Well Pumping

Barry began disinfecting and pumping out the well today. What fun. I learn so much with him. He takes the time to answer my questions and share his knowledge with me.

Shed

Okay, now I really need a shed up there. I'll have to store my new generator and other tools as needed. I was carrying around shovel, sledge hammer, hammers, stakes, etc. all in my truck last fall. It would be better to leave stuff there so I could have the truck a little cleaner.
I knew it last fall, and Florida had even suggested to me that I buy a Rubbermaid one to make things easier, but nooooo. I'll probably do it the project way and build one. I have a lot of scrap wood left over from my fort build. I have been looking on craigslist, freecycle, and reuse also. There was one last fall a 10x10 and I should have gone and gotten it. Darn.
I know either a free one will come along or else I'll build one, hopefully.
Peace out.

Power up

Bought the Husky generator yesterday.

I really like it. Bro-in-law put the wheels on it and all and had me power it up, run it, and power down and load onto the pickup with his ramps. Now I need ramps and/or a trailer! The more you buy, the more you need somehow, and just when I work toward minimization.

Barry can use it to pump out the well and ready it for the water test, then Sammy can use it too, for construction. I figured, heck, why pay others, as deserving as they are, for rental on a generator when I am going to need one for the house anyway. The neighbors are always out of power, so I will be too during those ice storms. This 5000 watt baby will allow me to still watch all my favorite movies and eat ice cream from my running fridge while the coyotes are howling to the moon outside.
This 10hp engine has some power!

Next week home show

I'm going to another home show next week. I'll take off a bit early from work and traverse the countryside and the Berkshire spur to the Big E.  

It is supposed to be the biggest home show in New England. 

Yahoo!

I better wear comfy shoes and bring snacks 'cause there will be a lot of hoofin' it.

Great cabin

I saw a cabin on Sunday that I really love. I have stopped by to see a few in the past few months, but this one topped the cake. It is simple. 1000 square feet including the loft. It has a front porch, and a walk out basement. 

I am thinking I may have plaster or sheet rock on the ceiling between the beams. I dream of painting the plaster with an outdoor sky scene.

Home show

I went to a tiny home show last Saturday. The up side to it was I had the vendors attention for Q & A and didn't have to squeeze in to any booths through masses of elbows. 

Weird thing, though, was how surprised this one guy (log home vendor) was when he asked if I was doing this by myself. I responded, "well, sort of, but not really 'cause I'm hiring all my childhood friends to do the heavy stuff", but anyway, he didn't listen to a word I said. He kept saying "Wow, you are so interesting!!!!!...I never expected to meet anyone soooo interesting here today."

He couldn't believe a girl could/would get involved in building...huh? so he quickly raced to my rescue and said he would come out to the property and use his compass and orient the house (as I had mentioned southern exposure for passive solar) and mark off the building site, etc. 

I thought it was so funny. Yet not.

BTW, I was a girl scout and, as you know from previous posts, I mark out everything quite effectively with all my color coded string and flags. lol

(I moved into the color coded string after I had so many strings running around the property I quickly realized that using white for this and yellow for that, etc. simplified everything.)

Then when I asked what wood his company used for the homes and he said all white pine. Surprised, I said, "for the rafters? because the tensile strength of white pine is not recommended for rafters." 

"Oh", he said,  "well, no, gee, you've done some research, no, we use Douglas fir." 

A hah! Just as I suspected.

Well estimate for water quality test

Barry sent the estimate to put the well pump in, disinfect the well, and set up for the water test. About 2 grand. It includes a two day rental, if nec., on his generator, plus fuel, and a labor estimate based on an hourly wage. There is no pre-determined amount of hours that it will take to disinfect the well, which includes pumping out all the water and waiting while it refills.
I keep wondering if I should get a generator or have construction power set up via power pole and meter for the construction, otherwise Sammy will be bringing his generator, too.