August 2008 – Page 2 – Into the Woods

Foundation, Day 1

The masons had to finish their previous job and worked only part of the day today. The part of the foundation shown above is the left wing of the house on the downhill side and is about half of the house’s total footprint. This downhill side is where the foundation is highest, and it’s where my half basement will be. No blocks have been laid yet on the right-wing uphill side of the foundation. The uphill side will require only five courses or so of blocks. The wall above has not yet reached its full height — 7 feet 8 inches.

The part of the foundation in the photo is for the kitchen, nook, entry way, and stairs…

… which I’m calling the left wing of the house.

New York Times on Boomers' second act

A local example of a humble house in the provinces

The New York Times has a story today on the very strategy I used for early retirement — taking the proceeds of years in the city to buy or build debt-free in an area where the cost of living is low. Personally I cannot imagine going into retirement with mortgage debt. Nor was I interested in so-called “dream towns” for retirement such as Asheville, even if I could afford it.

Blocks, sand, and cement

Today (Tuesday) the blocks, sand, and cement for the foundation were delivered. The masons will start work tomorrow.

I had not planned on having a basement. It was too much for my budget. However, the lower half of the house turned out to be an easy dig for a basement. So I’ll have a half basement. That’s quite a nice bonus, because I gain storage space and even a storm shelter.

Restoring Edna St. Vincent Millay's garden

Edna St. Vincent Millay, photographed by Carl Van (via Wikipedia)

Steepletop today, Washington Post

The Washington Post has a nice story today on my favorite poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. I think there are always those who want to restore her standing as a poet, but this story also talks about the restoration of her home in the last years of her life — Steepletop at Austerlitz, New York — and the restoration of her garden. The story also talks about how Millay’s love of, and knowledge of, nature greatly informed her poetry. Wouldn’t I love to have a cutting of something from Millay’s garden!

I have long believed that Millay wrote the best sonnets since Shakespeare.

Sonnet

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love can not fill
the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood,
nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man
is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.

— Edna St. Vincent Millay

Tropical storm Fay

Weather Underground

Western North Carolina is in the possible path of Tropical storm Fay. Wouldn’t a nice rain late next week be nice.

The footings have been poured

2 p.m. Friday

By 3:30 p.m. today, the footings had been dug, inspected by the county, and 10 cubic yards of concrete poured. I believe that works out to around 15 tons of concrete.

On Monday the materials for the foundation walls will be delivered, and the masons should start laying blocks on Tuesday.

Groundbreaking

10 a.m. Friday

The work on my house has started. This morning they’re digging the footings. The concrete truck should arrive in the early afternoon to pour the footings. It rained yesterday, and the ground is a bit wet, but that doesn’t seem to be of much concern to the guys doing the work. I think I may leave this afternoon to spare myself the sight of the concrete truck rolling over my poor abused soil.

RFD!

Stokes County couldn’t issue me an official mailing address until I got my final building permit. Since the time I left California, my mail has temporarily been going to family in Yadkin County. I got the building permit on Monday, and I put up my new mailbox this morning. I’m officially on the map now in Mayberry Country RFD. If anyone would like to have my new mailing address, please email me.

I signed a contract to build my house!

I signed a contract today with a construction company in King (also in Stokes County) to build the exterior of my gothic cottage. I also got the building permit from the county today. The construction company is eager to start, so work on the foundation may well begin this week.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a metal roof, flared at the eaves, was just too expensive. I’ve ended up with a conventional 30-year roof. The roof will be dark green. The exterior of the windows and doors also will be dark green. The siding and trim will be rough-sawed white pine. The white pine, when newly sawed, is a cool yellow color. After a few months of exposure to the sun, the pine takes on a warm, golden hue. Then gradually over the years the siding will turn gray.

The people in the Stokes County building permits office, when I commented on the low cost of the building permit, said that it has been a long time since they’ve issued a permit for a house this small – 1,250 square feet. The permit price is based on square footage. I’m kind of honored, actually, that in Stokes County, North Carolina, which is far from a rich county, I’m building the smallest house that anybody has built in a long time.

Rough hurricane season ahead?

NOAA

Three organizations that watch hurricanes have issued revised forecasts calling for a rough hurricane season ahead. One of the organizations, Tropical Storm Risk Inc., has given a 95 percent probability that 2008 will be in the top third of years historically for hurricane activity.

A good source of hurricane information, and the one I watch most, is Dr. Jeff Masters’ blog at Weather Underground.