So this is the driveway, with Kerry, Oakes and new puppy Gabi. If you follow the drive, you can kind of see the clearing for the house to the left of the photo. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Demetri, Jason and Mary meet with the other Mary, the pro, and hopefully there are some answers or at least some direction. But today there are only questions.

• If the concrete floor does not have radiant heat embedded in it, will it be warm enough? Will the sun shining on it heat it up enough and will the insulation below keep it from losing heat too quickly? Basically, will it be comfortably warm enough of the time?
• The south side of the house will need to be completely open to sun in winter -- no evergreen trees. Should I cut down all the spruces to the south, basically what you see in the picture above? Probably not all the way to the road, but most of the way. After all, it's not a naturally occurring forest -- just the remnants of a spruce plantation planted by CCC. And now that I think of it, it's the site of a future barn/studio building. Probably the answer is "cut them down, yes".
• How do I actually insure that pipes don't freeze if I go away for a week or two in December or January? A coil in the hot water heater that heats air coming into the house via the fresh air system has been mentioned. Or I could get a house-sitter -- doesn't seem like that is a problem in Vermont.
• If I end up putting a heating system in the house, was all this worth it?
• If I don't, but end up spending a lot more money on windows and insulation and land clearing, was it all worth it?
• How do I get this house under construction in the next week or two?
• Am I still loving this project?