On Friday my husband said those magic words to me after he got back from the town dump… Ok well he said words other than “you don’t have to go to the dump this week honey”, which are magical as well, but not what I am trying to talk about here.
The magical words that I speak of are in fact “I saw Gus”. Gus is a local genius who drives around towns and calls people from Craigs list and gets items that would otherwise be thrown into landfills and either refurbishes them and sells them for a mint, or sells them as is. Whenever Dave says the [...]
Say it to me again!
I Axed Dave to Post ;)
I have been bugging Dave (the husband, aka Harry) to help come up with some ideas for this blog. Finally he has provided me a MARVELOUS piece! He has also promised me that he will be contributing to the blog in the future!!! So look for his posts!! Thanks!
It’s not very often that I post, however once in a while I get the bug when something grabs my attention or if its possibly something that others may be interested in. Several weeks ago my Wife got two amazing documentaries… One I recall seeing MANY years ago but the overall concept had not stuck… this time however [...]
Green eggs and ham
A few weeks ago, D and I were driving down the road and I noticed a sign that said “free pallets”. “Free Pallets? You love Pallets!” I exclaimed.
And so he does, and so we stopped and we took a couple pallets (read: as much as we could fit into the truck) and we were on our way. Fast forward to today. THE SUN CAME OUT!!! And off we went like little worker bees into the yard to do some long forgotten chores.
I gave up on the lettuce and the radishes(old) and pulled the wilted and eaten remains out, turned the soil and plopped in MORE lettuce, some more Tom [...]
Coopy-wood
Come on, that’s funny! I can’t take the credit for the title but I still chuckle over it every time I think about it. Ah yes, the point of my story. When I posted earlier I was fretting over the possibility of the new chicken coop being 800s.f. I am here to tell you however, that this is not going to be an issue. Dave and I were discussing today all the necessities of the coop, electricity for light and possible heat, perches, nesting boxes, etc. You name it and we were talking about it. I think all this enthusiasm over raising animals stems partly from learning to take care [...]
Dave- Battleship!
More big plans ahead for SW or should I replace big with “HEAVY”… About a month and a half ago, we were searching through Craigslist and came across someone selling un-used 8″ insulated chimney pipe, the exterior stainless steel variety. Knowing that our eventual plan was to put an additional heat source in the basement of SW, we jumped on the deal. So then the search was on for “what” we would put in the basement. After weighing all the options, it seemed like the best possible solution for us was some kind of forced hot air furnace that was wood fired. [...]
Real People, Real Problems, Really Great place!
Off to cabin we go tomorrow (collective “yay”). The days are growing shorter and the nights are growing colder and our days are numbered. So now begins our crunchtime if we want to spend any time at all up there this winter. The wood stove is sufficient to keep us warm at night in the cold but it takes a good 6-8 hours to bring the cabin to a temperature that is comfortable. Then we have to deal with the driveway that is at a very steep incline. This driveway with 2 + inches of snow is impossible to pass and unfortunately with the street plow there is no where [...]
What we have gotten so far
I can’t believe this week has already passed and we are preparing to head back up to the cabin already! This weekend is the first weekend of the season that the whole family is going (kids this time!). The season started so late due to massive snow fall and we had so much to do most of our time up there has been on weekends where the kids are with their dad. I am excited for the extra help but skeptical. Something about getting a 12 year old and a 15 year old to help build a house is difficult.
Our plan is to complete the screened porch, Dave [...]
Time flies <– get it?
Well its the big birthday extravaganza this weekend. This is not a real thing, BUT we are going to the cabin on friday morning to start the screen porch transformation. We will be back on sunday evening and hopefully I will have many pictures to share. Its an exciting weekend because not only will we be up there but so will our other off-grid neighbors on each side (its like an off-grid love fest) one of which we hope to have over for some food.
THursday we hope to go “finding” some more recycled products at salvage yards. Its green because we are not buying new items that use energy to [...]
Interior Progress- Bathroom
Dave and I set out early this morning to install the laminate flooring that we scored at Lowes. It is recycled from a damaged return from a customer that did not care about the material. The top boards were a mess but the boards in the bundle itself were gorgeous.
I let dave lay a few pieces while I dusted off my camera. He did the cut and I laid the floor. We were a great team and accomplished it in only a few hours.
We moved all the really heavy furniture back in the room and I took a picture. Remember, most of this furniture was recycled from the dump or [...]