UPDATE!!

Bill surveying the scene....

We're BACK!!

This past weekend was an amazing build-a-thon thanks for some great friends, good weather and the need to have something built SOON!!

Last Friday, Bill was surveying the progress (above) and there was certainly a lot to do.




The weather held last week - it was balmy enough to work outside during the day. The verticle posts were up, and I decided to just get on out there with my laptop. Yes. Mostly I work sitting on the floor while out there. I find that I feel like I've been in a day long yoga class - at least when it's warm enough... But when the cooler evening breezes got underneath that plywood, it did get right chilly.

So we had to insulate the floor. It was an odd way to do it, but we got it done. No, that isn't a rouge Talibani, that's Edwige and Regan spreading insultation. It was post consumer waste - newspapers, phone books, etc. It's pretty thick there, but very dusty to spread. I think Regan was reading bits - as an Doctoral Candidate (!!!!) he's prone to that sort of thing. After all, you never know where that last bit of information will come from!

With half of it done, we had to go back to the store to get more. The guys at Lowe's are getting to know us really well now. But we liked that is looks like pre-made rat's nests. Still, the R-Value is high- and it will help keep the place COZY!!

Speaking of rat's nests...the insulation is encased in double layers of 6 mil construction plastic. And sealed up fairly tightly. We'll do additional boards on the bottom soon too.

Speaking of boards... I FINALLY sorted through all the Barbaritoes wood that we harvested from the pre-demolished site in July. With the autumn sun, it really gave off a wonderful warm glow!!! I can't wait to have this glow IN SIDE MY OFFICE!!!!

But of course, before there can be an "inside" to my office there needs to be an outside. Seumas, our hero, came to help on Sunday. While I was sorting through wood, the men folk were levelling all the posts and beams. They tell me that's important. I think they all just wanted to play with the lazer level.

I often say that Seumas is the consumate boy scout. He's done a lot of neat stuff, builds his own canoes, is a woodsman of amazing ability, and just an over all groovy dude. He also sent me back to Lowe's to get more stuff.

He and Bill threw the rafters up in no time flat. I think they even nailed them down! Damn, it looks nice, doesn't it?

To give a clue about where I'll be working... the tiny "shed" on the left is a nifty bird feeder, and yes, directly off the porch is a small potting shed. But it wasn't going to convert easily, and sits in the hottest sun of the summer. Besides, off in the woods I'm in my own magical little space...

Speaking of spaces - this is the underside of the office. Those pillars are filled with rebar and cement. We'll put plywood underneath to protect the plastic. The middle lines are extra stakes used to plot out the position.

Once the rafters were up, Bill and Seumas got to work on the lathing (is that right?) Seumas crawled around up there like nobody's business. Once we got the support brackets in, it was definitely sturdier and Bill got up there too. I didn't. Yet....

But, progress was made!!!

I am now beginning to think we may want to forgoe the bay window/doors, I'd initially planned and just build a flat front - with Southern Exposure. Honestly, the temps here have taken a dip and I'm coming to appreciate how HARD doing the bay doors will be. It means loosing some floorspace, but also, getting it done sooner.

It turns out that Lowe's even sells straw bales. Now I'd love to buy them from a local farmer, but the nearest "local farmer" selling straw right now is about 100 miles away, and it will probably take 2 truck loads to get enough. Which means several days of driving back and forth to get straw, and gas, and dealing with trucking it through Atlanta... so.... I am thinking of taking the Lowe's option.

This coming weekend, we'll hopefully get the tin roof on. (Fingers crossed) It's cold enough now that it's hard to work out there without being wrapped in a sleeping bag, wearing long underwear. So I need to get SOMETHING up soon. . .

But honestly, I am so incredibly grateful to Sue and Seumas, Edwige and Regan, and of course Bill and James for all your wonderful help!! THANK YOU!!!

The PLANS!!!

Okay, so I like the hobbit hole look, and it does seem fun, but the reality is, if we dig out the hillside and then try to put in straw bales we are setting ourselves up for a lot more time and lot more work, and chances are... at LOT more problems with mold and fungus.

So we're using the straw bale construction above ground, with a concrete slab, and between the bales and cement a area with pumice and gravel to absorb any water, plus plastering, etc.

It is all very exciting. A good friend is looking at the plans for us - he's an engineer and may tell us that it is absurd, so we are waiting for his inputs... and then it's a matter of marking the space and clearing what we have to, highering someone to come lay the slab... and putting up the pole and beam construction "barn", ordering the straw, getting the plaster, getting everything ready to go and DOING IT!!

I can't wait. I'm not sure how soon it will be done, but once Ahmed signs off on it, we're getting started!!!

YIPEEE!!!!

Summer Time....

Oh My!!

I've been in absentia more than I would have liked. It's been hectic, and there has been some progress on the fortress - though most of it is on paper.

First to offer the excuses:
Finished big project for work - did not want to be within spitting distance of the computer for a few days
Had to get my big mall doors from their hiding place at Joe's. Now at new hiding place.
Had to spend time with family who haven't seen me, because I've been working so much (see above)
Had to take son to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled (ouch!!) He's doing well.
Had to take Lucy (the adorable dog in all the pictures) to vet this morning to have some back teeth removed
(poor Lucy!)
Had to get ready to go on my upcoming trip for work. 2 weeks in South Africa and Namibia. It will be a work fest, no doubt.
And
Had to get back on my feet after the work related marathon I've run.

So, that being said and done, I'm back for the moment.

I leave for South Africa/Namibia on Saturday (21 hour flight each way - so much for that carbon foot print reduction thing, huh? but it is for a big international environmental conference, so I guess I don't know, I get greenhouse points?)

In the meantime, We are working on the fortress. We have decided on dimensions (10 ft x 10 ft, plus a 10ft x 3 ft bay window- with the 4 mall doors - facing south) a small loft above with a window to open for convection cooling. a deck (covered in summer) of about 7 ft that wraps around to the side where the "outhouse/composting toilet" will be. For cooling/warming we'll dig a trench 5 ft. deep, that will run around the back yard, and back and blow air 54 degrees (f) into the space. Lots of over hangs, losts of passive heating and cooling. I'd like to get the radiant heating for the floors, so we're looking into that. And more....

My darling husband, Bill, has taken this on with renewed gusto and is hoping to have the pylons set and the trench dug before I get back the second week of August. And then it's building it up from there.... We'll see. I expect it will be interesting.

Work will either slow down a lot this fall or will be fairly busy. At the moment, I just don't know. If it's slow, I'll do the work myself (at least some of it). If it's busy, I 'll pay someone else to do it.

Anyway, that's my update du jour.

More soon!

Very best,
Mary

Update...

WATCH THIS SPACE!!


Soon - updates on:

Doors! Doors! Doors!

Wood! Wood! Wood!

Plans! Plans! Plans!

Serindipity ABOUNDS!!


Okay, I'm super crazy busy at the moment - but soon! With photos! I promise!!

The Plans (so far)

Hi Again!

Okay, this is where I list what I *want to do*. I meet with Steve (The Builder Guy, who I've known since he was a puppy and is a known green sympathizer) on Monday to go over the options. I'll try to get together the ideas. I've been making sketches, reading up on different green technologies etc. I've also talked with my accountant. Sorry, I don't get to write this off as a business expense. (Darn it). We'll see how much of this materializes. I'll try to scan in the drawings and include pictures of the site, but it may not be until after I meet with Steve. The Orange River Basin is in tough shape and I have to finish the project document this weekend, if possible.

But this is what I want:

• Built into the hillside with south facing windows. Yes, I am building a cave. But the idea is that it will have passive solar in the winter for warmth, and in the summer the sun is farther north. Also, it will be in the woods, with lots of deciduous trees around - leaves in summer, sun in winter. Plus building into the hillside will make for GREAT insulation, both in terms of heating and cooling.
• Sod roof. Yes, Seriously. Concrete (hopefully) with sod on top, slanted for drainage. Again, great insulation, great cooling. And a garden on top to boot. What else?
• Solid concrete walls. Will double as a bomb shelter, if Canada attacks from the North at least.
• A composting toilet. Don't say ewww.... what do you think people used before flush toilets? Actually composting toilets are a waterless way to compost "waste", without the smell, and it will need to be emptied (not smelly when it happens). Plus my flowers will be very happy! And no cost of running the sewage lines!! (SWEET!)
• Solar powered radiant heating. It means that the floors will be toasty warm in winter, cool cool cool in summer. (may rival cucumbers)
• Recycled cork flooring. Truly sustainable and cushy.
• Glass brick internal wall for the bathroom, and 1/6th front wall (non-load bearing) to increase light reflection.
• Water for shower and sink from a tank fed by rain barrels off the main house. May need to be supplemented in droughts.
• Small electric tankless water heater. Warm water without spending the cash to keep it hot!!
• Energy efficient windows - across the South side, plus one on the east and west for cross breezes.
• Locally sourced slate for the patio to absorb heat in winter.
• Retractable porch roof to keep things cool in the summer. (see cucumber above)
• And of course, the florescent light bulbs. Always with the light bulbs. Thanks Verona kids!
• And ???

There are bound to be more ideas. I have faith in all of you to help out with it too!!

Until then, I'm camped out at the site in "my office al fresco" also known as "The Fortress of Gurlitude". Yes, seriously. I'm working out of a tent - it's really pretty fun.

I'll add links for some of the stuff on the list too!

See you soon!

Mary