a proper lady

impaled pumpkin heads

coming soon to etsy!

as prints and greeting cards.... here is the first sample of the bird brains line.... bird head daguerreotype prints.

fall, halloween and impaling pumpkins

the pumpkins will be carved the day before halloween with tortured faced and then lit up by candlelight!

also featured in Small House Styles

Green Dot Award Winner

solar today!

my house!

new 'old' art

dog, dog products. spokes dog. cool!

so check this out kids, friday has shown that being a healthy dog pays off. she is one of the spokes dogs for a new maker of dog toys called Hugglehounds. that is one GOOD LOOKING DOG!

hugglehounds.com

new painting for wellfleet gallery

new paint in living room

roses

new things

wellfleet drive-in 46"x46" oil on panel 2009, soon to be showing at the frying pan gallery

new work and house pics

july night

chairs

ready for wine time

june

open studio thursday and friday 12-6 thru the summer

the deck is stained

still wet, but check out the color. it's called pacific.

no more tarps

romans, eat your hearts out

the bay road rain barrel aqueduct system

either side here is planted with fern (dead leaves are there for this reason)

so now...

not only do i have to deal with friday barking at these guys all night by the light of the full moon, they are balls-y enough to come dine on my spring grass poking up in the middle of the day.

friday barked enough to get them to run, but only to the edge of the meadow.

now let's party!

railing for the C of O

i made it myself...

been a bit...

since i've posted.this is a lamp i made from driftwood i scavenged at lecounts hollow in wellfleet.

i realized there weren't any good pics of the bedroom or the final bath tile job.

i also got some drop extensions for a few of my track spot lights that couldn't cast light beyond the ductwork.

and to all you block fans... check it out, production has resumed.

stu stu studio

finally, the studio can be worked in... and what a view...

don't forget the spare bed...

computer work area...

oh, i repainted the front door...

and the trim around the stain glass window in my bedroom door...

and

thank you annie for the bubbly, and thank you comcast for the internet, and thank you UB for the xmas $ that allowed me to get a worm composter and a rain barrel. and thank you everyone for making my birthday so special. and especially thank you to fred who made this all happen. fry and i are the luckiest girls alive.

brrr out there, toasty in here

some pics of the studio. i tried to get some studio lav shots, but none came out well this go 'round. the last shot here gets me, my cool ceiling, fry, and one of my charcoals.

and about the bubbly

i came home the other night to a bottle of veuve clicquot sitting on my front stoop. and no note. what a lovely thing to come home to, but i am wanting to thank the person who delivered it! although it's a fun mystery thinking that it may be from an admirer. thank you secret bubbly admirer!!!

must be noted

although i have experienced some issues, trials and tribulations with my kit, the damn thing does what is supposed to do! if the sun is out, and it's 20 degrees outside, i am inside wearing a tank top and shorts. that thing heats up like an oven and retains it. i have gone days in a row without even turning the thermostat on. it will indeed end up saving me a BUNDLE on heat. i never thought i would look forward to those crisp cold clear days of winter. my mom sometimes will call and say something about how it is supposed to warm up outside, and here on the cape that almost always involves rain and overcast skies, and that is when the house is the coldest. ironic. but it can be 25 out there and staggeringly warm inside if the sun is out. i find myself remarking constantly (and i am sure my friends are sick of it) about how hot it is in the house and the heat is completely off. let's hope for plenty of sunny days this winter!

i frosted the door with a friday lookout and a jen lookout

real snow

more pics

numbers etc.

first snow in new house

by the way. i feel as though i have lived there forever. everything is where i planned for it to be.

well, it's coming along despite being really really sick

day bedroom door window
night bedroom door window

bathroom door

the name that comes to mind when descending the stairs to the studio is harry tuttle

studio bathroom

thanksgiving decoration

all sorts of stuff

i don't want to get into what's wrong or stressful, only what's right and looks good. here is the ocean cobblestone i laid today for the driveway extension (2.4 tons of it!), the stone steps (400 lbs of that) i made leading to the studio outside a few days ago, and ryan's very cool studio railing.

it friggin' snowed today

the super relaxing bedroom sanctuary

and the look in the bathroom i am going for is old skool laboratory chic

night moves

l to the i to the g h and t

sheetrock and rail

the studio sheetrock and my very cool railing upstairs.

uh oh, it's november 1st

we are so close, just hung up on getting the electrical inspector to give an ok before the downstairs walls are sheetrocked. he is coming monday. 

in other news, the appliance delivery men broke the crisper drawer while delivering the fridge (no biggy, they are ordering a new one), the sink leaks (no surprise, just needs to be caulked), the pipe for my railing didn't show up friday as planned. 

but i am trying to get everything done i can, so, here is what i have done in the images below. 

also, i had an idea to attach s-hooks under the counter to hang pots and pans from. it took some jerry-rigging, but i think it will work fine.

more tile

no grout or tile cut yet, but... how cool.

more awesomeness

i began tiling the shower today. these are natural slate tiles, that have all sorts of colors in them. and guess what... tiling is fun!!! the bathroom color is called chancellors cloak. the cool fixtures really pop against it.

my fav lamp that is going over the kitchen island area... the george nelson saucer lamp. the kitchen wall is called whispering spring

these two pics are the color i chose for the bedroom closet wall, which will be behind a curtain. the color is called forest moss.

and finally the artemide pendant. i call it my mini-metal-guggenheim.

flying lobster traps

on our way to the house this morning to work, we were behind a fisherman's pickup. one of his lobster traps went careening off the back and we stopped behind it with flashers on until he could put it in reverse and get out to pick it up. 

how many people are lucky enough to dodge flying lobster traps in the morning. i love my life.

and now for the world rocking

the pumpkin found a new home away from the activity at the front door

YAY, metal!

how cool (and before anyone says how the trim color isn't supposed to be the same color as the wall, i don't care, because this is the look i was going for, kind of nyc gallery like)

how cool is the light that comes in (the sink base is going to be clad in corrugated galvie)

THE coolest sink EVER

north-east corner

love love love

my sink rawwwwwks (in fact i had to be alone with it earlier)

oooh, i love exposed metal conduit

helper/ankle-biter

the kitchen work surfaces (this wall is pale blue, you can't really tell in the pic)

west-end gable

east-end gable

and here are the fosters (sanchez and junior) electric

the next post will...

will rock everyone's world.

ok, maybe just mine, but shazam, stuff is getting DONE.

ps

thanks to d.b. for helping me move many heavy things last sunday.

and i feel much better after our talk. thanks.

coooool

we have had to make quite a few adaptations. this is ryan's cool solution to the gable end of the house.

on the way

we had the the nesea green building tour on saturday. a lot of people came out to tour. someone even drove 3 1/5 hours to see my house. wow. that is very impressive.

sheetrock looks amazing. 

this isn't awkward, is it?

no, this is a pumpkin.

thank you kyle

hurricane kyle has dropped about 5 inches in the last 48 hours here and the seeds i put down friday, have already germinated. there are roots sprouting out of all of them! i also got to check out the basement pre-sheetrock and so far so good, no water.

here is e.t. looking jaunty during kyle while surveying her foam home.

"el-eee-uuuuut"

people are inquiring as to how fry is doing

there are no definitive answers from the vet, but after searching online, this seems to be the most likely cause... and the photos posted online are most similar to it...

Canine Cutaneous Histiocytoma 

A histiocytoma in the dog is a benign tumor. It is an abnormal growth in the skin of histiocytes (histiocytosis), a cell that is part of the immune system.

Most commonly histiocytomas are found in young dogs and appear as a small, solitary, hairless lump.

Most histiocytomas will regress within two or three months.

starting websites for my crew

the first one is ainsley's. he was really on the ball about getting me the info he wanted and the images... check out his fine work...

ainsley's concrete

it looks like the misty mountains of maine

so, i have front steps, and some windows. the glass company measured incorrectly. monday we will close in the remaining window openings with plastic and proceed with interior doings.

i have been breaking my back on the grounds all weeks. raking seeding shoveling, you name it. but i got all the spelt and winter rye down before the rains came in on friday.

i am having the fridge delivered monday. eesh. and getting a quote on the driveway. and... you can see in the photo below, i have a dead pine that needs to leave the premises as soon as possible.

i have had some really nice visitors this week. many neighbors saying how much they like the place. it's nice to hear that. and my friendly neighborhood officer mark stopped by to check on progress. it's also nice to know he is keeping an eye on things in this neck of the forest.

yesterday...

i felt was a day to mark in the process. it was the last day of digging on the property.

i still need to take a tree down that looks like it met it's maker and is too close to the house and driveway for my taste, and put the driveway in, and throw some more dirt down... but no one will be showing up with giant equipment to rip trenches into the ground. gas, water and electric are all officially installed underground.

yesterday was also a death defying day on the roof, but i won't get into that.
today is ikea!!! i (heart) ikea.
and from tomorrow until monday i am going to bust a move on the stucco and seed before carol(yn) gets here.

thinking positive

positively exactly what i wanted.
am in the middle of stucco-ing the entire foundation myself. a side effect of my unfortunate foundation job. long story. on my way to go pick up some concrete tint to darken the next coat.
also planning on adding a drip trim to the bottom of the metal as it comes around. and hopefully a corner edge all the way down

this is the view now that the septic has been backfilled. this week i am spreading seed there. spelt if you can believe it. it's an ancient grain.

like a bad dream

today i took fry to the vet so they could reassure me that the thing that just appeared on her chin is only an abrasion. they didn't do that. they thought it might be cancerous.

the next hour was spent with me trying to hold her down while they took a needle biopsy of her chin. she was screaming and jerking so violently that i was covered in her blood. she was then given an iv sedative during which i held her as she fell asleep in my arms, they tried the needle thing again, she still screamed, and now i am crying my eyes out. the end result is inconclusive. they aren't alarmed with the look of the cells, so she is now on antibiotics for two weeks, after which we go back to make sure it isn't worse, and if it is, there will be a large biopsy taken.

after today's ordeal, i carried her to the truck because she was so knocked out she couldn't stand and i just wished to god that the vet had some of that sedative to give me as well. we got back to our temporary nest and i layed her on the bed and curled up with her and slept, trying to pretend this morning was just a bad dream.

friday, you are not allowed to get sick, do you hear me?

nesea

october 4th we will be on the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association's 2008 Green Buildings Open House tour. it will take place 10am - 4pm
http://nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/

a lot has gone on this week

the electric went in, the water went in, the septic went in, most of the rough plumbing went in. i also set fry's house dedication into the floor. basically it says none of this would be happening if she hadn't come into my life.

the septic
the house on the hill
the studio
the bedroom
friday with her dedication

this is a disgrace!

no it isn't! this floor is BEAUTIFUL!






a tee shirt logo i did for ryan...

concrete

ainsley is pouring the concrete today.
he does gorgeous work.
ainsley kmiec (based in wellfleet) concrete floors 508.527.4559

here is all the info for you gawkers out there

the kit and design are from noble home...
http://www.noble-home.net/
you can go to their site and learn all about the materials used to build this.

if you want the best builder on the cape, hire ryan weber.
r.m. weber contracting (based in eastham) 508.237.9703

if you want to know who NOT to use, just ask me about my ICF foundation.

the other links to the right are my painting, which is my work, and various links related to this structure.

skunk fur

the color of the trim paint is called Raccoon Fur by ben moore, it's a low luster exterior paint. the boys call it skunk fur. now i call it skunk fur. i love skunk fur.

mildly relevant

THE coolest stuff EVER...
don't click this link unless you are prepared to buy me something from this shop

oh yeah.

we started out the week with ryan having the black death, along with half of cape cod. mid-week we cursed the hell out of the crystal door company. we end the week with the sliders in, as well as the remaining windows. booya!

the sliders

are a bitch.

i got sanchez on board with the industrial look exposed conduit though. phew.

lots of posts today

here are the windows from both inside and outside!!!

the wall going to the studio...
and the windows in my bedroom...

update!

my boys are brilliant. they figured out a way to get the windows all set and then just replace them before inspection.

more blackberry tarts for my crew!

well, more than a little

so noah said...
Unfortunately, the windows will take a few weeks - they are made to order and apparently they can't rush them any faster - sorry. The order will go in first thing tomorrow for two tempered units of the 2929's (the larger units). Please keep the ones you have wrapped and I'll get them some day.
I'd be happy to talk with Ryan about how to keep things moving along, even if I have to talk with the inspector - I ain't scared.

ok. in the meantime, i want to share a little thing i have discovered is very satisfying. i have a bookmark folder called 'house' in my web browser. it contains all the items i have seen over the past year spent window shopping online and want to get for the house, such as appliances. well, every time i buy one of those things, like a kitchen faucet or a fridge, i delete the bookmark. now instead of having a GIANT list, there are only a few minor decorative links left. that is satisfying.

..except for a washer/dryer, a stackable front loading washer and dryer. i keep hoping some random family member will decide a washer /dryer will be the perfect house warming gift since it is the only essential i need, and haven't bought yet. hint

windows setting us back a little

waiting on pella windows that are tempered for near the floor level. this is a bummer. the boys are trying to work around it as best they can.

stuff

so, i have a front door!


but two of the windows aren't right and need to be ordered, hope that doesn't take long.
i have a few pics of copper piping and some other stuff i plan on making different stuff out of.
and down the hill...

i'm covered in raccoon fur

that's the name of this paint color that will be the roof trim and frieze board. love that name.

and a pic of da rooof.

before the rain today...

roof panels

it's the ceiling, not the roof

technically

4

i was standing in front of the house the other day, just after jimmy finished backfilling, with my friend rebecca. as rebecca and i chatted, i glanced down and poof, saw this and took it as a sign.


(jimmy, thank you for being there for me and thank you for not running it over with the machines... and by 'it' i mean the clover, not the house... but don't run that over either)

the day after yesterday

the view from the fortunato:

today

and one art shot:

more walls... excited, nervous, et al!

i love these windows

walls!

view from the end of my street

flash update...

arrrrrrgh matey!

don't make me walk the plank, i swear i will never poop the poop deck again!

fu*bleeeep* about time!!!!

and here we are ladies and germs. what we have all been waiting for... the magic LVL's

and ryan...working!

ps
the foundation has been sitting exposed for so long we need to have it cleaned out and waterproofed again, have fun weber!

a funny thing happened to me on the way to pick up the sink

which is that i didn't bring anyone to help me. i did think i had planned ahead enough, by bringing all sorts of heavy item moving stuff... dollies, handcarts, the big ramp things to put on the back so i could roll the sink up and into the truck. well... that sink is motherfuckin heavy. its cast iron with porcelain overlay, and it is 51" long.

and the guy's driveway was on a slope. but not toward the street, back in and toward his freshly painted garage doors. so once i got the thing on the dolly and say it had gotten away from me as i pushed it up toward the truck, it would have gone rolling and smashed through his garage. oh boy.

so i attached a rope to the sink, in case it did get away from me, it wouldn't go all the way down. i tried getting it in with the ramps, but no go, too much of a slope working against me. i tried propping it against the tailgate and either pushing it up and in or pulling it over the edge and in from the inside of the bed. nope. i tried each of these approaches at least twice, and oh yeah, it was also about 95 degrees. and there wasn't a soul around. except maybe the elderly neighbor across the street (but i didn't want to be responsible for any negative consequences with his help).

i tried to get that thing in there for an hour. sweat cascading into my eyes, ears, nether regions. i was just about to give up when i hear the beautiful chorus of bells broadcast over a crappy PA and low and behold.... it's the ice cream man. i ran into the street after him yelling "ice cream man, ice cream man, HELP!"

well, it was more along the lines of a scrawny goth ice cream teen. pale skin, jeans, dyed black hair, elvis costello glasses, a big black leather belt, and skinny as a rail. oh boy. so i say "um, ice cream dude... can you help me push my sink into the back of my pickup?". he looks at me and i swear to god he says "well, i'm kind of weak". i'm all "dude, right now you look like hercules, lets go". so i get in the truck and pull and he pushed from the back. and it went in. i thanked him profusely, and although i couldn't tip him or even buy myself a creamsicle or rocket pop because i had zero cash on me, i yelled to him and told him he had gotten his good karma points for the day. i drove home singing about how i was saved by the ice cream man, kid, goth, teen, dude.

and then i really hurt myself unloading the thing alone over at the bay. but, here it is.

studio sink

i just bought this 1930's farm sink for the studio on eBay... for $10!!! now i just have to find someone(s) to go to fall river to pick it up with me. it's supposed to weigh about 300lbs, yikes.

genu-INE I-talian sink

just picked myself up this sink i bought on eBay today, i drove very far to get it (because i am on a budget) the sink was very reasonable (read: cheap), but looks awesome and came straight from italy. and it must be italian, it says frah-gee-lay on the box. i also eBayed myself this nice little faucet for it that looks totally money (but wasn't). the whole shebang will look perfect-o with the fortunato (which isn't actually made in italy, but instead in china, oh well, who cares, it looks rockin').

hark...

what is that which i spy through the woods?....


why it's ryan and justin, and they are building things!!!!!

still waiting

in the meantime, i went over to the bay to try and find ryan and instead found a large box outside my door. i pushed it into the garage bay and started to open it. well, at first glance i thought i had indeed found ryan, and someone had encased him in a block of foam and shipped him to me in this box, so i was careful to cut the foam away....

but still no ryan, it's the fortunato though!

waiting

so i have been trying to do what i can around the lot. i brought a load of gravel up from the hole to the driveway. i am collecting smooth rocks and bringing them up by hand to the driveway to create a cobblestone type area. i am doing the same right in front of the house, t try and ward off erosion. i have raked a bunch of the hill and spread erosion control seed there. and tried to spread some wild flowers in front of the neighbors septic pipes to block my view. don't forget the 16 hours of troweling that went into the foundation exterior.

the writing on the wall

semper verus ad finem fidelis
always true and faithful to the end

ulula cum canis, cum quibus esse cupis
one who howls with dogs, is with whom one desires to be
original motto is lupis, not canis

sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
we gladly feast on those who would subdue us
(motto of the addams family, which friday and i will be adopting,
and, did you all know that wednesday's middle name was friday?)

qui me amat, amat et canem meam
love me, love my dog

been a real shitty few weeks

but i suppose it's about time i start to update this again. i half joked with ryan about how the property should be called heartbreak hill. he quickly corrected me and said no, call it 'new beginnings'. he has been through the ringer too, but at least he still can say things like that. so here's to new beginnings and ryan starting the whole shebang next week, we should be moving right along and have a lot of updates soon.

in the meantime, here are pics of some things that i have now, including the above pic of my very first set of keys to something that i (and fred) own. i am also posting a pic of the fancy I-talian toilet i just bought on ebay... where i am also trying to buy my hotwater heater, furnace and whatever i can get my hands on there.

below are my windows, my huge tracks of sliders, the front door you will pass through on your way into mi casa, and that crazy european commode. and as an aside, i am planning on getting the least expensive toilet out there for the downstairs studio, i have found it, and can you believe that american standard actually makes a toilet they call, you ready?, the plebe.

this is NOT the plebe

wall and roof panels

earth day

i completely forgot to mention that my green kit house arrived on earth day! how perfect!

good luck, sucker

...the last words spoken to me (in jest, i hope) from noah on the phone as the kit rolled away from him and toward me.

ryan asked if i got a lot of 'action shots' of the unloading... and here you go.

the truck

the kit

the inspection (nice ink)

the unloading

a man

a machine

a man, a machine and my straw walls

and i got a boatload of crap (which i am sure is only the beginning) from both of them about being the g.c.
the thermasteel panels are en route and should be here tomorrow.

and finally...

jimmy is a good man. and ryan keeps me laughing.

go go gadget green

i got an email this morning from noah saying...

Jen,
I spoke with a researcher who is looking for "green" projects around Boston for a new Discovery Channel show called Planet Green. They are interested in your house. They would highlight you and your in-progress house, with discussion of the green aspects to your home - everything, including the kitchen sink!

of course my first reaction was "if mike rowe is hosting it then i have already died and am on my way to heaven." well, it's steve thomas (aka this old house)... at least my domestic bliss won't be in jeopardy if this comes to be a reality.

the kit and stuff is coming, gulp!, on tuesday. here are some pics of part of my house sitting at their shop waiting to go on a truck to jimmy's shop.

rafters!

and, uh, stuff!

behold! the bible of noble

...sent to me to by noah, to study and learn from. a second one also arrived, so that i might spread the teachings.

like glass!

unfortunately i only had my cell phone with me, but here is my gleaming studio floor! i love it. i hope the upstairs floor looks this good!


thank you ainsley!

slab is beautiful

these pics aren't so great because it was raining and the dude was cutting the scores, but i looked closely at it and it is GORGEOUS.

stupid mailbox

i got my very first piece of mail in my new mailbox yesterday. it was a real estate tax bill.

anyway. today the slab is supposed to be poured. hooray. and i would be over there chronicling it if i didn't need to get my ass in gear and pack up more stuff to bring to storage, get my truck inspected, oil changed etc. and some painting done. i should be able to get over there at some point before dark.

so, here we are, half way through march

i am getting an application for gas service in the mail. the plumbing inspector is due at the lot on friday, so anytime after that the slab can be poured. money is pretty much non-existent. i am completely convinced it will all fall into place though (i can't think otherwise or i would have a breakdown). the scheduled date for the kit's arrival is april 15th (i also owe a good chunk of change to the fed that day).

i met the former owner of the land the other day. she was so great. i loved her.

i am also in the process of trying to move all my stuff out of my current space by the end of march. thank god for my knight in shining armor, as shannon calls him. my temporary studio (and furniture storage) is in a very nice big and bright industrial bay in eastham that i am renting from raquel and jason. and lou, thanks for the moving help so far.

below is a pic of my kitchen sink. i bought it from a good good friend, for much less than it should have been. it's giant. it's an antique soapstone double bowl farm sink. and it weighs 250 lbs. um. help?

!!!!!

let's put all this foundation business behind us

this morning i met with kevin and ira... and they were very patient with the 'unconventional' plans. we'll make it all work, i'm sure. i also spoke to junior and he is gonna throw the two ground rods in sometime this week. so the slab should be able to happen next week.

things to look forward to...

http://brengelmannoblehome.blogspot.com/
checking out their blog has me completed excited to move past all this foundation business and get this show on the road! ryan, you have to check this out because there are a lot of little tricks that they are discovering that will help down the road.

as of today

i spoke to kenny about waterproofing. everyone on cape knows about my foundation. it has a bad rep. anyway, he is checking it out. i went over this morn and shoveled dirt away from the foundation. i also noticed that the gas lines were already marked on the far side of the street where we need to go for the electric. there's a pole directly across from the small cleared drive jimmy put in for utility trenches. still need to get ahold of the water dept. to see where the water main is. but the kit is ordered and unless the foundation is condemned i suppose we are moving forward. here's the pole for posterity, and the number.

the foundation fairy

the one positive note

in a complete reversal of her former self, friday is actually starting to like contractors.

the issues

many things in the works

well. the foundation is poured. the waterproofing is ordered and going on next week. the foundation survey is ordered. as soon as that stuff happens the foundation needs to get inspected, then the electric can get ordered. the footwork is under way to get a good price on moling under the street for electric. the plumbing pipe is supposed to be dug-in next week. and the joists and framing is about to begin (as soon as i get the as-built approved). i need to find out from ryan if he needs me to get the corrugated flooring that goes over the joists and takes the cement before backfilling takes place. still haven't ordered the kit (gulp!). here's what it looks like right now.

here's a close-up of the ICF's (insulated concrete forms). they look just like styrofoam packing material. because basically that's what it is.

so actually work did continue today...

um. snow.

a lot of freaking snow. like a foot of freaking snow. heavy, wet, sticky snow. (which is beautiful to look at, but kills transmissions on plow trucks and makes a nasty burning transmission-y smell, and if you couple that with the smell of pickles... well, let's just say it's a very questionable combination)

the upside to the snow was that i got to ride shotgun with the plowmaster. this was very cool for many reasons. i love nasty weather, i love riding around in nasty weather, i love trucks, i love trucks that kick ass in nasty weather, i love getting ideas for paintings while riding around in trucks that kick ass in nasty weather. i don't love pickles. so kudos for jimmy for not kicking me to the curb until almost 2am. because i know i am a pain in the ass but he is just starting to find this out. (revised plow lessons i learned last night. 1. things break 2. you can sing the plow song you made up for 7 hours straight 3. keep the plow driver awake without touching him)

i do very much hope i still get to ride shotgun the next time it snows.

oh, so basically there will be no work on the foundation, and for how long, i don't know.

they started the foundation...

waterproofing quandry

i am on the fence about my foundation waterproofing. i don't know whether to go the way of a spray on waterproof or a peel and stick rubber membrane. it seems to me there are pros and cons on either end of this. cost being one of them. i have about a week to decide what to do. if anyone has any opinions on this... please let me know. i do have tons of info on both products, just no real world experience with them. thank you jimmy for asking around for me on that. and thank you for going back and pulling the dirt away and not punching anyone in the head, namely me.

in the meantime... they are delivering the forms this morning and should be cranking on assembling a foundation this afternoon. the window bucks need to be set into the forms before the concrete is poured, that's how i will get those cool windows going down to the studio level. ryan busted those out this week. thank you ryan. at some point i am supposed to meet sanchez or junior or someone at the site to talk shop on the electric service and what kind of damage i am looking at for going underground.

damn

a punch in the head

ok, so there will be earth moving this afternoon. and hopefully there will be no foundation dudes present at the time.

the very tiny cave in

i was hoping to save jimmy from a trip to the lot by taking these pics...

now some gratuitous dog pics...

oof

so i just got a call from bo the foundation dude and he needs jimmy to go back and pull more dirt away from the foundation on the driveway side because of a small cave-in that could become a bigger one... eesh. also found out the foundation is even more money with waterproofing stuff. eeeeesh. jen not happy. jimmy really not happy. i am going to run over there and see what's up right now. then i am going to go to dinner and eat copious amounts of raw fish and seaweed and drink myself into a sake stupor.

footings

after i was told that jimmy did the most perfect job on digging the cellar hole (no, i had no doubts that he would have) by one of the foundation dudes named bo, they put the footings in.

uh... wow

ok. here is what happened over the course of about 2 hours, or how long it took me to go see a movie that was supposed to be about vampires, but i instead spent the whole time worried that the dog would die and then when she did, i cried my eyes out.

january

of course i did catch some shit about this slope, it's ever increasing angle, and how i will pay dearly if the machinery slides down it.

all permit-ed up

finally in late december... i have a building permit. i don't have any money to start the kit yet, but hey, why worry over the little details.

in late november...

i finally walked the lot with the guy who was going to excavate it. he wanted to calm me down because on the phone i sounded a little anxious about everything. i mean, wouldn't you be? what the hell did i get myself into here.

about the kit, the lot, and the patron of the arts

ok. where to start. my friends lou and fred and i went out for some drinks before a movie. i decide we should all brain storm about ways to come up with money to buy this land i fell in love with. some ideas involved bank robbery, internet porn, the macarthur genius grant and i think pole dancing came up. fred finally stepped in with 'well i could buy it and you could have a mortgage with me'. silence. surely he must be kidding. we go to the movie and don't speak of it again. the next day lou calls and says 'i think fred was serious'. followed by 'i didn't want to say it at the time, but, you SHOULD'.

the rest of the summer was filled with things like perc tests. a super fantastic real estate agent named amy who was seemingly sent straight from above to help me. lawyers (hi tom). a crazy builder guy who got canned. the putting together of the 'dream team' with the help of jason my septic engineer. and finally meeting ryan (oh my god you are so young) over at the lot to talk logistics. oh, and where i am going to come up with the materials for the type of house i want, and not have to resort to any of the things mentioned in the first paragraph to pay for it.

i suppose i could go on and on about all the reasons i chose a noble home kit. but, since they have already gone to the trouble of doing it on their website... you can just read what they wrote. http://www.noble-home.net/ i found out about them on treehugger.com (i know, i know)

i had originally thought i was the first guinea pig to order one, turns out i am the second. and lucky for me, the first ones started a blog of their own about the process. they are a few weeks ahead of me. http://brengelmannoblehome.blogspot.com/

i think it was april

i did a search of available land under a certain price and came upon this lot.
when i walked out into the open meadow at the bottom of the hill, it was like angels started to sing.

ok. so i had to look past the super steep slope, the weird rock garden that looked like a ufo landing pad, the boat parked there and the fact i had no money.

but still... birds were singing and the air smelled like pine, i was only 3/4 of a mile to the bay, and dammit my dog would sure love this place.