Ben's Blog

nature encounters ben July 18, 2017

Woodpecker parent using hole to crush food for fledgling

agriculture, self sustainability ben July 18, 2017

Gave the berries some much needed TLC

Took the weeds down, added mulch and a fence

nature encounters ben July 14, 2017

One slug, one greenhouse, a mission.

building, self sustainability ben July 12, 2017

Roof line complete, getting ready for rafters

This beam, being a triple 2x12x24′, was a bear to put in place

agriculture, self sustainability ben July 11, 2017

Protected: Garlic Scapes

building, self sustainability ben July 09, 2017

2nd floor framing almost complete

Lego / Duplo ben July 08, 2017

Protected: Cool Duplo Project #43 – Wind experiments

building, self sustainability ben July 08, 2017

2 walls up

This house is going to be huuuuuuuuge compared to what we’re used to.

My favorite activities when building are discovering the view of a framed window and seeing how the house fits in the land.

building, self sustainability ben July 07, 2017

Protected: Too little time for detailed updates

nature encounters ben July 04, 2017

This helpless woodpecker fledgling & his mom have been visiting the bird feeder. He always has a feather sticking out awkwardly and doesn’t move around so well. He bumped into our window and couldn’t figure out how to eat from the feeder while his face was literally stuck in the feed. He’s the goofy little woodpecker, his mom does all the work.

Lego / Duplo ben July 03, 2017

Protected: Cool Duplo Project #42 – Shadow Puppet Theatre

nature encounters ben July 03, 2017

Raided by 5 birds simultaneously

Photo credits: my brother.

nature encounters ben June 27, 2017

Slow motion finch

I had this guy hover in front of my window many times one day, I thought he was trying to come inside but Rich pointed out he probably saw his reflection and was trying to pick a fight with it. Come to think of it, I had seen it chase another finch earlier.

Bringing the bird feeder this close to the big window has been nothing short of amazing, we call it “watching the big TV” and Robin’s been very much into it.

3 on the same feeder

Don’t miss the hummingbird

building, self sustainability ben June 25, 2017

2nd subfloor framing almost done

The platform for the stairs joins the vertical beam holding the subfloor. Through the magic of computer models, everything lines up perfectly. I never need to make calculations as I build, I cut where the 3D model tells me and I check to make sure I’m true to it. This is particularly useful for angles, I’ve impressed seasoned carpenters by laying all the pieces of a wall full of angles trusting they’ll all fit together in the end.