Ignition

Initial test fire in the pellet stove.

Stoves and stuff

Living room wood-burning stove mid-installation. To mimic the family room hearth, cultured stone will cover  the wall behind the stove up to the ceiling.

Family room stove mid-installation.

New front doors before they are installed.

Sunrises

Had to make an unscheduled return to the new hut this morning to fetch a forgotten piece of jewelry, so I decided to click a few pics.

Sunrise lighting the trees to the north, behind the house.

A strange mushroom decided to pop up in the backyard.

Multi-fuel burning stove for the family room.

The stove has a 50-pound hopper in back for holding wood pellets, cherry pits or corn, which feds the burn-bin in front.

EPA spec sheet on the multi-fuel stove.

The smaller wood-burning stove for the living room

EPA spec sheet on the wood-burning stove.

Our contractor found the missing kitchen cabinets! 

They are part of the "Merlot" line that's available at Lowes.

Smokin'

Well, not officially. The wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves arrived today, but are not yet installed. Next major delivery is the kitchen appliances, which I'm greatly anticipating.

Other progress includes:

• Oak wood selected to be installed for the main and rear stairways (to match the living room's oak floors).
• Missing kitchen cabinets purchased and ready for installation.
• Heat pad to be installed under tiled family room floor (heaven for this barefooted homebody).
• Receiver/amplifier for the entertainment system arrived today (the speakers are on the way).
• Ordered the curtains for the master bedroom, because James loathes the morning sun when he's sleeping in.
• Mostly of the walls have the first and second coats of paint.
• Shower heads and faucets have been purchased.
• With timed, recirculating water system, hot water is currently reaching the kitchen in less than 2 minutes, instead of more than 5 minutes.
• Speaking of water, a pump is being added to increase the line pressure.

Next major bites out of the budget include the cork flooring for upstairs and the master bedroom, and the replacement windows (there are more than thirty). Also, the tub for the master bath, and my creaking old bones are in need of some therapy.

Tumbling along

LG clothes dryer finally arrived--the first of the appliances.

The dryer's home in the utility room

First of the major appliances has arrived! Next weighty order slated to arrive is the wood-burning stoves for the living and family rooms.

Falling colors

Toning down the "school bus" orange to a more mellow wildflower honey color. You can faintly see honey transition to orange between the loft landing and the entryway.

Repainting the loft.

Better lighting on the wildflower honey.

Master bedroom is finally getting its coat of ginkgo green.

Another angle on the master bedroom. Door on the left is to the master bath, to the right to enter the  hallway connecting the family room and entryway.

View from the master bedroom, which includes the front door and living room.

At last! The huge dead tree looming over the house is down! It was cut in three long sections to ensure the house was safe.

The base if the tree was still mostly good, but was termite eaten with the core consumed already.

View from the top of where the tree crashed down.

A victory snap from atop the tree trunk. There was a beautiful sunrise, but it was lost on my iPhone camera and the morning haze in the valley.

Up, down, black, light

Orange paint is up. Now to tone it down. I was going for sunrise, I got school bus.

Work on a critical element, the septic system, is concluding at last. From day 1, we puzzled over the tank's location. Now access tunnels ensure the lids might be reached so the tank can be flushed.

According to the septic system subcontractor, we are the proud owners of a quality concrete tank with a 2,500 gallon capacity. It will need to be revisited and flushed every 5 years.

Attempts to get electricity connect from PG&E is slow going. Our address is not in their database. They admit the number on the SmartMeter matches, but don't know why... So they will take 2 to 3 days to send a person out to the house to verify it's there.

Lastly, received the replacement glass cover for the stairwell light. However, it also was broken, and was the incorrect part. Someone mistakenly picked OVA EWW 31 off the shelf and shipped it, instead of JES EWW 31.

Highs and lows

Installed fans over the loft and entryway.

Added a water filter to ensure our well water is drinkable perfection at all times.

Hot water heater installed at last.

After much digging, the septic tank has been unearthed. It seems a former occupant of the house decided to plug the sewage line with straw or grass to ensure it caused problems. However, the tank is in reasonable shape. We should be set once the new sewage line is installed.

Fanning

After nearly 2 months of waiting on the back-ordered fans, all three units have arrived, and one is already installed! It's beauty in motion. When activated, both fans spin, and they rotate around the global-like base. Two of these fans will greet you in the entry and loft, mainly to move any heat lingering in the vaulted ceiling. The remaining fan will be installed in the master bedroom to combat the warm summer nights.

First of three fans installed! 

In other news, the hot water heater is installed! However, it only helps with the sinks, and maybe one bathroom upstairs. Most of the faucets were removed when the house was abandoned. The master bathroom poses the greatest challenge (and expense). Because I'm getting older, and these bones are starting to noticeably ache, a bathtub capable of comfortably holding a man over 6 feet tall is to be installed. The shower has room for two. If we fill all the predrilled holes, there are two rainfall downpours, six body jets (three per person), and one shower head on a hose attachment. Strangely, according to county code, as long as each faucet's output is 2.5 gallons per minute or less, we can have as many as we wish.

Tomorrow, the septic guy should be on site. Not a moment too late. As I was doing a final check before leaving the house, I could hear a gurgling noise in the tub area. Unlike in town, a home off the grid requires its own septic system. Ours is likely filled with mud, and hasn't been flushed out and maintained properly.

Ginkgo green

We're going with an earthy ginkgo green for all the bedrooms.

Bedrooms nearly finished, common spaces next! We are planning on using a sunrise-like light orange-yellowish color.

First mountain lion sighting

Had my first sighting of a huge mountain lion in the new neighborhood!!! The lion was strutting across the road as I rounded the corner in my car. He was bigger than my dog Loki in body size, and probably weights quite a bit more. I'm both excited, and frightened for my pets!

Windows, lights, and a plethora of unmentioned details

Replaced the guest bedroom windows with larger sizes.

Window overlooking our "backyard".

Master bathroom lights installed (minus one burnt bulb)

Added a CAT6 connection between my office in the loft and the family room.

Heaps of little details are finally coming together, making our house feel more like home. I say home, I never dared to dream as far as I have achieved with this place. To me, home was a dairyfarm in Oklahoma, which had been in my family for generations. Since I left, I have resided in rentals in Santa Clara, Cammpbell, Fremont, San Jose, back to Fremont, and then the Los Gatos hills. Now I puzzle over induction cooktop brands and hallway lighting.

Also, made a nice discover today. There's radiant heat flooring in the master bathroom. As a guy that love being barefooted, I'm in heaven!

Slowly progressing

Progress has been slow as we are gearing up for the more major projects. Lately, work has been focused on building an area for the solar system's control panel and hot water heater. The interior walls also are being patched as needed, and will be ready to be primed soon.

There's also the waiting game. At least two of the ceiling fans shipped today. One more to go. And the replacement lighting fixture is now overdue.

Replaced the backdoor, which enters into the utility room. Figured all glass wouldn't be an issue. No neighbors to see anything...

The ceiling fan we picked for the dining room is somewhat intense, like the propeller on the front of a biplane. Because the upstairs floors are nonexistent, the contractor cut through and reenforced the fan's fastenings. 

Hoping Loki will understand how to use his door before we move it.

Trench digging

Diggin' the trench to run lighting and electricity for the driveway.

Now I forever have to remember: electrical lines at foot of hill.

The guys working on the projects are colorful characters.

Doors

Replaced the large window in the dining room with a smaller window and a sliding patio door.

View of the new patio door from the dining room. The old door that led to the patio is being covered, except for a doggy door for Loki.

Loki's door installed

Progressing

Had to reinforce a spot in the foundation that was cracked. 

Sitting area in the guest suite (bed#2)

Guest suite: lower right door leads to the loft, and the other is a sizable walk-in closet