Tiny Home Challenge of the week:
With warm weather finally approaching and one 8x8 foot floor
frame finished, we ventured out to the garage to begin the second frame with
sureness in our steps. We thought, now that we know what we’re doing, the
second certainly won’t take as long. And then we learned: never overestimate
construction.
The problem with using all of our best 2x8’s on the first
floor frame was that now all the warped, concave, and barked planks were left
for this one. The difficulties we were faced with while nailing together the
first frame (preserving 90-degree angles, measuring identical diagonals) were
even more present on this one due to our imperfect planks (and, okay, human
error was probably a factor too). It’s easy to blame the wood, but we know our
decisions and lack of experience were just as much of a contribution.
We hauled the second frame to the pole-shed and set it next
to the first one. It was a treat to see the two of them together, the entire
area of our home laid out in front of us. And even though it shouldn’t have
been a surprise, we still exclaimed with happiness when the joists held firm as
we walked across them.
(John, thank you for your comment on our previous post about bracing the joists! We are looking into this.)
Our bathroom will be a hole-in-the-floor composting toilet
(bucket). We sawed extra floor joists into a frame for the 9 inch by 9 inch
hole, and promptly realized there was no way we could shove, hammer, or swear a
piece of wood into place if the joist was warped and we had nailed it slanted
to compensate. So, no problem, we can change the floor plan, just reverse
everything! Beginning again in a corner of reasonably straight joists, we
tackled our first toenailing. Toenailing is hammering nails at an angle to
connect two perpendicular pieces of wood. For two fresh young builders like us,
the result was a handful of bent, twisted nails, one destroyed block of wood,
and an impressive amount of cussing.
To fully finish the job, we cut out the hole in the plywood
as well, and here it is!
Our supply of wood has been dwindling fast with the sub-zero
temperatures, and because cottonwood burns especially rapidly in our stove. It
was time to bring out the chain saw. The ash tree that sits on the side of the
dirt road had a large limb ripped off during a storm some time ago. Although the amount of firewood gained was
minimal, it was nice to see the tree trimmed up. Next we moved 100 yards North towards a strip
of three standing, dead elms. We’re not
sure why these trees died but it is clear by the galleries and exit holes that
bark beetles had taken advantage of their vulnerability. Scatted around these trees were huge, dead
branches. Jackpot. After four hours of sawing, whacking, and
hauling, we had a fair amount of firewood piled up in the truck, ready for
splitting.
Mati visits
It had been only a month since I had seen my brother Mateusz
but it seemed a lot longer. He arrived
Friday evening after Claire and I finished cutting up the down branches for
firewood. All three of us were tired, so
we called it an early night. After a
hearty breakfast of whole-wheat pancakes the following morning, we put on our
boots and headed out into the wet, warm (50 degrees) world. Claire and I set up our hammocks in a small
grove of hackberry and ash, filling them with blankets to keep out the wind. After
a satisfying nap, Mati and I began to split some of the logs we had cut up
earlier. Much of it split like butter! That night we broke in the outdoor fire
pit. The pit was filled with six inches
of solid ice so we built a log platform on top to keep the coals from going
out. Even with the platform, it was
tricky to keep the fire alive and blazing.
After five hours of burning, we had a respectable bed of coals, on top
of which me made chili and corn bread in our Dutch oven. Food, family, fire, and wine. Can’t beat that! The remainder of Mati’s visit consisted of
long walks and a fair amount of tree climbing.
On Monday morning Mati and I decided we would walk the perimeter of the
prairie with Misty before his departure.
As we approached a gully in the grasses, we came to a halt and took in
our surroundings. Out of the corner of
my eye, I saw something, a shadow, moving through the grass. I told Mati we were not alone and he said it
was just Misty. But I could hear Misty’s
chain far in the other direction. I
approached the moving object and to my utter surprise I was tailing an adult
coyote, at 10:30 in the morning. I
signaled Mati, informing him of our guest, and before I could turn my head he was
sprinting after it. Already far away,
the coyote crossed a pond and ran over a small hill. At this moment, Mati and I had a perfect view
of this beautiful creature. His fur was
a magnificent blend of vibrant orange, silver, gray, and black colors. Mati and I both agreed this was the best send
off anyone could ask for, and with that we exchanged hugs and he was off. Until next time, brother.
Claire becomes ill
As is common with folks living together, Connor promptly
passed his illness along to me. A couple of days of sleepless nights and
sleep-full days commenced, accompanied by headaches, sore muscles, and a
burning throat. I felt guilty, not contributing much to the day’s chores, so I jacked myself up on ibuprofen and continued to help out where I could. Not my best move - four days later I'm still sick. Despite my stubbornness, Connor takes excellent care of me.
While spring creeps into our lives, winter slowly melts
away. The snow and moisture in the
ground turned to water and our driveway and lawn turned into a lake. This usually wouldn’t bother either of us,
however, the only way to the outhouse was through a muddy swamp. Claire insisted that we do something to the
path so we wouldn’t be covered in mud after every visit to the bathroom. Thus, we hauled river rock from a pile in the
driveway to form an outhouse path on the edge of the lake, and in no time at
all we had ourselves a reliable, mud free walking trail.
Aquaponics update:
The aquaponics system is still up and running and harboring
life. This amazes me. After reading through an aquaponics book I
was given, I realized that the way I’m doing it is far from right. I am lacking pumps, lights, a number of
chemicals, and a fair amount of fish supplies.
This equipment, however, would have cost me hundreds of dollars. I’m content with my $40 system even if it
doesn’t run up to par. Nevertheless, I
have filled every pot with rocks and plants.
I now have a sugar snap pea, Amish deer tongue lettuce, a cherry tomato,
a jalapeno pepper, a red bell nose pepper, chives, and two cilantro plants
growing into the murky water. They all
seem to be growing, some more quickly than others, and I am eager to see
whether they thrive or die (the mint and oregano died off). I added four more gold fish to compromise for
the extra plants and they seem to be enjoying themselves.
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