This was a major adventure. We reclaimed the well*, put in the septic system, and built the garage (well, Max and Mike did) to live in for the summer while we started the house. Alan was on sabbatical. The house didn't really get started until later. You can see the foundation in one of the pictures.
* there is another post about the well. http://stuffstories.blogspot.com/2011/11/meaningful-mineral-memento.html
Features of the garage:
- Wood burning cook stove, fueled by wonderful clean oak blocks which were available as scrap from a factory in Siren. Took the chill out of mornings, made good cookies.
- Propane stove for more serious cooking.
- Electricity, but we used oil lamps, too.
- Water "walked in and ran out". Electric pump out back near the power pole.
- Outhouse with a real toilet positioned over the septic tank. Bring your own bucket of water for flushing.
- Cardboard "sheetrock" to keep wind and mosquitoes (mostly) out of the sleeping areas.
- Thunderstorms as multi-media experiences, with a tin roof to maximize rain noise and fiberglass garage door and south roof to emphasize lightning. Noisy enough that I would get up to look at the children to see if they were awake and/or bothered by the storm. Couldn't have heard them.
There had been a schoolhouse on the front acre of the property, and when that building was razed, the topsoil wound up about three feet under clay. We could see that when the area around the well was dug up. A load of manure from the farmer across the road was not enough to make good soil on short notice, and we were not there long enough either to improve that soil or establish a garden elsewhere on the property.
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