21 July, What a Storm

I watch the line of green, yellow, and orange/red march across North Dakota. By the time it reaches the border with Minnesota, it stretches almost the entire north/south distance of ND.

"Potential heavy rain, tornadoes, and 80 mph straight-line wind."

Watches and warnings come across the emergency broadcast channel. One by one the counties to the west of me are named, each report naming a new county. Closer and closer it comes: Cass County to Grand Forks; then western Clay, Norman, and south-west Polk; Fertile, Crookston, and Red Lake Falls are placed in a tornado warning.

"If you are in Crookston, seek shelter on the lowest floor of the nearest building, NOW!"

Finally, my county as well as those to the south, east, and north with me in the middle: "Sever thunder showers with torrential rain and quarter-sized hail. "There will be hail damage to vehicles and wind damage to trees, mobile homes (*gulp*), and roofs."

Flashlight in one pocket; cell phone and wireless land-line phone in their pockets; rain jacket in hand; camera by the door...Lightening! Steady, almost no need for a flashlight. Rain, the torrential rain that was promised, or threatened, or warned (you decide) is here.

A quick look at the radar shows the first green blended into yellow, then orange, then yellow again (no red this time). And that is where we are now, winding down on the thunderstorm and getting set up for a lot of rain for another hour or two.

All is well...

...out here, anyway. However, Crookston and the area around it can't say the same. Initial reports say about half the city is without power and there are a number of trees down. It is still rather early, the sun has been up only a couple hours so far. More reports will be coming in as the day goes by.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Otherwise known as striped gopher or, more technically, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel or even the mascot of the University of Minnesota sports teams.

They ate my sweet pea plants! All of them! If the college is going to use the talents (or cuteness) of God's creatures, should they not feed them?

They come out on warm sunny days to play and run around...and to raid my garden. However, the other day, a nice sunny afternoon, I noticed that there was not one small furry animal to be seen. The yard was eerily calm and quiet. Then I noticed them. Well, one initially, then the other, larger than the first and with a white head and tail where the other was just brown all over. Gracefully floating around up there. The white head, barely visible from so far away, was noticeably scanning the ground for some tasty, furry snack; a jock stuffed with fresh organic leaves of man-grown sweet peas!

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.)

Week 4 (Cont.)

The last structural panel for the house swinging into place:

 

And then we wait for the foam to set before the seams are concreted and the overhang attached. 

What to do, what to do while waiting...They know! Build a garage:

Oh well. I waited too long for the garage pictures. The ribs system got another row or two, then the work continued on the cupola and voila! all panels, structural and decorative are place on the house. Yay!

A couple more house pictures showing the finished cupola: 

One outside...

There are still supports holding up the overhang
until the concrete sets.

...and one inside.