The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

What a great movie. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. You couldn't have ask for a better cast. But I digress.


The Good:
We got our building permit - finally! A 216 square foot cabin with loft and 6' deep porches on two sides. Cabin and porch will be elevated about 24" on 6x6" posts (borate treated, of course).





The Bad:
My cat Mädchen died. She was 13 years old. I had gotten her as a kitten during a period of my being single. She was the best cat I could've ever asked for. She was super friendly and affectionate. Whenever I called her name she would answer - honestly. It was very sad and unexpected. Mädchen died of cardiac arrest and had multiple organ issues - liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. Thankfully she didn't suffer too long. I wouldn't have expected myself to cry but I did. I was bawling as I called to tell my youngest daughter, Lauren. She had a good life, though. Her last few months were spent with my in-laws, Jim and Linda. She had a huge house to roam around in and spent much of her time watching birds and chipmunks and laying on Linda's stomach as she napped. I'll miss her.




The Ugly:
Perhaps not from a distance but upon closer inspection one can see the angled cuts for the supports didn't quite match what they're intended to support. But anyway, this is our new clothes line. We used locust wood for the posts. One of the many nice things about living in a rural area is that there aren't any HOA rules stipulating "no hanging laundry outside." Can't let those home values drop any more than they already have, right?

Proofing a Deer-Proof Fence

Not only do we have to concern ourselves with deer but there are rabbits and woodchucks to worry about as well. In order to deter these two and any other large rodent we've begun to add chicken wire to the bottom of the deer fence. The idea is that the animal will start to dig at the base of the fence and hit the chicken wire. Fortunately they're not smart enough (or so we hope) to simply back up a few steps and begin digging again.




Attach 24" chicken wire to fence and bend bottom half to lay flush with the ground.


Cover with dirt and rake in some winter rye.


Wait for rain and, voila!



After a weekend visit to Charlotte for Fathers Day we arrived back home to find a well truck sitting on our property. It's all set up and ready to go but no operator. Apparently he's busy baling hay as everyone else around here is. You gotta act when the gettin' is good. After a very wet spring the local farmers are scrambling to get their hay baled before it rains again. Everywhere we look the fields are covered with these:

A Day in the Life

We're making quite a bit of progress on many fronts. Digging new beds, pest control (although it's a neverending battle), rabbit and woodchuck proofing the deer fence, and refining the cabin design. We're still waiting for the well guy to show up.

In addition to the work, we're getting in some good rest and relaxation on the hammocks. And with the rest comes lots of reading and playing guitar. Christy and I are on a Barbara Kingsolver frenzy - well, frenzy might be a little excessive.

In preparation for a trip to Durham to visit family, I shaved my beard. I tell you, you're in for a shock when you go weeks without looking in the mirror. I was surprised to see how thick it looked.

Recalibration

We've all been there before. You make plans, then prepare to implement them only to find an unexpected road block(s). Our plan to not install a septic system has been thwarted... our hopes have been dashed (I've always wanted to use that word). Initially, the county building inspector told us the only way to get around not requiring a septic system is if we build a structure that's no more than 150 sq ft. This was a little smaller than we had hoped for but we could work around it by incorporating a loft for our bed thereby freeing some space downstairs. Well, when we went to submit our application we were informed that any dwelling, regardless of size, must have a septic system. Apparently the building inspector (who recently replaced the previous inspector) had not read the code correctly.

So, what to do? Do we continue living in a tent out of principle? Do we build and not get a permit? Or do we comply with the rules? We've chosen the latter. We're not about to break the law nor are we dying to live in a tent for the rest of our lives. So the decision wasn't difficult... well, with the exception of an extra $2000-3000 expense we weren't expecting. With this decision we'll go back to our original plan of a 200-300 sq ft cabin but still incorporate the loft. That coupled with a good sized porch should provide us with adequate living space. Onward we march.