TIMELINE

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

As things are coming together, we are putting together a timeline, as best as we can without having the proverbial “crystal ball”.  It’s pretty sketchy at this point, but gives us something to shoot for.

Feb 19 or so: The crew arrives to build the barn.
At that time, or soon after, we plan to put the Shoofly Lane home on the market.
March: After the barn is in place, Tim plans to add a storage/workshop section onto the barn, and a loafing shed area for the horses.
Soon: Hopefully the house sells and we go into escrow!
When that happens, we move to Guffey.  This may be before or after Tim’s retirement.
May 31: Tim’s last day of work at HP.

THE “HAPPY” HOUSE

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

The house plans are coming along, and we’re excited about it!  We’ve been calling it the “Happy” House.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, we liked what we saw on the Smiling Woods Yurts website, and were thinking we would get one of their kits.  Throughout this process, Tim kept forgetting their name and calling it Happy Woods or Happy House…the name stuck. From now on, it’s our Happy House.

We really liked a lot about what Smiling Woods provided, in particular the “kit” approach where they delivered all the components for the shell and we could do the actual labor of putting it up. However, more research led us to the concept of building a house using SIPs (Structure Insulated Panels). SIPs provide a much more efficient home and have other environmentally friendly benefits. 

We went back to some of the other websites we had found previously for round structures, and found an engineering company that had designed round houses using SIPs. It turned out that they were also located in our area, so we were able to meet with them and engage them to engineer our Happy House. 

Tim designed the home using Sketchup, and taught me to use it as well, so I helped!  The Happy House will be about 35′ in diameter, 988 sq.ft.  We want an open interior with few walls, and don’t need or want a lot of unnecessary space.  A utility/storage room and bathroom will be behind walls, but those walls will not go all the way up to the domed ceiling.  It’ll look something like this (north is up): 


The front door will be at the west side, with the parking area adjacent to the deck.  The panels will be 8′ wide, so there will be nearly 24′ of viewing from the south-facing windows.  We’ve put in all the furniture we currently own and plan to keep, in the approximate locations where we think we will put it. The kitchen cabinets and the desk will be custom designed and built by us. Here is another view, with south at the top.


Our plan is to have this house accessible for us into our old age. With that in mind, it’s one story, without steps. We are thinking it’s likely that one of us may eventually require a walker or wheelchair, so the hall, doorways and bathroom will be large enough for wheelchair access, and we plan to custom-design a roll-in shower.

Tim had fun overlaying the house onto a photo of the property, and here’s how that looks. Under the deck there will be a crawlspace about 6.5′ high, and we plan to put a greenhouse out from that deck, similar to the one we have at our Wellington house.  The RV (our temporary home) is currently parked to the right (east) of the house, and will stay there as our guest house.


That’s the plan for now!

WE HAVE WATER!

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

Well, well, well…we now have water on our property! Wahoo! On January 20th, the well drillers came. We were there to watch while they drilled for water, which was quite an interesting process. Tim took lots of photos. Boy, it was noi-zee!

The well depths in our neighborhood range anywhere from about 150-700' deep. Needless to say, we were hoping ours would be in the 150-200' range to keep costs down. The well is located on the hill just behind where the house will be, not far from the power pole, so the electricity is close at hand.

We were delighted when the first muddy water began to ooze out at just 60'! The well was drilled to 100' total. That's a big plus.

The following Monday we went down just for the day, to meet with the pump guy, Rick. He installed the pump, and a temporary fix for us to get water for the RV. This will take care of us until we are ready to get the water to the house.

No more trips to the fire house for water! Up to this point, we've been a bit stingy with water while we are at the property, hoping we won't run out and have to go get more water. (The gauge showing how much water remains in the trailer doesn't work well, and we're never sure.) From now on water will be plentiful!

RV HAS A SKIRT

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

We took advantage of MLKJR day and planned a trip to put up skirting around the RV, to keep the underside warmer and hopefully prevent freezing issues. (See Winter Camping)  The weather was beautiful most of the time, and we got some nice skirting up.

The people we bought the RV from had some pretty nice skirting, with wood frames, foam insulation and plywood all around, and when we bought it we also brought home all the pieces of this skirting, which Tim had helped to remove.  It was a lot of puzzle pieces, and would have been a lot of work to replace just as it had been before.

Tim decided to use an easier method for a quicker fix. Perhaps in the future we’ll do something more permanent. For now, he just used the foam insulation, cut to fit around the edges, and we taped it on with cold weather insulating tape. It worked quite well, and it already seemed warmer, as the furnace didn’t seem to come on as often. Nice job, Tim!

2015 BREAK FROM GARDENING

by with No Comment Garden-WellingtonGuffeyWellington

I’ve been getting catalogs and emails from several of the seed companies I’ve ordered from in the past, and it’s sure tempting to take a look! Normally this time of year I’d be spending hours planning my garden and deciding which seed varieties I’d like to try. Not this year! 

Even  before we decided to buy our new property we had decided to take a break from gardening in 2015, our seventh year of gardening. It seemed an appropriate time for both ourselves and our soil to rest and replenish. As it has turned out, yes, the soil is resting, we are resting from gardening projects, but not exactly resting! We are now busy planning for our new home and our move to Guffey this spring.

Today we are at the property, staying in our new (temporary) future home, the RV. Tim’s project for the weekend is to put skirting around the bottom to protect it from freezing. It’s nice to be here, and we sure look forward to being here permanently!

WATCHING THE WEATHER

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

We are currently in Wellington, and it’s been interesting watching the weather from our weather station in Guffey, which broadcasts to Weather Underground. (WU)

The forecasts from WU tend to be incorrect, and during these winter months the highs are forecast 10 or more degrees lower than what actually happens. That’s a bonus for us! In fact, the past several days it’s been warmer there than here in Wellington. The lows in the mornings are often lower than the predicted forecast, but that’s not quite as frequent. The lows have varied a lot; sometimes a bit lower than Wellington, other times Guffey’s mornings are warmer than here. 

It will be interesting to see whether these trends continue. I’ve begun to keep a log of the forecast temps in Guffey, compared with the actual temps, to watch for trends. I’m also logging Wellington, to compare the differences. It will also be interesting to see whether in time, the Guffey forecasts might become a little more accurate, based on the readings from our weather station. 

What’s nice for us is that the Guffey winters appear to be not too different than Wellington–perhaps even nicer, especially considering it is less windy there. And the summers are most surely cooler than Wellington, which is another plus for us.

This week we’re wishing we were in Guffey!

WINTER CAMPING

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway

We came to Guffey for a few days over the holidays, and are sitting here on the love seat we brought from home. (It’s awful nice to have this comfortable reclining sofa–the one that came with the RV was a rather uncomfy sofabed.)

This trip has been an adventure for sure. First, we came down for a day trip last week, to bring the loveseat. It had snowed the day before, Kenosha Pass was reported closed, so we took a different route, through Canon City. It was nice to know we have that option, and easier traveling to avoid icy roads.

It snowed again, Christmas Day and the day after, so we waited until Sunday the 28th to come stay for a few days. We were expecting the propane company to bring our tank on Tuesday and needed to be here for that. We also wanted to be here to relax a bit, read, enjoy some time away.  Monday was cold and snowy; we spent the day indoors working on various projects. We got our new roll-up window shade installed as well as some for the smaller windows that attach with velcro. 

Since then, it’s been COLD! Frigid, I would say. Monday topped out at around 15, with a low of -9. Tuesday morning was around -15, and we woke to discover that the freshwater tank must have frozen–we had no running water. In expectation of receiving the propane tank around noon, we ran the furnace a lot, hoping to thaw the tank. We followed the water lines, trying to find where the freeze might be, we pointed an electric space heater toward the pump and water lines in attempt to thaw. There is really no way to access the freshwater tank without cutting a hole in the underbelly or removing a large portion of it. This RV is supposed to be the “arctic package”, but I guess there’s only so much cold it can handle. When we bought it, the former owner had built insulated skirting around it which we took apart and brought here, but haven’t had time to put it up yet. 

Tim is dunking a bottle into the tank to bring up water.


Tim managed to thaw the frozen water in the water tank we use to haul the water here with a submersible water heater (another story) and draw water out with a bottle tied to some twine, which I heated on the stove. We dumped hot water into the fresh water tank to try to thaw it, but that didn’t help either. 

Eventually, the propane delivery came, we managed to get the tank set up and the propane flowing, Tim helped the driver get his truck out of the snowy driveway, and we were back to working on the water situation. We actually reached a high of +13 at one point, but most of the time when the guys were out installing the propane, it was around 0. Later, with a 200 gallon tank of propane to use, we turned up the thermostat on the furnace, and Tim redirected one of the ducts to blow hot air down toward the freshwater tank. We’ve got heat, electricity, a stove, oven and microwave to cook with, plenty of food, jugs of water, and we’re fine.

Resourcefulness!

Around 6 pm, the temp dropped to a whopping -23! Yes, that was a minus in front of the 23. We’ve got plenty of propane, so left the furnace on, with the duct pointed toward the fresh tank. It was on all night. This morning, we still have no running water. At this point, Tim brought in a cooler full of water, which he managed to draw through the pump. At least we now have running water! (All the way to the potty 🙂 The water heater is full and hot, so with the pump functioning, we even have hot water. (Time for a shower??) 

With a little snow predicted for tomorrow, we think it’s best to pack up and go home. The exit tube for the black & grey tanks are frozen, too, so we can’t dump them. They are minimally full, we can’t completely winterize the RV, but we’ll do what we can. We will put antifreeze though the water lines, and leave the tanks as-is. There should be plenty of space in them for frozen water to expand, so hopefully they won’t crack or cause problems. Tim hopes to get back here on a warmer weekend to put up the skirting, and hopefully get those tanks emptied. Now that we have plenty of propane, we’ll leave the thermostat on to around 50-55, and hope for the best.

It’s surely an adventure!

GARDEN REFLECTIONS

by with No Comment Garden-WellingtonSpiritual Truth

I have noticed over the years (this was our 5th year of gardening!) that my attitude about the garden is more relaxed.  If something doesn’t make it, I’m a bit sad, but shrug my shoulders and think, “Oh, well…”.   Tim and I have an acronym we say, OWIIWII.  We pronounce it, Oh-wee-wee.  It stands for, “Oh Well, It Is What It Is.”  Some years are better than others, some vegetables do better than others in different years.  

There’s more of a letting go on my part, more peace about what grows and what doesn’t.  There is more trust in God, that I will have what I need, and if I don’t have it I must not need it.  We just take what we get and appreciate what we have. Learning this in the garden transfers to the bigger issues in life as well.  

It certainly is amazing to watch things grow from such small seeds.  I keep thinking about the parables of Jesus, when he talked about seeds, soil and gardens.  Here’s one:

“He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.'”  (Mat 13:31-32)

It is so amazing to see these little, tiny seeds and watch them sprout and grow into such huge plants that make more seeds, which make more plants…..  It is like God’s Kingdom.  He does the planting and watering in it, and as we cooperate with Him (obey Him), the Kingdom grows and grows as He desires.  There is peace in knowing that He really is the “vinedresser” with all His wisdom, carefully tending and watching everything work together for His purpose.  He cares about us and His world much more than we do.  We continually look forward to see what all He does with His Kingdom all around us.

If you’re interested in more of our thoughts about His Kingdom, please go to our website, Listen To Him.

THE BACKGROUND

by with No Comment Mountain Gaitway
Another beautiful sunset, October 2014

So many things have fit together for our move to Guffey. This move has clearly been God’s leading for us. We don’t know what He has in store, but we know He wants us there. Here’s a bit about the background, leading up to this point in time.

For a long time we’ve talked about “downsizing” for our retirement. We’ve observed in our own families as well as others, that downsizing is inevitable, sooner or later. When these moves become necessary later in life due to health issues, the homeowner does not have the physical ability to carry out the process of cleaning up and purging all the stuff that is so easily accumulated. Tim and I don’t want to leave our mess for someone else to clean up, and wish to do as much of it ourselves. Moving to a smaller home and living with just the necessities seems right for us. We also feel it would be best to have a single-story home without steps either to an upstairs or to a basement, so we can access everything easily on one floor. We also want to build our own home while we are still physically able, so now seems like the right time.

Things have come together for this move in amazing ways.  Here is all it has all come about:

THE PROPERTY

  • We visited Guffey for a vacation the first part of July, and “fell in love” with the area.  We saw property flyers for vacant land and began looking around.  Next thing we knew, we were calling a realtor!
  • After viewing a few properties, we were drawn to one of the first ones we saw, Buck & Doe.  The price was better than other 35+ acre lots, the layout is nice for a house, barn, & garden, and of course for the horses.  This property already had electricity (worth about $10k each lot).  And, the wells nearby are all good and not too deep.
  • We made our offer, a low one, thinking we would have to go a bit higher, but our first offer was accepted, and the process was in motion.  After that:
  • The “witcher” found some spots that look quite promising for a well.
  • The electrician thought he could get the power in for us in time for our vacation.
  • We have a clear line of sight to a wireless internet tower, which will allow us to use our new wi-fi phones, and should be able to have that available in time for our first vacation.


TEMPORARY LODGING

  • After searching a bit for a 5th wheel, we found our Hitchhiker.  The owners, Bob & Pat, needed about a month to move out, and we didn’t need it for a month, so that worked well for both of us.  It’s in great shape and having been lived in, it has lots of nice extras, such as the skirting around the bottom with extra storage, a front deck, and (best of all for me!) a full-size refrigerator.  Later, with our change of plans moving our September trip to October, it allowed Bob & Pat the extra time they needed to move into their new place.
  • We purchased our2004 Nu-Wa HitchHiker on September 20th, and took it to the property October 3rd, where it will remain as our home while we build.


TIM’S RETIREMENT

  • While considering when Tim will retire, we’d gone through different scenarios about when we’d sell the house and move.  Since Tim will be 62 in October 2015, we thought we’d wait until at least that time to make the move, but since winter would come shortly thereafter, we wondered if Spring 2016 might be better for a move.  That seemed so far away…
  • Along came a “phased retirement” package from HP.  What a surprise!  The plan itself wasn’t suitable for many employess, but for us, it will work out well. Tim will be able to leave HP earlier, May 31, 2015.  Prior to that, he’ll only be working 4 days/week from Dec 1 on.
  • Tim will be glad to get out of HP and the stress of being in such a worldly environment.
  • With this time frame, we could put the house on the market sooner and possibly move as early as June 2015.  (Tim thinks that as things have been going, he wouldn’t be surprised if someone would drive up the lane and ask if they could buy our house.)


MOM

  • We knew we wouldn’t be able to move forward with this idea with Mom living with us. She would need to find a new home at least by the time we’d be ready to move. And, with her here in the meantime, her needs would make it more difficult to visit the property on weekends, as well as to get the house ready to sell. Certainly, less comfortable for her. A lot would be going on, she’d be ignored more, and life wouldn’t be as fluid around here.
  • We wanted to make a plan for her to be somewhere else by March 2015, so we could more seriously get ready to move.  We spoke with my sister & husband and my brother, Jeri & Gary and Tim. Jeri & Gary offered to have her move to Green Valley, where they live, and they had found a nice independent living facility not far from their home. That was a welcome surprise to allow us to move forward. We tentatively planned for Mom to move sometime after the holidays.
  • We had planned a couple of vacations to visit the property, one in September with J/G coming to care for Mom, another in October with by brother Tim coming to care for Mom.  In late August, Tim had emergency heart surgery and would be unable to make the trip in October.  J/G offered to have Mom come to stay with them for the month, to cover both of our vacations, but then one thing led to another, and a unit would be available at The Peaks by the end of September. Mom moved there permanently on September 23. This has freed us up to visit the property more frequently and make a mess of things around the house while we clean it up. 🙂


HOUSE PLANS

  • We’ve been planning on a small, one-story home, and have begun thinking about what we might do: A “kit” home? A yurt? Some other round kit? We are attracted to the round concept, and even a yurt was somewhat compelling.
  • First, we visited a yurt and chatted with Dan & Emma at Colorado Yurt Company. Prior to our visit we discovered that Park County, where the property is located, is not amenable to yurts as permanent dwellings. Dan and Emma were very helpful, and provided lots of information about codes and that their yurt would meet or exceed wind and snow load codes, etc. They indicated they were willing to come to the county to help us obtain a permit if we decided to go that route.
  • We continued to search for other options, particularly looking for round plans or kits.
  • We stumbled on to Smiling Woods Yurts, which are actually wooden round homes with a dome roof similar to a yurt in style. They will meet our county requirements. We have now made plans for this home. More on that later.


THE BIG PICTURE 

It is exciting to us how one thought, one plan, one contact, seems to lead to another, until we settle on something that makes total sense for us. We think about property and some of what we most desire, and find just the right spot for the right price. We need internet, and there it is on the hill in sight. We need a place for Mom, and there it is. We start thinking about retirement in October, then HP comes along with “how about May (and you can work part time until then)?” We think about round homes and find just what we’re looking for. It’s been amazing to us how things just seem to “happen”, and it’s right. The whole thing just seems to be God’s leading, and we want to give Him the credit!

ELK

by with No Comment CrittersMountain GaitwayWildlife

Here are some of the locals around our place in Guffey. These elk stopped and looked at the horses for a bit before coming onto the property, but apparently decided they were no threat. Then they meandered by, stopping to graze a bit on the way. There was one young buck, the others appeared to be cows. The photos were taken through the RV windows (and plastic insulation).