January 4, 2008—Awash!

Welcome to lovely Lago de Terra Bella! Yikes, the courtyard is awash!

There are two storm drains to be installed in the middle of the courtyard, plus the drains for the roof gutters. We will have to be very sure that the fall for these is correct.

There was water around the back of the house as well.

A drain will be installed just on the other side of that piece of plywood so the area around the back door stays dry. It’s hard to imagine how this will all work when you see it like this. I always look at something like this and just start thinking of hip-waders, but amazingly enough, when the drains go in, all will change.

Here is the view of Lago de Terra Bella from the family room looking toward the front door (where the ladder is.)

The kitchen. Need I say more?

(Well, yes, actually I always need to say more. In this case I want to explain that the stove will be almost exactly where that drowned piece of plywood is now. Hope the sill dries out.)

And YES! My cardboard IS STILL THERE! Braving 60 mile-an-hour winds, my valiant cardboard/jute layer stuck it out for the long haul. I guess I can safely use this technique all over. (Thank goodness!)

After the winter Jim and I spent several years ago trying to protect our denuded leach field from erosion and weed growth with black plastic, I can tell you that this is a mighty victory. We covered the leach field with long strips of 16' wide black plastic and after every storm would go up and untangle the plastic and re-lay it. We had it anchored with rocks, jute stakes, tree branches and anything else heavy we could find. After every storm, the plastic was just completely pulled off and tangled despite all our efforts. I feel pretty smart inventing this system.

The fireplace is another little lake.

Lago de Terra Bella from the living room. Notice that the bent rebar is under water in this section.

On the Columbia River, a flood of logs look like straw from high above.

Oops, wrong documentary, this IS straw floating in our courtyard. Isn’t it interesting how it orients itself in a pattern? I count this as another one of my “arty” shots—3 1/2 years of art school wasn’t a complete waste of time!

Here’s a picture to give you confidence. This is a future electrical outlet. Notice the water pouring out of it. I hope this doesn’t mean that there is a break in the conduit somewhere.
Even General Debris looks like he is shrugging with cold in the rain.
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