Hey Friends and Followers,
We’ve been a bit quiet lately, as far as this blog goes, and we don’t have a ton of progress to report on the house. It turns out that we have an issue relating to our septic system planning, that, until sorted out, brings us to a full stop. It’s not clear at this time just how long it will take to resolve, so we’re hanging in there and doing what we can to move things along. Continue reading
One of my regular routines here at the ranch has been to check on Charlie the Spider and see what she is up to. Most of the time she is not up to anything (other than waiting for something to fly into her web), but all the same, I have found it oddly reassuring to see her in her spot each day, doing her spider thing.
First, a quick note about some upcoming events that may be of interest:
Passive house construction guru Terry Nordbye, a key member of team Gimpy Dog, is speaking about innovative air sealing techniques at the October 25 meeting of Passive House California. It should be really interesting and we’re looking forward to going – more details are here.
I am very pleased to announce that the first round of exploratory digging has been completed here at Gimpy Dog Ranch.
Did you think we forgot about holes, and the digging of holes, and the resulting piles that come from the digging of holes? We did not. We had holes, and so much more. There was a ladder, and there was effluent, there was a surprise water heater, and a visit from our neighbor. There was even some septic related education. It was truly an exciting day. Continue reading
There is a lot of ivy around here, and we are determined to remove it all.
Well, we may both be determined to remove it, but Andy is the one who has been taking action on the issue. In the last week or so, Andy has been removing the ivy from around the fence that surrounds the “yard”, one section at a time.
Another week in review, and lets just get this out right at the start – there is no digging to report. I know! I just have to stop promising such exciting developments when there are uncertainties in life. Continue reading
Hello friends and followers, and welcome to this week’s weekly update.
As I mentioned last time, the next big thing is the septic system, so we will (hopefully sooner than later) be doing soil testing to get an idea of how quickly water can be dispersed into the soil at what depth. This involves digging some pretty big holes, so that should be as exciting as it will be photogenic. (Is that sarcasm? Only time will tell). Continue reading
Thanks to Andy’s handiwork, we now have a solid set of stairs and a deck at the entrance to the trailer. This is a huge improvement in our day to day life, as we figured it was only a matter of time until someone tripped and fell on their way out. Continue reading
The activity on the ranch this week has been in the barn and in the various types of life and death around the barn.
Andy has been making huge progress in removing a variety of unnecessary and dubiously constructed shelves, tables, and platforms from the barn, as well as clearing out massive amounts of sawdust, regular dust, and quite a few previously-vacated mud and paper wasp nests. Continue reading
Hello World!
In this, the inaugural post of the Gimpy Dog Ranch project blog, I shall attempt to give everyone some idea of how we are making out after our very first week living on the property. I’m writing this post from the dinette table of our rented trailer: this is where we will be living, parked on the property, for the duration of the project. Continue reading
the gimpy dog ranch 