Well, it’s just short of two months since we last wrote the blog. I know I stopped writing, not sure about Ted, because it became clear that we were not going to be in the house for Christmas, and I was so disappointed that I just quit.
It is not that nothing has happened in the interim. Most of the projects in process have been completed. Sometime in December, we got the furniture in storage delivered as well as some new furniture we had bought for the living room. The painters finished painting, although they will come through one more time to touch up spots.
We finally got electricity this week on Wednesday. The Fire Authority vegetation inspectors came out yesterday and found a few small things that we have to finish before they can come back and approve out adherence to the plan. The main thing is putting down weed fabric on the slope by the stairs to the garage and then planting it with a low-growing groundcover. Ted & I will try to do that this weekend. We also want to get the first level of the west-side house gabion built, so we can see how the filtered light works and make sure the metal pieces we ordered fit, before one of the contractor’s guys (and crew) build it next week. Pete left in November and is staying in New Mexico.
Also, finally, next Thursday, the woodstove installer is coming to install our woodstove.
Ted and I spent many days clearing out the garage so we could put stuff that had been stored under the solar panels away. We moved some large slabs of oak from a tree that died that Pete cut up into the garage. We moved a lot of wood planks up to beyond the 170 foot marker, which runs right behind the solar panels, and is where the Fire Authority no longer has concerns. Of course, it is only behind the house that our property even extends more than 170 feet.
Over Christmas, Taylor, Matt, Haywood, and Curtis made several trips out to the new house with us and helped to put some order to things. They helped put together the bed in the apartment and to measure the slopes for the plants that are about to be planted. After the men flew home, the girls helped rearrange the furniture in the great room. The furniture is still covered with plastic, and the floors are quite dirty. There will be another round of cleaning and paint touch-ups.
Because we finally had electricity, the AV guys who install the Control-4 panel lighting and TVs etc, arrived yesterday. Monday is a holiday but the HVAC people should arrive next Tuesday to turn on the heaters, which will be a blessing. The house has been chilly but not unbearable; then again, the weather has been unusually warm and pleasant. The apartment, on the other hand, has been quite chilly since it is over the unheated garage.
We will try to take some new photos of the outside this weekend, but that may not happen. The contractor is anxious for us to tidy the guest bedroom, where the beds have not been put together, so that he can have the final electrical inspection. The plugs must be visible. And right now, pieces of bed are piled around, making it difficult to walk around and check plugs.