The New Addition

When doing anything it's best to be prepared for the unexpected. That was true of building and held even more true for pregnancy. I had just entered the third trimester, was about to go on vacation, and was trying to figure out how to get the last few things I needed done on the house when boom! Xiomara Nightingale popped out at 24 weeks, on November 13th. Three months early! Could never have prepared myself for that. Luckily we were in California and got transferred to amazing Stanford--which is now my new home for the next 2-3 months as I wait for her to grow. Tiny, tiny, tiny but healthy, beautiful and strong.

Installing the Overflow from a Cistern

Though I certainly knew that overflow piping from cisterns existed, it had never hit home that I was going to have to put it in. Let's face it, all sorts of plumbing things intimidated me before...now. A couple months ago, my friend was putting in an overflow for his cistern and told me I needed to absolutely do it. I accepted it, mentally putting it on the list of stuff I would do before winter but didn't want to have to do any sooner than necessary.

That's a Wrap

Whoo! Finally a moment to catch my breath, catch up and actually update the blog. In addition to the physical and emotional turmoil of being pregnant, I've been working like a maniac trying to get the house finished up *enough* to give birth in it in February, and getting it winterized before I leave...left today.

Wild Desert Flowers in My Yard

Plaster and Floors and Bottle Walls!

Finally! Things are happening in my house. I have a helper--Raymond, who was also a huge help doing the roof last fall--and I am functioning again! I worked five days this week which hasn't happened since May.

Life Changes

Things have been moving a bit more slowly around here. I haven't been getting as much done, and have felt the pressure building. The unexpected happened and I'm eleven weeks pregnant, and until Saturday night pretty low on energy and generally nauseous. At this point, I'm looking for someone that I can hire for the next month to help me plaster the rest of the house and do the floors, in addition to a few other things. I'd like to get the house "done" before I have the baby in February!

Mouse-Proofing

This post has been sitting as a draft for quite some time. Back before I insulated I had to mouse-proof the outside. The biggest problem I came up against was the propanel ridges--there's no way to close them off. A friend suggested steel wool--mice can't chew through it. So I stuffed all those cracks with a couple boxes of steel wool and threw some silicone sealant around for good measure. Time will tell.