November, 2004
Pauline Moves In
Pauline arrived Halloween night, driving all the way from Lake Tahoe
(900 miles)
in one go. She was a bit tired, but the prospect of sleeping in her
her own bed kept her going. Now she only has to fly back to the
Bay Area for one week in early December to complete her employment at
San Jose City College.
The concrete garage roof was finally poured October 23.
There will be about 3 feet of sand, gravel and dirt
over the top of the roof, so it will appear to be
part of the natural landscaping. The concrete is a
special high-strength blend, laced with lots of
#6 rebar
(#4 is usual for home construction, #6 is more than twice as strong).
The concrete slab rests on a steel roof supported by several steel
beams.
The weather has been generally good since the last report. It has
snowed a little and got down to 15° one night, but there have
been many sunny days and temperatures into the upper 50's. Snow and
frozen ground is better than mud, so we are all looking forward to
colder weather.
November 02: Roof trusses are going up and some of the
plywood sheets are being applied.
While checking out the Main House one Saturday,
Gary and Kevin spotted a
moose
across the creek near the Carriage House (unusual, since moose
are crepuscular).
We had seen scat and tracks suggesting a moose was
around, but now we have seen the culprit.
After a short time, a second moose wandered out of the
trees. Perhaps we will have a baby moose next spring!
We'll be extra careful not to surprise the
mother, as moose mothers are very protective of their calves.
This is a view of the Main House from near
Attila's Throne.
Soon it will be time to put up the
timbers.
That will
be time-consuming because it requires a lot of very
careful joinery. Since the timbers are quite large
(up to 12" by 18" in cross section and up to 20' long),
they are expensive (about $30 per linear foot).
Thus, the carpenter works like an
expert gem cutter to make sure all the necessary
cuts are correct. Only the very core of the house
is timber framed, as a completely timber framed
house would be prohibitively expensive.
It's November 12 and the weather is still fine.
Actually, we're starting to wonder if we will
be able to ski anytime soon.
But we're making up for the lost time due to rain!
This shot shows how we are laying out coconut fiber
mats over the steeper slopes we have seeded. The
fiber deteriorates in about 2 years, giving the
plants plenty of time to get established and
stabilize the slopes. Now we are hoping that the
weather is not so good that the seeds germinate
just before winter hits.
Parting Shot
When the weather is colder,
Neko prefers to stay inside by the fire.
More pictures of Neko
