From wonder to blase (accent over the "e")......and back.

I'll admit that in the beginning of this process I could write an overwhelmingly descriptive paragraph about a shop vac, a punch list or a red shag rug. And did. EVERYTHING was a wonder. I had feelings to share about EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. Now that I'm living the very dream I've been chasing for fifty-some-odd years, it has taken me SIX MONTHS to even put a few words under blog pictures that I seemingly take for granted. Have I become blase (accent over the "e") since the house and surroundings are mostly completed? Do I fail to notice the joys and intricacies of gravel spreading......rock placement...... lavender planting......tractor driving.....dog smiling events these days? So much so, that I don't even put a caption under the photographs that commemorate these happenings? I'd better be bringing back the wonder.......and I'd better be bringing it back NOW.

I will address "The Psychological Ramifications of Living Smack In The Middle Of A Bllllllllllllogggggg" at a later date. For the time being, it should be written that I'm loving every minute of being in this glorious and extraordinary house......in every way......and due to that very reason, I haven't had an opportunity to put stuff down in writing. That's not blase (accent over the "e"). That's wonder........belated but not forgotten for a minute.

perceive.......contemplate.........examine........discern........
J and J's ROCK REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT....."We dig rock...."

John R. has the tractor......Jason has the camera.......look at that gravel......look at that rock work. It used to be a carport. Now it is a pavilion.
Former Greenwood Street daredevil.
Behind every great pile of rocks........there is a daredevil.....
and probably a lizard.
Finally. A civilized way to get from Point A to Point B........and everything in between.

It ain't over....till it's over.

Remember the red water faucet that graced this prominent space with its presence? Later painted "Black Fox"? Well, that camouflage wasn't good enough for my friend Ken Richardson. He thought a sculpture was needed. He took a discarded piece of the container....probably part of a window that was cut out.....found the perfect rock on the gravel bar in front of the house.....had a piece of hedge he had been saving for something very important.....and saw a discarded bed frame in a country ditch & called on his wife Shirley to help haul it into the truck for the metal that was required. He calls it a water feature.

And.....like father, like son. Ken's 92 year-old-father decided I needed a bench in front of the house....... had been saving that piece of wood for something very important.......fixed it up and sent it my way......and I now have the perfect place for some heavy duty meditation. And plenty of subjects.

So........I now have a bona fide place to park my truck......vents in the roof of the storage container.......a metal door on the house-end of the container which makes for a speedier and somewhat more civilized entry........great shelves on the inside.......a hand-rail/cable combination on the ramp......a metal door to get into and out of the crawl space.......a gorgeous metal roof vent cover.......and the participation, once again, of some great friends and family.

Michael Mardis......applying the one-of-a-kind, architecturally-designed, state-of-the-art vent fan cover........to replace the previously 24 hour-a-day racket-flappers that caused me many sleepless nights. Phew.

And the crew from Advanced Welding who put up the railing and storage container door in record-breaking time without a hitch. All things should go so smoothly.

I know. It's not everyone's dream......but that metal crawl space door that Michael installed is definitely a work of art.....and guaranteed to keep any love slaves that I happen to adopt safe, secure, and tremendously obedient.

None of the self-help books I've read have sufficiently explored the positive aspects of the solid roof vent cover.......but, I swear, I'm a much better person now than I was.

Pretty slick, eh? Other than a very short period of time back in the mid-seventies when the family was able to sustain a cleared-out garage..........this was the first time in my adult life that I've not had to scrape off my windshield every dang day in the winter. I would highly recommend it.

There is a plan in the works to extend that nice gravel all the way to edge of the carport....and to paint the door black.

At some point, I seem to remember using this space to curse crab grass, non-growing Buffalo Grass.........and the whole *&#$:*(:@+! process of landscaping that non-river-facing area of the site. I have recently entered into a new phase of confronting this difficulty and have had some really good help and plenty of natural resources. See boulders above. Jamie (of the prior tree-planting operation, John R. (of the newly acquired giant tractor), and Jason (of the wonderfully on-going designer/builder/architectural fame have now taken this project to a new level. Actually, it is the first level.

I'm not asking too many questions......but it involves finding big rocks.....chaining them into the tractor bucket......transporting them to the house site.......telling a lot of stories......eating jelly beans........laughing........and then doing something with the rocks.....some left-over dirt.....raking.....more laughing.......mouthing off.......thinking about gravel.......and some other stuff. So far, I really like what I've seen when I get home from a real job.

And then there's MY contribution. It is very cerebral. I have harvested these flat rocks from the bottom of the James River.....drug them to the gravel bar on a blue plastic sled that I found washed up in a log jam.......wheel-barrowed them to the truck and transported them to the house.....to make a nice little rock path leading to the faucet which is camouflaged behind the sculpture.......the water feature, remember? And all of that took a long time......but that is my idea of a very good time. Wading in the river and looking for rocks. Great.

So......then I put the flat rocks in a fairly straight line, made a hard right turn, headed directly to behind the water faucet..............and thought that was the stupidest-looking and stupidest-acting path I had ever seen. Good grief. A rock path (that was difficult to even walk on, at best) to a water faucet.
Consequently, I got my wheel barrow and picked up all of the flat rocks and transported them to the side of the driveway and stacked them over by the propane tank and I no longer have a nice rock path to a water faucet..........that looked very stupid.

DISREGARD THIS PHOTOGRAPH. I COULDN'T DELETE IT......AND DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. IT DOES NOT BRING BACK ANY MEMORIES AT ALL. THAT'S JUST FINE.
And here are a couple of nice spots to contemplate flat rocks.......and other world situations. Stay tuned........it ain't over till it's over.

From WASTE AGE to TURKEY COUNTRY......

From WASTE AGE to TURKEY COUNTRY.......with a lot of crab grass and good porch time in between. Yeah. Remember a year-or-so-ago when someone accused me of being a "media whore"? Whooping it up about this house? Foaming at the mouth? Sending out press releases on the day the big cranes were on the site? Well, now you can read all about the house in the September/October issue of TURKEY COUNTRY......the one with "Muzzleloaders You Can Eat Off Of...15 Easy Steps on page 135" on the cover. So I guess that guy was right.

Vicki Cox wrote the article (which she actually began several months ago) and took the pictures......and happens to be the same journalist who interviewed the Human Cannonball who lives in Halfway, Missouri. I can only imagine how interesting HER life must be. (Vicki's life....that is.)

In addition to that frenzy of media attention, (which was brought to my attention by a very cool 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher at Jarrett Middle School.....or I never would have known about it) I have had some really good encounters from people who have read this blog. A couple of great people from Siloam Springs, Arkansas stopped by on their way home from Chicago.....who plan to build a shipping container house in California.......and spent time asking questions, taking pictures and tromping up and down the hill. I absolutely loved that visit. And another couple who live in this area came to see what the house looked and felt like and talked about a project they are thinking about that could be extremely important to a whole community of people. And a lot of emails asking questions (Bagelpower has stumped me with some concrete floor concerns, but I'm working on it) and offering support and keeping me informed about their progress and pitfalls. I had no idea this would be so INTERACTIVE. Especially since I was trying my hardest to cut down on my interactions. There you go.

So........not much to write about these days......but a whole lot of living is going on here.....and it is real good. Real good.

John R. planting David's Tree.......he'd be proud.

And just when I was ready to ship in a truckload of Amish to finish this thing up.......Michael and Jason showed up on a blistering hot day to pour concrete for the piers that will support the canopy for the carport. Out of the clear blue sky...........

......followed by pork tenderloin sandwiches and really, really thin onion rings at Joe's Diner in Strafford. That was a very good day.

This here is what's called "crab grass".

Remember the plan? Remember the turquoise hydro-seeded yard that was going to magically turn into Buffalo Grass? Native to the area......low maintenance.....drought-resistant.....don't have to mow it.......Buffalo Grass? Well, what we have here is what's called crab grass. But don't think for a moment that we haven't tried to remedy this situation. I am just choosing to leave this life experience out of the narrative at this particular time. %@*(&#**$!!@&

The motivation for these next pictures was the decision and purchase (FINALLY) of table and chairs for the two porches. Boy, does that make a difference in how I've spent my time. What a concept!

Next on the list......besides the canopy that will attach to the piers and to the storage container for a carport and storage/storm shelter....... a railing for the ramp.....some electric work for the storage container........light fixtures for both porches......and ceiling fans.

Now days, I'm whooping it up and foaming at the mouth about porch furniture and possible ceiling fans. I'd say that's progress, wouldn't you?

As I said before, there's not much to write about these days.......it's just all about living here. Look at that porch. How would you like to be able to bring your coffee and yesterday's newspaper out to that table......and not be able to take your eyes off the river long enough to figure out what #6 across on the crossword puzzle is? I go to work.....I come home to a house that I've wanted for as long as I can remember.......and then there's no place to go.....because it's all here.....and so am I. Phew. I'm thankful.

Back to the future.....and the here and now.

Back to the future....and the here and now. And, yes, it's been a while since I've reported on the day-to-day happenings. Let's hope I can remember what's happened.

I've paid more good money for good dirt.....some less money for not-so-good-dirt (probably something my parents tried to teach me at some point)....and I've gained some firsthand knowledge about spreading dirt (I'm pretty sure they talked to me about that one).

John R.'s friend Bryan helped with the yard detail....brought his tractor and rented a Harley Rake......John R. has gotten a newer, bigger tractor, in the meantime.....and Gabe and I picked up rocks and raked. On foot.


Next came the hole-digging for the trees to be planted.....with some slight miscalculations on my part about how big those holes needed to be. John R. and Gabe and I dug the holes....the trees almost fit.....Jamie came to dig more and deeper the next day........and now there are two spectacular River Birch trees planted in the yard with a hole just waiting for a third one. And, once again, I was getting some ever-thoughtful and well-researched advice and diagrams from my West Coast connection about placement and timing. We needed it.



Then there was the day I drove into the driveway from a hard day's work.......only to discover that the entire area had suddenly turned the most bilious (and that is the perfect adjective) shade of sea foam green I've ever seen. No warning.....no explanation....no flags.....no signs.....just sea foam green forever. (A hydro-seeding trick in hopes of growing some Buffalo grass.)
Meanwhile, Tom and Sid (previously known as Frick and Frack) have been lovingly, carefully, methodically and knowingly preparing each and every cedar board (and the screws and nails that go with it) side by side in perfect.....and I do mean perfect....relationship with the next....to finish the ramp and both porches.











Words cannot describe how it feels to have two friends who took it upon themselves to get involved in this project. Amidst record-breaking heat, wasps, bees, ticks, copperheads, lightning, poison ivy, long drives to get to work......and the never-ending life issues and family situations that most other folks are dealing with from the comfort of their air-conditioned homes.....they planned and measured, constructed and installed and gave me even more reason to love them and love this house forever. Thank you Tom and Sid. And thank you Michael and Jason for knowing that the cedar wrapped porches, the ramp and the cedar ceiling in the living room, kitchen and hallway would take this house to yet a higher level of design elegance.

I know that I'm not the first to mention this, nor will I be the last, but building a house is certainly a whole lot more than building a house. When I stop to think about all of the people I've encountered along the way....and the experiences that have accompanied the people....it is definitely life-changing......in a very good way.

So....what's next? Michael is going to be back on the job soon with plans for the porch and ramp handrails and for the canopy that will attach to the storage container for a carport. And I will be sitting on the gravel bar in front of the house reading a magazine and eating my lunch.....or paddling slowly down the James. ......back to the future......and the here and now.