Of odds and ends and various vents

Vents for the kitchen and bathroom fans have been installed, via a commercial lift, a large and expensive machine that, despite its power, is remarkably wobbly and unsafe-feeling. Nonetheless, DH persevered and got them installed. Mechanical inspection -- of the aforementioned vents, the plumbing pipes, the dryer vent, the bathroom fan, the hose bibs, etc. -- done and passed.
Many fiddly small jobs done, more yet to do. DH is now nailing additional two-by-fours under the supporting ceiling beam, the inspector having decreed that that was needed, while I spent the day sweeping, in preparation for the installation of insulation.
There is a great deal of sweeping to do, largely on account of all the drilling that has been done all over the house, of holes through the framing studs, to accommodate electric wires.
It is at this point in the proceedings that I find it hard to follow all that requires to be done. There are metal plates to nail into the two-by-fours, to prevent future nails from being driven into the plumbing pipes, after the drywall is installed and the pipes are no longer visible. Stray nails and staples to be removed from the walls, to accommodate insulation and drywall. Assorted other odds and ends.
The whole process has been more interesting, and yes, enjoyable, than I ever expected, as I have watched -- and assisted with -- this house coming together. I know where the plumbing pipes run under the house, having helped to weld them together. Know which are hot, and which cold. Know where the wires run through the walls, and what makes the dryer vent fire-resistant, where the radon pipe runs, and the vents for the fans, and what holds the sill plates to the foundation. Am highly familiar with the crawlspace, as well as every room in the house. It is remarkably satisfying.
And in the meantime, the garden is flourishing; zucchini and tomatoes producing abundantly, first sunflowers and dahlias blooming.
Gophers are eating the potatoes, with great enjoyment. I think their tunnels run under every square foot of the garden, and the terrier is enjoying himself greatly digging them up, but doesn't seem to be actually slowing them down any. He did dig up the onions for me, and quite a bit of parsley. I philosophically rescued the parsley for use in cooking, kicked dirt back into the hole to re-cover the remaining roots, and gathered up the onions. I'm in a race for the potatoes; usually they don't show damage until all the harvest is gone, but I've scavenged some, wondering all the while whether I'd be better to leave them, to slow the gophers from moving on to the next plant. Curiously, of the three varieties I planted, the little beasts are, so far, going after only one. I dare to hope they will take only a tithe, but they may be considering the entire planting of my German Butterballs as said tithe.
Today we learned that sunflowers are fragrant; being possessed of a lovely, delicate scent that was entirely unexpected. They are blooming in lovely hues of autumn reds and summer yellows. The bachelor buttons are also blooming, blue, deep purple, maroon, pink, white, to the delight of the bumblebees, and pink and white cosmos are starting to open.
To celebrate all of the goodness, I have made ratatouille and pasta salad; next on the list to prepare are fried zucchini, pesto, and a blackberry cobbler. In my spare time.

Wired!!!

The wiring is complete and has passed inspection!!!

Much happiness, especially from Mr. Homebuilder, who is delighted to be finished with that massive project.

And on to the next.

The next is finishing up a bunch of smaller things; the last few plumbing connections, the sewer pipes under the house, the connections on the meter box for the well, etc. Gonna be another busy weekend.

Also need to get to work on the bathtub, which needs all its old peeling paint scraped off so the refinishing can commence. Which necessitates first moving it from its current location down to the house site and plunking it onto a sheet of plastic to catch all the scraped off paint. It's heavy, so that keeps not happening.

We remain on the lookout for a super cheap bathroom vanity that can act as a placeholder until DH has time to build one, because you have to have a functioning bathroom before they'll give you an occupancy permit.

A complete, fully functional bathroom would be a nice change in any event, though the last year and a half have certainly been a good lesson in how much more simply you really can live. (But, man! I really should have learned how to knit first! Or crochet, or something).

We found a lovely kitchen sink awhile back at the Habitat for Humanity Restore -- a big, porcelain double sink that was just exactly what I wanted. DH was holding out for stainless steel, but decided that for $15 (he asked them to lower the price -- from $60! -- and they did!), he can live with porcelain, even if he is taking private bets on how long it will be before we manage to chip it. There are some paint drips dried into cement on it, but, hey, they're cream colored. DH, however, would like to figure out how to remove them.

Thus far, no one has put any actual effort into this, such as, say, Googling how to remove paint drips from porcelain, but it will work its way to the top of the list eventually. At present, the sink is tastefully decorating the fir wood behind the house. There are other priorities, such as putting in the baseboard heaters. Because they, too, were used, these are a truly ugly shade of gray. We're grateful to have them, but I wish they came cream-colored. Too bad I can't cover them with lace doilies, of which I have inherited about 10,000.

Meanwhile, this lovely place goes about its business: There are spotted fawns bounding through the hedgerow, baby quail learning to fly, half-grown baby scrub jays squawking to be fed in the hawthorns, tiny brown rabbits running about.

The garden looks good for early July; unfortunately, it is early August. And my some of tomatoes are diseased. Robins are eating all the blueberries, and when I work too late in the garden in the evening, they come and tell me to scat, because it's their turn. They sent a towhee to yell at me, since landing on fenceposts to stare at me wasn't doing the job.

Bird of summer

Wiring proceeding.
In other news, here is a quail.