Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH NO.

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Day 7, snow is still thick on the ground and the rain pours down in incessant sheets, but is it normal rain or is it, chubby rain? (reference to the movie ‘Bowfinger’). Problems still abound at the new home.

Our furniture was scheduled to arrive 6 days ago, it’s still not here. We are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and the only bedding we have is our Florida stuff, very lightweight and cool. My warm down Doona and winter sheets are coming with the furniture, what I wouldn’t give to have those warm and wonderful beauties right now.

We have wood fires and we get those burning, making the house lovely and cozy, however during the night they burn out, leaving us to wake up in freezing cold.

View from our drive way.

Our cat Tiger has a nasty cold and in vain I try to keep her warm. Having no blankets yet I swaddle the poor love up in towels leaving only her little head poking out. I fear it’s not very helpful but it does look very cute.

Kitty in a blanket.

We are totally off the grid here, it’s all well water, solar power and propane gas. Ideally, it means we are not dependent for our living needs, but right now the system is a mess. It’s not the stone age by any means, we have a lovely house with all the amenities, it’s just that when we switch on the power it comes from our solar batteries, not from city power. As electricity prices rapidly escalate, it’s a very appealing source of power. As our power goes out, it's not so exciting.

Keeping warm, kitty style.

Our eletricity keeps cutting out at the moment which is more than bothersome. It seems that the former owner of the place did not conduct the required maintance on the system, thus we have inherited some problems. The Colonel has been working hard to get it all back ship shape.

Today we had a man arrive to fill up our propane tanks. What an essential item that is. We use propane to run the generator each day as the solar panels don’t get enough light to fully charge in the winter. The refrigerator runs on the gas as do two heaters. As we are low on gas we have been refraining from using the heaters.

To my great delight the propane man arrived this gray and rainy morning to fill up our tank. Wait, there is a complication. Oh dear. It seems that since moving to Castello Chichi, it has been one complication after another. There is a leak somewhere which means we CANNOT refill the propane tank today. Horror.

Our driveway, it's a long one.

Someone must be summoned out here to find and fix the leak. In the meantime could this mean no generator power, no heating, no fridge? We can put the contents of the fridge outside as it’s cold enough, but that will just draw the attention of all the nasty beasties that dwell in the forest’s around.

A loo with a view.

As cute as Bears and Cougars and even Moose are, those darlings are deadly. We have a Moose that hangs around near our house. I have christened her Dame Nellie Melba and have already fallen in love. I am told that it's not a good idea to get up close and personal with a Moose so I am hoping Dame Nellie and I do not get well aquainted.

The house is nice and full of charm, but until we get the furniture and all this sorted out I am in a state of discombobulation that threatens to lead to hysteria. We have some plans for remodeling which when completed will be very nice indeed.

Eventually we plan to grow fruits and veg and make fancy jams, dried fruits and all that good stuff. There is an orchard here and a lovely big veggie garden, surrounded by Moose proof fence so those buggers don’t get in and eat it all.

A compost bin will fertilise the veggie patch and I found a chook shed near the house. Right now it’s just a wood building with no windows. I will be having none of that dear reader for my cosseted chooks. We plan on using that as a base and creating a deluxe chook house, complete with a big outdoor area all screened in with chicken wire so they can gambol around in the dirt while enjoying spectacular mountain views. (wink). In the spring time we will let them roam around eating up all the nasty bugs. Let’s just hope some wolf does not feel like KFC and devour them.

Will post pictures of the interior when the good arrive and it looks less like a bomb site.