Look at these goodies Brad got me for the new kitchen!
Great for solar and just in time for our annual charity soup event.
New toys
Written by karen on January 9th, 2014What it’s like to live in a remote place
Written by karen on January 4th, 2014Since we’ve moved into the new house, I’ve been noticing that the refrigerator hasn’t been very cold inside. In fact, it’s been getting a bit warm. I ignored it for several days, hoping that I was mistaken or that it would fix itself. Not too good for food safety, I know, but the alternative was too daunting to contemplate.
You see, major appliance repair here is a real challenge. When we moved here, I was worried about things like reliable electricity, Internet, and overnight package delivery, none of which have been a problem. But when a major appliance goes out, then you have a problem. (We had a similar scare a few weeks ago when the washer did nothing but make loud, scarey vibrating noises when it was turned on.)
The alternatives are to try to fix it yourself (usually not very feasible, especially with newer appliances), load the thing into the back of the truck and head for Tucson (usually at least twice), or pay a large sum for someone from near Tucson to come here (again at least twice). Ugh.
So yesterday, having taken the temperature of the refrigerator and realizing that it really wasn’t cooling, we loaded all of the food into coolers and contemplated what to do next. Brad read about a way to reset things, which we tried. No luck. He then suggested emptying the freezer (which was working fine) and turning the whole thing off overnight. Ok. It’s below freezing here at night, so we put the freezer food into coolers and put it all on the porch. (Good thing we have lots of coolers. They’re a necessity here even for grocery runs.)
Miraculously, now, the fridge seems to be working again. Thank you to the appliance gods. And yes, we threw out the mayonnaise.
In case you’re worried
Written by karen on December 27th, 2013For anyone who’s concerned that Tumbleweed might be feeling left out in all the new house excitement (or maybe I’m the only one who thinks about stuff like this), this week already, I have:
- Done yoga in my yoga room (no longer crowded with couches)
- Cut and finished in our workshop (no longer a spare bedroom/storage/laundry room)
- Gone to my lovely office (no longer adjacent to my bedroom and no longer a general visiting room)
- Started my own seed library space (in the storage room where the old pantry was)
It’s been really wonderful!
The post post
Written by karen on December 24th, 2013It is almost five years to the day since we moved here.
And we now have finished (“finished” being a relative term) the main house and moved in. Hurray!
Of course, there are still things to do, but we are through all the big stuff, and the house is quite liveable.
Here’s Brad enjoying our first evening after moving in.
And here’s how the kitchen counters and bar turned out.
It has been a long haul getting to this point. It took almost exactly a year longer than I’d hoped (yes, I know; everyone told me it would), but I’m glad we took the extra time to do all the little things we really wanted to do with the house. After all, we’ll likely be here a long time.
I am amazed that we actually built this house. Then, on the other hand, when someone says, “How amazing!,” I think, “Not really. Anyone could do it. You just put one foot in front of the other.” True that.
I am always gratified by how well Brad and I work together, and building this house together was just another example.
Happy holidays everyone! We’ll be enjoying ours with a little relaxation and solitude.
4 days and counting…
Written by karen on December 21st, 2013All the floors are done now, and the kitchen counters have been finished.
Today, we installed the new range. I can’t wait to make our first meal on it.
It’s final!
Written by karen on December 10th, 2013We had our final county building inspection today — and we passed! Yay!
For those of you who missed it (and now that I feel freer to discuss it openly), in Arizona, owner-builders can opt to have to have standard inspections or they can opt out. For our phase 1 building, we opted to do standard inspections. Don’t ask me why. It was admittedly a mistake. The inspections were a farce. They would check some things and not others, and different inspectors often contradicted one another. One told us to do something that was onerous, and after we did it and another inspector said, “Why on earth did you do that?” You get the idea.
So for phase 2, we opted out. However, it is still a requirement to have a final inspection, though it’s supposed to be minimal.
When the inspector arrived today, we were grief stricken to see it was “Joe” (name changed to protect something I guess). In the last round, we learned that Joe seldom approves anything. It’s kind of a thing with him. In fact, once when he came out, he whipped out a camera and started snapping pictures. We knew that wasn’t a good thing.
At any rate, we had already reconciled ourselves to possibly not passing and to just calling again to take another go at it. That kind of seems to be how these go.
But low and behold, Joe passed us. Wonders never cease.
We are very happy that this will be our last encounter with the county building inspectors for a very long time.
Oh, and after Joe passed us and quizzed Brad to see if he had any pent up animosity (good thing he didn’t talk to me; I might have been more forthcoming), Joe gave Brad a customer service evaluation to fill out. I think we’ll pass. :)
Won’t be long now
Written by karen on December 5th, 2013Our washer and dryer moved into the new house today.
And my first closet doors are done.
Snow
Written by karen on November 24th, 2013We had our first snow this weekend. It’s been cold and gloomy for several consecutive days. Not good for solar production. Here’s a picture from our Sunday morning walk.
And Brad clearing snow in hopes of some sun this afternoon.
Working away
Written by karen on November 11th, 2013We haven’t been writing much, but we’ve been busy at work. Here are some things we’ve done lately.
- Painting (now done)
- Patched adobe
- Sealed all the adobe (big job)
- Working on closets
- Bought kitchen cabinet boxes; currently finishing and building doors
- Finishing lots and lots of wood (baseboard, windowsills, window trim)
- Bought a stove (will be installed after cabinets are done)
- Distressing some metal for ornament
- Built a new cold frame out of leftover adobe and glass; planted some winter crops
- Harvested a little under 40 pounds of sweet potatoes
Red, red
Written by karen on November 10th, 2013Here’s what we’ve been up to in the house:
