An Autumn Ride by HorsecartGSunday, September 29th, 2013 On many occasions, I've written about how much I love our new home, about how it's a magical, beautiful place where wonderful people do interesting things that make my soul come alive. Today, as we join our friends Jenna, Patty, Mark, and the whole...
Workshop Roof Decking CompleteGFriday, September 27th, 2013 The decking for our workshop roof is complete! Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly as planned. I was hoping the last course of boards would overlap the ridge by a few inches on either side, allowing for a small miter cut to form a nice seam a...
Tyler-Be-NimbleGThursday, September 26th, 2013 Tyler and I may have worked our butts off together on the workshop rafters, but this roofing job is 99.99% his effort. While I stay on terra firma, focusing on book stuff, or raking dirt around the site to spread clover seed, he perches on our roof...
Roofin'GWednesday, September 25th, 2013 Each evening this week, Jeremy has sent me a text, letting me know if he'll be able to help with the workshop. He doesn't ask if I need another pair of hands, he simply arrives as if it were a foregone conclusion that we'll be roofing together onc...
Faces on ThingsGTuesday, September 24th, 2013 Tara and I are constantly spotting faces on inanimate objects. Apparently, our shared subconscious is so busy anthropomorphizing things that we don't even have to point them out. We just say, "Do you see it?", and invariably we'll both identify t...
Laying Roof DeckingGMonday, September 23rd, 2013 This morning, I climbed onto the roof of our workshop and I didn't come down until dusk. I was busy loping around on our rafters with a mallet, drill, and saw in hand, laying courses of tongue and groove roof decking. It feels so good to have rea...
Roof Decking BeginsGFriday, September 20th, 2013 This morning, our neighbor Charlie arrived bright and early with a bucket of tools, ready to help us lay the first course of tongue and groove decking on both sides of our workshop. It was a fairly easy taskâwe just measured from the peak of the r...
Good NeighborsGFriday, September 20th, 2013 I love our neighbors. Hardly a day goes by that I don't find myself marveling at how lucky we are to live where we do. Just down the road from us there's Tracy, who runs a kennel and the local animal control. After stopping by to see our worksho...
Grindbygg Timber Framing: The Last RafterGThursday, September 19th, 2013 We did it! The rafters are complete! ...
Tongue & Groove Roof Decking DeliveryGWednesday, September 18th, 2013 After parting ways with Jahnavi and Addison in Saratoga Springs, we raced back home, arriving just in time to receive a shipment of roof decking for our grindbygg workshop. We now have nearly two hundred kiln-dried 2"x6"x16' tongue and groove spru...
The Love SprocketsGWednesday, September 18th, 2013 This morning, we wake our guests with bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs, rich apple-cheddar scones and mugs of recently pressed apple cider. "Is this real? Jahnavi asks, her bleary eyes coming into focus, finding a feast of epic proportions set befor...
Paying it ForwardGTuesday, September 17th, 2013 This evening, just as the skies were darkening into a milky pink dusk, we turned on to route 7A, headed to our friend Jenna's house for an evening of board games and camaraderie. Rounding the corner, we passed a pair of touring cyclists, their hel...
Cider PressingGSunday, September 15th, 2013 The morning is glorious, all aqua skies and green mountains tinged with a hint of faded gold. Driving into the Shaftsbury countryside, we wend our way over back roads we've never seen, marveling at the beauty before us. Around every turn on the tre...
Traditional Scottish Trio: CantripGSaturday, September 14th, 2013 Yesterday, while munching on apple cider donuts and chatting with Greer at Clear Brook, a yellow flier on the bulletin board caught my eye. On it was advertised a house concert in neighboring East Arlington that would be happening the very next day...
Picking Apples for Cider PressingGSaturday, September 14th, 2013 As we drive to our dear friend Jenna's farm, curving lazily along the Battenkill river, I am incapable of wiping the grin from my face. My kickstarter project launched just three days ago and it's already 30% funded! As well, we have an exciting w...
Grindbygg Timber Framing: Rafters, Part TwoGFriday, September 13th, 2013 Ever since we got over the hump of raising the first rafter, our grindbygg roof building project has been going fairly smoothly. It's actually pretty simple thanks to the jigs Peter left us with. The hardest part of the process is getting the raf...
THE BOOK! THE BOOK! THE BOOK!GThursday, September 12th, 2013 For the last two years, I've been writing a cookbook designed especially for bike tourists. It's called Bike. Camp. Cook., and today, it is officially complete! (YIPPEE!!!) In order to fund the first press run, I'm taking pre-orders through a kic...
Grindbygg Timber Framing: The First RafterGSunday, September 1st, 2013 When Peter and the students left last week, I was crestfallen. Though I was excited about the huge progress we'd made, my enthusiasm was deeply underscored with a bitter cocktail of exhaustion and gnawing concern about the work that remained. Ins...