New Framistan

There is dirt and a frame on the concrete (see pics) now! You can actually walk through the rooms, experience the shift in level from dining room to kitchen/nook/great room, see the view through where the windows will really be, and so on.

At the back you can see where the great room and tv room/in-law suite windows will be for each side. A covered deck will also sit back here, plus a small backyard.

It was pretty awesome to finally get to walk through and really feel like we were in the rooms!

Rock Pit

One must have a rock pit. We're on a hill so without it something horrific could happen. Like say ... water slowly running down the hill.

Here to lay some pipe

Drainage pipes and concrete sealing going well; almost ready to bury it all and hope to never see most of it again!

Now the all the frames for concrete are gone we can start to see what the building will be like. The garage (one for each side):

From front to back along the near wall, the dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and great room. The last three basically form one big room:

And in reverse; on the right great room, breakfast nook, kitchen, dining room:

A covered deck will extend off the back (near part of picture above).

In the middle we have a TV room and den, or perhaps a future mother-in-law suite, for each side:

Soon it will get filled in and apparently the frame will go up quite rapidly, allowing us to walk through and really see what it will be like for the first time within a few weeks!

Concrete'd'd

The filling of the hole continues!

The filling of the hole

The life-cycle of our hole continues. From pre-hole to hole to the very earliest stages of post-hole existence:

Much Delayed Posts

After we got home we found all sorts of other priorities and didn't quite get back to the blog. So, finally, we've wrapped up the main series about our 4.5 months in Asia. New posts have been backdated because it helps us keep the timing straight. The new entries are:

• First day in India!
• Delhi to Agra; First Glimps of the Taj
• Agra: Taj Mahal and More!
• Jagroan
• Amritsar and the Golden Temple
• Jagroanian Pajamas
• Last call for Jagroan
• Chandigarh's Fantasy Rock Garden
• Bazaars of Chandigarh
• An Unexpected Trip To Jaipur
• Downtown Jaipur
• Outskirts of Jaipur
• Ending and Beginning

Here is a map showing where we went in Asia in order. If nothing else it shows how amazingly much more is still there to see!

1. Beijing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
2. Pingyao (1, 2, 3)
3. Xi'an (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
4. Chengdu (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
5. Jiuzhaigou (1)
6. Kunming (1)
7. Yuanyang (1)
8. Hong Kong (1)
9. Phuket (1, 2, 3)
10. Chiang Mai (1, 2, 3)
11. Sukhothai (1)
12. Thai Elephant Conservation Center (1, 2, 3)
13. New Delhi (1)
14. Agra (1, 2)
15. Jagroan, Amritsar (1, 2, 3, 4)
16. Chandigarh (1, 2)
17. Jaipur (1, 2, 3)

Hole!

For some time we have owned a pre-hole. Last week while we were away in San Diego permits finally came through and we now have a full hole.

Sadly we do not have a moat so the black knight won't be entirely kept at bay. However, we do kind of have a castle wall. Or perhaps a convenient way to get close to the power line if you were inclined to swing from it?

The north-eastern gate gives access to the hole as well as providing some idea of what our view will be like.

The hole is more impressive when seen from within the hole.

From atop the southern fortifications you can see the odd L shape our neighbors lot makes around us.

Looking forward to seeing a slab go in and the structure begin to take shape!!