If it's not in here.........with the exception of a weed eater, canoe and kayak......
or, someplace in there (meaning that beautiful house above).....including stuff that's still in cardboard boxes or paper sacks......then it's nowhere. Yep. Gone. No turning back. Moved out. I'm pretty much committed to living right here, right now......unless I run away from home and join an order that requires ridding yourself of all worldly possessions.
There's still a lot of work to be done.....finishing the storage container/carport with electricity and the canopy.....putting the cedar on the ramp and on the porches and deck....crawl space work....ceiling porch holes to be covered....making a decision about a wood stove in the living room.....covering the electrical panel and putting an outlet in the laundry area....exhaust fans in the bathrooms....trim plates installed....finding a dining table....finishing the counter in my bedroom and figuring out the best storage plan for underneath it....straightening and organizing all of those things in the storage container.........and working on the berms and planting on the outside.....stuff like that. But, just take a look at what's been done..........
Michael and I made a visit to Architectural Artifacts and picked out a couple of huge chunks of character-laden wood, which Michael transformed into a coffee table and three side tables.....similar to the work he and Jason did for The Coffee Ethic. They are gorgeous.....functional......and have as much history as the shipping containers themselves......or me, for that matter.
417 Magazine featured the house in their February Issue......and I can't say enough good things about Lifestyle Editor Savannah Waszczuk, who came out to see the house, talked to both Michael and me several times to make sure her facts were correct, and wrote an interesting, informative and accurate article that made me very proud. Photographer Kevin O'Reilly and Art Director Cassie Darst climbed up and down the hill like a couple of mountain goats, arranged and re-arranged lights and equipment, didn't waste a motion or a moment, seemed like there was nothing they would rather be doing, and stuck around for some hot chocolate when they were finished.
Michael and I made a visit to Architectural Artifacts and picked out a couple of huge chunks of character-laden wood, which Michael transformed into a coffee table and three side tables.....similar to the work he and Jason did for The Coffee Ethic. They are gorgeous.....functional......and have as much history as the shipping containers themselves......or me, for that matter.
417 Magazine featured the house in their February Issue......and I can't say enough good things about Lifestyle Editor Savannah Waszczuk, who came out to see the house, talked to both Michael and me several times to make sure her facts were correct, and wrote an interesting, informative and accurate article that made me very proud. Photographer Kevin O'Reilly and Art Director Cassie Darst climbed up and down the hill like a couple of mountain goats, arranged and re-arranged lights and equipment, didn't waste a motion or a moment, seemed like there was nothing they would rather be doing, and stuck around for some hot chocolate when they were finished.
A message from the Editors in the front of the publication states, "Every article aims to make your life better in some way." That sure seems to apply to both the read-er and the read-ee.
Check this kitchen in another few months......see if it's still clean and shiny.
John R. has been transporting furniture, firewood and belongings on my behalf and has been the most capable and willing Wilderness Manager a person could ever have. He can load a load and back a trailer...........life skills we should all have......and appreciate.
Gabe, bless his heart, has had the challenge of Technological Training/Management for the Elderly and Dysfunctional.......need I say more? (And a whole gob of it is hidden in that cabinet above.) The best compliment I can offer, in describing both his patience and his thoroughness, is the fact that I have gone nearly four weeks without dialing ANY 1-800-hotline/help numbers....and we're talking TV DISH Network, Cell Phone, Laptop Computer and cheat sheets to go with 'em. What a man. I'm telling all of my friends.
I usually move that metal vase out of the way when we set up the bowling pins on Saturday night.
A glimpse of the laundry area.......
And part of my vacuum cleaner and heat pump..........
And this bed, my friends......and the one in Morgan's room.....was designed and hand-crafted in steel by my EX-landlord Ken Richardson. It may be hard to appreciate in this photograph, but we did away with the box springs, ordered a set of slats at IKEA, and Ken welded the frames and legs, and we have two beds that look like they just arrived from the Herman Miller showroom. (At a fraction of the price.)
Jason made this good-looking steel counter for the non-sleeping part of my bedroom. When I get the underneath storage figured out, Michael will finish installing it with the legs and holes for wires and hook-ups. I MUST be connected....at all times. HAH. And I'll need a chair with wheels and a different lamp maybe. And another cheat sheet.
What we have here, is decor. In tubs, boxes and sacks. Things that may or may not go on the walls or on a shelf. I've got some great stuff.......clay things that Ken Richardson made.....Eskimo artifacts......masks by Van Hee that I love........but I'm not one bit anxious to drive the first nail in the wall.
And this is Morgan's room.....with another bed that Ken made and the night stand that Michael made.......with much appreciation for my sister Judy, who hemmed up the bedspreads on both beds......and, believe me, that is the very LEAST of her gifts and talents.
Morgan keeps her cheat sheets next to her sleeping mask and her headlight.....out of sight for the photo op.
That little pile of papers by the propped-up mask (no nails have been used here)....is a collection of the Punch Lists that used to be taped up on the windows and throughout the house....and a few add-ons of mine. I've never HISSED at Michael when we've gone over some of those to do's, but I will admit to FLUTTERING those papers.......just to make a point.
Check this kitchen in another few months......see if it's still clean and shiny.
John R. has been transporting furniture, firewood and belongings on my behalf and has been the most capable and willing Wilderness Manager a person could ever have. He can load a load and back a trailer...........life skills we should all have......and appreciate.
Gabe, bless his heart, has had the challenge of Technological Training/Management for the Elderly and Dysfunctional.......need I say more? (And a whole gob of it is hidden in that cabinet above.) The best compliment I can offer, in describing both his patience and his thoroughness, is the fact that I have gone nearly four weeks without dialing ANY 1-800-hotline/help numbers....and we're talking TV DISH Network, Cell Phone, Laptop Computer and cheat sheets to go with 'em. What a man. I'm telling all of my friends.
I usually move that metal vase out of the way when we set up the bowling pins on Saturday night.
A glimpse of the laundry area.......
And part of my vacuum cleaner and heat pump..........
And this bed, my friends......and the one in Morgan's room.....was designed and hand-crafted in steel by my EX-landlord Ken Richardson. It may be hard to appreciate in this photograph, but we did away with the box springs, ordered a set of slats at IKEA, and Ken welded the frames and legs, and we have two beds that look like they just arrived from the Herman Miller showroom. (At a fraction of the price.)
Jason made this good-looking steel counter for the non-sleeping part of my bedroom. When I get the underneath storage figured out, Michael will finish installing it with the legs and holes for wires and hook-ups. I MUST be connected....at all times. HAH. And I'll need a chair with wheels and a different lamp maybe. And another cheat sheet.
What we have here, is decor. In tubs, boxes and sacks. Things that may or may not go on the walls or on a shelf. I've got some great stuff.......clay things that Ken Richardson made.....Eskimo artifacts......masks by Van Hee that I love........but I'm not one bit anxious to drive the first nail in the wall.
And this is Morgan's room.....with another bed that Ken made and the night stand that Michael made.......with much appreciation for my sister Judy, who hemmed up the bedspreads on both beds......and, believe me, that is the very LEAST of her gifts and talents.
Morgan keeps her cheat sheets next to her sleeping mask and her headlight.....out of sight for the photo op.
That little pile of papers by the propped-up mask (no nails have been used here)....is a collection of the Punch Lists that used to be taped up on the windows and throughout the house....and a few add-ons of mine. I've never HISSED at Michael when we've gone over some of those to do's, but I will admit to FLUTTERING those papers.......just to make a point.
This has been and still is a really big fat deal. All of the decisions....the anticipation.....the changes.....the apprehension......the permanency......the pleasure.......the pride........and that just applies to the planning and building part. The biggest, fattest and sweetest deals have been the relationships that have resulted from this........and the living that is just beginning to make this house "the only place like it on the face of the earth".
It doesn't exactly have the drama of airborne containers on cranes........but I'll keep you posted for a while longer......until there are nail holes in the wall and berm-fulls of buffalo grass.
