Batdance

Hopefully, the bat saga has now come to an end.  It finally got hot enough this year that the attic louver became too uncomfortable for the clan and they moved out to cooler sleeping quarters.  We set the BIG ladder up so I could reach the louver from the outside and I gritted my teeth to the heat and began the process of screening them out.  First I had to clean the louver because they had pooped all over it and down the side of the house even.  I washed all that, touched up the paint and redid a little of the caulking.  Of course, in the process I managed to poke a hole in the screen that is secured on the inside face of the louver so I had to go in there and patch that good.  I needed to clean up some in the attic anyway, under the louver so it was as good excuse as any to get it all done at once.  It was pretty freaking hot but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Regardless, I was soaked by the time I was finished. 

Today was kinda cloudy and I finally had all my materials together and ready so I checked to make sure there were no stragglers up there and started to screen off the front.  Well, of course, there were two bats that had come back so I had to go back into the attic and scare them out.  Wasn't too bad...I just blew on them and tapped the screen until they got mad and left.  So, back outside and up the ladder.  I stapled 1/2" hardware clothe over the face of the louver so nothing (but bugs) can now get into the slats.  Of course, you can't see anything from this crappy photo but it doesn't look bad.  I was afraid the hardware clothe would stick out like a sore thumb but you really don't notice it.  Now, I did spray paint it with a reddish primer so that helps greatly.

The photo above was taken a couple of months ago and I wanted to show ya'll because....if you click on it to enlarge it, you may be able to see the bat on the far right is in the process of having a baby!!    The others (there were more) all had babies under their wings.  Some of them had two!  One under each wing.  I know they were making a mess but this was SO cool!  So, we let the babies grow up and everybody get out before I put the screen up.

The bats are not so easily deterred however.  Of course, they can't get back into the louver but they apparently really like my house, so they just went to the other end.  Now, it's cooler on that end too, so I suspect that's why they went down there, and there is no attic on that end, but they still managed to find a nook to cram into.  I was walking up to the door today and heard all this screeching and such and knew they were up to something.  Bats have a very distinct sound so I recognized it right away.  I looked up just in time to see a dozen bats or more come billowing out of the crack between the regular roof and where the clerestory roof joins it.  I have a (maybe) 16 inch soffit on the sides of the clerestory roof and where it joins the normal roof it makes a large bird's mouth.  They were stuffed in there and maybe even under the metal ridge cap (only about 16 inches of that too).  That side faces the rising sun and I think the metal roof had finally heated up enough to start burning their little furry buns so they came hauling ass out of there.  I kept hearing some others though and climbed up on the roof to see there were still three or four hanging on to the spot.  I don't know if they ever did leave.  That area is not so bad though.  They can't really get into anything there and their poop will just get washed off when it rains.  Besides, that being a pretty much open area, I don't know anyway I could stop them from roosting there anyway.  I am going to put up a large bat house, in a tree, and just hope they find that a more desirable place to sleep.  I really like having the bats around as they are great for pest control and of course, I'm a softie for them because they are often misunderstood.  But I don't want them messing up my house!  I'll build them two houses, or more!, of their own if they'll use them.

And the bats are not the only critters that really like my house!  The phoebes just love the outriggers that hold the verge rafters up.  Of course, I love the phoebes too.  They are really great pest control also, so I don't want to run them off.  I do want to remove their nests as they abandon them though and lay some copper flashing down on the tops of the outriggers so that future nests don't rot the wood.  I don't know that they would now but better safe than sorry.  A lot of people fuss about the looks and think it's nasty to have bird's nest around but I just love them.  I'm glad my house can provide a safe place for the babies and I hope many generations (of bats and birds) will call this valley their home.

What's (S)he Building?

  Unbelievably enough, I'm actually still keeping up with the "word" posts that I started so very long ago and am down to only 2 words left on the list!  One word after this post because we are going to explore the word "architecture" for Rich, who wanted to know how I designed and built my house.  And as you may have guessed, yes, I saved the harder words for last!  Or I guess I should say, words that involved the most time and effort to elaborate on in a blog post and I really wanted to do this one as well as I could.  It's not going to involve all that I originally wanted to but I think it will be fairly complete.
  Now, as far as how I built my house, well, that's the majority of the blog and you can just pick what part you want to see over in the 'labels' column, i.e. foundation, framing, electrical and so on.  And for any newcomers, yes, I am a woman and yes, I built my house.  Of course I had help! or you could say I was the help in some cases as Allen was in charge of framing and such but I did the formwork, the steelwork and all the interior after it was dried in.  I even did a long post on how I saved for and financed the house, which is somewhere in finances.
  Now, as far as how I designed the house, well, I didn't.  Okay, I kinda started out doing it and knew sort of the footprint I wanted but you all know by now that the BFA (big, fancy architect) had a big part in the design of the house.  I did use The New Natural House Book by David Pearson and The Solar House by Daniel Chiras for technical information on passive solar heating and cooling, correct placement of windows and all that and just general inspiration for a naturally built house and I highly recommend both books if you are interested in doing something similar.  I would also recommend any of Sarah Susanka's Not So Big House series for the sensible, actually livable designs and beautifully crafted houses she spotlights.
  So, I admit flat out I used, and still do use, an architect... and I've been really taken back by the amount of crap I've received over that.  I think I can kind of guess why in the blogging world.  From my reading of the popular homesteading/ DIY/ prepper/ doomer blogs I have gotten the distinct impression that if you don't do absolutely everything yourself and/ or you dare to use any conventional element from normal society (like a contractor or architect) you are not authentic and are pandering to "the Man".  Because you know, I didn't manually shred and chew 1,000 pairs of old blue jeans into natural cellulose insulation and I let a real cabinet maker make my cabinets so I'm just faking it all!  So to employ a honest-to-goodness architect!!  Holy shit! I might as well turn in my anarchist card immediately and cancel my subscription to Mother Earth News.  What the hell was I thinking!
I think what it boils down to is the idea that if you actually use an architect, you must have money and no real homesteader/ doomer/ prepper has that kind of money, so you are not one of us.  This theory is backed up by the fact that I've had a number of people ask me, to my face, "what, you think you're better'n everybody else?"  "Why can't you just do like everybody else?"  and let's not forget.."why d'ya even want to use some ol' architect?"  Well, let's ponder those questions for a minute...Some people could accuse me of an ego trip but I can't really see how because I can't say who the architect is and to me, that's where the bragging would be.  And no, it's not Frank Gehry.  Hah!  I'm not a big fan of his designs anyway.  I mention using an architect because it is something more people should consider, it's more possible than many believe and I don't want to give people the false idea that these cool designs are mine!  As far as why?  Hhhm, let's see...I found a notable, very experienced design professional who was willing, and even considered it fun, to design a unique little house in exchange for carpentry/ manual labor on my part...but nah, no thanks, I'll just use some layout I found in a magazine.  Yeah right.  I mean seriously, if I'm going to go to the extreme physical effort to build my own house, wouldn't you want it to be something awesome and reflective of your personality and life, rather than just stick something together that looks like some damn Jim Walter home some half-ass contractor could throw up in 3 months?  Of course, I know there are those out there now saying, well yeah, but the Jim Walter crap would be done by now!!! and you're still slaving away on only half of your fancy-smancy house.  Well, you got a point there I'll admit.  I'll also admit I've had some unusual physical problems and such that have seriously impeded my progress and it has caused me to question what I'm doing more than once, I assure you.  In the end, it's up to the individual and what matters most to them.  Some people want 4 walls and a roof and be done with it and there's nothing wrong with that.

This is an example of why I enjoy the route I have taken.  I could have never come up with this design myself.  Or the large steel beam that holds up my roof, or the rafter tails inside and out and how it kind of, in the back of your mind way, makes you think of a church when you see them.  The column in the drawing above is a recent thing that the BFA came up with and these will support the covered walkway that I've started and will extend further down the house as the next half is built.  The bottom half or less is stone around a concrete base with filigreed steel extending up to the roof.  The cool thing is that the steel design is cut from three flat plates and joined at ninety degrees so that a cross-section would look like a + sign.  It's still very strong structurally but does not employ the normal hollow tube used for steel columns so that you can have this really cool, open design but not have to worry about wasps and other horrible critters making nests up in it!  If the design looks a bit, erhm, intricate to you...then I would agree and we figured this will probably be simplified a bit to keep me from losing the rest of my mind trying to assemble these things.  There will probably be 5 or 6 of them when the house is totally finished.

Now, here is an old, original drawing of the entire house footprint.  You may notice that it's been marked on quite a bit, changed, and that there are no dimensions!  Well, there are some concessions you must make when working with a BFA in a barter situation.  If he had to work hard enough to put actual dimension on there I'd still be a slave to this guy! Ha!  Well, I laugh but those fancy columns just bought me another round of labor and sweat.  One good thing about taking a while to build a house is that you really, really figure out what is essential to what you want in a house and where to put it.  This drawing shows a 3 bedroom house but it will probably wind up being only 2 bedrooms and a really honkin' great craft/ sewing room.  And a much bigger master bath...I don't know what the hell he was thinking on that.  When I'm old and decrepit there's no way I'm gonna try stepping into a tub to bathe.  Hell, I'm half decrepit now.  I want something I can just cruise into and sit down.

This is the elevation drawing from the south side and it is somewhat different from reality in that not that many windows actually went in the existing part.  But that's okay.  Since we were experienced builders we really didn't have a problem building with drawings that were....not quite finished, let's say.  I would not recommend that if you are not experienced in construction.  Most people also have a hard time seeing in their mind what the finished house will look like from some drawings, so I found this actual photo of a contemporary dogtrot house.  Of course, this house does not look like mine is going to but you get the idea.  Their trot area is wider than mine is drawn now, and I'm thinking about maybe making mine a little wider, but overall it gives a very similar feeling.  Long, rectangular footprint, high windows, metal roof and a deck that bumps out on one side.

When you are building your own house, and it ends up taking a while, I think you also begin to think about other scenarios.  "What if I go to all this trouble and then don't end up staying here?"  "What if some giant storm comes and destroys my house just about the time I get it finished?"  Due to circumstances beyond my control in the years I have lived here, I have seriously considered the idea that I may not always live here.  What if I found some beautiful, secluded property with a gorgeous mountain view?  Well, no one knows what the future holds and how things are ultimately going to work out.  Often times it's quite a surprise.  I know it would break my heart to leave this house due to the sentimental value and I'm not kidding when I say I would rip out certain parts to take with me!  But, it is one thing to consider when building.  At least if I finished the house and needed or wanted to sell, I could be pretty certain of getting a good price in order to start over somewhere else.  Because the house was designed by someone who does that for a living, most everyone* that comes here raves over the flow and comfort of the place.  And it's not even all here yet.  People find it very homey and comforting.  It's personable, not some sterile, catalog ordered floor plan. So, it's an investment one way or another.

This post may not have answered your question Rich, if you even remember your question, so if it didn't just let me know and I can hopefully address what you really wanted to know.

*Everyone except my stick-in-the-mud family who hates everything.  Ha!

Haven't Got Time For The Pain

So, I wanted to show that I have actually been working on the house again.  It's not a huge amount, yet, but I have slowly been getting back into it.  My spirit is very willing and my flesh just needs to be beat back into some shape for working.  I've completed a bit more on the tile fireplace surround; installing the run below the hearth and continuing on up the wall and wrapping around the sides.  Until just very recently we were still occasionally running the fireplace so I didn't want to disconnect it.  Hopefully, the cold is now over and I'll be pulling the unit out of the way soon so I can bring the mosaic part on up and grout all that.  It's kinda slow going but I'm getting there and pleased with how it's coming out so far.

I've had so much enthusiasm lately, in fact, that I finally tackled this horrible ol' corner in the basement.  Well, it looks fine now but as long as I've been here I have always just crammed junk in this corner to get it out of my sight and it was a horrible mess.  Junky crap in the floor and everything.  So...I got all those towels and rags together and washed and sorted them and installed some new shelves to keep it all neat.  I use the towels for my messy clay work and just general messy garden/ yard stuff etc.  I freed up another shelf on the metal ones to the right; although you can't tell on the forth one down.  I had saved a bunch of old defective or ugly pottery but it is now all bashed up waiting to be reborn as a mosaic.  Heck, I even mopped the floor in that corner and hung up our fishing poles and such.  I'll probably install one more shelf there to hold some of the supplies that are now residing on my pottery shelves.  I want to get those clear so I have plenty of room for making pots.

I know this blog has possibly changed a little in the past year and I haven't written a lot like I used to.  Not as many funny stories and such.  I guess it didn't occur to me how much it may be different until the other day though.  We all went to my Mom's for Easter and a few days later Mama called me to see how I was feeling.  A storm front had just gone through here on Easter morning and that day I was still struggling with one of the migraines I often get during such weather..  Mama told me that one of my nieces asked her afterwards what was wrong with me lately.  All the times they had seen me for the past 6 months or so she said, "Annie doesn't joke around and laugh like she used to."
Of course, I'm not apologizing for feeling bad but I just wanted to say I'm aware this blog hasn't been what it was.  But I AM trying.  I'm also fully aware that some people don't like it when others talk about health problems or flat out don't believe the person, especially if it's a rare disease or problem.  "Oh, they're just doing that for attention".  Yeah well, if I wanted attention I'd go around with my boobs hanging out.  They're still in real good shape!  Hey, this is a real blog and I talk about real problems; always have and ya'll have always encouraged me to.  If I can help even one other person feel not so alone then that's what's worth it to me, not whether everybody likes it or not.  But, if you will hold on with me a little longer I think I'll have more to show ya'll, like I used to.  Maybe even some funny stories again.

I don't know how many of you deal with pain, but it's a hard thing to take every day.  I marvel at people who say they've never had a headache, or rarely.  If I could go just one week without a headache, or my feet not hurting, I think I'd pee on myself in excitement.  I'm trying some new stuff though and finding some relief, which I tell you all about after I've experimented some more.

So, enough of that sentimental crap!  Looky what I saw this week!  I believe this is a red-breasted grosbeak!  You can correct me if I'm wrong.  And yeah, I know the photo is not so good but I haven't managed to get that great new camera yet, so that's yet another thing ya'll will have to endure here.  Plus, I was standing on a tall ladder stuck to the side of the house as I cleaned some of the windows, so it was a little difficult to maneuver to take the photo.  This is the first time I've ever seen a grosbeak, so I had to look him up in my field guide.  He's a Yankee bird, I guess taking a rest stop before heading back up north to their breeding grounds.  I saw him for 2 or 3 days but did not see him today so he may have headed on.

And in other news, my 2 Partridge Rocks have let their hormones run wild with the beautiful spring weather and insist on trying to hatch golf balls or other fake nest eggs.  We are letting one of them hatch some real pheasant eggs for Allen but just couldn't spare the nest space for two, so Ms. Etta here gets to stay in the broody-breaking pen until she gets over it.  Which should be only 2 or 3 days.  In the meantime, she is very unhappy with me and puffs up like that any time I come around.  I guess I'm not very popular on several fronts right now! lol!  At least Chigger and Allen still love me. 

Shaking The Tree

 When I first started building the house I was very selective, reluctant even, to take out any more trees than just absolutely necessary.   That's good in one respect because you have time to think about which ones you want to cut and don't end up with a giant bare lot.  However, it helps to make the decision within a reasonable amount of time because it sure is easier the smaller the tree.  Thinning out large trees can be a pain and they grow much faster than I think we realize.  So, I decided that this winter would be a good time to finally get rid of a few of these trees closest the house, before they got any more awkward to fell.  Now, I know some people are gonna squeak and fuss about cutting trees but sometimes you just have to.  Two of these are damaged anyway and one of those leans slightly towards the house.  The other two are sweet gums, which, if you are not familiar, are what we call "trash trees".  The wood is not good for much, they crowd out nice trees because they grow much faster and they put off these hard, spiny balls that are a pain, literally, if you step on one.  And lastly, having these trees removed will make backing a concrete truck up in that area much easier.  I still have those planter walls to pour in front of that concrete block you see.  I know it's taking forever but I will get to that one day!

I know the photo is really crappy but i was shooting through a window with a screen on it.  You can see (maybe) one little woodpecker up on the suet block and several little sparrows (?) on the feeder.  Other regulars are cardinals, nuthatches, tufted titmouse and possibly a couple of goldfinch. 

And of course, the opportunistic, greedy chickens are never far behind.  They patrol under the tree like hungry sharks, just waiting for the occasional seeds the birds drop.  Anybody coming up would think we never feed these girls. 

I also forgot to close my cold frame the other day when I let the girls into the garden for winter clean up.  They quickly discovered my mistake and proceeded to dig to China.  I think they might have found a few bugs but mainly they thought it was the best place to dust bathe ever!  At one point, there were so many of them crammed in there they really couldn't even move around very well.  There was only a few remaining dregs of lettuce still planted, so it didn't really matter.  I let them have their fun for a few days but ran them out yesterday so I could plant a new batch of loose leaf.

So, our tree cutting is on hold for now.  The wind has really been horrendous these past couple of days and would make something like that potentially very dangerous.

Comparitively Speaking

 Comparison.  Countless ways that word can be interpreted or used to prove a point.  Undoubtedly, the way I choose to use the words ya'll gave me will not line up with what you had in mind, or maybe it will.  Either way, it's my turn now! 
I think whenever you are feeling bummed or discouraged it usually helps a great deal to compare your "now" to your "then".  Of course, this doesn't always work; sometimes "now" sucks.  However, in my case, to see how things used to be is quite helpful at times.  I've come a long way, baby.  But I also have a long way to go.  In the following photos I tried to arrange the before and afters right after each other.  The first pair may be hard to discern but I believe you can easily detect the following pairs. 
This first photo is truly the way this land once was.  Almost impossible to navigate without a machete.  I believe it was actually taken on what is now the left hand side of the drive and the second photo is taken on the right side, but other than that they are basically the same location.

 I'm sure, unless you've read the absolute beginning of my blog, you are not familiar with this photo.  The land could not even be accessed by truck or 4-wheeler due to creeks, beaver dams and undergrowth.  You could walk onto it though.  The first time we went completely across it we used a compass to make sure we didn't end up down the road somewhere.

 A fairly nice yard now.  Or the chickens seem to like it anyway.  Ya'll know I have always advocated and preached for people to do so many things themselves and building a house is one thing I don't believe is out of reach for many people.  However.... I fully understand why so many folks don't want to.  It is Freaking. Hard.  Fortunately I had a naive brain when I started this adventure and didn't realize just how hard it would be.

 Of course, it's a lot like that old analogy of eating an elephant.  It's just one bite at a time and then it doesn't seem so bad.  Certainly there are things about the house I would do differently now but I think absolutely everybody says that.  I really enjoying pouring the concrete here and hope to get to do some more of that before the year is out, maybe. 

I also can't help but long to build the rest of the house on this side.  I know everybody thinks the house looks so odd now, and it does in a lot of ways, but when it's all there it will be quite cool.
I do have definite plans to extend the roof on this end before too long so that it covers most of the deck.  Since the rest of the house is taking far longer than I hoped I need to do this to protect the front door and create easier access.  With the roof extension will come a small deck extension with stairs down to the front of the house.

 One thing that always amazes me about these old photos, which really aren't all that old, are how small the trees are.  And yes, I should have cut a number of them down when they were that small.

 So now there is a sweet little house that sits here and I am still plugging along towards it's completion.  Comparatively speaking, I'm doing quite well.  There are not many folks who can afford to take some time off their jobs for illness or injury as I have had to do.  Not many folks that can afford to work at home.  My life does not compare to most anyone I know, but I like it and it works for me.

Knock On Wood

I've really been trying to make a concerted effort lately to finish up a lot of half-started projects around the house, organizing and decorating in areas of the house that are mostly finished.  To that extent, I've gotten a couple of new pieces of furniture and some art and photos framed and hung.  I figure it will all help motivate me to keep plugging along to finish everything.  Now, this sideboard is not new at all really.  It was built sometime in the 1920's and has been in our family since then.  No one else seemed to want it but we didn't want it to be given away or get messed up so I took it to use in the living room.  My grandmother's husband was the warden at Kilby Prison in south Alabama for a number of years in the 20's and this piece was built by a few of the inmates at the time, so it makes for a good conversation piece.  It's probably the only material thing in my family that has much value.  Anywhoo, it had been stored away for years so I got it out, cleaned it up and refurbished the finish a bit.  Basically just re-oiled it and cleaned some stains off of it.

So, now it is our entertainment center I guess you would say.  I replaced the plain glass in the doors with architectural glass and replaced the drawer pulls with bronze ones that matched the knobs on the doors.  I did make a little removable shelf for the bottom to put the stereo system on.  I've always liked the sideboard as it has a vague Craftsman style to it.  It's fairly well made and still in excellent shape too.  Now I just need to trim out that one last window to the right of it.  Ugh!

Now, we will not speak of how long this little cabinet has been hanging around in the basement but I finally got it cleaned up and finished, installed the hinges and door, etc etc. and hung it in the bathroom.  I thought it came out nice but I think I want to replace that glass with a colored/ textured something kinda glass because the clear, textured just still shows too much of what is in the cabinet.  I had thought about making a very simple, stained glass window type panel for the door but for now I just need it done and functional.  I can do the other a couple of years from now.  Maybe.
So, that is just a bit of an update.  I am trying hard to keep my motivation up and I've been feeling pretty good lately so that helps.  Seeing more and more finish work done helps a great deal too because I can see just how cool things are going to look all finished.  My cabinet maker guy is going to be back out in about 2 weeks to measure for the built in bookcases that go beside the fireplace so that area is shaping up nice too.  It's really going to be great!  I'm excited about it!

Stuck

 Well, I finally have a house post for ya'll!!  I finally got up the gumption to start the fireplace tile and have been steadily working on it for the past week or so, in between pottery, gardening and such.  I am actually a little further along than what you see in this photo.  About 2 more runs of tile and I have started the mosaic that will be in that blank space over to the left.  Yes, all that smashed pottery will be put to good use.  There were a number of reasons that I chose to break this up with a mosaic.  First, I think they are pretty and I wanted to do something different and creative.  Secondly, in placing these tiles out so that they wrapped the corners the way I wanted them to, it was going to make the spacing between them just a fuzz larger than I really wanted.  3/8" was really the max that I could justify with looking right.  By laying the ends the way I wanted and working inward, I could leave a strip in which dimensions didn't matter.  Oh, and I didn't want to cut tiles if I could get away with it.  There is nothing wrong with cutting them but with the area etc. I would have come out with pretty small cuts and just wanted to avoid that.  I wanted to stick with whole pieces for the looks.

 As it is, the spacing didn't quite come out as I imagined, although it's close.  See, natural tiles are...well..natural.  Even cut they may not be exactly the same size or totally square.  I have found differences of up to 1/8" and I really didn't expect that.  Maybe a better quality tile would have been more accurate, I don't know.  I will use a dark grey grout on this so that will also minimize how much you notice the irregular spaces.  For the most part I have been able to use these cool little spacers to keep it all in line but I have had to fudge some here or there.  I made sure to establish at least 2 control lines (1 vertical, 1 horizontal) before I ever started to help keep the tiles laid level and plumb.  Actually, I have 4 lines at this point but it never hurts to keep a check on that.  These spacers, by the way, just pull out when the adhesive is set up and you reuse them indefinitely.  They are also 2-sided; one side is a space just for a slot and the other is a spacer for intersections of 4 corners.  The adhesive also sets fairly quick so I only spread enough to set 4 or 5 tiles (6x6) at a time.  You have about 10 minutes working time, maybe.  That may seem like a lot but when you are adjusting and tweaking it goes pretty fast.  Or it does for me anyway!
You can also see from this photo what I meant about the corners.  I did not want the edge of the tile that turns back to show.  The edge of the face tile shows from the side but that is more attractive, to me, than the other.  Basically, when you are standing in front of the fireplace wall, you will not see any of the edges of the tiles.  There are many ways to do corners though.  You can run some type of edge cap of another material such as wood or steel corner molding, another type of tile etc. etc.

 In this photo you can see a bit more of the unevenness of the spacing but it will be covered up by the fireplace unit.  See, I don't have any problem showing my stuff that doesn't come out exactly right.  Everybody makes mistakes or has things that don't do exactly what they thought they would.  I honestly thought the tiles would be more accurate in size so that was a learning lesson for me.  At any rate, I have been able to control the spacing better in areas that will show more, now that I understand the material more.  Plus, it's a natural stone.  It is just going to have variations.  Don't want variations??  Use a manufactured tile.  I had to cut a few tiles to fit around the gas lines and anchors that hold the unit in place.  This was very simple just using a 4" side grinder with a diamond wheel.  You can use it dry too for such small cuts.  I just had to nip out a notch here and there.  For whole cuts I will use a wet saw for tile.
So, there is the beginnings of that.  I'll have some more on it soon.  Hopefully.  If you would like to see a more in depth or closer look at how I did something please let me know.  I'm not sure how well I explain things so please ask questions if needed or tell me to clarify.

Lights Please

We actually completed another item on the house recently and I am very excited about it!!  Now, I know already that the BFA (big, fancy architect) is going to hate the fact I defiled his steel beam by hanging pendent lights from it but the basic fact is, I could not see worth a crap on that side of the kitchen with no overhead lighting.  In the winter, when the sun comes in, it's no big deal, except at night.  But in the summer when there is no direct sunlight, I was having trouble.  Yes, my eyes are not what they used to be and I need a little more light.  So, we picked out a nice light fixture with very unobtrusive wiring and Allen did the rest.  The wiring runs along the upper side of the bottom flange of the beam, so it is completely concealed.

I know you can't tell crap from the first photo about what the globes look like, so here is a close up.  Personally, I think it looks really cool.  I had thought about repurposing wine bottles again to make the globes but just wanted something a little nicer and these were not that expensive.  The entire fixture was about $45 maybe.

This is just a view from the other direction and from here the wires the globes hang from basically disappear  because of the dark wall behind them.  Anyway, they add a wonderful light and clarity to the kitchen area. 

Which is better to highlight the glass and slate tile I picked out for the backsplashes and stuff!!  Yay!!  The small sheet tile will be the backsplash area along all the counter tops and behind the stove, up about 2 feet.  The large slate tiles will be from the range hood and up and completely cover the other side of that wall, around the gas fireplace.  Well, with a bit of mosaic thrown in.  I am very anxious to get started on this part but there are a number of things that must come first, such as pouring the actual countertops!

Just a little close-up of the glass and slate.  I really like these and the tan/ brown/ goldish colors will blend well with my kitchen cabinets. 
Now, you all know I always advice people to go to a specialty supplier when buying stuff like this and not assume Lowe's or some other big box place is going to be cheaper.  However, in this case Lowe's was actually the best deal by a long shot.  Still, it doesn't hurt to check the supply houses first.  I had seen these tiles at Lowe's a while back but went to look at a tile supplier in Birmingham just to see.  In fact, they were the same supplier I bought my shower tile from and, at the time, they beat Lowe's price quite well and had a better selection.  Well, sometimes things change I guess.  I really couldn't find anything at the supplier that I liked better than these and they wanted 3 times what Lowe's was asking per square foot.  Literally, 3 times.  Plus, I had a gift card from a while back that was a safety award from my construction days and that got me another $50 off, so....

Unfortunately, I am still working in Birmingham and then have to get back to my pottery for a big special order and some other stuff, so it may be a while before I actually get to start installing this stuff.  Well, and get over a terrible head cold that has left me not feeling like doing anything.  Hopefully it won't be much longer and I can really start getting this kitchen finished.  I think it's gonna look fabulous!

Back In The Mud

I finally got the hearth poured under my gas fireplace so I thought I'd show ya'll a quick post on how I did the forms.  It's fairly simple really.  The top of the 2x4's are the permanent framing that will hold up the slab.  That strip of darker plywood on the outside is the edge form that will drop down from under the concrete once it has cured.  The whitish looking board is the side of the edge form that will drop off later also.

Here you may be able to see a little better.  The bottom edge form is basically 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood screwed together at a right angle and then screwed to the framing.  I wedged it in places to get the flat part level.  After that was on I screwed the edge form on.  All of these pieces were ripped to the correct widths so I could use the edges as grade.  Am I explaining this right?  Everything that was to come off later was also oiled so it would release easily.

I found a new mix for doing the slabs and counter tops and I am very pleased with it.  It is one part Portland cement, 2 parts aggregate (89-10 in this case) and 3 parts sand.  That seemed like a lot of sand to me but it works fine and finishes wonderfully.
I bent a #3 piece of rebar to go round the outer edge and then filled in the inside with some wire mesh and chicken wire.  Whatever ya got just make sure to pull it up in the mix and not let it get trapped on the bottom.

I also used a clear silicone caulk to seal all the cracks because a fair amount of water is going to weep out of a slab.  As you screed and trowel it down, some slurry will come over the edge so I put some old crappy towels down to catch my mess.  Of course, it helps that I don't have finish floors down now to protect.  I put a fan on this from both sides to kinda help the water evaporate.  A pool will form on the top after you float the slab down flat and you don't want to start working it until that disappears or you'll just work the water back down into the concrete.  As the water evaporates you can see the surface start to tighten up and then you can start with a slick trowel.  One or two passes and then let it rest to tighten up a little more.  And repeat until you get the surface you want.  Well, it's harder than that but I can only explain to a point; it's something that you just have to see and try.
I have wrecked the edge form off at this point and am going to smooth the corners and seal it before too long.  Hopefully.  Then I can start running the slate tile!!!  Yay!!
Allen and I also finished installing the pendant light in the kitchen and they look fantastic!!  I'll show that soon.

That Was Then...

I occasionally like to look over some of my blog stats out of curiosity for what some of the more popular posts are and I often find someone perusing some very old posts, seeing as how I've been blogging for over 7 years.  ( it doesn't seem that long!)  I like to look back at these old posts because I often see comments left by people who only came by a couple of times and I had forgotten about or who used to comment and now never do or just to see how far things have come here at my place.  That helps greatly when I'm feeling like I haven't accomplished much or feel overwhelmed.  When I brought up this particular old post, that last idea was really emphasized to me.  I mean, Wow!  It seems crazy that it is that easy to forget how things used to be.

I know the 2 photos are from 2 kinda different viewpoints but you get the idea.  One thing that really amazes me is how much the trees have grown in those 7 years.  It's hard to even see some of them in the first photo!  And there are many that are not there anymore.  I have culled out a number of them for one reason or another.  Mostly because they were really damaged in one way or another or truly in the way of needing to build.  Of course, I'm happy with the way things are; just wish they were a little further a long...

But, that is the way of life.  Things keep changing.  People move on.  We ourselves, are the ones that move on sometimes.  I awoke last night in a thunderstorm and in that craziness that is half-consciousness, my thoughts went directly to wondering if all this effort I've put into this house has been worth it.  I don't know if I can ever answer that question really.  Yes, I could have done a lot of other things with my time.  Many, many people have told me I should have. Most all of them would have required me to stay in debt and servitude to an employer, in order to have somewhere to live.  I could actually be further along on this house.  But I would not have been able to travel as much and see so many things in the last few years, which I have enjoyed more than I can express.  I could have built something extremely plain and put all this effort into a real art career.  Maybe I should have.  But then again....I enjoy the act of creating in and of itself.  It doesn't really matter to me what it is.  Sure, I'd like to be a well-known artist and I might one day.  Or maybe I'll only ever be a person that gave a few people some ideas about how they could build something similar.  Something unique, something they didn't have to borrow money for...something they did with their own hands.

And speaking of changing:  My decision to publish the "About Us" page and it's contents apparently cost me a number of readers for some reason even though I thought it would be an improvement for the blog.  For the life of me I can't figure what is offensive about it except that stating my environmental and social opinions there and in other posts may have put some people off.  Well, that or I'm just boring as hell these days.  I hate it but I will continue to write about what I feel is important and why I live the way I do, as I always have.  I guess I'll be writing for the crickets but that's okay because it's a journal and a history for me if nothing else.  Thank you to those few that continue to hang around.

Ahead

Although we did have a spurt of house completion before the wedding last fall, it seems to me that the past year to year and a half has mostly been focused on improving the garden and getting the chicken's digs completed and such.  Now, while that is still not totally finished, it's far enough along that I want to switch back to a serious effort to finish the house in this new year.  Really I don't lack much and with this being the first year that I've ever been sure I would not go back to work in construction (or out of town for same) I feel like I can really get this done.
So, this is my list for 2013:
1.  Finish the dividing wall in the living room. (both sides actually).  I have already purchased the slate tile that will cover this so it's just a matter of doing it.
2.  Construct and finish the small hearth that goes under the gas fireplace.  That is what that is on the wall there by the way, not another TV as a lot of people think.
3.  Finish the sheetrock on either side and make or have made the built-in bookcases for each side.
4.  Install the hardwood floors throughout the living and dining area.

There are a few things left to do in the kitchen but not an overwhelming amount.  Maybe.
1.  Pour concrete countertops and concrete bar tops on dividing wall.
2.  Finish running dark metal wall covering through living area.
3.  Trim out pantry cased opening.
4.  Install cork flooring throughout kitchen.
5.  Install dropped lighting over countertops by stove.  (wiring is there already).
6.  Install dishwasher.
7.  Finish dividing wall/ back splashes on this side with glass and stone tilework.

Hmm, that does seem like a lot doesn't it?  Oh well!  ha!

I would really like to finish the exterior stonework and landscaping also; or at least get the landscaping started!  A lot of people think this is finish and it is far from it actually.  So, this area would include:
1.  Finish the stonework around the basement area.  I started this a couple of years ago and have never finished.  Once that is done I can build the concrete retaining walls that will form planting beds around this end and cover all that blockwork (that you can't really see in this photo).
2.  Finish the stone planting bed on this end that will also contain a solar batch-style water heater.
3.  Pour the concrete curb 2 feet out from the length of the house that will form a planting bed next to the house.  This curb will absorb the fall of the rain runoff from the roof and also form the interior edge of the stone walkway leading to the parking area.
4.  Get rid of the ramp at the deck and install at least part of the flagstone patio there and permanent steps leading onto the deck.
5.  Install proper stone and wood columns under the overhang by the deck.

Basically, the stepstone walkway you see here will go away and be replaced with a 4 foot wide flagstone/ brick walkway, a large flagstone patio and probably a water feature of some sort.  I would like a shallow pool with a fountain maybe.  The planting bed next to the house will evergreens and possibly fruiting plants of some sort.  The planting bed formed in that inside corner of the house (far lower left) will be a kitchen garden with herbs/ medicinals and possibly fruit of some sort.  More flower beds and the tea grove are off to the right.

So, that's quite a lot of stuff!  I will admit it is fairly overwhelming when I think about it but the trick is to just take one project at a time and not think about the others for the time being.  I had thought I might do some craft/ art shows this year but really, I don't have time if I want to do all this other.  It takes a lot of effort and time to build up enough stock for a show and I really need to get this house finished if I'm going to enjoy it before I croak.

Do any of ya'll have any big projects in the works for this year?!

Looking Back...And Ahead

The purple crocus down by the creek have finally awoken to signal the earliest signs of a much anticipated spring.  We still flip-flop between cold, dreary and thunderously rainy days to warm, agonizingly bright sunny days.  Currently, it's one of those bright, sunny ones but with a forecast of snow flurries tonight.  Such is Alabama and all this does wonders for my sinuses and bronchitis, which is still clinging for dear life.
So, in an effort to cheer myself by looking at what all we've accomplished this past year and what I want to get done this coming year, I offer you the standard Blog Year in Review!

In the Garden:
1.  We established a sizable asparagus bed with 1 year old plants.  I'm really looking forward to being able to cut a few stalks this spring.  If it comes up, that is.
2.  I redid my existing strawberry bed with plants more acclimated and bred for our southern climate.  It shows some promise already.
3.  Established a small grove of tea plants.  They are still alive anyway and hopefully will show quite a bit of growth this year.
4.  Planted yet another apple tree to replace the one decimated by moles (or whatever) this past year.

In The House:
1.  As you may see in the photo above, all of the incoming power and cable/ Internet is now underground. Just so happened that the phone company came out the next week to upgrade things for us (no charge) and happily ran new Internet/ phone cable through that dedicated underground conduit.  Now there are NO overhead wires anywhere around the house.
2.  Installed new kitchen cabinets!  Yay!
3.  Installed duct work and electrical for range hood vent and completely closed up the dividing wall in the kitchen.
4.  Painted main kitchen wall and trimmed out all windows.
5.  Started wall covering on west end of kitchen.
6.  We finished the clerestory area of the house completely!!  Way, way overdue.
7.  Also finished all the painting/ siding and miscellaneous on exterior of the house.  Even installed the porch light fixtures.

Chickens/ Land/ Misc.:

1.  Added a bitty coop to the Big Run so batches of young chicks can be more easily separated from grown hens and have more room.
2.  Built a large wood drying and storage shed. 
3.  Established my pottery business to a greater degree by securing 3 more outlets for sales and enlarging my product line/ new glazes etc.
4.  Added to the landscaping by enlarging my daffodil and iris collections.

There may be a few other things that have slipped my mind at the moment but I think that is the majority of it.  Seeing how long this post already is (more stuff done than I thought!) I think I'll do a separate post on what we want to do this year.  Now, if I could just get well enough to work before any more of this year slips away!

Busy Times

Yep, we all been busier than a one-eyed cat watching 9 mouse holes around here.  The garden has died down a good bit so I let the pullets in for the last 3 or 4 days to clean up for me and boy, they have been goin' to town!  They have scratched and dug and picked and had the time of their lives eating everything in sight, although they are pretty good to leave most of the larger plants alone like the peas and beans and such.  I'll go out there about twice a day and dig around for them where the dirt is real loose.  They get so excited they jump in and start digging too and pretty soon there are so many of them scratching in my spot I don't have room to dig anymore.  They are not able to dig quite as hard and deep as the big hens so they are not as destructive but they clean up the place good and clear out lots of the bugs and grubs.

The poor little things got in a fire ant bed though and I felt bad but couldn't help but laugh too.  They couldn't resist eating the ants and their eggs but were getting their feet bit from standing in the ants.  So, they would stand there and when the ants started biting, the chicks would start stomping their feet but were too greedy to leave.  If I had had some bluegrass music to play it would have looked like chicken buck dancing!  I laughed until I was cryin' just about and they would finally get enough and then run away and pick the ants off their feet.  Edit:  let me stress that I do NOT think it was funny that the chicks were getting bit, in fact I tried to run them out of the ants, but they insisted on running right back to eat the critters.  But seeing them all stomping their feet like that was funny.

They especially liked the coldframe once I turned some of the soil for them.  It was very loose so they could scratch through it easily and they got it all ready for me to plant now.

Hey, those are some funny looking chickens right there!  Well, somebody dumped these 2 little sweeties down at the end of my drive about a week ago.  Chigger actually found them hiding in the weeds when we walked down to check the mail, so I brought them up to the house and we have been trying to find homes for them.  No luck so far.  Grendal does not tolerate other cats well and I don't want any more in the house anyway, so they have been staying in the Goober Chicken Memorial Pen in the henhouse.  They actually seem to really enjoy it and the chickens don't really seem to mind them either.

And I have actually started on the kitchen in earnest since we about have the outside done!  My cabinet guy came Monday and got his measurements so those are being built now.  Things are slow for those trades right now so he said he should have them ready in 2-3 weeks!  Which means I have really got to get my butt in gear to be ready for them.  Yes, that is corrugated metal roofing going on the wall and it is a dark chocolate color.  I'll explain more about that later.  I know the whole kitchen looks kinda dark in this photo but it's not really.  My appliances are all stainless steel but they reflect the dark of the wall making them appear black too.  It will lighten up and be much more colorful when I am done.  I also got the wiring and ductwork for the range vent done and have closed up that wall and chase.  That is the big grey block on the right.  That is Durock covering that wall as it will get tile and stone over all of it.  You can see the ductwork poking out where the vent goes.  So, things are going but I have so much to do in this one area.  I am really excited about it and anxious to finish though.