March,
2005
Construction Resumes
We finally completed the remaining formalities and got the permit to
resume
construction.
The lack of a permit did not stop us from taking care of a
number of details leading up to actual construction;
we got equipment and
materials delivered,
familiarized new subcontractors with the work to be done
and got estimates from them.
Thus,
we were able to get a running start once
the permit was official.
Reading for this month was
Franklin and Winston,
an in-depth look at the personal and political relationship of
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
Perhaps fitting reading
given the current relationship of Bush and Blair.
A "neighbor" across the canyon got some better shots of deer as well as
pictures of our house.
Check them out.
One of the side benefits of resuming construction is that the workmen
bring dogs that are used to playing with other dogs.
Neko really
enjoys this;
the dog pictured here is one of her favorite play mates.
However,
Pumpkin is not yet sure if he wants to eat her or play
with her.
He is actually much gentler than Neko.
Pumpkin has a tendency to sleep in odd positions.
Check out this one!
And Neko carefully monitors the
comings and goings
of the workers.
Friends Mike and Lisa visited us for most of a week.
Here Pauline takes a picture of them on a
snow shoe trip in the northern Bridger Range.
The Crazy Mountain Range is in the background.
Pauline and Gary had walked up this road without
snow shoes about a week earlier;
a good snow storm
dumped about 6" after that,
which made the skiers
very happy.
We also took a guided snow shoe tour in Yellowstone
Park,
where the ranger educated us regarding the
subnivean environment.
Now that construction has resumed,
there are a lot of
questions to be answered:
what are the exterior color
schemes,
exactly where does the HVAC equipment go,
what plumbing fixtures will be installed,
what is the
rough landscaping layout,
what appliances go where,
...?
Things are really moving now;
we have a framing crew,
an HVAC crew and a plumbing crew on the job.
We hope to have a second framing crew on the job soon.
Still,
the
anticipated finish date is not until mid-December.
After weeks of dry,
sunny weather,
Bridger Bowl has had 36" of snow in the past 4 days.
That gave Gary the
opportunity to try out his new powder skis.
Pauline has been taking
ski lessons and has progressed to skiing some of the easier black
diamond runs.
The snow does not hamper construction;
even though we are 8 miles
from Bridger Bowl,
there are only traces of snow here.
