Posts are in!

It's official! We've begun construction on the cabin. After digging the 24" deep by 24" wide holes we got them inspected by the county last week. This is part of the building permit process. It took longer than anticipated to get the borate treated posts in because they had to be special ordered by our local lumber supplier. Fortunately the wood was still from Virginia. We also got our temporary electric pole inspected so we now have electricity. Woohoo!




Looks like she's on a payphone, eh?

To recap: The cabin will be 216 square feet with a 120 sq ft loft for sleeping. It will also have an additional 216 square feet of porch on two sides. We're hoping to use some of our lumber for the siding.

The Big 5-0

Fifty years ago a young German woman beamed as she bore her first-born son. A saviour come to... oops, sorry, wrong story. Anyway, in post-war Berlin, as a single mother, she was never-the-less ecstatic. And now, fifty years later, I too am ecstatic. Happy to be living a life that I've chosen to live. A life that's full and complete. And to be doing this with someone that's equally as motivated as me - Christy, you're the best!

Today, Christy and I spent the day in Blacksburg, Virginia - the home of Virginia Tech. We visited the Blacksburg Farmers' Market, the Virginia Tech Bookstore, a local coffee shop, various shops, lunch at Gillie's (a vegetarian cuisine restaurant), an Italian pizza joint for Gelato, and finally a Thai restaurant for dinner. What a way to celebrate my birthday!

Next weekend our family and friends will be coming to town to celebrate my 50th. Some will be coming to camp on our property and others will be staying in more comfortable accommodations. In addition, some of our new friends and neighbors will be joining us as well. I can't wait!


One of the most incredible gifts I received this week was a letter from my biological father accompanied by pictures of him and his family. I had requested pictures because I had never seen any pictures of him to know what he looked like. So now after 50 years I have finally seen my father. The picture is now complete. I'll get around to scanning the photo and posting it on this blog.



Blacksburg Farmers' Market

Monarchs, Rainbarrels, Water & Temporary Power

Monarch caterpillar

When I was in the fifth grade I became fascinated with insects. I would go out in a nearby field and spend hours watching and collecting insects. It was during this time that I took a special interest in monarch butterflies. I think it was a combination of their appearance and the fact that they have few predators due to being distasteful. This is the result of milkweed poison being stored in their bodies from when they were caterpillars. I get to relive some of those childhood memories because we have a stand of milkweed plants that have monarch caterpillars. I now get to monitor their growth, pupation, and subsequent emergence from their chrysalis. I was never able to experience any of that as a kid. This is just too cool.

Two of a kind

A few weeks ago, Christy, Nancy and I went to a local vineyard and participated in a wine tasting. As we entered the building I noticed two wine barrels sitting on a dock out back. I inquired as to what the owner does with unused barrels. Suffice it to say I ended up purchasing them. Christy and I have been wanting to get rain barrels and well... this opportunity was too good to pass up at $40 a piece. Considering that they're American Oak and not blue plastic it was an easy decision. We'll capture rain from a roof structure that we're getting from David and Annie, who are tearing down an old house on their property. I'll attach faucets and cut holes for the inlet and overflow. I'm thinking that I'll make the inlet opening the same size as the downspout. Typically the inlet is over-sized and covered with a screen. Making the opening smaller will minimize particulates and mosquitoes from entering. Even with screening material, unwanted material still seems to get in.

Ain't she a beaut?

In order for us to get temporary electricity we had to install our own temporary electric pole. Included with pole are the circuit breaker and ground rod. The pole has to be 14' tall and be buried 48" below grade. The 8' ground rod has to be completely buried 6" beneath grade. Neither requirement was easy as there's shale/schist only 24" down. Lots and lots of digging. My poor wrists were begging for a reprieve.

Everything is in place and ........ we've got water!

After attaching a 4-position 120/250V plug to the well wiring we were ready to power up the well pump. D & A, always generous, lent us their generator. Another homesteading friend who lent us his 150 gallon tank. We'll use this as a resevoir for watering the garden.

The tank, coupled with the ~100 gallon reserve in the well, should provide adequate storage capacity. Once the cabin is built we'll of course have a compression tank and eventually a cistern for catching rain water.

Christy has single-handledly dug most of the post holes for the cabin. We probably have another day of digging to do and then we'll be ready for the holes to be inspected. The building inspector has to verify that the holes comply with county requirements to be 24" x 24" x 24". Once that's done we'll pour an 8" concrete pad into each hole and then mount 6" x 6" posts. We'll be using borate pressure treated wood as this is less toxic than the standard treated material. See here for why this method is preferred.

We're off to our friend Starroot's party. Speaking of parties, when we first moved here I asked our neighbor, Ed, about parties in Floyd, he responded with "Man, there's a party every weekend." And it sure seems that way. It's always nice to have that option. The parties are always potluck and they're a lot of fun. So many new people to meet.

To Well and Back

The good news: our well has been dug. The not so good news (although not bad): we're only getting a gallon per minute. That flow rate was achieved at about 70' but in order to provide us some reserve, in light of the humble flow rate, they drilled down to 174'. Next week we'll get the pump installed along with an outdoor spicket. Until we get electrical service (hopefully sometime this month) our neighbors have offered their fossil fuel generator. Not all visions come to fruition as planned. But all is good.

Lance Armstrong with a Beard?

All this work and little play has had the effect of me shedding another 8 lbs. I'm now at 180 lbs. Not sitting at a desk and snacking is a contributor, too. I haven't been at this weight since my early 20's. I feel really good. Running feels good. Bicycling feels great. Fortunately I haven't lost any muscle mass as a result. I attribute that to carrying multiple 42 lb containers of water, moving logs, shoveling, and pushing wheelbarrows. At this lower weight, bicycling up the local hills and mountain sides are less of a challenge. Although I say less of a challenge, they're still challenging.




During a weekend ride with Christy and sister-in-law, Nancy, on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

What a great movie. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. You couldn't have ask for a better cast. But I digress.


The Good:
We got our building permit - finally! A 216 square foot cabin with loft and 6' deep porches on two sides. Cabin and porch will be elevated about 24" on 6x6" posts (borate treated, of course).





The Bad:
My cat Mädchen died. She was 13 years old. I had gotten her as a kitten during a period of my being single. She was the best cat I could've ever asked for. She was super friendly and affectionate. Whenever I called her name she would answer - honestly. It was very sad and unexpected. Mädchen died of cardiac arrest and had multiple organ issues - liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. Thankfully she didn't suffer too long. I wouldn't have expected myself to cry but I did. I was bawling as I called to tell my youngest daughter, Lauren. She had a good life, though. Her last few months were spent with my in-laws, Jim and Linda. She had a huge house to roam around in and spent much of her time watching birds and chipmunks and laying on Linda's stomach as she napped. I'll miss her.




The Ugly:
Perhaps not from a distance but upon closer inspection one can see the angled cuts for the supports didn't quite match what they're intended to support. But anyway, this is our new clothes line. We used locust wood for the posts. One of the many nice things about living in a rural area is that there aren't any HOA rules stipulating "no hanging laundry outside." Can't let those home values drop any more than they already have, right?

Proofing a Deer-Proof Fence

Not only do we have to concern ourselves with deer but there are rabbits and woodchucks to worry about as well. In order to deter these two and any other large rodent we've begun to add chicken wire to the bottom of the deer fence. The idea is that the animal will start to dig at the base of the fence and hit the chicken wire. Fortunately they're not smart enough (or so we hope) to simply back up a few steps and begin digging again.




Attach 24" chicken wire to fence and bend bottom half to lay flush with the ground.


Cover with dirt and rake in some winter rye.


Wait for rain and, voila!



After a weekend visit to Charlotte for Fathers Day we arrived back home to find a well truck sitting on our property. It's all set up and ready to go but no operator. Apparently he's busy baling hay as everyone else around here is. You gotta act when the gettin' is good. After a very wet spring the local farmers are scrambling to get their hay baled before it rains again. Everywhere we look the fields are covered with these:

A Day in the Life

We're making quite a bit of progress on many fronts. Digging new beds, pest control (although it's a neverending battle), rabbit and woodchuck proofing the deer fence, and refining the cabin design. We're still waiting for the well guy to show up.

In addition to the work, we're getting in some good rest and relaxation on the hammocks. And with the rest comes lots of reading and playing guitar. Christy and I are on a Barbara Kingsolver frenzy - well, frenzy might be a little excessive.

In preparation for a trip to Durham to visit family, I shaved my beard. I tell you, you're in for a shock when you go weeks without looking in the mirror. I was surprised to see how thick it looked.

Recalibration

We've all been there before. You make plans, then prepare to implement them only to find an unexpected road block(s). Our plan to not install a septic system has been thwarted... our hopes have been dashed (I've always wanted to use that word). Initially, the county building inspector told us the only way to get around not requiring a septic system is if we build a structure that's no more than 150 sq ft. This was a little smaller than we had hoped for but we could work around it by incorporating a loft for our bed thereby freeing some space downstairs. Well, when we went to submit our application we were informed that any dwelling, regardless of size, must have a septic system. Apparently the building inspector (who recently replaced the previous inspector) had not read the code correctly.

So, what to do? Do we continue living in a tent out of principle? Do we build and not get a permit? Or do we comply with the rules? We've chosen the latter. We're not about to break the law nor are we dying to live in a tent for the rest of our lives. So the decision wasn't difficult... well, with the exception of an extra $2000-3000 expense we weren't expecting. With this decision we'll go back to our original plan of a 200-300 sq ft cabin but still incorporate the loft. That coupled with a good sized porch should provide us with adequate living space. Onward we march.

You're Composting What?!?

We're composting our poop, our excrement, our dookie. In an attempt to live more sustainably, Christy and I decided we would use some sort of composting toilet. Originally we were planning on using an off-the-shelf system but opted for something much simpler. It turns out that many of these off-the-shelf systems don't work very well. Evidently people's contributions don't always decompose in a timely fashion. So instead we opted for what's called a sawdust toilet (see photo below). Contributions are made in the toilet and covered with non-kiln-dried sawdust. There's nothing unsightly or smelly. The container consists of a 5 gallon bucket which sits beneath the seat and is housed in a lovely wooden box. After the bucket is full the contents are emptied (this is only the kinda gross part) into a compost bin (see photo below) along with straw. The organic material (notice how I never call it what it really is) composts over the course of one to two years. Through thermophyllic bacterial activity (with temps up to 160°F) any and all pathogens are killed. The result is usable AND safe compost. Technically we could use the compost on our crops but we've decided we'd delegate it for shrubs and trees.


Sawdust toilet en la tent




Humanure Compost Bin

Why are we doing this? Think about this: We're the only society that adds potable water to our poop and then later on separates it. Sure, it makes for a more sanitary environment but there's a better way. What we're doing doesn't use any water (other than rain water for cleaning) and it recycles our wastes. Unless you're using a septic tank, most waste gets sent to a waste treatment facility where the solids typically go to a landfill. And the "treated" waste water? Well, that goes back into the water table or a nearby river or ocean. Composting our waste does away with this and actually makes use of the organic material in a more sustainable manner. Of course it's much easier to simply flush and never think about it again. But that attitude is turning out to be quite troublesome. We have the same attitude when it comes to trash - out of sight, our of mind. "It's not my problem anymore."