@robertbrand8823

1 week ago

Dear Michelle, So glad you are back on your mountain - you were missed.. You and Steve live such interesting and productive lives. For some time I have been also watching some programs of young ladies in the very North of Vietnam building new lives in that very beautiful, mountainous area where, like your area, there are very few services available and they have to build there own homes and farms in the rugged terrain. Some of the things they face, as they actually live there full time, are getting water and electricity for example and how they raise all sorts of crops and forage for all kinds of wild fruits and vegetables to sell at the local open air markets. It never freezes there but it does get quite cool in the winter so the do not need any heating system. All of them get water either from a mountain stream or trickling spring which they pipe down to a very large plastic tank or one they have constructed of bricks and mortar and due to the continuing running of the sources they always have a very large supply available and this might be a possibility for you at your cabin if there is any sort of spring up above your cabin. Many are installing modern toilets and septic systems as well. At the moment one lady (Google Lt tivi) who has constructed an unbelievable homestead is in the process of rebuilding a very old two story house that she and her father deconstructed and moved to a new location. The traditional construction uses no fasteners as it is all dove-tailed together. I think Steve would be interested in how they do it - even the brand new houses are built that way. The current episode is the fourth for this project and is the first where it appears they have brought in a back hoe to do the heavy lifting of the four frames. The main timbers, which appear to be about 10'X 10", have all been planed and sanded and are of a reddish species of wood. These very industrious people seem to be very loving of all of their animals and children and I have not seen any animosity anywhere. Most have little or no transportation except the main mode around there is small "step-through" motorcycles. Most of the mechanics are women. They all do seem to have cell phone coverage which is so amazing in that mountainous area. Oh, Michelle, I think that you would appreciate the photography - it is really good, but alas, there is not much closed captioning. Ta=Ta.

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