Our Raised Bed Garden

While things are on “hold” with our AAC block, we have been busy trying to get our raised bed garden started. We are planning about 18 beds total which will be a ton of work but well worth it to have organic berries and vegetables. We love the natural entryway.

Under The Big Top

It’s dry as a bone underneath the tarp. Deb and I worked all day Sunday finishing the tarp - whew! Lots of work for sure. And, we worked in the dark until 10 pm on saturday night with Phil and his family. It will all be worth it....:)

Much Improved!

We now have a 60’ x 60’ tarp that is suspended about 45 ft up from the basement. At the level you see here we can easily build up the third floor. Then, we will just add some external supports (like 2x 4s) attached at an angle to the AAC walls to boost up the sides another 12-15ft to complete the job. You should see it when we have a slight wind! The tarp billows up and the front is about 50-55 ft high on the west end. It looks very cool!

Phil Climbing Way Up! Hard To See Him But He Is Up There!

Our friend Phil and his family came out to help us raise our tarp in anticipation of the replacement block that is due to arrive late May/early June

Light At The End Of The Tunnel...?

Well, it’s May 19th - and we’ve lived through two weeks of no house- building activity, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Our new (correct) block should be here in the next couple of weeks. To keep us busy and our mind off of the situation, we began work on our garden. We smoothed the terraces out, and built 2 raised beds. Soon we will be planting our garden - after shoveling LOTS of dirt! We’ll have 13 raised beds to fill! But it will be worth it!

First Course!

The first row of AAC block is on the house! It’s incredibly exciting!

Steel Supports

Don is painting one of the steel beams with rustoleum - sounds like a good idea! Our friend, Troy, did a great job welding the rebar and plate to this 4” X 4” beam that runs up through the house.

Whoa Horse!

What house construction project doesn’t have some sort of delay....
well, ours does right now. Recall seeing all the aac block that was delivered. Well, the block is slightly different than what was ordered.... So, the county needs to check things out and we’ll go from there. Should know what the decision is on proceeding with the block we have or get the other kind. Hope to get back to it sometime week of May 20. In the meantime, here is a shot of a sunset - on may 5 and 6 of each year the sun sets right between orcas and lummi island.....right down the strait of georgia. If you are concerned about all the little branches in the view, realize they will be trimmed in the near future....:) Hopefully, more progress to come soon. Meanwhile we are trying to keep positive and have begun working on our raised bed garden - something we did not think we would get to this year. So, there is a few positives with this delay. We remain with our eye on our dream - sometimes it’s just not that easy.

The Concrete Slab

Well, it’s done! No rain either! Thanks for all of the good wishes for no rain.

Dried-in

The AAC block needs to be kept dry, so we’ve put up a HUGE tarp to cover most of the house!

AAC Block Delivered

The autoclaved aerated concrete block was delivered on 4 semi-trucks to our barn. Tod helped unload the semi and store the block up this street near our barn.

Remember Where This Is!

Photos are worth a thousand words...now we’ll remember where our electric line is!

Drain Pipe

Tod, Don and Deb put down drain pipe around the foundation to carry water away from the house...

Ready For The Slab!

After compacting, cutting the foam, the Radiant Heat guys came and layed the tubing. Now the floor is ready for concrete! We just need a good, clear, sunny day...

Peaceful Feelings

When things get hectic, we wander into the orchard and see what changes are happening. Our cherry trees are in full bloom.

Preparing For The Concrete Slab

Here’s Deb trying her hand out with the plate compactor! Everytime she got a part compacted, Don and Tod would throw more pit-run on the base...GEEZ!

Another Friend!

This little guy ran down our road into the orchard - we managed to get a great picture of him! He was adorable!

Friends Arrive!

Barb and John stop by for a visit on their way to see their son. They helped build the barn and are amazingly kind people. It was a joy to see them. Thanks for the tulips! They brighten our day!

Radiant Heat Prep

Deb and Don borrowed Rich’s table saw to cut the foam insulation for the radiant heat floor in the lowest level - had to be done before the concrete slab is poured!

View Of The NW Corner Of The House

Waterproofing The Foundation

An important item on Bow Hill! Water has been constantly seeping from the ground - so guys came out in “zoot-suits” and masks to make sure water doesn’t get into our 1st floor.

View From The Driveway

This is the view of the house when you come down the driveway. It will be a tall house.

Foundation Walls - Boards Are Off

Wow - what a difference taking the form boards off makes

Orchard Updates And Wild Weather Coming Soon!

Our trees are blooming now (4/17), as well as our bulbs - but this weekend we’re supposed to get some cold weather with the potential for snow! Hope this doesn’t hurt our fruit production this year!

Ready For Inspection

They’ve left a portion of the wall open so the county inspectors can look inside and approve our wall construction. Inspectors should arrive today or tomorrow (4/17 or 4/18)

Rebar

Just a shot down the guts of our walls - look at all that steel!

Been About A Month Since We Left Portland

April 15, 2008 Hard to believe it has only been about one month and a couple days since we left Portland. Seems quite a bit longer. Deb was actually in Portland for a couple days last week and Don is in Portland right now. Both visits have been for work. Deb will be in The Dalles next week.

Overall things have gone quite well. Despite unseasonably cold weather this spring we have done well living in the barn. Our spirits are good and we make fun of some of the things we have experienced. We laugh when we say “How many people we know can say that their bedroom is actually colder than the inside of their refrigerator?” The work transition has been smooth. It seems odd to have to drive to work since we both have walked to work for the last 10 years. It’s only a 25 minute drive for each of us and the ride is very nice for Don (scenic with only one stop light), and Deb’s is ok - mostly a short drive on I-5 and then a short drive in the big city of Mount Vernon..... not.

We are most pleased with the progress on the house. Everything is still on schedule/budget and it looks great. We lucked out on the weather when we did the excavation. Although it rained some it never got to the “muck hole” stage that would have been a mess and more expensive. Essentially, we are now out of the dirt and rain really can’t hold us up too much. And, the drier and warmer months are coming which will only help more. Life in Bow has also been about what we expected, although it seems to be even nicer. The wildlife on the property is constant. Everytime we go out of the barn there is something to watch and listen to. We have seen deer, bald eagles, rabbits, squirrels, chipmonks, pileated woodpeckers, red breasted sapsuckers, wrens, kinglets, chickadees,

hawks, owls, etc. - all on our property. What a treat. The orchard has been the place to go to relax from the stress and excitement of work, building a house, living in the barn etc. We go there to just walk around and observe the fruit trees. For us, it is educational too. Changes everyday. The big difference is we can do this everyday instead of just an hour or so while we were up at the barn on a weekend. The fact we do not have to drive four hours up and four hours back is an amazing relief. It just seems to give us so much more time to enjoy the property. Sunsets - wow. There just seems to be so many good sunsets even on the days we think it was going to rain all day. We still go for our daily walk and can even check the mail ..... hint.

OK folks - all for now. Hope you are enjoying the Bowpeep site - the name Bowpeeps comes from our dear Brother-in-law Fred Schryver. More to follow on this pursuit of our latest adventure.....

Love always - Debbie and Don

More Forms

Now the interior forms are being placed - we’re pouring the concrete walls on Monday 21st!

Windows!

Here’s the laundry room window that will look out towards the trees and up the driveway!

Walls Are Forming

The forms are going up for the walls - it’s really starting to take shape! The opening in the foreground will be our garage doors.