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Entries made in July, 2015

July 2015, in Photos

Friday, July 31st, 2015

Shifting Light & Visiting Friends

Friday, July 31st, 2015

There's something about the light today. It has shifted, somehow, seeming less harshly white, and more diffuse and golden. Meanwhile, there's something different in the air, too. The heat and humidity (hot for Vermont, but not compared to the rest ...

Plastering the Grindbygg Gable Ends

Monday, July 27th, 2015

As I type this, I can practically hear my fingers groaning in protest as they feebly punch the keyboard. I am currently suffering from a condition I've dubbed "plaster claw." It's triggered by a long day of gripping a plaster hawk in one hand, and ...

Despair

Saturday, July 25th, 2015

I recently unearthed this gem from our stack of filed journal entries. I wrote it a little over a year ago, in May of 2014, but we never published it, instead posting a very abridged version. I think it was, as my brother would say, "too real" for...

In the Woods

Saturday, July 25th, 2015

I recently found this in our draft journal entries. I have no idea why I didn't publish it back in July of 2013. Here it is, for posterity, two years later. This morning, I will assemble a concrete form for the timber frame workshop we ar...

Cantrip Scottish Trio Returns!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2015

One of the highlights of the fall of 2013 (truly an epic autumn) was going to see Cantrip, a rollicking, toe-tapping Scottish trio consisting of fiddler, piper, and guitarist. When I got an email from Cantrip's guitarist (I'll admit I let out a lit...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Seven

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Quite suddenly, the end of the workshop is upon us. There's a lot of hustle and bustle as everyone kicks into high gear this morning, recognizing that we have just one workday to get as much plastering done as possible. Tyler and I hope with all ou...

Running Power and Network Lines to the Workshop from the Solar Shed

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Strawbale Workshop, Day Six

Saturday, July 18th, 2015

Time flows differently during an event like this workshop—on the one hand, I can't believe how little time has passed: You mean we've only known these people for six days? Not an entire lifetime? And on the other, it is shocking how quickly time fl...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Five

Friday, July 17th, 2015

I am too exhausted to record the events that have transpired today. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the constant socializing, and lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. On the whole, though, things are humming along exceptionally well. It's absurd...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Four

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

Our workshop is going to be stunning. It was striking as an open-air structure, and a very small part of me was afraid we'd lose something by enclosing it. Boy was I was wrong. The strawbale walls everyone has worked so hard to raise only serve to ...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Three

Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

The first two days have been a smash success. The strawbale walls are nearly complete! We're building a lot more than a workshop up here, though. It's remarkable to me how tightly knit our group seems to be already. It's been effortless, connecting...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Two

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

At supper this evening, as I forced myself to sit down and actually eat some of the delicious chili and cornbread Becky and I made (instead of hovering and letting my mind race ahead to the forthcoming dishwashing extravaganza and the next meal to ...

Strawbale Workshop: Day One

Monday, July 13th, 2015

The first day of our workshop kicked off with a brief tour of our (mostly) complete strawbale cottage. It was hilarious to see so many people crammed into the tiny space. While everyone was looking around, I turned on our stereo and asked for reque...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Zero, Evening

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

Our workshop participants are here! (Well, most of them, anyway) This afternoon was a whirlwind of meeting and greeting, vehicle parking, and staking out of camp spots. I've done so much talking and smiling in the last few hours that my jaw hurts! ...

Strawbale Workshop: Day Zero, Morning

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

Our strawbale workshop begins today! Or rather, folks start arriving today. It's 7:40AM on Sunday as I write this. I'm laying in bed with Tara, preparing to head out and tackle the last remaining tasks before Andrew and the students arrive. Our to-...

Journal Stats

Saturday, July 11th, 2015

As of this writing, we've had this journal for 2,748 days. Since then we've published 1,409 entries. I'm honestly shocked to say that in the aggregate, that means we've written something once every two days for the last 7.5 years. We're pretty dang...

Finishing the Workshop Roof (for now)

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

Eventually, we plan to have a living roof on our workshop. For now, we just need the thing to be water-tight. I put roofing felt on it over a year ago, but it's starting to fall apart. This year, we're going to put ice and water shield on the first...

Insulating the Workshop

Monday, July 6th, 2015

There are several parts of our workshop where strawbales don't make sense for insulation—mainly places where we have 2x4 framed walls (e.g. the pony wall and the west wall). So, we hired the same company that insulated our cottage's pony wall to sp...

A Stone Facade for the Cottage Pony Wall

Monday, July 6th, 2015

The plan for the exterior of our cottage has always been to lay a facade over the pony wall, made with stones carefully picked from the ramshackle dry-stacked walls bordering our property. We wanted to tackle the project ourselves, but knew it was ...

Strawbales Arrive!

Sunday, July 5th, 2015

The farmer delivered our strawbales today! We hauled them all through the workshop and stacked them in a big tarped pile behind the Grindbygg. As I began sneezing, with snot dripping in mucilagenous streams from my nose, my eyes two itchy, scratchy...

Shallow Frost Protected Water Line

Saturday, July 4th, 2015

A few weeks ago, our neighbor Justin dug a pair of trenches to our workshop: one from our solar shed (for electricity), and another from our well (for water). The depth of the trenches varies from about three to five feet thanks to all the ledge on...

I'll be Seeing You

Thursday, July 2nd, 2015

Back in May, very shortly after returning from Roatan, my parents and brother came to visit, bringing with them my 85 year old grandfather. Though he didn't want to be parted from my grandma Marilyn, whom he visited every day at the nursing home, h...