Felix ascends!

What a cat will do to eat in his dining room and sleep in his own, comfortable bed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pDWyNAromw&feature=youtu.be

The Pour!

Concrete and adrenaline were pumping this afternoon!

Jacob has the hose, supported by other guys behind, and Noah vibrates the mix to release bubbles and settle it in.

A work of art!

We just LOVE this crew!

A slight adjustment

Too bad, but the shed was poured two feet too short. It was cool to see this giant circular blade slice through bottom and sides. With his giant strength, Hans just blew on it and over it went to serve as the footing for the new rear shed wall. (This guy is not Hans).

Here is the shed with the back foundation lying on the ground as a new footing, and a new set of forms being built, ready for the next pour of concrete. It is good that we could reuse that chunk -

concrete is expensive!

 May God bless our Nana, Dorothea Janetta Wheldon (Sept. 11, 1918 - Sept. 27, 2012).

Laundry with a washboard

Perhaps you've given up your car for a bike and now use cloth bags instead of plastic, but have you given up your washing machine?

Check out laundry as it was done in the old days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GRLVgrgCr4&feature=youtu.be

Footings, forms and foundation

Now that we are down to hard pan (clay), we can build forms for the footings. Footings are a wider cement base that support the foundation walls.

Deep within all of the cement are steel ties that keep the cement from cracking. We feel much more prepared for an earthquake!

Here are the footings once the wood has been stripped. Now come the forms for the foundation.

Jeth and the crew make a productive shop within the walls they build. 

It took lots of hammering to form walls out of 1" x 6" s. This wood will be stripped after the cement is poured and reused as shiplap siding for the wooden framed walls above. Another neat thing is that this wood was already used once for the foundations in another house, down in Fairfield.  Reuse and save money!

All scraped out...

The excavator came in to remove top soil and expose the clay.

Now we can see that our basement will have almost 9' ceilings. It is bright, tall and spacious!

 The outdoor patio for our tenants is roomy and contained.

 This clay feels cool. We should sculpt something!

 Evenings are getting a bit cooler. Max, Ruby, Cheri and I are happiest as a close pack.

The shed

Three days away at Camp Quanoes, and the shed foundation is poured!

If I'd looked more closely, I would have seen that the shed's new planned position (top left) is further forward, or southward, meaning that it must be turned slightly to accommodate the 5 foot variance to the property line.

I first got quite upset that the shed was not in line with the house, but me of all people should know that NOT everything in this world has to be straight!

The excavator

Check out the powerful little digger on video at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt4yjE87JW8&feature=youtu.be

The Lift: Part 2

How are you doing, Noah?

I'll give you a little help...

Dusty brings in more blocks, the higher she goes.

Levitation!

The light of day shines through, from front to back, and within minutes, those hanging walls are cut and pulled from the house, leaving a great open space that will get even bigger through excavation.

The Lift: Part 1

Jenga begins.

Felix is not going to miss this!

The stage is set.

Here come the beams.

Safety first, as the beams roll in...

Hydrolic hookup:

Organized chaos.

Oil cans catch drips as jacks are readjusted.

"You'll feel it move before you see it move," said Victor.

to be continued...

coming to you live, from Bowker Creek

Outdoor living

Hung between the two pear trees is our wind break and wall. The dogs can eat in the wind.

The kitchen (from behind the wall):

The porch couch fits perfectly.

Laundry - without a machine:

coming to you live, from Bowker Creek