Four Days of Bliss

Spackle and I spent several days last week on Orcas Island, just the two of us (plus the 4000+ full-time residents, plus the billion tourists, of course). It was the perfect summer weather, and I had the perfect vacation-time experience, except it was all on my own land, and in my own community. 

On Saturday, the day we came home, I was up in the Copse at the north end clearing brambles and long vines of man root (an easy, satisfying job compared to the blackberry cane, which is a sensitive, satisfying job), and feeling supremely happy to be alive in the world, when I realized that I was, in about a year, going to be living ON VACATION. That's where I am going to be living. I wanted to stay, from then until the house is finished.

(it is going to be so awesome)

Here are the latest pics that I have, although I heard yesterday that perhaps the driveway was excavated Monday, so that'll be interesting when we're next there!

Looking northwest from the southeast corner. Starting the foundation forms!

Interesting metal bits

This structure will not blow down. Or be shaken down in an earthquake. Or washed away in a Tsumani. 

Spackle enjoying, for the first time on Orcas, an evening peanut butter Kong. He was wondering what took us so long to realize that this tradition was not a Seattle tradition, but a Spackle tradition. Wherever he is, so there should be an evening peanut butter Kong. Or a lot of really annoying whining (you can see why Spackle was baffled that it took us so long to catch on. One would almost think we enjoyed the whining. We did not. We were just slow-witted.)

Looking from the northeast corner. The tops of the tall boards are the height of the cement foundation walls. Yes, we are building a bunker. 

Bits and Pieces. 

Looking from the west down the hill. The octagon will be the entirely-buried wine cellar (!)

Surveyor on the Site

Surveyor is pretty pleased by the speed and level of workmanship. 

Spackle in a spaghetti of cords and hose

I don't know how foundation building works. I mention this because what appears to be trending toward solidity, that nascent wall up in the middle of the photo, the right side of the house--that's where the opening to the garage will be. Up a few feet from the current ground level, but still an open space, not a cement wall, not even a trompe l'oeil of a garage door (probably especially not the last). 

There will also be a door where there's a space in the frame above--but almost twice as wide as the space the crew has left for entering and leaving the house. Or maybe they are planning for a door there. This building-a-house-from-scratch process is a mystery to me!

Not a high quality photo, but this was taken Saturday night as the ferry approached Anacortes. I was sitting in the driver's seat of Nublu, playing KenKen on my phone (*not*, it turns out $3.99 wisely spent) when I glanced up and saw that moon. My inner voice scolded me. Put that phone down and drink in your surroundings!

I was definitely drunk from my surroundings by the end of our short trip!