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Our Adventures in Orleans |
A massive storm descended on the house today, and with the roof only two-thirds shingled, it was an excellent test of the build. And no, it didn’t leak at all, even with a rainfall rate peaking at over 12 inches per hour. But we do need to get those gutters installed…
Sad to see it cut down
Despite an all out effort to save an enormous old beach plum, it didn’t make it through the Spring after being transplanted last Fall. It was my favorite tree on the property, and yielded lots of summer fruit.
We have already planted lots of new beach plums on the property, but we may never have one this big again.
Terry and I went out at lunch, and got a bucket in about an hour. The tide is very low today, and exposed some areas we don’t usually get to rake.
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It’s big enough for a swimming pool, or a tennis court, but it’s really just a leaching field. Somewhat of a letdown to be sure. But as of today, it’s fully working. I can’t wait to have my yard back, even if it will look like a dust bowl. The final depth was 22 feet down, and they hit clean sand, so in theory, we shouldn’t have to go through this again for a very, very long time. |
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Our new Douglas Fir porch off the front is finished and looks great. All we need is the pergola above, and steps up to it. Right now it’s a bit up of a step up. Even Sapphire needs help getting up on it.
Although the construction is long from being done, we are back in the house. Today we got running water and minimal sceptic use, and electricity was already turned on. We’ve been waiting for this moment since the Fall, and welcome our first (brave) house guests this weekend.
Construction will continue through the Summer, and my guess into the Fall. There’s still al lot of work to do.
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Construction on our new guest bedroom, which we have nicknamed “The Bump” has started. Once finished it will have an “eyebrow” roofline, and it’s own outside door. This will give us two guest rooms on the ground floor, and the ability to have more than one house guest at once! The eyebrow was added as a bit of whimsy into the design, and it turned out even better in realitiy that it looked in the plans. Flanked by a pergola over the front porch (to be installed next week), I think it will look great. |
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Watching the workers dig was fascinating. I was stunned at how fast they could get the bobcat under our house and maneuver it around. Note all the clay under the house in this video. As luck would have it, under our house was almost 100% clay, causing the project to be delayed by 5 months. They even resorted to digging by hand as the clay was so thick and pure.
My anemometer clocks 66mph
A storm after Christmas pummeled Orleans as the national news stations reported 60mph winds (I clocked 66mhp on our roof). Signs around Orleans were torn down or damaged, including the Post Office. Many trees around town didn’t survive the storm, but our house, on stilts, made it though just fine. And yes, the readout, showing highs for the year, says that’s 51 inches of rainfall in 2010.
Just under the house, looking left under the dinning room
Lest we ever forget, the winter during the construction was particularly snowy in Boston and rainy on the Cape. Thus, as they dug the hole, it constantly filled in with water. I visited the house each week, and was amazed to see the swamp under our house. Many times the water was over my knees and I was afraid to wade into it, thinking I might get stuck in the muddy clay.
Each day the workers would arrive, and for over and hour pump out the water so they could work. Some days it rained so hard they couldn’t get the ground to be dry enough to drive the bulldozer under the house.
