Today was a significant day — work began on the “main house.” (So far we’ve been working on Tumbleweed, the office/guest house.) We’ve contracted with someone to pour a new slab for the main house, and after being put off for a few weeks, work has now begun!

Today, the area was marked out and backhoe work commenced. This house will be perpendicular to Tumbleweed with a courtyard/patio between the two buildings.

We also got two big truckloads of fill.

Work on phase 2 is significant to me for a couple reasons. First, it also includes pouring a slab for our battery house. This is a small 9×12 building that will go behind the storage container. It will hold our water pump as well as our solar batteries. Getting this done is  a key step in getting electricity and plumbing to both houses — a very important thing. (It will also provide another chance for me to practice my carpentry before we frame other walls.)

In addition, beginning on the main house is a tangible indication that we will actually  build a main house. That sounds obvious I know, but an amazing number of people we have met here had plans just like ours, build their “guest house,” moved into it (as we plan to), and then never built a “main house.”

I am here to tell you — we are building our main house. :)

We also made a big decision on the floors in the main house today. We had been planning to stamp the concrete. We had reservations about it though, ranging from the logistical difficulties in renting the stamp sets multiple times (or the expense of buying them for one time use) to the uncertainty about how stamped concrete would look indoors. We also really love our cut concrete floors in Tumbleweed. Today we decided to go with the same approach in the main house. We will, however, be using integral color (dye mixed into the concrete, so you don’t have to worry about the stain wearing off over time, which apparently it does). I am planning to use a light color though, so that we can surface stain a room or two in a different color.

We’ve been putting up the metal roof this week. It’s incredibly hard work physically, and we both have been exhausted all week. Every muscle from my waist down hurts.

One thing that has made it easier though is the entertainment that the bobkittens are providing. All week, Momma bobcat has come by with the kittens mid-morning to drop them off in our oak tree while she presumably goes off to make a living. The kittens have been spending most of the days playing in the tree.

The kittens have very different personalities. One is very alert and cautious. He usually sits in the bottom most crook of the tree, always on the lookout. The other one could care less if we are around or not and seems only concerned with how comfortable she can make herself. She is frequently sprawled out on a high branch.

This morning, I spotted one of the kittens on top of a big wood post by the gate. (The roof makes a great vantage point for watching their antics.) The next thing I know, the kittens are playing “King of the Hill,” chasing each other up and down the post. It was a scream.

The windows and doors are in (except for one window and one door that were not delivered with the rest), and they are beautiful. We spent a lot of time and had a fair amount of anxiety on the whole window thing and are really glad it all worked out!

Tilt-out casement windows

Little 20×20 windows

Resting after the work is done

The rainbows here are amazing.

We have a big pile of dirt on our property that came from digging up the septic. It’s quite nice dirt and will be great for our greenhouse….except that all the dirt here is filled with rocks. So Brad designed this filter to screen out rocks. And I built it. It was fun and worked quite well.

It was basically made by ripping four pieces of wood and then screwing them back together with a piece of screen between them. The corner supports were glued and screwed in place to provide stability. We’ve been using it by putting it over a wheelbarrow and shoveling dirt on top. Now we also have a nice pile of small rocks. I’m sure we’ll find a way to put those to use as well.

And like all of our tools, it is stenciled.