NEW DUNBURY

The pictures promised as forthcoming have come forth.

See the amazing transforming forklift!

Wonder at the delaying snow!

Observe the ice-edged pond!

Marvel at the weighty drystack stone bench!

No Comments »

Well, we still have no slab. The site is prepped and the vapor barrier is down, and so is the reinforcing rod, but a persistent blanket of snow less than 1 inch deep on the southern half of the enclosure prevents slab pouring. The snow must go for us to have pristine and dainty concrete poured into our hole.

While I was there, I rounded the spoil piles and noticed something red down near the end of the driveway. I didn’t remember it from when last I had looked that way. Curious. More curious: there was something flashing next to the red spot. And yes, there was something else to left of the red. I walked down the driveway to discover a flatbed truck athwart our entrance. The Better Living delivery had arrived, with the materials for the first floor deck. I got to watch as a pleasant young man used his amazing red vehicle to unload.

So what was amazing? Well, the red spot and the flashing lights were this vehicle, attached to the back of the flatbed. With the shift of a couple levers it was extended away from the flatbed and lowered to the ground. It looked a lot like a three-wheeeled forklift, which it was. The single third wheel was in the “back” and was the primary steering mechanism. After he got the first load on the tines, more levers were pushed and the two front wheels reoriented themselves in line with the beams. A shift of the steering wheel and the vehicle was set to travel at 90 degrees to its previous axis of movement, without shifting its position. This allowed it to carry the long beams down our driveway. Once next to the house, the wheels were reoriented until it was an ordinary forklift again. Stabilization legs extended, and the load was lowered to the ground. Two more trips and he was done.

After he left, I worked some more on the rock seat that Eric and I had begun on the previous trip. It’s much more sturdy now, having a second road of supportive rock that is tied into the first. The sun was lowering, the clouds gathering more tightly, and the temperature dropping, so I headed for home.

Pictures of much of this are forthcoming.

2 Comments »

Courtesy of the County of Albemarle Department of Community Development Office of Geographic Data Services we have been granted a Physical Address.

They sent a copy of our “Physical Address Notification - NEW ADDRESS” to the town post office. We’ll be sending out change of address notifications when it’s pertinent. No sense sending anything there now. It’s not like there’s a mail box there yet.

We are now required to post the address so it is “easily visible from the named street or road” in numerals “at least three inches in height and on a contrasting background.”

No Comments »

On Saturday, we visited the site and were joined by Liz’s mom, her sister Susan and her family, and brother Eric. In a move that couldn’t have been planned, all four cars turned onto our street nearly simultaneously and reached our driveway in caravan.

It was quite cold and the wind was biting, so most folks looked around the foundation and took a brief walk in the woods to see the tumuli before leaving. Liz, Eric, and I stayed longer. The boys played with rocks for a while and half built a drystone seat while Liz sat in the warm car and read the newspaper. A good time was had by all.

So, why under pressure? Because the floor drain system just put in by the plumber was under pressure to test it. Looks like we’ll get a slab soon.

1 Comment »