How It All Began

Hi there. This blog is intended only for friends and family, as a way of bringing them/you up to date on what's happening in our grand adventure of building our third new house, something we never intended to do, and certainly not in the same location as the second one. But we can only play the hand we're dealt. I'm trying something new here, so please be patient!

First, I'll send some pictures that briefly show how we got to where we are today, 1 June 2012.

Our "Total loss" (Safeco)

This is what our old house looked like after the fire around suppertime on Thursday, 12 Jan. 2012, that took place while we were eating breakfast halfway around the world - on Friday the 13th Cambodian time.

Here workmen save one of seven  blueberry bushes, which are now alive and bearing fruit.

This is the monster that ate our house and cleared the rubble down to the basement slab and walls.

And that's the way it looked - except for some minor work preparatory to framing - for six weeks from 21 March until 4 May, when I just happened to stop by and saw this:

The next day first floor framing was well underway with 11 Latinos busily working.

In spite of a couple of rain days, the framework continued to rise, and the familiar shape of the shed dormer soon appeared, along with the front porch. It was already beginning to look like home.

Finally on the 14th of May, the tar paper went down, and the house was dried in. I think, however, that we'll have to wait for the next posting to show that picture and to continue the story. I'm running out of time, and I think that this posting is running out of space. It must be all those pictures.

Take care, and let me know whether you were able to see the blog.  --oc