Various finds and changes

The persimmons are drying slowly, and multiplying: I think Melissa has done close to 200 this year. The purple ribbons indicate they've been dipped in brandy.

Tree guys were here the other day, and cut some high stuff out so we can get some more sun. Surprisingly, that's hard to take a picture of. There may be a lumberjack up in one of these trees.

On our way back from LA for Thanksgiving, we stopped in a small town for lunch and hit the thrift/antique consignment shop. I splurged and got this drill. Notice the handle unscrews and has a holding place for bits. Oatmeal powered awesomeness for $22.

West Door Work

So I finally sealed up the spot under the door where the pipes go into the floor. Originally, I had wanted the pumps to sit under the threshold, but the way they put them together at the factory made them about an inch too tall for the space. So they sit under the deck, and that empty space behind them needed filling and sealing. I stuffed a bunch of old insulation bits left over from the roof and some plastic trash and then used plywood to cover it. Then, the can of Great Stuff, for every crack:

Eventually, I will build a little insulation box around the whole thing as well as the pipe insulation I have on there. No sense in losing heat. I'll just wait to scrounge some rigid foam somewhere.

Above is the deck boards in place, over the pumps. These were all ends and pieces left over from construction. Some had been the shelves under the yurt. I had to cut bits of rot off and such, but they cleaned up pretty well. Here's with the deck sealant stuff on them, still wet:

Melissa getting things done indoors

Check out this entirely rebuilt from recycled materials pillow: The outside is an old flannel sheet from our bed (that got a rip in part), the next layer is the cover thing that was on the futon we got for free - we wanted the foam inside, which was used to make the seat cushions - and then the cut up bits are from the leftover foam shaping project.

When we go get the 'fancy' cloth for covering the seat cushions, Melissa will probably cover this blue pillow with another layer.

and, more persimmons peeled and hanging, now indoors, for comparison's sake.

Little projects

There seems like hundreds of these little things still to do around the place, and more detailed and important to get right, as they are so front and center to the daily life.

I whittled up the dutch door lock for the back door, finally. and got the door knob on. I love how all three of our doors use the same key.

Melissa has started in on the persimmons for this year. We're trying it the more traditional Japanese way, outside under the eaves. We'll have to see how well they do compared to others.

the rest of my day was spent almost putting another drawer together. It was a great day to be doing carpentry outside.

Still, it's amazing how difficult I find each one of these drawers. I'm making six, and this is my fourth. Maybe by the end of this I'll have these dovetails figured out.

Views around the house

Now that it's colder, the interior bathroom windows fog up very artistically when we've both taken a shower. Melissa is moving plants in there also.

We didn't grow these or anything, but they sure look nice on the counter:

and we've started in on the drying of the persimmons again; Melissa is peeling like mad:

and I got all the new metering parts up and running on the solar power. Check out how nice it is to see this on the meter at 6pm:

Home

How about this for a picture of home life? Melissa is sewing the final seam on the first cover of the first couch cushion while sitting in a rocking chair with the fireplace behind her, on the new rug out of storage. Cute!

More work on the fridge

So, our little propane under-the-counter fridge wasn't happy with it's new home in the house. I had sealed up the (much bigger than needed) space it was going to be in very tightly, caulking and plastering the edges so that no potentially harmful gases could get out... but then I realized that my venting system wasn't sufficient enough to pull the heat away from the coils. So I went back in and busted some more holes.

Here's looking at the cob wall in the back of the cabinet with the two new vent holes busted into the 18" thick wall:

to the top hole I'm going to add about 10 to 15 feet of chimney, which I hope will create enough draw to pull all the heat out of there.

I also went back in and further insulated the box of the fridge itself. Above you can see the extra inch of foam on the top, and over on the left of the photo you can see the other foam for the side. I also did extensive stuffing of rigid foam along the sides so that the heat exchange area is fully separated from the back of the box (the closest corner in the photo).

All seems to be working right now, but I'm willing to cut a fridge sized hole in the wall back there if I have to.

Solid wall

Some folks think that cob, made of sand and straw and clay, might not be as strong as a 'regular house'.... well, I had to add a vent behind the fridge yesterday (under the loft window). I had to go through about 18" of wall to get in. It took me about an hour of this sort of force:

I'm not too worried about the strength of my walls.

Ladder and Moving in

Made a ladder the other day, to get to the loft. It went from logs to ladder in 2.5 days, even including the gluing. It looks nice, but the steps are too close together (I thought it would be nicer to have them closer, but it just bugs me)

it's pretty light as well, so it can be slid up onto the loft floor for more space.

Simple photo inside the bedroom, as things are getting on the shelves

and, the lovely morning light coming in just after breakfast