the last wind hole

Cowboy and Mr. Piss-on-the-ants install the last doors.

decked

Railroad Man helps Cowboy put on the back deck.

bathroom install

OK, so there are no walls. But we are a three-bath, dishwasher, washer/dryer establishment. With roof.

hearth and home

view from new porch

Roof Boy is still here—the roof is half on. And the plumbers are coming out to almost finish up tomorrrow. Life is good.

seriously substandard

I don't know why the phrase"substandard housing" (for "slum" or "shanty" basically) has registered so in my consciousness. But anyway, I do think that washing dishes in the outdoor shower counts as substandard.

the summer of rains

But at long last, the roofers are on the roof, as roofers are meant to be. Maybe as soon as i have a roof, it will stop raining.

power

We're on the grid. Too bad that we're a refrigerator shy of the full complement—and the disfunctional one is in the wrong house, i.e. the one the Milks are renting.

new porch

progress report

The cornice was completed 15 minutes before Peter, the island- hopping carpenter, left for Puerto Rico. Behind the two builders is a completely functional toilet with accompanying septic system (monitored by phone or Palm Pilot) and outdoor shower.
We also have broken the umbilicus (extension cords) to the mothership, with our very own power line.
This is all very exciting.
In addition, the Cub put on most of the front porch last weekend, and Bro is putting on the roof even now.
So it's still substandard housing, but daily more functional.

sorry

Yes, I have been remiss. Things are happening, and I haven't really said what they are.
Today
I painted sophit (?), facia and frieze boards for the cornice, primer and finish, while waiting to see if it would rain. It hasn't so far.
The cornice is almost three-quarters of the way around the house.
The cornice is necessary to put on the roof.
Also today three electricians arrived from the mainland to pull the wire from the street and pole to the house. I had already put the conduit in some time ago.
Well, they did pull the wire. And then the Inspector noticed that it was aluminum wire.
Aluminum? I thought we had to use copper.
We do. So the electricians left disconsolate to return with copper wire on Thursday. Sheesh.
Also, the Septic Maestro showed up to see if it was dry enough to pump out the tank, seal it and make it operational.
Not quite.
The Gas Guy showed up to present a whopping bill and see if we could run hot water.
We could.
So.
Hot water.
No kitchen.
No elecricity.
No toilet.
But we're getting there.
And we promise to write in.

if i were a carpenter

who'll stop the rain

Photochild on the roof with caulk!

carpenter city

OK, it's three in the morning, I'm up with a case of hives, and this is one of the good nights. Last night it was the rain that kept me awake, dripping through the nonroof onto the floor next to my head, plinking on the uninstalled flashing for the upstairs windows and making rivulets next to the mold spots already blossoming on the blueboard. The reason the roof is not on is because the cornice is not on. The reason that the cornice is not on is that the carpenter from New Orleans who was making it went down with a bad back for a couple of weeks. Weeks of rain. However, he is back on the job, and hopefully will be able to complete most of it before leaving for Vieques next week. Yes, he's quite the jet setting carpenter.
And yesterday the rock climbing Cub went up on the nonroof with several tubes of silicone to hopefully stop the worst of the leaks. He also added a hat to the chimney on the other house that was pouring rain into the hot water heater and putting its pilot out every time it rained. Which was often. Have I mentioned rain? It looms very large in contracting and camping, both of which are my life. It's enough to give you hives. Apparently.
In other news, the private plane that came down on the island crashed into Papa's yard, and Mercury is in retrograde.

independence day/end of the world

new morning