Cold and windy and ouch

The weather definitely took a turn. It was COLD and WINDY here yesterday so working on the roof was out. The cement wasn't set as firmly as I would have liked, so the setting of the posts wasn't going to happen.
So how did we take advantage of the spare day? We moved lumber. Lots and lots of lumber.

Front yard to the back yard.

Stacked it. moved it stacked it moved it.

I am trying to think of tasks like this as something akin to going to the gym and working out with weights, balance and cardio all at the same time.

But even so, yesterday, maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the wind, maybe it was just the sheer mass o'stuff, but I was a hurting pup. My legs and back were crying out for hours afterwards. Thanks to my favorite cocktail of aleve and tylenol though, I'm back at it today.

They say basic training for the army is getting up and working really hard physically and it hurts like hell, and then you do it again the next day and the next day and the next day until it doesn't hurt so much anymore.

I am not sure how well that works for someone my age, but I am thinking of adding to my list of benefits to building one's own shed in the bottom of the garden: increased physical fitness.

I guess the question is - can I get out there today and keep moving? Answer - after 2 cups of coffee and a reasonable nights' sleep, I am ready indeed to get going. Without my helper guys I may be a bit more limited, or need to be a bit more creative about how to do some of this, but regardless of my condition, this thing ain't building itself.

And at least the wind is calm today...

More soon!!

Daunting? this? Me? Oh heaven's yes!

It is a beautiful day - already in the low 60's (Yes, I know this weather is WRONG for December) and we've had the house windows open for the past 3 days - even at night!!

This morning my buddies from Lowe's brought over my lumber etc. It was a BIG order and is now sitting in my front yard, waiting to go into it's various places... It's sort of mind boggling at the moment.

Yesterday I thought I knew what was up. Now I'm not so sure. I'm getting a sense of having bitten off more than I can chew.

But come on. I'm a clever girl. I can figure this out. It's not rocket science. Probably.

It's just a lot of work, which is sort of daunting.

The next step, I think...

Is to get out there and check my measurements, look at the nifty designs that they so generously printed out for me, get my mojo working and...MIX CEMENT! All day long...
(I wish I could just mix the cement right in the hole I'm pouring it in. Wouldn't that be nice?) Okay, I know better.

So here goes. I'll try to take picutres and keep you all posted!
Fingers crossed, Inshallah et. al.

Any one who wants to cheer me on here, or even lend a hand, is more than welcome!

Really, I'm thinking this could be a lot of fun.

Well, WHO KNEW???

Okay, so today is my second full day back at work ON MY OFFICE!!!

We finally finished off the last big project we had for the year so I am now dedicating my time and energy to making some serious progress on my office space.

Monday I was mostly done, but also mostly brain dead. I spent most of the day pulling nails out of salvaged wood and listening to Stephen Colbert interviews. It was what I needed.

Yesterday I decided to tackle the deck and figure out everything I needed to get it done...

Today I went to Lowe's to buy lumber.

Turns out it was a GREAT learning experience. The store was calm for a Wednesday and the staff could not be more helpful. I love it. I asked one of the guys if they noticed things being slower - they said sales are way down. The economy - the housing crunch. It's hitting everyone. But they were all working and helping me and I appreciate it so much!!

And in my incredible learning experience it became clear that I'd made sort of a REALLY STUPID mistake.

Pressure treated wood needs to be nailed with galvanized nails. Regular nails (what I used) will disintegrate over a few years from the chemicals in the pressure treated wood. Melt. Deteriorate. Rust away to nothing.

Okay, all together now... OOOOPPPSSSS!!!!

So that roof? Those floor joists? yah...

Good news, my pals at Lowe's also told me how to fix it.
And they are delivering my lumber on Friday!!!!

So tomorrow, I'm doing pre-emptive repairs. It puts me a little behind schedule, but not nearly as much as having my office roof and floor collapse around me in 3 to 4 years. See. It's all a matter of perspective. . .

It won't be pretty but it will do the job. Thanks GUYS!!

Until tomorrow...

Like playing with blocks!

Today was a little unusual for me. I was over on campus taking a course on QuickBooks. I have an aversion to math, but my accountant, my business partner, and my computer guru all told me I had to do this. So I did.

The course is held at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, on the UGA campus. The first time I was on the UGA campus was for meetings there more than 18 years ago. Then I worked at the radio station there before graduate school. Going back to day was a trip down memory lane. I even got to have lunch with one of my all time favorite people, Robb Holmes, the music director at the radio station. I've been a huge fan of Robb's for a long time, and we had a great time catching up. I've always felt like the radio station was a second home for me on campus. That was definitely the highlight of the day. Quickbooks and all was okay, but accounting isn't really my thing.

So this afternoon, after class Robb was announcing the weather forecast - a chance of rain tomorrow. I'm in class all day again tomorrow, so I realized I needed to get the straw bales and wood under cover. In the balmy warmer night air, I found myself slinging wood and then hefting straw bales up on to the office floor. It's been a long time since I've worked with straw, but the wonderful clean sweet scent took me back to the years I used it for bedding in my horses stall. I couldn't resist playing some and decided to stake bales around the edge to get a sense of what it would look like. I've only got about 24 bales and I figure I'll need at last that many again. But it was so fun to do it. It was like playing with giant building blocks. I'd forgotten how much I love that sort of easy creative activity that really uses your body and releases the child like playfulness.

I restacked my blocks, covered them all and came in for dinner. Now, let's hope it will rain. . .

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!!!

PROGRESS!!!

Okay Folks! Here we are!!

I finally had to gut it out, swallow some of my very best intentions and just go with it.

After figuring out what I needed to get this thing off the ground, literally, we sat down Saturday at about 1:30 and drafted a pick list. I have learned a lot on this venture, but drafting a pick list, was well, sort of a combination of drafting a letter to Santa Clause while trying hard not to want to strangle my spouse.

This is the problem. We are both fairly smart. We're both clever enough to be able to figure out how to do things, and we're both stubborn enough to want to be the one making the decisions.

But when it comes down to it, we both don't have a clue what we're doing. Okay. Maybe a little. But it's still sort of funny, because we are both so convinced that we know we are right.

With the pick list drafted, we headed to Lowes - the local big box hardware store.

Now, this is where swallowing some of my ideals comes in. I needed lumber. I needed a fair amount. several folks have said "I have wood you are welcome to use" But never returned phone calls, or live far enough away that getting there and getting the wood sorted through and getting it loaded in SOMETHING and then getting it down here is more than this poor soul can do in a day. ALSO, I realized I needed to make some significant progress on this thing within the next several weeks, because we have other commitments coming up and I don't want to be January trying to get in. Work is expected to get hairy again in the end of November. I need to be in the office or some approximation there of, but then.

I'd loose a weekend of work to sorting through lumber I don't know if I can use, and well,... I simply didn't want to be put back that far, AND I wanted to be able to get exactly what I needed for the framing. So I did. And as Seumas, my eco-guru reminds me - wood IS a renewable resource.

So I sucked it up and bought 6x6s, 4x6s, 2x10s, 2x6s, and 2x4s, plywood for the sub flooring, Plus 50 pounds of nails, an new hammer, braces, and a few other assorted goodies. It totalled about $800 in materials. (ouch) and took about 6 hours to figure, find, pay for, load, unload, and repeat. Lord we were tired.

Today we got to work getting things set up and while I would love to say I have great pictures, I don't yet. Soon.

But I think the funniest and most enjoyable part of the whole thing was working with the spouse. At one point I was asking the Lowe's expert guy - Mike about ply wood. Mike is in his early 60's I'd guess. I'd also guess he works at Lowe's because he enjoys helping folks. So we were discussing ply wood density, and Bill came up. When Mike realized Bill is my husband he got this funny smile on his face. He said " you all are doing this together?" We chuckled and said "yep. For the moment"

Mike's eyes twinkled knowingly. He looked at Bill and said "in a case like this, you only need to remember 2 words --- Yes, Dear."

And then he looked me straight in the eye and said "You know, in Georgia there used to be a law, now it's off the books and everything, but there USED TO BE a law that a man could hit his wife one time with a stick."

I laughed a little, then he said "but it never said what size that stick was... and he could only hit her once."

then he saw Bill smirking and said "but now, that's off the books and illegal and everything, just remember to say 'yes Dear'".

We all sort of stood there grinning.

Several times today Bill's told me he's looking for that stick. But he's only had to say yes dear about a dozen times. (for those of you who know Bill, know he is a very sweet and gentle man, and wouldn't ever raise a hand to me... so no worries there)

Still it's amazing how much fun we had today.

(See we are pretty evenly matched, and didn't throw one another into that gorge...)

Anyway, we are making progress. I was putting together a saw horse and learned an important lesson. I am not good at hamming left handed. I banged the tar out of my thumb and even saw stars swirling around my head and little yellow birdies! and I always thought that Wylie Coyote and crew were making that up!! Maybe next time I'll invest in one of these..

It is a patented finger protector for holding nails!! and here Bill and I thought we were the clever ones!!

Concrete results

Okay, since I'm not able to swim because of the tattoo - looks great- though there is a red welt under it. I suppose that's mostly normal - I'm working on the office/hut/space instead of going swimming.

Today, I could have used the solace of the pool, but found myself having my first ever experience with concrete instead. 40 lb bags of Quickcrete Cement Mix, mixed with requisit amounts of water, and learned about how to get it from point A to point B. We have cinder block piers, reinforced with steel rebar, and now we're filling the holes in the cinder blocks with concrete. This will be stable!!

So I got a chance to get a sense of how it feels and filled two of the side piers (not the corners) with a total of 240 pounds of concrete plus the requisit amoung of water. It took about 2 hours, and I was fairly tired. I could have kept going but it was getting dark, and I knew it was time to stop. Also I took a fall early- or rather a graceless dive down the hillside when my foot got tangled in a root or something. I ended up doing this very strange staggering shuffling running dive that ended with me hurtling myself toward a pile of recently downed pine tree trunks and thinking "Oh, now that's really gonna hurt" - magically, I managed to veer to the left at the last moment and instead did an amazing slide across the forrest floor that James Bond would have been proud of. And my iPod headphones even stayed in tact!! Eurythmics blarring. Indeed, the sisters ARE doing it for themselves.

Everything was fine and I hopped up seconds after Nurse Lucy (the dog) pounced beside me in most dire concern, as I lay there wondering how I managed to miss doing a header into those logs... but still... it gave me pause for thought. BE CAREFUL!

Of course. I forget that. I'm not always going to heal as quickly as I did when I was 14.

But at 14, I'd never spent an evening mixing concrete... And now I have.

And that's sort of cool, when it comes down to it.

PROGRESS!!!

It started like this:

I've been working on work, and sitting looking out my bedroom window wishing to be working out in my office which isn't there yet.

So my dear boss-ish Tim made the comment: Sometimes you just have to start on it.
It made sense. And it was time to see progress. So this weekend, progress has been seen.

First off, we accepted that digging 11 holes in the hard Georgia clay was going to be a huge strain, so we went to Home Depot where we made friends with two really nice, helpful guys "Orlando" and "Jose" (this may or may not be their real names) They came and dug the holes for us and used the word "loco" quite a few times. I think they meant me. Orlando and Jose were great help! We appreciate them very much!! By Saturday at 4:00 we had 11 holes dug!!

This a picture Bill and James standing in for Jose and Orlando, since well, they left right after they finished.
In the meantime, while Jose and Orlando were digging holes, James and I went to Lowes to get
300 lbs of gravel, 25 48 inches #4 rebar, 60 cinder blocks and 1200 lbs. of cement mix. Lowes has a truck rental so we rented the truck, got everything to the house and unloaded! Go Team!

This morning, Lucy, my devoted assistant, partner in crime and our building site supervisor, was out checking out the site. Evidently, she was checking things out before we got to work.

So, I moved the cinder blocks up to the building site. That was fun. Sort of an applied strength training workout - especially since is was up hill. But I got it done (and Bill helped some too!)

Then after lots of trying to figure things out like how in the world to level the cinder blocks in the holes, we gave in and called our friend Seumas. Seumas is the voice of all reason. He's also build a good number of structures. We love Seumas. He said this is the reason he thought using cinder blocks wasn't the best idea. He said using plywood forms made better sense. But after using plywood forms, we'd have that wood left over, and I don't want to have waste from this project, if we can help it. So Seumas and Bill and I figured out how to use a laser level (Bill's newest toy), and gravel and marks on the hoe to get the bases of the holes level and then the blocks leveled. It was a pretty fancy system, and I'm glad we did it!! I definitely learned something about this from them. More on that later.

So we got the first one sunk, I climbed up to see what the view would be from my new office.

It's high, but I LOVE IT!!! IT IS PROGRESS!!

We sank a few more, Bill went in, James came out. Lucy continued her supervisory role.

By the end of the day Lucy was exhausted from all that responsibility of making sure we got everything done right. She inspected every hole, and made sure we were all on the level.

And at the end of the day today, we had 9 footing piers sunk and leveled. We'll fill them with cement after providing additional stabilizing rebar. That will probably be next week...

But hey... IT'S PROGRESS!

And thank heaven's for Aleve... my muscles are so sore!!

But I feel great!!

Thanks to everyone: Bill, James, Seumas, Orlando and Jose, and of course, for her wonderful supervisory work and constant attention to detail - Lucy!

Been on heat-induced Hiatus

Nothing like a good, much needed, well intentioned nudge from my pal Alex over at Shedworking to get things moving again!!

Okay, It's been ridiculously hot here in Georgia the last several weeks.

The temperatures hover around 100 every afternoon, and even with the best laid plans, it's too hot to get much done.

But I have done this...

I have put down the lines for the shed to determine exactly where it needs to go.

I have taken down all of the trees within the space, except one, which I will take down soon. The heat was too much and I knew feeling as tired as I was that I shouldn't try to fell that particular 40+ ft. pine. On the other hand, I have developed a new appreciation of what I like to call "chain saw therapy"!! Of the smaller trees I took down, I've set the larger bits aside, and hope to be able to use them somehow in the process. The branches and leafy bits are being piled in a corner of the yard, and hopefully will make a great little shed for some woodland critter. I'm not planning on making chipmunk condos, but if that's what it becomes, so much the better.

And I've refined the plans again. My structural engineering buddy - a lovely Egyptian fellow, has helped me with the plans posted last time. The footings for the supporting post will need to be deeper in order to provide more structural support.

Since I decided to try to straw bale construction - I've been in discussion with Sue and Seumas, my greenest of green friends with lots of practical know how - I've decided to build up off the ground a bit. The drawings below was concrete slab, but this will be a bit better, and reduce the chance for water damage.

I've also found the name and number of the delightful woman who has been storing old wood and wants to find a home for it... so I'm hoping we'll be able to get an idea of what she has to offer this weekend.

Oh, and I've been working my touchas off on regular work work as well. Unfortunately consultants don't really get vacations like the rest of the world. That being said, I do hope to do a bit more work this weekend - getting the last tree down, checking out the wood, and possibly setting the footings.

So even though I haven't been as active about the hut as I'd like to be in terms of construction, I am making progress... sort of.

Thanks to everyone for your good thoughts and attention! It helps to keep this exciting and moving, and honestly, it keeps me motivated!!

All comments welcome!!

And I hope to post new pictures soon!

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

advice needed: pressure treated lumber?

Okay, so I've learned how it work, and it sounds nasty.

Wood is a great building material. It is strong, lightweight, easily worked with tools and relatively inexpensive. The only problem with wood is that many varieties of bacteria, fungi and insects find it appetizing. When wood is in contact with the ground or moisture for any period of time, these organisms attack the wood. Untreated wood like pine will only last a year or two if it is touching moist ground.
Pressure-treated lumber is wood that has been immersed in a liquid preservative and placed in a pressure chamber. The chamber forces the chemical into the wood fibers. The pressurized approach makes sure that the chemical makes it to the core of each piece of wood -- it is much more effective than simply soaking the wood in the chemical.
The most common chemical used to treat lumber used to be chromated copper arsenate, or CCA. In 2003, however, the Environmental Protection Agency restricted the use of CCA in residential settings due to health and environmental concerns about arsenic leaching out of the wood. The most widely used alternative to CCA is alkaline copper quat, or ACQ. Copper is toxic to various insects and fungi that might cause decay. ACQ binds to wood fibers very well and allows wood to last decades even when it is in contact with the ground.
The protection provided by the chemical depends on the amount of chemical that the wood absorbs. In the United States, the amount of chemical is measured in pounds of chemical per cubic foot of wood. For ground contact, 0.40 pounds per cubic foot is needed. For foundations, 0.60 pounds per cubic foot is the standard.
The chemicals in treated wood are generally not good for humans. This is why you see warnings advising you to wear gloves, avoid breathing the sawdust, and refrain from burning treated wood. Keeping small children away from treated wood is also a good idea.

(Okay, I think that pretty much falls WAY outside of the Green scheme at play here)

These links will help you learn more:
USDA Forest Service: Frequently Asked Questions about Wood Preservation
EPA: Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) and Its Use as a Wood Preservative
How House Construction Works
What is the difference between a hardwood and a softwood?
What is plywood? Why do people use it so much? What about oriented strand board (OSB)?

But there is:

Borates may be better
Not all pressure-treated lumber is copper-based. Borate-based treatments are also effective at stopping bugs, mold, and rot. Borate lumber treatments have low toxicity levels for people and pets. Borate taken into the body doesn't build up like heavy metals do; our bodies excrete what they don't need.
Borate pressure-treated wood has excellent to outstanding corrosion resistance to common metals, according to standards established by the AWPA. No special fasteners or flashings are required.
Lumber treated with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) historically has been used in protected, not exposed, locations because borate leaches from wood when the wood gets wet.
But studies show that borate-treated lumber doesn't leach as much as its reputation suggests.
And borate treatments are getting better. Wood Treatment Products Inc. (http://www.eswoodtreatment.com/) has developed a way to fix borate into lumber better. EnviroSafe Plus is the brand name of this turbo-borate, and it has tested well for borate retention, noncorrosiveness, fire suppression, and nontoxicity of smoke.

I hope not to need much new wood, but for framing the house, as well as the deck materials, I'm sort of wondering what to do here.

Your advice is welcome!!

News Flash!

Okay....

Let's review:

- Steve, The (adorable) Builder Guy, had given a very rough estimate of upwards of about $30,000. (!!!!) which left me in something of dither.

- The concept of building underground, or at least as an earth sheltered structure, began to look a bit untenable, because of cost, water tables - the site is next to a dried spring bed, and so alternatives were being considered.

- Found Alex's sight in the UK on Shedworking which is full of really fun and inspiring bits of info for the aspiring shed worker.

- Ran into Brian, the groovy lawyer and fellow kids league soccer hooligan, who loaned me books on "Tiny houses"

- Wanted to get doors from nearby strip mall- thus saving the $1000 + french doors wanted to put in for southern exposure (passive solar in the biz)

- Wanted to maintain the environmental "GREEN-NESS" of the coming structure - after all, that IS the whole idea behind this blog.

- Recalled salvage ethic used all over the world that uses what ever local materials are available, and got to thinking about that.

SO....

Introducing Barberitos!!

A favorite family eatery - in the soon to be demolished strip mall.

Went by on Thursday (a week ago) and they were getting ready to move.

Went by on Friday evening and they were closed up - moving to the new store.

Went by on Saturday and talked to Phillip the Manager Guy at the East side location.

Called Corporate HQ (here in Athens) on Monday - wrote check for $5o

AND.... This:

and:
Became:


THIS!!!

My Dear Son and MY DARLING Husband, and even My Precious Father, spent the 4th of July ripping wood out of Barberitos eastside!! (AND I'm making progress on the doors too!)

Of course, now I have some very nice wood, including some lovely tongue and groove paneling I can use and didn't even have to pay extra for the Mexican Restaraunt scenting, plus plenty of corrugated metal sheeting (Sounds fun in rain storm!) and inspiration, but still no plans firmed up. Those are coming.

Now, you are wondering, why wasn't Mary ripping wood with her family for Independence Day? Where was she?

Okay, first, I was there some, though admittedly The Boys did the lion's share of the work.

And Second, despite fighting two wars a couple hundred years ago to avoid being required to do such things, I was labouring under a British Tyrant. Also known as my senior partner. I HAD to finish my Stakeholder Analysis Report for a project we're working on, so I spent the day typing frantically. The final output was over 90 pages of more information on Stakeholders for the Orange Senqu River Basin than you could ever hope to know. Actually, it was a good report, the timing was just difficult. And in his defense, the British Tyrant just set the date for having it done. Really, he's a good guy. Sometimes, I even agree to let him be my boss.

Now, I have the wood, I have inspiration, I have a lead on more wood, Mom has offered some windows she has stored in the barn at her place, and so, oddly, it seems I have most of the materials, and will need to figure out what to build and then build it.

I'm still sticking to the green ideas. And considering the amount of materials I'm saving from the Athens-Clarke landfill, I think I'm reaching that. The cost savings are incredible, and that will save money for solar power panels, the composting toilet, uber insulation, and other exciting things.

The building will probably not be underground. (bummer) The husband wants to build it on a concrete slab (we'll have to install ourselves). I want to save trees. Brian suggested elevating it some instead, to keep it off the ground and allow air circulation (sounds good in the summer), Steve agrees that would be a good option, and I'm wondering what pressure treated lumber is all about. (Wikipedia?) and if I REALLY NEED it.

And so it goes. The building site it fairly flat, but perched on a hilly slope. I need to spend some time thinking about what I want it to be, look like, alternate plans, etc. And so, that's next!!

Here's the view of the site from down in the dry spring bed. Yes, the dog comes with it. She's special that way.

As always, insights, thoughts, comments, suggestions, and free materials are welcome!

THANKS FOLKS!!

p.s. after the writing orgy yesterday, my brain is the consistency of warm cottage cheese. Rambling is a side effect.

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!!

I want an eco-converter!!

Okay, Another hot day in the tent/fortress/future building site. But with a nice little oscillating fan, I'm pretty comfortable. Lucy, my dog, has made it her home during the day. She's found several special spots to keep cool and I have to admire her for it.

Green Pa of Little Blog in the Woods has sagely urged me to continue to consider the earth sheltered construction. I appreciate his insights, since he's been doing this a lot longer than I have, and I gather he knows a good bit about the practical side of eco-friendly existence.

But as a resident in a region in a severe drought, (See here for more) the thought of using all the water to mix the cement, and the carbon emitted by the stuff to get it here, and to dig out the dirt and to take out some of the trees (WHAAAA!!) I find myself wondering if it makes sense to build under ground still. Also, since the stone for cement is often mined from riverbeds, severely disturbing the ecology there...? Oh I don't know!! Wood is renewable but well... finding used wood is tricky. I could get a used prefab building, but then there is shipping.

This is the deal, I want an eco converter.

There are really helpful converters on line. Like this one which converts to metric and back for science stuff.
Or this one for currency.

So I want something like this where I can enter in some thing or some activity and it can give me an eco-rating. Essentially a rating the is an index of water use, energy use, carbon emission, biodiversity loss, transportation costs etc. That way, when I am trying to decide between, say concrete and wood, I can know which is better. Wouldn't that make things easier?

I mean think about it - you could go to the store and things could have a eco-rating on it. Organic vs. locally grown? Paper vs. plastic ? (kidding!) Or if you are trying to decide how to do something there would be some eco-guide with empirical scores for how to do it. (Like building an office?)

Okay. That's all I want.

That, and World Peace, and Al Gore to be our 43rd President.

Is that too much to ask?

(oh and the doors from the strip mall, but I'm working on that too!)

Hey wait!! There is this... but I haven't found it all.

When one door closes...another get's recycled?

One Last thing....

I want southern light in my office. I want to be able too look out into the woods, and I want it floor to ceiling. New french doors at Lowe's run about $900 a pair and I'm thinking 2-3 pairs. (damn!)

So, after the drive to North Georgia, and given the places I get to travel help me appreciate the ingenuity of our species. Afterall, we don't just find stray bits of hair and twigs and build our nests, we get serious, dig oil and coal out of the ground, burn it, get energy, dig more stuff like rock out of the ground and river beds, grind it up, and then with more stuff we dig out of the ground which we get real hot and then use as structural materials, build bridges across rivers and ravines, and then start all over. And in the meantime, we find stuff to build houses out of. I see houses build out of all sorts of things - local stuff, stuff people find, stuff people salvage, stuff other people discard. In Barda, Azerbaijan there is an entire fence made of nothing but car trunk lids. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, it occured to me that buying new "stuff" would be increasing the amount of "waste" that ends up in land fills. And some of the old "stuff" might be useful. Maybe even doors.

There is a strip mall being torn down near by. So that *they* can build another strip mall. The old one is probably 30 years old. The new one... well, it's inevitable.

But the old one, very 1970's strip mall looking. BUT it has DOORS!!

Okay, what are *they* going to do with the doors? Big, heavy, double glass doors.

Probably going to break -em down with a bull dozer. Load 'em into a truck and let them spend their retirement in a landfill. . .

You see where I'm going here?

I'm working on it, and will keep you posted...