House progress. Sorry for the REALLY long delay in posting.  Things have been moving along and we have been working late almost every day. Lots to catch up on.  We are really looking like a construction site!  Will give you a timeline sequence of what has been going on.  Some of it may be a repeat but it lets you see progress unroll.

Going back to last summer, we started the ball rolling with getting power to the house site. Over 1,000 feet of buried line, put in by Avista, the local power company.  We got an easement from the neighboring property owner (shortest route) and they put it all in in less than 5 hours - very impressive.  Mike and I installed the pedestal for the power connection, and they did the rest.

Trenching from the vault/transformer to the pedestal

Mike supervising!

Vault for the transformer 

Looking toward the shop site.  All utilities - power, water, gas and phone - will be buried

Digging in the last of the power line

They used a cat with a trenching tool, and laid the cable right behind it

Putting in the 2nd transformer and pole at the edge of the neighbor's property

The 3 Amigos making sure everything was done right

Checking out our rock pile.  These were rocks that rolled down the hill into the meadow when they cut the road in.  Had to be moved by hand so we can mow the hay next year!

Smoke from the fire across the river!

First load of materials for the shop.  The road  is punched in but not rocked, so very dusty.  Things don't happen in sequence  - often several things happen at the same time, or when we can get them done.  So materials arrived early, but it all works out.

Trusses came first

2nd load is the lumber.  You can see how dusty the driveway was.  We were coated with dust every day - looked like refugees from a coal mine!

More building materials

Mike digging the trench for the phone line.  Phone company will now only bring it to the property line.  Owner is responsible for the rest.  In our case, well over 1,000 feet!

Now they are starting to rock the driveway.  We laid down good strong fabric as a base, then compacted crushed shale.  Had to wait to get this done as the contractor got called off to fight fires for several weeks.  That is his "bread and butter" summer work, so we completely understood,

Baxter and Mike checking out the fabric underlay

Laid the first part with truck and pup, and later used a belly dump

View from the house site

Meanwhile back at the house site, checking the shop trusses

Blading in the rock

Checking out the holes for the posts for the shop.  They used an auger but the ground was so hard Mike had to hand dig some of them with a shovel and pry bar

We tried to plan ahead for future projects, so laid in trenches and conduit for power and water to and from a  potential extra well site, so we wouldn't have to dig up the driveway later.

Phone line all dug in and buried

Mike hand digging poles for the shop.  We got about 1 scoop full out of each hole.  Took us almost a week!

Each hole had to be 4 feet deep!

Glennis running the bucket on the tractor

Mike with some of his favorite rocks. He got 2 5-gallon buckets full out of this hole!  Our ridge is from a glacier that came down our valley so lots of rocks

Blading in the rock for the top of the driveway, near the house site

Belly dump makes it go much faster!

Our contractor is a wizard with equipment.  He laid in a really nice driveway, with a nice even 6% grade and good shoulders

Blading out a belly dump load

The proverbial "rock in the road".  Decided this one had to be dug out as it was right in the middle of the driveway

This is the water line trench.  Also carries the other half of the phone line and also power down to a light for our future flag pole.  About a 600 foot run and 4 feet deep so the water line won't freeze.

Mike checking out the trench

Dad, why are you down there?

Knew spring would bring nothing but bare dirt until we get things landscaped, so planted 300 daffodil bulbs for some spring color

Look close and you will see an old trap we found hung on a big pine tree

Hooray - Mike's wiring passed inspection!

Digging in the septic drainfield

More digging

I think this is deep enough for the tank!

Laying rock in the drainfield

Tight quarters so had to do it one bucket at a time

Anybody seen Mike?

Is this right side up?

Looking good

Nice rock!

We had well tiles delivered as well, for another cistern down by the seasonal creek for irrigation and stock water.  Each tile is 4 feet high, so we will dig in a 16 foot cistern.  Tiles are 4 feet across.

One septic tank, coming up

Actually, coming down!

In the hole

Drainfield going in

The shop starting to go up.  Poles are set and cemented in place, then dry for several days

Trusses ready to raise

And away we go...

Pretty clever.  The use modified boat winches to hoist them up

Mike volunteered to hold the ladder.  Smart man!

Up, up and away

Don't get them in a bind!

2/3 of them up

Not an L & I approved method for trimming poles!

All up and ready for roof decking

Laying the decking

At the Daniels nursery getting 10 Green Ash trees to line the driveway.  They are a pretty bright green and turn a brilliant gold in the fall.  

Our neighbor Danny Glaser dug the tree holes for us

Mike and Allan unloaded them with his tractor.  They weigh about 400 pounds each

All in along both sides of the driveway.  Water line trench in the background

Shop roof decked and waiting for barrier cloth

Digging utility trenches between pedestal, shop and house.  Check out the tracks - amazing to watch him maneuver that machine

More trench digging

Sheeting the roof

All water proofed

Laying the tin

This rock came out of the foundation excavation!

Too big to pick up

Rock ball!

Now a permanent fixture at the edge of the driveway.

House site ready for the slab

Laying forms

More forms

Shop is all roofed.  Siding goes on after the floor is poured.  This is all happening at the same time as foundation slab prep

First snow - of course it happened the day we poured the pads!

Brrr

Playing in the mud

Make sure it goes in the right spot!

Shovel faster!

Looking good - almost done

Make it nice and smooth!

The last part - hooray!

And we are done....

Mike hand digging part of the trench to the shop

Shop floor is all done

Pretty!

Due to cold weather, we covered the fresh concrete with plastic and hay to keep it warm while it cured.  We fully expected to find our resident elk bedded down munching thenhay every morning when we got there.

Mike "in the trenches" laying power, gas and phone lines.  Power lines had to be in conduit and it was very difficult to pull the heavy wire through 2 inch conduit.  We spent a wet, cold, miserable 2 weeks but got it done.  Rain, rain, go away!!!

The pad is all poured and ready to go.

The 2,000 gallon water cistern is buried and ready to fill

Gas lines are in and holding pressure!

Almost ready to cover the trenches.  They are 3 to 4 feet deep with 6-12 inches of rain water and mud that has to be pumped out!  Also cushioned and insulated the pipes with straw before filling them in.

1,000 gallon propane tank buried and ready to go.  We will have a propane furnace and fireplace and cook top, propane demand hot water heater, and a propane whole-house generator that starts automatically when the power goes out.  No need now to worry about the house freezing if we are away during a power outage, which is common here.

Siding going up on the shop.  This is the side with the 10 foot lean to for parking a tractor, snow plow, etc

Getting close to done

A typical balmy November day!

Closing up the front end.   Will have roll-up doors installed soon

Look close - the motor home is heading up the hill to her new home!

Ready to go into the shop

Home at last!

Sequoia at home too.  The Jeep goes in next to it

Pad all ready for the house.  Just need to sweep the snow off!

First part ready to go up.  This us the kitchen side and has to go up first, as it has to be turned around and go onto the pad opposite the other 2 pieces

This is the kitchen piece parked in the ditch for the night on the wrong road!  We were not happy campers! They used an inaccurate map and got the first 2 pieces stuck, had to wait for the county to sand the icy road so they could back out.  What a cluster!

This is the middle section waiting for the sand truck

The middle section parked in the ditch.  They had the school bus blocked and parents had to drive around to the other end of the road to get their kids!

Finally got both pieces backed out

Kitchen section coming through the driveway gate

Kitchen and middle sections staged and ready to come up

Truck driver drove the kitchen section into the culvert well on the large corner, got all 6 wheels in the well, even though we told him the outside shoulder was very solid and to stay wide.  Had to have the D6 Cat pull him out.  Arghhh!  Don't think the house was damaged but made a mess of our culvert, which took us 2 days to put in. Will have to repair in the spring.

Kichen section is on the slab!  Kitchen windows on the left, then laundry room and french doors to our bedroom.  Shop is just to my left.

Middle section coming up.  This time he got the wheels off the gravel and about 4 feet from the edge!  Almost rolled it off the bank!  D6 to the rescue again.  Thank God we had an amazing Cat skinner.  He had to crawl the cat up on the bank and winch the truck and section back onto the driveway, which is about 14 feet wide right there!

Almost to the top.  Cat just kept hold of it to make sure they didn't put this section in the culvert well too!

Section 2 on the pad

Section 3 coming up.  Took no chances and had the Cat skinner grab hold right off the bat!

Section 3.  Living room and front deck to the right, front door, and 2 guest bedrooms on the left

View of the front deck.  Kitchen to the right, living room to the left, french doors open to the dining room

Front deck again.  

We got it on top in the nick of time.  Snow came 2 days later, and will be here til spring, most likely.  They will come after the 1st and put the sections together, which takes about 10 days.  Contractor will install skirting and backfill and grade once they are done.  Mike will install appliances, we might do a little painting, and we will install engineered hardwood throughou the house.  Still need to have household goods shipped over from Hoquiam, but hope to be in by the end of January.  

In the meantime, snug as a bug in the motor home in the shop.  We will be constructing a "warm room" to house our water system, freezer and extra fridge, so they don't freeze.  Mike will enjoy setting up his shop with work benches, storage, etc.  We laid propane lines to the shop and will install a connection for the motorhome to keep it from freezing, and also heaters for Mike when he is working in the shop.

Baxter in his winter coat.  He really likes the snow.

Our "new" 89 Ford F250 Xcab truck/snow plow.  We have almost 1/2 mile of driveway, so Mike is quickly becoming a snow removal expert.

Mike plowing...

Well, that catches us up and hits the highlights.  We hope you all find your way over for a visit.  We have lots of room in the house, an RV pad for those who need one, and look forward to good company and a nice visit on the front porch.

We are calling our new home "Glory Ridge".  There is a line from the song "I Can Only Imagine" - "surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel"....  That is truly how we feel as we stand at the top of our little piece of heaven, and we give praise and glory to our God for this great gift.  We look forward to sharing it with all of you.