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I’ve been hitting a bunch of rocks with the mowers all Summer long. A few minutes with a tractor are all it takes to pop them out. I’m very happy to see these guys go. Except one which is too massive to go anywhere, I just put the soil back on it and pretended like nothing happened.
We are at 10 gallons for the season. I wish I could say they suffice to our yearly consumption.
Hard time taking pictures of the process, we’re at 15 gallons of cider, 5 of which are now laced with the inebriating nectar of the gods :). We followed an extremely simple farm recipe, the cider is good but not great. The 2 gallons with honey tasted best, maple syrup left no particular taste but did make the cider a little stronger. Good stuff!
Every batch labeled with a picture for the story of the tree it came from.
“Old man’s arch”, “Maple ghost moon”, Honey third from the left” are all there.
Every day we pick up droppings from a tree that is a bit early. We make just enough applesauce for a day, just enough for the house to smell incredible.
the nice ones are saved as they keep really well
the ugly ones are cooked immediately
Summer 2016 revealed amazing firefly spectacles. They left the stage this year to the Monarch butterfly.
caterpillar
I never saw butterflies as very good fliers, they seem to land on whatever the wind blows them on. Only after following one a while did I realize it hit a milkweed every single time. Despite of their completely erratic flight pattern, they are in fact quite calculated.
Racing to a livable room.
600 bulbs dried & cleaned. we’ll definitely have enough for our consumption.
in blue, the curve for a normal day, in red, the moon gets in the way.
I have been pushing hard for days to get to a point where we can start using the new space. I can see that the rough construction is almost over and that things get easier from then on. In fact, I can see that I will never push as hard as I did these past couple of years. This Summer has been incredible in that the land and the house are really taking shape into the dream we are pursuing. And also because we know the hardest is behind us after more than 2 years of ruthless efforts. And so, while it’s psychologically very hard to muster the resolve to spend days working to exhaustion on ladders in the Sun, I also know this is the last such sacrifice I’ll be doing. Future projects will have a much saner rhythm to them because our livelihood will not depend on them. It is with the knowledge that it only gets easier from this that I plowed through 5 more days of construction.
To finish the sheathing of the second floor I’ve received help from Chris & Lou. Bringing 4’x8′ half inch sheet of wood up ladders is both tricky & tough. Both Chris & Lou are experienced carpenters, I’ve learned a whole lot from them, including how to make this hard task as easy as possible. They showed me many other tricks.
It kind of looks like a bunker without windows.
Flashing
Insulation & vapor barrier, it’s a very nice feeling to start thinking about the inside.
Of wood stoves. This little Alpiner will be in charge of the house addition although it will probably not be hooked up to a chimney before next year.
The tractor is once again proving itself invaluable. The front loader fits right in the truck within 0.5″.
My new hobby: taking wood stoves for a ride.
After an hour of trying various techniques, Justin & I give up for the day. The stove is just too heavy to get up the steps.
It’ll sit outside until next time.
Take 2, with a come-along. Same awesome tool I used to move 2 trees a while back.
Easy as pie.
I love the Alpine landscape decoration.
The old inverter I bought second hand for $20 bit the dust. In part due to my lack of cable strain relief which created contact between ground and negative, oops :\ lessons learned. I bought this new guy which works so much better I think the old one was on the way out anyway. I especially love the fact it comes with a remote start/stop. Since we rarely use 110AC and the solar shed is 50′ from the house, it’s perfect to remove phantom loads. It’s not like we remember to ever turn it off, but we can 🙂
Throughout building the addition, an inordinate amount of time was spent joining is to the existing structure. This is compounded when reaching the roof. This critical part where to roof lines join was done, redone and re-redone to satisfaction. Here having been demolished for the 2nd time.
Several tasks were accomplished today in preparation for a big sheathing push, and to get everything ready for the roofers.
Making holes to allow the air to flow under the roof.
Insect screen
Nice, tight & aerated 
There will be no vampires tonight.
An unfinished house is perfect drying space.
And it’s time to get back into it. This flight of stairs shall serve as a warm up.
