The Perfect Shot

You know how in the cartoons, when the bad guy shoots first in the archery contest, and then the hero shoots and hits the first shot perfectly in the arrow?  you know how that never happens?

 yeah, only to my really expensive arrows.

Plaster on the clearstory

 Melissa has been tackling the plastering, and now she's on the clearstory, the little wall between the two roofs. You can see the lathe that has been in place for a while now, ready to be plastered. Not the 'great stuff' insulation around the edges.

Here's the work in progress:

 and here you can see her working away, with the nice (eastern) corner slightly in view:

Brian visits!

Brian came to visit and wanted to get some fresh air and exercise.  I decided we needed to pull a big treetop  (from the recent tree work) out of the woods and get it up on the mill.  This thing is still green, 22 feet long, and *really* heavy.  The guess is around 2000 pounds.   Using the truck to pull it uphill and onto the driveway, we then had to get it on rollers and slides to get it onto the mill

 Which we did without hardly any difficulty.  The thing is huge, and even longer than my mill can handle. (I'll end up cutting off the small end to make it fit)

 Of course, there was much discussion and celebration throughout his visit.

 In the meantime, Melissa added some lovely country cottage touch to our kitchen by gathering a batch of fresh herbs to dry on our kitchen beam.  I love that!

New home made laundry basket

 Well, we finally got our laundry situation *ironed out*.  I made a small redwood frame after a design Melissa saw on some home supply website:

 and she sewed together a lovely canvas bag to fit inside of it... (out of an old duvet cover from my parents' stuff) with handles and ties

and it fits perfectly under the counter in the bathroom, next to the sink. 

Next up: moving the clothes washing machine to the new laundry deck and hooking it up!

New Deck

Remember this tree that got pulled out of the woods?

 Well, it's a back deck now.  This is the deck I set up for our laundry area.  You can see the water pipe and the electric outlet already in place.   The drainpipe you can see in the bottom right corner has a vertical piece ready to take in the gray water coming from the machine.

 Here you can see the deck at a bit of a distance; it's on the northwest corner of the house.

Rain and Flowers

While it's cold and rainy outside, we've been keeping the fire going inside.  That means it's a good spot to keep the yogurt bacteria warm while they're making yogurt.

Did I mention we made a hoopa for our plum tree? no, she's not getting married, just as protection against the February and March rains.  This tree seems to flower so early that the rough weather generally beats the petals off before they can turn to fruit buds. So, with 4 posts and a bit of green-house plastic, we gave the tree a little house.







Which really seems to be working. The blossoms on the tree look great.

Making candles out of old wax

So, here's a little typical project on the homestead: making new candles.  I found a recipe for the flame retardant for wicks that's easily made at home (4 tbls borax, 2 tbls salt in 1.5c water, soak overnight) and we used some old string.  On the day of melting, we tied some small weights to the string (old nails. now where did I ever purchase those?)

 and Melissa and I worked to tie the weighted string also onto a small stick to hold it up in the container:

 and then, after melting the wax over a fire outside, we filled up these old little glass containers (that used to have small candles in them. Our friend Christine used to get them from weddings and she gave us 50 or so)

 Here's me dipping the last of the wax out of the melting pot while some squash and potatoes get onto the coals in the dutch oven:

 and the finished candles looked pretty good - for just a random mixture of wax of all colors.

 and sure enough, they work!

Guests and Food and more Food

We had guests up the whole long weekend, and much food was made and consumed. Some of the pretty stuff was the bbq pork steam buns:

 Luckily had a bunch of firewood to move afterward to work up another appetite.

 for even more eating! Pot stickers this time. Great stuff!

Indoor Drying Rack

Finally put together a concept I had back before the house was done: the indoor drying rack by the fireplace. Check out the towel hanging near the ceiling.

It's a long redwood bar on a simple rope and loop structure that keeps it up out of the way and yet easy to get at. Below is the rope drawstring which stores behind the pillar:

 Looking up at it when standing underneath, you can see the bar only if you're looking for it. (and there's nothing hanging on it)

 and it drops down really easily for hanging stuff... which can be draped over it or hung on a hanger, and then hauled back up to the ceiling, where it's warmer, and out of the way!

Windows

Melissa made a window seat cushion for the loft window. It not only cushions the butt, but also keeps out cold drafts from the bottom of the window.  it's made from a nice cloth that her mom brought her from a trip to Africa:

This is just a mid morning photo of the kitchen. I love how the winter sun comes into our place.

Building Things around the Place

I built a small greenhouse for seed-starting. It sits on the patio in the southwest corner:

 and the north side flips up for easy access.  I also put some milk jugs filled with water for thermal mass, to balance the temps at night.

And I finished building my first beehive!  Based on Abbot Warre' designs, it's a simple, small homesteader version.  Here it is with all four boxes put on it... normally you start with just two, and add boxes as the bees fill it up.

 the legs and 'landing pad' doorway for the bees:

 the top insulation box, and a peak into one of the chambers with the bars in place:

 and a deeper look into the box, showing how the bars come out:

 Melissa had a relaxed afternoon sitting inside. Notice she's sitting by the window to enjoy the sun, watching a movie on the laptop and reading a library book.  A good use of time!