PB&J Twisp

 Several milestones to note.  The electrical is to the point that we can call for an inspection.  The propane tank and line were installed. And painting of the trim boards is underway. Propane tank in place Trim board painting in progress Electrical panel looking good

More electrical winding up work. Nail plates installed and final tweeking the next couple of days to prepare for inspection. Earlier this morning I made another batch of dog food.  This has been a weekly activity since the dogs October '21 teeth cleaning vet visit.  Misha lost over 20 teeth and Cricket lost 15, so kibble was no longer a good meal option for them.  I've heard horror stories of what is actually in commercial dog food so decided to make my own. My recipe has evolved in the months following that appointment.  Now it includes brown rice, carrots, chicken organ meats, ground turkey, spinach, flax meal,  turmeric, and oats.  Because Misha needs a consistency that is crumbly rather than mushy (otherwise it sticks to the roof and falls out the sides of his mouth since he has no teeth to keep it in), I added the ground oats.  After the dog-food prep, I decided to do some me-food prep. I found a plant-based version of meat loaf in my Prevent and ...

 Another day of Bill prepping the electrical boxes. No outlets will be installed until after the L&I inspection which means more days of fine finger gymnastics at each box. His hands were suffering from the crimping and stripping of wires by the end of the day yesterday. And I spent the day sweeping the house of all the wood detritus from drilling holes in the studs for the wire. Later I did much needed laundry, a bit of grocery shopping and had the propane tanks filled.  Nights are getting chilly and mornings are dark when Misha decides it's time to get up around 5.  No sleeping in until light with that little mister woofing.

 Bill continues to strip wires and nestle them in their electrical boxes while I spent the day making a place for the propane tank (which will be delivered and hooked up on Tuesday next) and digging a 12" deep ditch to the house from where the tank will sit. Yesterday we made a trip to Wenatchee and Stoneway Electric to get the breakers we need to populate the electrical panel. Within a few days we'll be ready for the L&I electrical inspection, followed by the county building department inspection of plumbing and electrical, insulation installation, and then fireplace installation.  Our house trim arrived at the lumber yard this week with siding soon to follow.  A lot to do this last month of scrambling before the snow sends us home to Anacortes. Prepping the location for the propane tank Retaining wall blocks "borrowed" from the retaining wall by the shop 12" x 16' ditch from the propane location to the house along the garage wall to the maintenance roo...

Yesterday I joined Bill in running wire from the panel through the crawlspace to the various “home run” locations. From those main circuits that pop up into the main floor, he will then add more wire to connect the outlets. We ran dedicated wire to the washer, dryer, stove, fridge, and microwave. Then we ran wire to service specific areas of the house: one each for the master bedroom, the master bath, the main bath, the second bedroom, the third bedroom, the kitchen, etc, for a total of eleven areas. And we have more to do yet. But first a trip to Home Depot for more wire. Having used three 250-ft rolls, we’ll need another 500 feet to finish the house and garage. Wire threaded through studs and pulled into the electrical boxes Bill pulling wire through the holes in the joists... ...while I feed it through from the panel.

 The mid-70s temps have been lovely this week. Bill continued refining his electrical plan and yesterday started pulling wire; he was up and down into the crawl space on his knees all day. Once I had the ledger boards and cross supports in place, we finished the garage side soffits and moved on to the shop sides, wrapping them up yesterday also.  The gable soffits remain but we'll be able to do the trim at this point when it arrives. I have fussed with the soffit cross supports where they line up with the truss ends. On the first side of the garage, Bill had me put them at 16" centers which means that supports didn't conflict with the truss ends but every 4 feet.  He then upped the spacing to 24" centers which put every cross piece in line with the truss ends.  Saved a bit of material but caused more labor.  By the second side on the shop, I had streamlined the process. The gable end soffitting will be yet another daunting task at height. The highlight of our da...

It's been a week since  I posted. But a busy week at that. Bill's hernia surgery was Tuesday the 6th and all went well.  We had planned to go to my sisters in Idaho to attend a reunion September 10 that she has been instrumental in organizing, and we did, figuring it was a good way to keep Bill from over-doing.  As it turns out he was tired for a few days after surgery and didn't feel like doing anything anyway, so that worked out well.   We returned on Saturday, and at 5AM Sunday morning when the dogs and I did our morning constitutional, a kitten announced it's presence under the 5th wheel just as an owl was vocalizing.  So for three days we had a 4-5 month old kitten. She was quite accustomed to people and didn't mind the dogs, but a kitten and all the issues involved with one just wasn't going to fit into our lives.    I called the Okanogan spay/neuter clinic today to schedule getting her fixed, just in case we were not able to find her owner ...

 Weekend visitors Will and Sunita came for a break from their new jobs in Redmond.  They are undergoing culture shock from good-ole-boy Spokane to west-side-of-the-state diversity. Emerging from years in a now seemingly backward pharmaceutical company, their new company has them in awe of the technology lacking in the previous one.    Will was chomping to do some work on the house and contributed to installing some soffitting on the east side and locating light fixtures inside. Monday we all took a Lake Patterson break in the morning before the crowds showed up and made a quiet circumnavigation of the lake in our kayaks before they headed back to Redmond. Today Bill's hernia surgery went off without a hitch and now he has several days of recovery to keep him from heavier tasks.  Will, Sunita and Bill on Lake Patterson East side soffits done.

 A week already since we took a short break to Anacortes and visited step-daughter Lisa with daughter Tess for Tess' birthday. We had a good day hanging out on Lake Tapps at Lisa's home with her and her sister Kim (another step-daughter), and her husband who took us out on the lake on a beautiful summer day with Mount Rainier looming in the background. And, of course, Tess was there with Nya. Back at the project, we've been doing soffitting. Looks like this week may have been our last 90s week.  We'll be happy for the 80s then 70s, but we've learned how to stay out of the sun in the heat of the day and enjoy the A/C'd RV. Sisters: Tess, Kim, Lisa Lovely tour of Lake Tapps with Rainier in the background Back to work putting up soffits. West side soffits nearly done; trim remains. Drone view looking NW to SE