From the Ground Up...

That's right, there's now an "up" to be added to the ground! Where I last left off a couple weeks ago, all we had to show was a big hole in the ground and some concrete piles. Well, we have much more now! In addition to a sweet drainage trench I dug one Saturday morning, we now have Logix forms that have been going up like nobody's business, with some help from a church friend that knows what he's doing. It's quite exciting to see some visual progress - there is even a space that is clearly going to be a back door one day. We're getting some more concrete poured today, and Dad is very excited about getting water and sewer lines soon (in my opinion the new foundation is soon going to be as good as the entire Shack!).

I have also decided that Dad loves the new project much more than he loves me, because I am embarking on an amazing trip to Europe today... and he has decided to stay here with the concrete while Mom takes me to the airport. At least one parent loves their child.

Another sweet development in the Shack is the recording studio that I have set up in the Dank. The fussball room has proven very versatile - I now have an old computer set up down there with a microphone, and am using it to record various ditties (especially "Songs of the Body" for biology class). Dad thinks I'm going to miss the Shack because of all I can do in it. I say a nice house is a worthwhile trade.

That will be all for another stretch, as I am making a great escape from the Shack and heading off to France and Spain for spring break. I'm pretty psyched to see all the new developments upon my return. I will leave you, now, with a photo showing some of the progress on the new foundation:

Happy Easter!

Bicentennial

As Dad continues to toil away in the incredibly mucky hole in the ground, further preparing it for a house, my personal Shack journey reached another milestone last night. As many of you know, I have a "Shack nights" tally on my sloped ceiling above my bed. Last night it hit the number 200! It was very exciting and heartwarming and all, and then I went to sleep.

We Have Piles!

No, not hemorrhoids! You people are so twisted!

I'm talking about concrete piles, that have been planted very deep in the ground, and that we intend to put a house on in the near future. They came in just yesterday.

Unfortunately I was not present for the installation of these piles, but Dad did manage to take a few photos, and I have had the pleasure of living in an incredibly muddy environment for the past couple days. I guess it's all in the name of progress. I just have to keep finding new ways to get into the Shack with minimal muddiness.

And now, I would like to display Dad's awesome photography-with-a-3.2mp-camera talents (I'm not making fun of him...maybe. In all seriousness they turned out pretty well):

A Changing Landscape... Again

After an extended period of excessive ordinance, finally something has come about worth writing down! The story is as follows:

I had been walking home from a musical rehearsal at school. I turned the final corner before my block, and made the last few steps of the journey totally oblivious as to what I was about to see. I approached the Shack, and prepared to open the gate to enter the yard. It was then that I realized, there was a total lack of gate, and a good chunk of fence had been flattened to the ground.

I knew that this had been coming, I just wasn't entirely sure when. The purpose of this new not-fence is to create space for large machinery to enter our yard and get down to business on the concrete piles Dad has already ordered, creating the foundation for phase one of our prospective new non-shack (also known as a house). Evidently today was the day that this needed to be done, and Dad certainly did it, although the idea was to remove the section of fence entirely. This proved difficult as it is still frozen into the ground. All in due time, I suppose.

This has indeed changed the landscape of our property fairly drastically. Obviously, there is a chunk of fence missing in the front. Since we can't very well let our dog out in a yard that is incompletely fenced, Dad has (a few weeks ago already actually, he was thinking ahead) created a small barricaded area in the backyard for Bruce to go out and take care of his business in. This is a pretty crude setup, bringing into use things such as plywood and snow shovels. Another fence that this has made unnecessary is the incredibly attractive (now mostly defunct) temporary fence made out of that fluorescent orange chain-linkesque plastic found only on the classiest of construction sites. Yes, the hole is now fully accessible, convenient seeing as according to Dad we should be getting our piles soon.

And you are now up-to-date on our building process. I may attempt to put some pictures up within the next couple of days so that you may fully understand what I am describing. For now, I am enjoying the fact that we are moving forward, edging closer and closer to having a new residence on the same property (that still sounds funny to me sometimes).

UPDATE:
Here is a photo of what the property currently looks like (March 2, 2010):