Journal of Progress--June 8-14

It was forecast to be 32 degrees Sunday night and 28 Monday night so Barbara thought she had better cover her plants. She made little individual green houses with garbage bags over all of the plants except the strawberries. They seem to do okay in cold whether.

Barbara left the garbage bags on the plants an extra day because we had planned to put hardware cloth under the plants. It is such a chore to unwrap everything that she didn't want it to do it twice in two days.

The hardware cloth is very hard to work with. Don is unrolling it the other direction so he can lay it down.

Don feels that gophers could still eat the roots of the plants and that is why he is laying down the hardware cloth.

The plants seemed to do okay in their garbage bag green houses, except the pepper plant seems to be struggling.

Some of the bean plant died and the cherry tomato has some brown leaves. It must have gotten too hot for them.

Don started painting the toilet stall for the downstairs bathroom. He says it's hard to work in such a small, enclosed space.

Here Don is preparing to install the duct for the bathroom exhaust fan. He had to cut a hole in the joist bracing to reach the exterior wall. Fortunately, he had not hung the last ceiling drywall, so he didn't have to wreck out a finished ceiling to do this.

Cutting out the end of one of the 4x4 gateposts

This one fits plumb and level.

First trial fit of the second gate post.

Don custom fit a socket to hold each each gatepost firmly vertical. The balcony frame is attached to the brackets with custom-made joiner's dowels.

The dowels go into "blind" holes, so Don had to carve channels for excess glue to excape, or the wood will split when the dowel is driven. Right now, none of the dowel joints are actually glued together. This will allow Don to assemble the balcony in sections outdoors, minimizing ladder work.

The left hand gatepost was not tight enough to suit Don, so he had to dowel that joint too. The corner posts must fit tightly, as the fence around the balcony will actually be composed of four gates. The two font gates will open to allow moving furniture in and out of the upstairs without having to carry it up our narrow stairs. Don saw this done in old houses in Holland. The end gates will open for emergency fire escapes.

Critters: The Baltimore Oriole male is one of the most beautiful birds out here.

The same bird. His coloring is similar to the Evening Grosbeak but he has a black line through the eye instead of a black hood and his breast is almost neon orange instead of a dull orange.

Didn't get this picture quick enough to get the head. We are seeing a lot fewer deer this year than in years past. It is rare to see them when it is still light out.

We hear sheep baaing on the hillside a lot, but usually don't see them in town. We have seen them in Eureka and on the highway. Usually it is a ewe and her lambs but we have seen maybe twenty together at one time. Evidently, there is an owner who just lets his sheep roam wild without any herder and that is why we see them all over the place. Neighbors said they heard coyotes on the hill the other night and Barbara saw an adult sheep leg on the path she sometimes walks on when she goes up to the hill. Barbara's father worked as a sheepherder from about 50 years on. This kind of lackadaisical care is hard to believe.

We are frequently asked when we are going to be finished. We tend to focus in our blog on what has been accomplished, not what yet has to be done. This section is to kind of give a heads up of what still has to be done. The attic has become Don's workshop. On the right, you can see the mattress and box springs that will eventually go in the attic as well as the bed frame that will eventually go into our bedroom.

The balcony has been completely constructed in the attic, but now must be taken apart and installed outside as the balcony.

The bed we currently sleep in is in the other end of the attic. There are four closets in the attic. Two of them have been dry walled, and one partially. The two that are dry walled have been taped, but nothing more. Custom doors will eventually have to be made for each closet. None of the drywall in the upstairs has been taped or mudded, much less painted.

This is looking into the upstairs bathroom. Basically, it is a storage area right now.

Downstairs, this is the living room, currently a junk room. You see that the stove pipe is not attached. We need one more piece. After months of trying, we were finally able to reach the man who can get it for us. He had it before, but we were unavailable so he sold it to our neighbor. In the foreground, you see the Amish rocker our daughter bought when she lived in Ohio. She has decided she doesn't have room for it, so she gave it to us. It is a very comfortable rocking chair.

The current kitchen. This is one of our high priorities to work on. We need to 1) mud and paint the ceiling, 2) level the floor 3) install the cabinets, 4) install the flooring, 5) build counter tops for the cabinets. Don has to do most of that himself. There isn't much Barbara can do to help. At the rate we are going, each of the above things will probably take at least a week so it will be middle or end of July before it is all done.

The cabinets are stored outside on pallets. They have been covered. We don't really know what state they are in. Even so, they may or may not work. A friend who was doing some remodeling bought them at Restore and then decided they wouldn't work for her. She offered them to us for a price. We kind of had to make a quick decision and so we bought them. Our moment of truth is still in the future.

Another priority is the bathroom. Here is the tub currently. We shower once a week at Don's work and do spit baths in between.

Here is the other side of the bathroom where the washer and dryer and vanity will go. There is a washer and dryer at Don's work so he is currently doing the laundry there. The bathroom is not 100% dry walled, taped or mudded. It will still have to be painted and floored.

This is the toilet stall. It has been painted but yet needs the flooring and then the toilet can finally be installed. We will be flushing with a bucket until we determine the problem with the leak in our big tank outside. Again, this is pretty much stuff Don has to do.

So, we are still using the outhouse. It's not so bad except in 28 degree weather or when the wind is blowing so strong, it blows the door open.

Our hand washing stand on the porch. The laundry soap container actually has water in it. It has probably been filled with water over a hundred times so there hasn't been any soap in it for a long, long time.

This room will eventually be our bedroom.

This next part details what is involved in washing dishes. We have to go to the well in Eureka usually once a week to get water. We pay for the water at the current rate of $150/year.

A big hose comes from the tank

It goes to the apricot tree which it waters. The 5 gallon bucket above is filled and taken by dolly out to our other tree. It has to be refilled once or twice a week.

Barbara fills her watering can to water her vegetables. It has to be filled at least twice every other day.

We also fill this 5 gallon tank for house use. Barbara didn't used to be able to carry them but has developed the strength to do so. Don says they weigh 40 lbs.

Once in the house, this pot is filled to heat to wash dishes with.

Dishes are put to soak after every meal as Barbara usually doesn't do dishes more than every other day. She bought some extra big bowls and utensils to last until the next dish washing. We usually eat on paper plates.

Barbara had a friend (bishop, father of roommate, professor of chemistry although she never took a class from him) who used to say, "Never wash a dirty dish. She has taken that to heart and pre-washes everything.

Barbara pours hot water from the metal pan in a clean hospital tub. Then, using a clean sponge, she washes the dishes. They are rinsed in the metal pan.