Rings

Foundations II

Now for a look from the opposite corner: NE

Ready to pour...

Pouring the footers (foundation)

Driver G was a great to work with!

Fast forward: ICF layer up, gravel in, and one foam layer in...now for the drain plumbing! Also, Grandaddy painstakingly combed out every gravel chip from the ICF interlocking bumps, so that we're ready for the next layer up.

It's starting to look like something now!

Progress: Foundation

The house is underway! Here are some progress reports in pictures.

"Foundation Series"

Except this first photo from the West, all shots are from the SW corner of the house.

Excavation to and leveling of undisturbed soil. It took everything the ol' skid-loader had to scrape that rock hard soil!

Footer forms laid 24' x 24'. Footers are the thick concrete which bears the weight of house = the foundation. They can be poured below the surface or formed on top, but must rest on undisturbed soil. With such risk of enormous rocks on this land, we opted for minimal excavation! Rebar runs through the length of the footers.

The day of the foundation pour! Everything was kept within a quarter inch of exact! Great work by GL.

Quickly then, the first 3 feet of ICF' walls (insulated concrete forms) went up like legos. Rebar, running vertically and holes for drain pipes (the green) had to be put in before the empty foam blocks were filled up with concrete. Everything was exact to a 'T' with less than 1/4" variance on one wall! Great work by JY.

Next, 40 ton of gravel were dumped inside house and raked by hand, then tamped down by machine. This filled up several feet of the surface on which the first floor will rest. G was an amazing and timely add to the crew.

On top of the tamped and leveled gravel went the first layer of recycled foam (see chunks in background), fit in like puzzle pieces. The foam provides the rest of the height upon which the concrete slab floor will rest. Waterproofing (black) will keep the concrete from wicking water up through the house. PD has been working with us for 2 weeks, BD spent a Saturday masterminding enigmas with M.

Job 38: 4-11

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Little M, Part of the Team

Little M is a valued and sweet member of this home-building team.

Her unbridled excitement as we head west toward the land is infectious. She bursts out in song "I love the mountains!" and says "I can't wait to get to the land."

Once there, she naturally spends hours of contented play in the elements, never complaining about dust, wind, cold, no bathrooms, portable meals, etc...

Fishing at Water Rock

Pretending inside the footer framing

Bravely watching the huge cement truck in the blazing midday sun

"This is the best cement truck in the world!"


I imagine that things seem big from her perspective. 2x12's for footer frame

A child-sized wheelbarrow from Aunti G.

But more of her time is spent doing normal things like...

Seeing Papa off to his day job

'Painting' the deck doors at home...

...and her play house, blue apparently.

and taking care of no less than 4 babies at a time.
That's our little M.

I Caught the Baby

12 April 2016 was the day of delivery.

I had no idea the labor would be so long...but I guess they say first babies take a long time to come...
It was Mark's labor, Fall through Spring and countless hours. And I caught the baby.

Little M and I 'caught' the baby (a.k.a. picked up the drawings) from the County Offices...

...And displayed them in the tree-mounted-weather-proof box for field use...making our building site official.

It was all of a short morning phone call announcing that our permit was (finally...gasp...at last...) ready to pick up- as if it were that simple! Mr. Plan Reviewer's signature assures that our house plans meet building code and we are free to proceed.

Big M gets the credit for designing a lovely little creative house from scratch, maximizing building code, drawing with architecture software, navigating processes, officials, and engineering, and building up the stamina to work around all the corners of a full-time job and family. I worked my brain's tail off to provide practically accurate opinions about a house I can't see but will live in, and empowered his hands to be free to design, while wrestling not a little with my role as labor support. Anyway, together we've stepped across the "Building Permit" line in the sand!

Garden Shed

Well there it is. The first building on our property! (picture is from January)

This garden shed was designed for and made of about 50% re-purposed materials and tucked into a sapling grove near the lower path to the woods...

"...Tucked??!! My eyeball!"--
Okay, okay. That is the indignant cry of the men who precariously maneuvered the roof into place; who moved and re-moved the heavy beast through muck and slopes and frigid temps; who hauled, hoisted, and stacked the foundation rocks and steps. It was several days and teams worth of work-- Tucked indeed!

But I say, it's darling. I am pleased as punch...and grateful!

...Uh...Anyone want to help with roofing and siding? :)

The garden shed represents my experience of 'quickening' in our building process.
In pregnancy, women call 'quickening' the first true experience of the baby's movement. It's a moment when the mystery changes into concrete reality...and excitement about what is to come.

Resurrection

My courageous sister alluded to the gift of guts that Dad gave us all in a post on teaching confidence. Today, in celebrating the Resurrecter of Life, I was blessed by a memory of my Dad modeling what he taught.

Every Easter, as faithfully as a street preacher, Dad would haul out a boombox and a well-worn soundtrack cassette tape. We would hear him practicing his solo, in un-throttled baritone, a song by Don Francisco. He would sing it for anyone who would have him-- Easter services at our tiny rural church, a prayer breakfast or two. In all the years he sang that song, he never got the timing...but did that stop him?

Holy week, when death and resurrection are freely talked about among Christians, I freely remember the shadows of death that have touched my life journey. But I REJOICE because the sting is truly not there. Death has been swallowed up in victory! The Savior has risen and we shall not die. These things are true! and they really rock the entropy of this world. As much as the author of Life is alive, so are those who are hidden in Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galations 2:20

I am sure Dad needs no boombox now.

Here is the song.