Friday, November 25, 2011

Thankful




Marathon 85 gallon water heater
So much has been happening here in NEWA.  We’ve moved into the house!!  It was a very tiring, but exciting day.  I had crammed a ton of stuff in the trailer in anticipation of this moment.  Then I had to pack it all into the house so we could wrap up and winterize the trailer and move it out from in front of the front door.

That first night was interesting.  It was toasty warm because of the new woodstove, but it was also noisy as heck.  Dog toenails on the plywood floors upstairs all night long.  Bear was pacing, not understanding his new digs.  Diego (the cat) meowed a lot.  

Weiner was content to hide under the covers and sleep all night.  In the early morning hours we kept hearing a thumping sound.  Thump. Thump.  Thump.  What the heck was that?  By the time we looked all over and tired of trying to figure it out, there was a crashing, swishing sound (while I was on the toilet) and we realized the thumping was the ice/snow cracking before the swish of it sliding off the roof.  This went on for at least an hour and got us off to an early 4:30 a.m. start.

New view from dining room!
We have two active electrical outlets in the house.  So of course, we had to order TV.  The DISH Network guy came on a cold snowy day and after several hours of work got us active TV in mom’s house and ours.  So we have television, PS3, the computer, the fridge, one light upstairs and one light downstairs plugged in.  We also have the freezer full of beef on power in the garage, along with Don’s power tools.  It’s quite an inventive amount of wires running all over the place.

As far as water goes, Don got both toilets installed!  This was very important to me and much appreciated that he didn’t stop at one!  We also have the downstairs shower hooked up.  This is the only running water source inside, so we also do dishes and brush our teeth here for now.  I also fashioned a make-shift shower curtain.  

The weather has precluded us from going to Spokane for faucets and the doors we ordered, but we are making that trip tomorrow after taking a couple days off to be thankful, eat and visit with my brother and his friend who drove over from the Seattle area.

Elk print 4" knife
The weather left us with lots of snow and Don had to plow.  Then the temperature warmed up and it rained and much of the snow melted.  Then, the slushy snow froze at night and we have been doing some boot skating on the ice.  Today (Friday) was sunny and nice.  We also have a lot of animal tracks in the snow, including rather large elk prints.

The woodstove has surpassed its expectations.  So has our insulation.  Some days we don’t even light the woodstove even though it is cold outside.  The house retains heat very well.  The coolest part is that we have only cleaned out the ash once in about 8 weeks and have several weeks to go before we have to clean it again.  This Quadra Fire is the cleanest burning woodstove I have ever come across.  Weiner loves to lay right in front of it.

Creek in winter
There is plenty left to do inside this winter.  We bought bathroom vanities and tops with sinks that need to be installed, along with the faucets.  There is all the wood trim to make and install.  The kitchen cabinets need trim and tops, sink and appliances.  The laundry room cabinets all need to be hung and finished.  We need flooring upstairs, the stairs need finished, and window trim everywhere.  I don’t think we will be lacking for entertainment this winter.  

The good news is that the electrician is supposed to be here Monday.  I order almost all of the lights online (LampsPlus.com) and I can’t wait to see if I did a good job.  Most of them have seedy glass.  Do you know what that is?  It looks old fashioned, it’s clear and has these little air bubbles in it.

House thru trees without leaves.
Building takes time, but it’s so worth it.  We are warm, comfortable and we are thankful for our NEWA Experience.  Many thanks to you for joining me on this adventure.








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