Let the snowflakes fall

Since I started living in the country house-builder lifestyle, about 8 years ago, Autumn has been a manic time. The outdoor goals of the year face the dwindling warm days. And firewood has to get piled up. Our two-wheel-drive truck becomes useless on the backroads when the snow starts to pile up. So ends my list of excuses why I haven't blogged in a while.

It's been a beautiful Fall, we managed to get wood piled up pretty good, hauled in almost all of the insulation, and even began insulating the block.

There's another couple weeks of framing work to do: closets, a landing at the back door and so on.

Then there's this big old stove my dad and Moses helped me haul in. Hooking that up and building the chimney are also on the table. We had used it the last couple years we were in our little cabin. It's way too big for that place, but it was nice to have the open fire.

As for today I'm resting my body after straining a muscle in my back on Saturday while taking the garbage to the dump. It's feeling better by the day and the old dog should be back on line come Thursday when I plan to get back to physical work. Until then I have plenty to do on paper, planning ahead for the Winter.

Labor Day Lost and Found

Please call or write if you know who these belong to.

Shingling Digested

The shingling party was such a whirlwind that it has taken a few days to be able to start to get my head around it. We counted over a hundred guests, and almost that many bundles of shingles.

I was describing the event to some friends this Tuesday and they said it sounded like a mingo, a type of building party they had witnessed in Ecuador. At a mingo (I think this is the word) each family in a village sends one member to help with whatever project it is.

This is similar to our experience, as a few people came from all the facets of our social lives: our village. We are so fortunate to have such a large and loving village. I am grateful to everyone for their hard and focused work, but the project itself stands as a mere symbol. In a few thousand years the next ice age will wipe all semblance of this house away, but the happy spirit of everyone is way bigger than all this stuff.


Here is a video featuring music of Pitchy Kanto recorded Saturday night. I apologize that there aren't more pictures or video. We were real busy.




Click here to see photos posted on Facebook.

Shangled!

Shingling eve

Green Guy has been busy.













He set up a kitchen.







Even a chillout room.

I think he's excited to be having a party.

Daddy, where do shingles come from?

The boys and I went out to the shingle mill in Trenary yesterday. I asked them as we were loading up what kind of saw they used and they eagerly gave us a tour. They slide 16" or 24" logs on a carriage over a rust-brown circular blade which is about 40" across. The shingles fall onto a conveyor which takes them up to another cutting device which cuts them to width. The waste is baled and sold for archery targets or other uses.

We bought the cheaper shingles, both for the price and the character knots. I don't like the uneven bottoms, though, so today I spent an hour trying different methods of cutting them square. The chainsaw wins again. When the shingles are snug in their bales you can go right down the edge of them. Chainsaws, albeit noisy, are the closest you can get to a real light saber, as far as I know.

Our to-do list before next week's party is still something of a Goliath, but we're just going to keep whipping stones up there and know that this event is not going to be what we think it is. It's going to be just what it is.

Shingling Soon -- Party Details

Summer is now standing by the door, scratching her head, and there's only two weeks before our shingling. Since last posting I've managed to get the attic room framed and a few more windows and doors trimmed.

This party is getting exciting. We conceived this house with the community in mind, since we won't need to use a dance room all the time —and since it's often hard to have a gathering in the woods around here when sleet or bugs are in the air. This will be the biggest gathering yet, and though there's still so much to do it's great to see this building becoming useful.

So the party will be starting Saturday morning, September 4th and continue until Sunday night. We'll be nailing up shingles in teams during the day and playing music in the evening. The bands Lovechild and Pitchy Kanto have pledged their presence as have a handful of other musicians, and all attendees are expected to bring an instrument, sing, dance, or at least bob their heads in whatever way comes naturally.

Camping is encouraged. There are lots of places to put a tent and lots of floor space inside once things quiet down. We're planning to serve Mexican food on Saturday and Italian on Sunday. There'll be things to eat and drink during the day, too. If you want to bring something to share then you should do that.

A hammer and a nail apron will be useful if you have them. You may wish to use earmuffs sometimes. We have a few pairs and earplugs, too. If you have experience with this sort of work, you might find yourself being a leader for a while.

There will be wooden signs once you get off the pavement, so it shouldn't be too tricky.

Here's the Googlish map, if that helps:


View Larger Map

Hope to see you there. If you can RSVP by facebook or the comment place here that would be helpful to estimate food and beer requirements.