Yet Another Estimate

Tonight I put together an estimate for appliances.  Darn, those gadgets are expensive!  Maybe I should think about a washboard and a galvanized bucket.  If it was good enough for Willa Cather's heroes, well, by golly....

I also looked over the electrical fixture estimate and discovered that those two crafty direct/indirect fluorescent lights my architect recommended for the kitchen price out at $320.  Each!  That's more than the stove!  Someone out there in Entrepreneurland must make inexpensive direct/indirect fluorescent lights.  So, as I've done so often in recent weeks, I'll go off in search of another Cheap Alternative.

I managed to import a map into last night's post — and, of course, tonight I can't remember how I did it.  However, for all this map tells you, I could be building a house in Azerbijan.  So, here's a little geography lesson.  The map shows the east coast of northern Lower Michigan midway between Alpena and Rogers City.  The blue on the right is Lake Huron, which is just a five minute stroll through the woods from where I'll be living.  The blue on the left is Grand Lake.  The little blue puddle in between is Lake Esau.  Why it's called Esau is a mystery.  I find no explanation in books on local history, and there is no "Lake Jacob" nearby.  Remember Esau, who got snookered out of his birthright (Gen. 25:29-34) and his paternal blessing (Gen. 27:18-29)?  Maybe someone decided that this little lake in the middle of nowhere could be a consolation prize.

By the way, the pointer for the Directions/Zoom bubble sits almost on top of my building site on Esau's east shore.  This lot provides a view to the southwest and west.  That orientation should provide good exposure for passive solar heating, but only if I clear the cedars which line the shore.