September 19—Satellite dish and a little rain

The electricians also hung the chandelier. Kai wanted it safely hung and out of the way as soon as possible. It still needs to be polished up at the soldering, but now that it is high up, it is very difficult to see the mends.

I am so tickled with the way it looks although if I had gotten the next size larger, I think it would have worked just as well. Wait until we have light bulbs in this and turn it on.

I took this picture of the gutter at one corner of the courtyard because I thought the way all the elements come together in the corners is very good looking.

The electricians had also put in the plug for our fountain, which you see sticking up in the middle between the two grates. That pale triangle is a piece of flagstone we were trying out for height.

There was some discussion over how high to make the flagstone around the drains, but I wanted them flush with the rest of the patio, otherwise, I am sure I would sprain an ankle on them sooner or later.

My assistant has also installed sprinkler pipe all around the courtyard. We will hook it up to the pipe below the hose bib later, but will also put in an automatic controller.

The carport walkway lights have been installed. There was a lot of talk during the design faze and also with the electricians about conduit. Everyone was sure that we would want the conduit hidden, but I wanted it to show. Because of the steel roof, I thought that using galvanized steel conduit would look very cool with the corrugated steel roof and fit right in.

I was not there when they installed these light fixtures but I really love the way they ran the conduit—it just looks terrific.

Here you get a better idea of what I mean. With the roof and the steel hangers, the conduit and galvanized fixtures fit right in.
Here they are lit. I don’t think this roof will really serve much practical purpose, but the lights will come in handy for sure.
We agonized over where to put the carport lights so they wouldn’t show from down below, but truly anywhere we could put them, they would still be invisible until you get to the driveway. We ended up putting them right behind the central gutter to light up the area where your door will be when you get out of the car.
Looking back at the front porch from the carport in the rain, everything looks slightly damp.
Kai had wrapped plastic over the chimney to keep rain from dripping down inside the it until we get the copper chimney shroud on.
Here is the satellite dish for our internet connection. I had no idea it was going to be so big. It does not look too bad in this picture, but from the front of the building, it looks like a giant, alien mosquito crouched on the side of the barn.
That white thing over by the blue tub is the modem. It is so ironic that the very next day after this was installed, my internet service in my current office went down. If the floor was fixed in my studio, I would just move my whole office up to the new space and the hell with it, but I don't want to move any more furniture in until that problem is resolved.
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