook overnight..

Delightful pea soup recipe which I've enjoyed a bit of this evening and more so tomorrow..

Good Intentions Paving Company


On this tragic day, this is a good reminder to all of us who have compassion for a fellow humans, but specifically to those who wish to reduce government but still choose to vote:

http://www.wendymcelroy.com/news.php?extend.3588

in part:

"Your vote is not a defensive act. It is an act that facilitates violence committed against people like me who have done you no harm but merely wish to live...and peacefully so. By casting a vote, you tell thugs, opportunists, parasites and worse that they have a right to intrude upon my life with their laws, their taxes and zero-tolerance policies about everything from speech to drugs, from guns to trans-fat. You vote is like ringing a dinner bell for wolves to descend."

Monday, November 01, 2010

Deception Day

Tuesday being a tragic day of deception and inherent violence, I'd like to encourage everyone reading this to remember that harming innocent others is never justified. Furthermore it is no more justified to harm innocents by selecting someone else to do that harm for you.

The only recourse for the moral person is to refuse to vote. Refuse to grant the illusion of legitimacy to those would be your masters by refusing to vote.

Respect your neighbors, respect all other persons. Have some compassion and reason and refuse to contribute to the harm of innocents.

To this end, a wonderful piece on voting and the inherent moral problems with it:
http://www.wendymcelroy.com/hitler.htm