Welcome to Week #4!
After posting my plot plan, an old high school friend happened to see it and shared with me some helpful knowledge. Since he's an architect, I trust he knows what he's talking about and the next morning I immediately contacted Chance at KB about this. He's going to discuss it with the engineer and we'll go from there.
In the picture above, you can see how my lot begins to slope at the easement line. However, after driving around the neighborhood and looking at the houses over on Crested Butte that have similar slope, Im confident that my drive will be leveled in the same fashion. See pic below.
Next, the brick. Kennewick isn't available. I'm not sure why since it's being used in the neighborhood down the road from me. I'm terribly upset about this. I've spent the last 24+ hours hunting for a brick I like. Ive found a couple that I can settle for, yet when I consider how much Im spending on this house, I dont feel like I should settle. I'm not happy. And at this point I'm willing to pay extra to get what I want.
I pray to God that something good comes from all of this stress.
In the course of my hunt, I did find a rather unusual plant that caught my eye in one of the neighborhoods. It's actually a sumac plant, non-poisonous and the berries are actually edible. Edible sumac red berries are from the Sumac bush whereas Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) has white berries. NEVER eat them!
Around this time of year, Sumac bushes have whitish berries that turn a deep rusty red. The berry clusters appear like flames from the green bushes, just beautiful! Its what caught my eye! Not only are they edible, sumac berries are medicinal.
Here is an excerpt from Mother Earth Living that I found interesting:
Sumac leaves and berries are classified as astringent and cooling. Certain Native American and Canadian Indian tribes used sumac to treat bladder, digestive, reproductive, and respiratory ailments; infections; injuries; stomachaches; arrow wounds; and more. The Chippewa Indians of North America made a decoction of sumac flowers to treat gas, indigestion, and other digestive upsets. The Iroquois used sumac as a laxative, diuretic, expectorant, liver aid, and in countless other applications. The powdered bark and dried berries were allegedly combined with tobacco and smoked during peace pipe ceremonies. The inner bark was also used to treat hemorrhoids.
Early pioneers used the berries to reduce fevers, and they steeped and strained the berries and thickened the mixture with honey to yield a soothing cough syrup. Some transformed the berries into wine. Others used the root to produce an emetic tea (to induce vomiting), the bark to make dye, and the leaves to relieve symptoms of asthma.
Sumac berries contain malic acid, which possess antifungal properties and putative anti-fibromyalgic activity; tannic acid, which is present in tea and wine and is known for its astringent activity; and gallic acid, a white crystalline compound used in dyes, in photography, and in ink and paper manufacture.
Fascinating, no?
