At last, we made a little progress on the problems with Lisa’s left ankle. Last week, we were in a medical limbo as it seemed impossible to get authorisation for a necessary MRI scan from our health insurance company. We were repeatedly bounced between hospitals, doctor and insurance company. Finally, the word came through, she was authorized and booked in for an MRI scan on Thursday. She has an appointment with the doctor on Monday 25th to hear the results. It has only taken four weeks (and a chunky payment from ourselves) to get to this point. In the meantime, the wheelchair purchased after the accident in Delaware (see my blog of 28th July last year for details) has seen a lot of service as Lisa does everything possible to keep off the poorly leg.
At the moment, the roadsides are full of tall Joe Pye weed, with dusty pink blossoms. This is a sign that the grapes on the vines are almost ripe, so the harvest is just around the corner. We went to lunch on Saturday at Wolf Mountain Vineyard and attended a barrel tasting in the cellar of what is currently maturing there from previous years. Like many vineyards in North Georgia, it is not possible to always produce adequate quantities of grapes on the property for winemaking, and so a proportion of grapes are bought in, from local Georgian vineyards or even further afield (California is a prime source of bought-in grapes). There are limits on the maximum percentage of bought-in grapes and in some circumstances the wine has to be labelled with “coded” descriptions. For example, if a wine has a majority of content grown in another part of USA, it can only be called American wine.
In the tasting, we were comparing barrels of cabernet sauvignon. Both had been vinified at Wolf Mountain, but one was made from Californian grapes and a more mature version was from grapes grown at Wolf Mountain. In my opinion, the local offering was significantly better (though longer barrel time might have been a significant part of the difference). The Californian wine is destined to be blended in small proportions into one of the very good blends sold by Wolf Mountain, but at least some of the local grapes production will go into a more prestigious (and expensive) reserve wine clearly designated as locally grown and vinified.
I took the opportunity to discuss a major local development in wine production. To establish the geographic pedigree of a wine, producers will use a name for the region where it has been produced. In most wine producing countries, the naming of these wine regions is legally controlled – the French “appellation controlee” system is the prime example of this. These region names may include local rules about quality, grapes, growing conditions and so forth of the wine. The US equivalent is the American Viticultural Area (AVA) – there are more than 200 of these controlled by a federal administrative department. In July this year, the first AVA covering part of Georgia has been established – the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA. This is in the extreme North East of the state, not round Dahlonega, and includes wineries in a part of North Carolina. I asked Karl Boegner, the owner of Wolf Mountain about how plans for an AVA around here are going. He said that there were a group of local growers and producers interested in pushing this forward under the name Dahlonega Plateau AVA. One interesting thing is that he is pushing for only wines made entirely with grapes grown in the designated area should be eligible to carry the Dahlonega Plateau name. I will watch with interest to see how fast this application for the local AVA progresses.
After lunch we went out to the build site to see how far things have progressed, as we have been doing every day this week – we feel the need to ensure that things do not get delayed, and anything we can do to drive progress is our top priority.
On the Build Site? Progress and a step back
The pressure is now really on to complete the build. We have given Bill the Builder a definite deadline – we start moving into the property on 10th September. Over the last month, his timing for completion has swung back and forth, so we needed to put a stake in the ground. Before we can move in, of course, the work has to be completed and the building inspector has to certify that the build complies with all local code (regulations). So, with all this pressure, the house has been swarming with men hard at work, trying to complete all the last tasks. There were even some workers there on Saturday. And we are there every day for several hours to expedite decisions, point out problems and generally make nice.
Or rather less nice on Monday. We went to have a serious chat with John Browning, the cabinet maker. Both about the mess made of the library and the general incompleteness of the work. The fact that we were prepared to spend time finalizing designs of a further bit of work, our walk-in closet sugared the pill, though. John admitted that the library was not acceptable and promised to rectify it as fast as possible. Since he knows the deadline for our moving in, he had a drop-dead date to work against. However, by Wednesday nothing much had happened and the pressure went up a notch. Things have been happening since then, and a part of the library fittings were removed for refurbishment on Saturday.
So, what else has actually been achieved?
- The sit-in Jacuzzi-style tub was delivered, ready for Brock to install. Alas, on careful inspection, we found a small amount of damage on delivery, and the supplier will be on site next week to make invisible repairs. But it will be great once it is working.
- Plumbing by Brock of sinks, basins, taps, showers and toilets is nearly complete. That includes the steam shower unit (something of a challenge). And the portaloo down the driveway has disappeared.
- Trimming the house with moulding, picture rails, and coving has continued, and the punch list of outstanding items is being whittled down. All the door furniture has been fitted (including two fancy electronic locks). Tom has kitted the elevator out with a heartwood pine floor matching the rest of the upstairs.
- The elevator is working and almost finished. The only thing to be completed to convert it from just decent to legal and decent is the emergency telephone in the cab. That requires the telephone service going live, which will not happen until we move in. So it is not officially permitted to go up and down in it at present. So, have we been using it? No comment!
- Electrical installation has taken a great leap forward. Jonathan and his helpers collected all the lighting and other electrical items from the rental house store and have worked steadily to install almost all of these. So now we have power and lights almost everywhere in the house. Though, of course, we have run into snags over a misunderstanding over what we have to supply – so one more hanging light assembly has been rapidly ordered.
- Installation of the high-tech NEST thermostats for the Air conditioning is still pending, but the system is working nevertheless.
- Guttering was installed last week, and we wait on Bill and his crew to install the two rain chains to direct the gushing flows.
- We have given up waiting for a proposal for Security and data wiring and have decided to meet a friend of Jonathan the sparky who apparently does a good job of this.
- Outside TJ has been with his crew grading front and back to shape everything for proper rain diversion. The slopes have been covered in very coarse hemp netting pegged down and pinestraw has been spread over everything to prevent erosion (and make it all less naked). Even the pathways have a covering of crush and run gravel.
With all this going on, we have been busy ourselves. Not just going out to the site, we have been also been doing things on the supply side. A meeting with Windstream (the only game in town) has got a date for telephone and broadband hookup. Lots of small items have had to be ordered. Chasing the budget. This house building is a full time preoccupation for all involved!
So, what of the coming week? Chasing the deadline is the priority, and on Thursday we are expecting the building inspector this week to (we hope) sign off the work with a Certificate of Occupancy (i.e. fit for human habitation). Lots of punch list clearing. Action on the outstanding fitted furniture. Getting the fancy bathtub installed. Finishing the electrical work. All moving closer to the time when one of the really last jobs, sanding and oiling the wooden floors, can be undertaken. But the list of “must-be-done” things is still pretty daunting. And as a decorative flourish, we hope to fix the weathervane that we brought with us from England onto the apex of the roof. Hopes are high, but expectations are realistic.
Robin’s Thoughts on America
Continuing my intermittent Thoughts, Likes and Dislikes section, here’s my personally opinionated thought for this week on life in USA.
The Bagworm
What an image that title conjures up. Shades of the Hungry Caterpillar, the poor little worm struggling resolutely with her bag. Very difficult to manage for a worm with no arms, she would have to drag it along behind somehow. Or push it. And with such a challenge in the first place, why have a bag in the first place, and what would she keep in it? There is a moral here, too, about bravely facing up to the realities of the world in spite of difficulties. All so suitable for a charmingly illustrated cartoon book, incorporating a subtle learning experience for toddlers. And lots of scope for linked-in merchandising like carry you own worm bag items. Kiddie lit publishers, please form an orderly line at the door with your advance cheques.
Alas, the real bagworm is not such a charming concept. The terms is used to describe a variety of pests, and one in particular is very common round here. In trees around the subdivision where we live and out in the countryside, there are nasty messes that look like spider webs on steroids. Foot-long bags of silken threads full of dead leaves. These are the homes of the Eastern Fall Webworm, which is the larvae state of a moth. The larvae spin the weblike material at the end of branches of deciduous trees enclosing more and more leaves (which die) until the larvae hatch into little green caterpillars. Whilst one bag is just unsightly, multiple bags can start to consume an awful lot of leaves leading to defoliation and troubles for the poor tree, and then they release a swarm of equally hungry caterpillars.
So, the bagworm is not so nice after all. Maybe not a good choice for a children’s book either!