Could it be? A woodstove?

After the humiliating Jotul Incident of 2013, I really didnt think I was ever going to have heat in the little cabin.  But Bob was my uncle, or in this case the brother of Don (pictured below, hunting for stovepipe screws), and he had a Vermont Castings Resolute just gathering dust in the barn.  So last week over it came, and Don and I hooked it up (to the new and UL-approved chimney flue lining), and it is fabulous.

We put the slate tiles down on the asbestos board without gluing or grouting them, since we'll have to move the whole shebang in the spring when the floor goes in, but it will be 3/4" smooth plywood so will come up exactly level with the tiles.

And before you mutter "Hillbilly" under your breath, remember:

• I am poor
• I will be painting and varnishing the plywood with a tromp de l'oeil pattern (probably big checkerboard)
• the slate will have a 3" oak border around it
• the red fireplace stones will be cleaned and the mantle will be encased in wood
• did I mention I'm poor

As you can see, the interior still, um, needs work.

But the outside is done, and if you look closely you can see a puff of smoke coming from the Hobbit chimney.

(Crap--I still need to paint that window!)

So that's all until next spring, unless I get really crazy and have all the electrical outlets and lighting boxes put in the right spots.  Plus, Dave will be getting is Engineer's license for CT so I may actually have a legal septic system plan!

I'm nearly giddy with anticipation . . .Quick!  The vapors!

Well, well, well

It was touch and go in the water department for a while. Maurice didn't think even at 14 feet that the well would draw enough water. But my expert consultants (Don, the ever-optomistic, and Randy, who wanted to have a personal source of bathwater on the north end of town) convinced me that a little water is better than no water, so we gave Maurice the go-ahead, and in went a well.
Don took the photos.

 

Maurice unloads the first tile.  I have no idea how he got that excavator to tiptoe down the path to the well site without disturbing a twig, but he did.

 

 First tile going down.  This shot was taken with the pond to Don's back.

Maurice is going down to check to see if the first tile is level. Before we started, a frog had made his home there, and a mole had made a death-leap, so we wanted to get the sleeve in and a cover on as soon as possible.

 

Last tile going on.  Don filled around with all the rocks I'd been collecting (and they were legion) so that there's be a bigger area for the water to collect and be less muddy.  After it's backfilled there'll be only about a foot of sleeve showing.

As of today, the water is up to the bottom of the fourth sleeve, which is a miracle.  Maurice warns, "You'll never be able to water your lawn with this well."  As you can see from the photos, that won't be a problem!!!

For all of you who think a dug well is a cheap alternative, think again--the tiles alone were $800.  I'm just saying . . . tiny house does not mean tiny price tag.

The siding is almost done!

Don has worked like a tornado and has only the top bits to put on (he has to pad the tops of the walls because the sides were raised 10" and the sheathing on the old walls is this iron-like oak that's about 1" thick, so it is a pain in the patootie.  But after that's done then he'll put shiplap on the peak--there is not much, and we'll probably paint it the green of the door.

Here's Don and Randy discussing appropriate stump removal.  It's anybody's guess, really.


The meter and pipe will have a small "closet" built around it (shingled like the sides) with a door to get at the meter and maybe some shelves inside for tiy garden tools, sice space is at a premium.  I keep forgetting to call CL&P to put the meter on--right now the electricity is free, but I am starting to worry--besides, we can't enclose it till the meter goes on or CL&P will have a cow.
Then we can dig a hole and put some gravel in it and try to set those front step stones.  That oughtta be a laugh riot.

The back of the cabin is all done for now; no sense siding the part that the addition is going to pop out of . . . though that looks like it'll be the 12th of Never.  Don's going to pull off the old shingles and put some more of my favorite tarpaper on it for that nice homey touch. 

 A back porch will be a lot nicer than these steps!  Although they have saved us from breaking our legs many times, thanks to Randy.  The porch is part of the addition--my next billion dollars.

The house wrens had 3 successful babies, who fledged last week, and the parents seem to be considering trying for another batch . . . they keep flying back to their  nest on the tiny ledge Barney built for them years ago, above the window on the side that will be opened to the addition.

Here's Mom and Dad.

Isn't Don a great photographer?

May brought great things . . .

. . . incuding Don, back from Florida, to help save the day, and Bert, standing by with electrical hook-up knowledge.  So first, in early May came the electrical panel, the meter, and one glorius GFI outlet, and then zzzzzap! the power was on (can you say "power tools?")

Then came Don's mad flurry to get the front sided before Memorial Day

Then the chimney side got tackled, as well as the front "lawn."

 

 

So even if there is no septic system or interior to speak of, it is looking cuter.  The chimney guys are coming next week to install the liner and hook up the woodstove. (I am afraid my former chimney guy  bailed on me.)So theoretically I could stay there, keep warm, and work on my computer by lamplight--then go wash in the stream. 

The other exterior things to be done this summer are a stone curtain drain in front so the water won't splash up on those beautiful white cedar shakes, plus hopefully I will be able to get a burning permit and burn some brush in the "septic field" area and weedwack all the re-grown brush again.And maybe an exterior light by the door--wouldn't THAT be amazing??

For the interior: if my budget holds out I'll have the loft joists re-done, a bead-board ceiling put in below the loft (with a ceiling light) and put the saved pine boards back on some of the walls, after insulating them. I had wanted to sheetrock the inside, but renovations being what they were, the studs are not even enough to nail sheetrock to.  One lives and learns.

New Year's Resolutions

Now that I live in another town about an hour away, in what I believe they call a "neighborhood," with things like sidewalks and oil furnaces and tourists and as much hustle and bustle as a tiny coastal town will accommodate, I found an odd thing happening--I began to miss the woods.  And the quiet.  The mallards on the pond.  The Airline trail in snow.  The phenomenal array of birds: hawks, owls, woodpeckers, wood ducks.  Waterside plants.  Horses clop-clopping down the road. The trickle of a water source that turns to a freight train-like rush after a heavy rain. Woodstove smoke.  Well water.

So, for this month anyway, I've decided not to sell.  No reason to--it's all buttoned up thanks to Don, and MAYBE Mike will put the chimney pipe in this month.  (And we also had the reval, which reduced the cost of building lots to about 25 cents here, so my hopes of making my money back have vanished--this year anyway.)  Plus I am in the process of getting a permit to put in a 100amp panel and 3 GFI outlets as a nod to preliminary electricity.  Bert will help.  And I have written to the health district providing all the plans, diagrams, surveys, regulations and soil calculations necessary to either a) really piss em off, or b) convine 'em that yes indeed I do NOT need an engineered septic plan and can finally get going on that, whick is my big stumbling block.

Last year I had a $10,000 budget.
I kind of overspent.
This year I will stick under it.
The plan is to have heat (via woodstove), electricity, and siding on by the end of the year.  Plus some other froufrou things that are important.  But the object is to be able to stay there overnight.  Perhaps a wee hole for a temporary outhouse . . .

Will get back there next week and take photos.  It still looks forlorn . . . but remarkably un-bothered.  I think the neighborhood takes care of it.