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Entries made in October, 2015

October 2015, in Photos

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part Four: Slating Begins

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

We originally planned to put asphalt shingles on the outhouse, but Tara convinced Shlomy and I to use our reclaimed slate, citing that it would be good practice for next year (when I plan to slate the roof of our cottage). This weekend, after sever...

Bon Voyage

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

We're so excited! Our dear, dear friends and adventure buddies Pete and Natasha are leaving in just a few days to start their little road trip to, oh you know, Patagonia. Despite the fact that we only see each other once or twice a year, this feels...

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part Three: Dutch Doors

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

Shlomy and I have been working on a dutch door for the outhouse this week. We started by spending a lot of time puzzling over the instructions that came with our plans. But, after much head-scratching, we decided to forego the designs and just make...

Me Oh My, I Love Pie

Wednesday, October 28th, 2015

Well, this is it. My life is complete. All my girlhood dreams have come true. I baked an apple pie in my own homey kitchen and it's resting on my windowsill in the goddamned countryside. Let's hope no nefarious wanderer, greedy child, or cartoon an...

Milling Trees into Lumber with a Wood Mizer

Tuesday, October 27th, 2015

Over the past few years, we've amassed quite a collection of felled trees. Tyler's Note: Having recently taken a chainsaw safety course for loggers, almost every one of these photos scares the crap out of me. There are crazy unsafe...

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part Two: Preparing Slate for the Roof

Sunday, October 25th, 2015

Today, Shlomy and I spent the afternoon preparing slates for the roof of the outhouse. There isn't enough of the reclaimed slate we bought a few summers ago to cover the roof of our cottage, so we're using it here. This is our first time working wi...

Shlomy Builds an Outhouse, Part One: Framing & Siding

Monday, October 19th, 2015

Ever since Tyler and I met Shlomy by rooming together at a strawbale building workshop in Rhode Island, I've been impressed and inspired by his drive to become a competent builder. So far he has apprenticed with Christina Ott to learn about cob bui...

Setting Solar Panels to Their Winter Angle

Sunday, October 18th, 2015

In April of 2014, Tara and I installed six solar panels on the roof of our solar shed. The process of affixing them was a comedy of errors. After measuring wrong several times, drilling more than a few unnecessary holes, and swearing a lot, we mana...

Preventing Our Cistern from Freezing in Winter: Part Four

Saturday, October 17th, 2015

The final major part of our cistern shed (besides the plastering, which we'll do next year) was the doors. I spent a few days this week making these massive things, consisting of a simple frame and a double layer of rigid foam insulation. Other tha...

Grandma Passes Away

Friday, October 16th, 2015

Oh, grandma. I've missed you ever since you had those strokes a few years ago, and I miss you even more now that you're gone. I miss the way you'd call and casually ask in your New Yorkish accent, "Wanna godda lunch, Dolly?" I'd say yes, and you'd ...

Preventing Our Cistern from Freezing in Winter: Part Three

Saturday, October 10th, 2015

This weekend, Tara and I experimented with two types of insulation we'd never used before. The first was blown cellulose, which we dense packed into the cavities between the wall studs of our cistern shed. In order to do this, we had to rent a blow...

Preventing Our Cistern from Freezing in Winter: Part Two

Monday, October 5th, 2015

In the previous entry, I mentioned one of the main issues with our above-ground cistern: the short pipe between our house and the water supply freezing. I believe I have found a solution to the problem: heatline. It's like heat tape (electric wire ...

Preventing Our Cistern from Freezing in Winter: Part One

Monday, October 5th, 2015

Last fall, I wrote about the water situation for our cottage, documenting why we have an above-ground cistern next to the house rather than a water line from our well. When I wrote the entry, I was building an insulated shed for our water storage, ...

Cleaning, Clearing, Merging, Purging our Stuff

Sunday, October 4th, 2015

Tyler and I spent most of the weekend on an autumn cleaning mission. We started by organizing the ever-growing collection of remnants from completed projects that were scattered about our land. Pieces of plywood, rigid foam insulation and all manne...

Starting an Orchard in Vermont, Part Four: Planting Complete

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

I am pleased and relieved to report: all eighteen fruit trees are safely tucked into their new homes! I've brushed their bark with white milk paint to prevent sun scald, wrapped the base of their trunks with mesh to prevent boring insects, pinned o...