Latest work inside our rescue cottage includes:

Insulation is installed

Drywall going up

Required by the Fire Safety Codes of the Town of Ashford, this cement behemoth's installation was a marvel to behold! 

The cistern arrives via a big rig ...... extra wide load.  The day is about to get very intense!

Our construction crew has been working feverishly to prepare the final resting place of this underground storage system for 15,000 gallons of fire-fighting water to reside.

A 150 ton crane has been mobilized to the site to perform the task of lifting this 60 ton cistern and gently lowering it into place.

The lid is placed on top to create a watertight seal.  Great going guys!!

The earth is moved back into place around the cistern and it's installation is a huge success.

Notice how even the sun came out to celebrate?  Another successful "one-step closer" to the sanctuary being a reality!

Ride with us along the property frontage as it looks today, June 29, 2012

Statistic can be fun; especially when they demonstrate another productive week at the construction site!  End of the month brings Our Companions a big bill from our construction company.  We are thrilled to be able to pay them for all their best work.  Reviewing the invoice gives us another opportunity to review our extraordinary accomplishments.

On the list of 100% Completed are:

Concrete

Framing Materials

Framing Labor

Insulation

Siding

Shingle Roof

Doors and Windows

Permits

Overall, the project is listed as 59.24 percent complete.  More than halfway done.......woohoo!!!!

Electricity -- It's a BIG deal

Transformer is the nerve center of the sanctuary

Transformers, Conduits, Transfer Switches, oh my!!!  I never thought I'd need to know all about this stuff, but hey, we can't run a sanctuary without power!  And power we are having!!  The nerve center of the sanctuary is going in now.  It is rated and powerful enough to run the complete project.  Best part of biting the bullet and paying for this very costly infrastructure now?  When we are ready to build rescue cottage number two.....................the electricity is ready and just waiting to be hooked up!

Trenching going from garage to Rescue Cottage.

Ultimate destination of these wires...inside the Rescue Cottage

Creation of Water Retention Basin - week of June 22, 2012

A complex series of underground drainage has been installed throughout the sanctuary land and work on this major part of the site work continued this past week. 

The land is carefully sculpted to safely move water away from low lying areas and into a large water retention basin which is being created specifically for this purpose.  The basin will allow rainwater to perculate gradually back into the watertable, allowing natural purification, preventing erosion and keeping the ponds and wetlands surrounding the property healthy and balanced.

Boulders?  Yeah, we've got 'um!  Some even bigger than my car!  Thank goodness those big machines are here to move them out of our way!  We plan to repurpose some of them in our landscaping scheme.

Take a look at what's going on inside the walls of the Rescue Cottage.  Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Electrical and Alarm systems are all roughed in.  Filmed June 17, 2012.