Another Phase Complete

The flower is open all the way:

The peony cracked its shell and shows its colors:

And the last manufactured piece of the dome and most of the first coat of concrete have been placed:

The sun is shining, temps tonight will be in the 50s, and tomorrow is the first day of summer--nice!

(I hope you've noticed the change in color of the vegetation from when we arrived in May.)

We Didn't Get a Rainbow

...but we got another 3/4 inch of rain.

That didn't deter the crew:

All panels are on the house and link and all that is left for the garage is to finish the cupola. The white on the roof of the link is foam waiting to be covered with mesh, then with concrete.

The supports for the garage cupola still need a day or two to cure a bit more before the final panels and overhang can be placed, so today, they are putting the windows in the house cupola. Were it not for today's impending "heavy rain", the rest of the scratch coat of concrete would be put on the link and the final coat would be started on the house. 

Check back later for pictures with the windows in the house cupola and maybe a surprise picture or two.

Not sure you can tell, but the house cupola has windows!

You might notice that there are still wooden supports outside the windows. These support the overhang on the cupola and will be taken down once the final coat of cement has been applied and given time to cure.

The garage cupola is ready for the final five triangles and the overhang. Then all manufactured parts of the two domes and the link will be installed.

And a small gift: Flowers we have already seen;

flowers about to bloom that we have already seen, also;

and blooming flowers, all from Grandma's flower bed;

and as a special gift, wild roses from Mother Nature's flower bed

No flower or scent (human or nature made) can compare to the pure, crisp, clean fragrance of a wild rose--and we have a couple bushes at the end of the driveway, near the mailbox. 

Really, It's NOT an Arc!

I know because I fastened it down with the anchor bolts myself. And I checked, the rebar goes from deep in the concrete well up into the walls. There are holes in the basement floor for drainage. It won't float. Really.

So, I will go help my brother with some sheetrock work. That is after I swim to the truck and fasten on the pontoons. Maybe hook up a propeller in the back or attach paddle wheels to the rear drive wheels, maybe to all four wheels. That way I can run in 4-wheel drive and use the front wheels for steering.

If I had a clothes line out, I could hang my laundry out to get washed and rinsed. Don't know how I could dry it, though.

And pets. Forget a dog, I think a catfish is what I need. As a cat it can survive until the water gets too high, then it will switch to the other half of its namesake and be a fish. Could I feed it tuna as a cat pet? But what would I feed the fish pet?

It's Not an Ark

So, our consultant, K, goes home and for the next two weeks we get to work three whole days! In the last post, I showed you the house with all the structural parts nicely in place. "What has been happening since then?" you might ask. Well, I watch...

...the grass grow...

...the flowers bloom...

...and prepare to bloom...

...and the rain gauge fill up, again...

...followed by a Friday the 13th full moon 

on a foggy morning.

But, we did have three days to work and this is the result:

A completed garage up to the cupola.

The link is still a puzzlement, but will soon be solved.

Did I mention that the beekeeper who has a number of  hives across the road stopped by the other day. He asked if I had seen the bear that had been ransacking his hives. No, I hadn't.

Our weather report from weather.gov:

The font might be too small to read, but the pictures tell it all.

We don't get flood warnings once the snow has melted and the Red River has slipped back into its banks. So, then, what are these warnings about the Wild Rice, Sand Hill, and other small, local rivers? I'm building a house, not a boat! (Well, trying to, anyway.)