Gazillions of Pictures, Kitchen finishing work, Summertime Bliss, and possibly the longest blog entry ever had.

We are about to start our next wing! Well, it's not actually a wing, but we are about to start tire pounding for our next room. Our house is only half done, which I have to repeat over and over and over because no one listens to me. Or actually, it's more likely that everyone thinks we're a tad bit insane.

WE ARE HALF DONE WITH THE HOUSE (STRUCTURE).

Half. Done.

One of the first blog entry that has our “blue print” in it's ever so professional colored pencil sketch, you can look at it here: penciled blue print. When completed, we will have a bedroom each, a giant kitchen, a living room with a lofted guest bedroom/TV hideout, a completed greenhouse, and, of course, a fully functional bathroom. Not to mention a giant attic storage and work space. When we have completed this, we will continue to pound tires, and build an art studio on the far end of our house. 

Don't fret, we do see the finish line, in a blurry and distant three year future. The art studio will happen when the house is completely finished. We are only about a third done with “finishing work.” Our three year house building anniversary was on the forth of july, and we're just about on schedule, whatever that is. 

To sum it up, we are currently:

-Half done with our house structure.

-One third done with the houses finishing work.

-One eighth crazy.

-One tenth tired.

-One hundred percent content, ninety percent of the time.

It's been a few months, as usual as far as raisehightheroofbeamcarpenters goes. I'll back up to May 2013.

May was a little bit more crazy than we're used to. We invited our closest friends over for a week long reunion party, May 25^th til whenever. To our surprise and utter enjoyment, forty five people came. Some driving over a thousand miles to this week long celebration... It couldn't have been more exciting, more perfect, or more insanely magical. With a lot of perspiration and determination, as well as two dear friends Luja and Phoebe, we were able to build a gigantic stick and log gazebo. This provided shade for forty. 

It started with a pile of sticks.. 

 And the help of two friends..

And turned out perfectly, accommodating the best crowd ever to grace NM with it's presence.

 Abby killed Ossian.

DD, best of the best 2013.

Ream, my long lost sister. 

 So, we were left with a ten year supply of peanut butter.. ..... not to mention, we already had some.

And one totally pissed off cat who thought she had escaped all those *#&$^%'s from Chicago.

And as if that wasn't enough... you can find more party pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/2241738@N23/pool/
(If you need my username and password for it, just ask me). 

A week later, I lugubriously watched everyone drive off, back to their own promised lands. And for the next two days, while I did nothing but sleep, I was in a constant surreal fog of dreams where everyone was still here. Laughing. Loving. Living. During those forty eight hours of desperately needed sleep, I woke only to wonder how everyone else was able to drive their one thousand miles home. A bona fide world of a week. Thank you everyone for being amazing, and here, all at once. I love you guys. I'll see everyone again in three years for our second triannual desert reunion.

Flash forward back to reality. June started off pretty slow for us with a much longer recuperation than we had anticipated. But we are now back into the swing of things.

We've poured two of our three primary kitchen countertops. We'll start working on the third one this week, and eventually, in that distant foggy future, make an island, and other kitchen countertops on the opposite side of the room.

We built the countertop forms and poured them in place. After a long patience inducing month of letting the counters finish drying, we stained them with acid. The sink counter was finished with a polyurethane coating and the other less wet ones are getting sealed with beeswax. We got our acid etch from the company Direct Colors, which I would have to recommend, because they were so insanely informative and helpful on the phone.

Pouring the counter slab for the sink. 

 I stuck a mold of my teeth in it, and an african goddess, and Dain stuck that rock in up above.

Two days later, after it dried a bunch... And then we started the form/counters for the first counter. There will be more in the future.

 And then within days we poured the next countertop. Moogalee AKA WWII, loves cement.

Our general contractor, inspecting just about anything we do. She approves. This is the acid stain, which was sealed with beeswax.

More cupboards that don't have their doors yet... so not a priority. 

These sliding shelves we made rule. 

 The finished drainboard counter.

Break for New Mexican apple pies, and a little of Dain's beautiful sauerkraut.

We've also been doing a lot of our insanely strenuous digging, chopping, and dirt moving. We are just a few days away from pounding the tires for our next room, the living room. 

With the dirt we chop out, we are burying the back of our house, this will keep us warmer next winter, cooler this summer, not counting the sweat involved in order to move it.... 

Other projects and things..

 We almost finished this spice rack this morning! I can't wait for it to be up. It's over twice this size. You'll see eventually, one way or another.

 A bug box I'm building..

 A nightstand Dain completed in one day. It looks great, too.

 A cool rug Dain got at the Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. I can't figure out how to turn the image below, but you should read the care instructions...

 Nigh time summer photos, long exposures. The one below was 30 seconds.

 The finished pretty night stand..

 A new installation. And a pretty book case Dain made me for my cook books.

 

And about that darn cat...

I wont make you fret. I'll start with the good news. Moogalee, formerly and formally known across the country as World War Two, is fine. She is looking great and in a full and fast recovery. The past two weeks has been totally nuts. On the third of July she was bit by a (thankfully non-venomous) snake. We didn't know what it was though, and had to rush the Vet ER when her foot doubled in size in a matter of minutes. She was sent home with some antibiotics after blood tests and five hours of waiting. Things seemed fine for about five days after that. But then she began throwing up, and not eating. This continued for a day and the vet told me I should bring her in the following if it continued. It did continue. And continue, and continue.

She was admitted to the vet's and was looking really rough after a day of hospitalization. After 24 hours of no progress, they rushed her into surgery. They suggested that I say my final fairwell as a precaution, but luckily she literally walking over the keyboard of my computer right this second. They did not find a tumor or cancer, but they did find what the vet referred to as “the most swollen intestines I've ever seen.” They took a part of her poor intestines to send off for a biopsy, sewed her up and began steroids. She almost instantly began eating and drinking, and has started her recovery.

She was at the vet for what felt like the worst five days of our lives. I am pretty sure she was more miserable than I was, but you would never know by looking at me or talking to me. I was a wreck. The amount of love I have for this cat may rightfully be viewed as obscene. It's unfortunate that she wont live forever, but she is only thirteen and I am not yet ready to part with her.

She is almost completely back to her normal self, and has only been home for a day and a half. She does have something called Eosinophil, or something like that, which is treatable with the steroids, and possibly curable. I'm not sure what this is, because I haven't got to do the research since I found out, last night. The vet will see her on and off for the next few months. But we all know WWII, my Moogalee, and she is more than just a trooper.

Godspeed, furbrain. She shall prosper.

Viva la Mooch. Viva la summer. Viva la recess.

I need to learn some spanish.

Until next time, Amanda J Speer