Isa's Story

Technically that was yesterday but one can only do so much. Seems to me to have been fast, if mildly torturous. And I don’t know that there’s much to report.

I’m within inches of having my solar hooked up – frighteningly slow process and I still don’t know if it will work and/or if it’s enough panels/power. A lot of money for a lot of questions at this point. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Winter hit and then went away again, thankfully. I am reasonably certain it will return. The lower temperatures have necessitated renewed relationship negotiations between Roxy and Wallee. I’m trying to stay out of it but these negotiations tend to occur in my lap – that frequently complicates my neutrality. The outcome has been some civilized nose sniffing between them so maybe happier days are ahead.

Speaking of winter…

Wipe my paws? But why?

Remarkably, Roxy has continued to stay in her roundup. There were a couple of days about a month ago of escapism, possibly due to Fed Ex. But even with people traipsing over the property lately (occasionally without me), she’s stayed in and I don’t know what to think. I’m grateful certainly. It’s been lovely to do something other than fix the roundup. And she is using her dog house in bad weather, so I’m reassured on that score. I added some reflective insulation inside it and if/when it gets genuinely cold, she can wear her coat like the rest of us. So I’m almost convinced she will survive the winter in good form, if mildly unhappy. The couple of cold mornings we’ve had thus far, we’ve walk out to the car and I start it for defrosting purposes. I step out of the car to see her running back to the trailer. Wishful thinking on her part. Mine too for that matter but someone has to pay the bills.

Also somewhat remarkably, she can be disappeared into the woods and if I call/whistle, she turns up at a dead run a minute or two later.  Mostly that works on work day mornings when she knows it’s about time for me to leave (aka cookie time). Or she doesn’t. I have no way of knowing if she doesn’t hear me or elects not to respond. I don’t think I’d bet money either way.

In house news, I have hired an architect, a woman. After talking with a couple of male architects, it was more or less a no-brainer. We met with a septic guy yesterday to determine where and if a standard septic system was feasible. He seemed to think it was possible with the caveat that the price could go up once they start digging – no telling when/where they’ll hit rock. So a bit of a gamble albeit necessary. As a side note, I don’t believe he’s convinced he will be able to get his backhoe back up the hill, gravity being the bitch she is. He’s going to write up a proposal of best case/worst case numbers.

My architect met with a guy from the County yesterday as well. I couldn’t get away from work for that one and she’s not reported in as yet this morning so I don’t know what came of it. We’re hoping he’ll give an okie-dokie of the house site so we can proceed from the topos we have (based on satellite photos and not terribly accurate). We know roughly where the house will sit but there are enough bits of slope over 30% that we need him to tell us if that will work and/or whether (or when) we need to get a full contour survey done. But with his green-light and the beginning of a septic plan, we can start with the fun part: designing the house.

I could do with some fun – so far all I’m seeing are dollar signs and the ongoing panic attack(s) that accompany the sight.

I think for the most part, we’re doing well in our little trailer. So I leave you with the visual portion of our program.

I have no idea what was or was not inside but this went on for ages. I missed the video of the full airborne backward leap.

Dog versus watering can 1 and 2:

https://youtu.be/ID_24Y0EbH4

https://youtu.be/Tv5OPnSd2S0

I like this picture – she looks so relaxed. Speaking of (and don’t tell her I told you), she has, just once or twice, tried sleeping on her back. Mostly those long legs of hers just keel her over onto her side but the intent and trust is there! Hooray!

Queen of all she surveys

So there you have it, six months in the trailer and still (more or less) sane. Calling it a win.

Love and hugs to all,

Teri, the Roxinator and Angel Isa