Last Chance and No Escaping the Barn

Today is my last chance to redeem myself in the eyes of the karate gods, and the funny thing is, it wouldn't take much in terms of time and effort. Besides, I was at the pool yesterday and became acutely aware of the battle of the bulge. There are some seriously unhealthy people out there, but to their credit, they don't let it stop them from having fun. All the more power to them.


My mentor's friend D is coming over today to look over the barn and give us feedback and advice. part of this process will be for us to have questions and decisions ready for him, which means we'll be clueless, lost, and unprepared, just like always. But at the very least, we'll be one step further along in this process. One of the biggest issues that we face is what to do with that darn siding. We like the rustic look of the wood and would like to keep it as it is for the aesthetics as well as the simplicity and convenience (i.e., it's already on there), but there seems to be a number of issues, first of which is the amount of wear that it has already incurred over the years. Not sure how old the barn is, but it has been hit a bit by the weather and such, and it shows.

Note the darkening of the wood near the ground, and the boards were put on green such that they have contracted and now have gaps between them. Apparently this can be easily amended by way of spray foam, but everything sounds easy in theory and isn't always so in practice. The other issue is that I'm not sure if they put Tyvek under one side of the house, and if they did not, whether or not this is an issue. Will have to investigate all these things. So many questions, I just don't know what they are. The beautiful thing about situations like this is that I don't know anything but can't seem to come up with any questions until after the source of information has left and gone home. Of course, I wish someone else would simply deal with all this, but such is the life of a real man in training.

Another issue that is just eating away at us are those windows. Nobody seems to like those windows, and I have to confess that they are not the best, though they work. And they are on the there already, so that's a huge bonus. Most of the people we talk to, including my mentor, don't seem to blink an eye at the idea of pouring money into a project. It's just no big deal to them, and maybe that's the way it should be, but I have a lot of trouble with it. It just makes me uneasy, and the idea of replacing the windows at the cost of thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe this is all a process.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Living a Meatloaf Song

Two out of three ain't bad, as the saying goes. We borrowed GL's big truck and made a family trip out to Home Depot expressly to get a chest freezer, and ended up getting two rugs, as well. Home Depot has this huge tent in their parking lot selling rugs and implying that you can get them at clearance prices, with is just a marketing sham because the tent is always out there. I'm no expert on rugs, but they still seem expensive to me, but I think everything is expensive.

We uncharacteristically got sidetracked and spent an hour in the rug tent, and R picked two out. We then went inside and they were sold out of the chest freezer we wanted. In fact, they didn't even have a floor model, and their selection was a bit shoddy. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in Home Depot, the salesperson seemed to not know what was going on and pulled the "old search and find info" to my question thing, i.e., she didn't really know the answer, though she was pretty quick on her feet and played it off well.

We bought the two rugs, and then went to Sears and got our freezer. It turns out that (according to the salesperson) Kenmore is a better brand, anyway... funny how that works. Being the complete sucker for a sales pitch, I of course bought into it and we got the freezer. His words didn't seal the deal or change anything, we were destined to get a freezer, but it made me feel good that we had serendipity (according to his wisdom, mind you) on our side.

Well, it turned out that one of the rugs was great, the other one just didn't work, and the freezer had a big ding in it. We had to borrow GL's truck once again, he was super helpful, and we got a new freezer, no question's asked-I was a little concerned they would give me a hard time, but Sears has kick-butt customer service. At one point I thought we could live with the damage, mainly due to the hassle of getting GL's truck and returning the darn thing, but I decided that was a lame way to go. We paid for a new freezer and that's exactly what we should have got, or at least one in pristine condition.

So we got it. We now have a new freezer to store meat and fruit, and a beautiful new rug in our front entry way (the kids thought it would make a great place to make Lego creations). The other rug we'll have to be exchange, but two out of three ain't bad. I'll take it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Karate Vows and Backyard Battles

Okay, today is Wednesday and it's not too late for me to practice my katas and one step spars and get enough practice to feel like I've adequately put my time in. Thursday is almost acceptable, Friday is pushing it, and by Saturday, I've already blown it. The ball is in my court, it's up to me.

I've been doing battle with some sort of critter in our backyard that's been invading our compost. I'm guessing it's a raccoon because he's tenacious and eats the corn. We saw a skunk at one point over by the bin (the cats wanted to attack but that would have been a disaster) but I'm not sure if they eat garbage. Coons, on the other hand...

Whatever be the case, I'm not sure if I just let the thing eat all the garbage it wants or try to put a stop to it. I've been engaging in the latter, with mixed results. Personally I don't have a problem with some animal eating the food we're tossing out, but man does that thing make a mess, and my feeling is that it's not a good idea to encourage foragers in your yard. We don't the animals in the woods to think that we're an all you can eat buffet. So I've been trying to patch up the holes the animal digs with posts, rocks, and dirt, which stops him at first.

But then all he does is moves to another section of the bin and digs through. It's become a bit of a cat-and-mouse game, and now our bin looks like Fort Knox. Every morning I go out there and find some new tunnel dug along with all the garbage strewn about the yard. What a slob. If he was neater about it I'd let it slide, but at this point it's become a battle, and there is no turning back. I could stop the whole charade by simply putting a barrier all around the compost bin, but that would take some time and effort, and I'm hoping in the back of my mind that he'll give up at some point. Fat chance.

So every day I just go out and drive some more stakes in.

I've been preparing the woods for storage of our wood, and there's plenty of it. I've still got about six cords uncut, and if I ever get around to cutting it, I need a place to store it. I've noticed that there are more ants on this wood than previous piles, perhaps due to the amazing amount of rain we've been getting. Kind of disconcerting. Speaking of wood, I actually started to cover up next season's wood, and should have it done within the next week, but don't hold me to that.

And adding to our responsibilities are our praying mantis'. We are actually raising praying mantis' and they are really cool, except that they eat bugs, and that means I've got to catch them. It's actually not a problem because our compost is a bug sanctuary, it's just that when I go to get them I am literally swarmed with flies. The things we do for knowledge.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

It's Not My Fault and Home Stuff

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we actually burned wood on the 10th of July, or at least around there. It's crazy to think of burning wood this late into July, or even in July, for that matter, but the weather has been crazy. It's been raining like you wouldn't believe, and cool, with little to no signs of the sun. I'm no expert on New England weather, but it strikes me as strange. Not sure what to make of it, but our garden is taking a beating and it makes it hard to get a lot done around the house, at least on the outside. I spoke with my beef contact JM and he said he couldn't cut the grass in the field to pasture his cows until just recently because of the rain. It's funny, but everyone is talking about the weather, including yours truly.

I will say this, however-I don't miss the grueling heat. Not that it ever gets that bad up here, I shouldn't whine, but some of those hot, humid summer days really get me down. It's been cool, at the very least, just no sun. And when the sun doesn't shine for days, it can be a bummer.

Oh well, it's been nice the past few days, so we'll take that. In fact, when the sun does shine, the weather has been stellar.

Speaking of wood, I finally finished the wood for the next two years and need to cover 2010's stack. Then begins the process of cutting our second big pile and storing the blocks somewhere in the woods. Should be interesting, and no stress, so fun. I'm hoping that my piles add up to eight cords, four for this winter, four for next. If any wood-people out there beg to differ, please share your thoughts, your input would be much appreciated. With the wood and our fuel contract with Irving all in order, I think we're set this next year at least in terms of heat. As for everything else, we'll see.

Also speaking of wood, my sensei who says he could cut down the tree behind the barn is expecting me to help out in felling the tree, so another notch in my real-man training.

Finally, we got the ultimate real-man accessory for summer, a barbecue. Sure, not manly as far BBQs go, but it works, and the kids get a huge kick out of it. In fact, they go bonkers for the thing, though I'm not sure I want to encourage pyromaniac ways. Even still, it is nice to grill food and eat outdoors during the warmer days. We've been finishing off every meal with s'mores, which adds to the fun. We simply grill them over the coals. We've lucked out with the weather, though it was threatening rain all night last night and didn't come down until we were all done. Much thanks to the rain gods.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Karate, Trees, and Answering to my Mentor

GL has been all over this project in the short term, and I feel like I'm letting him down by not being more enthusiastic and prepared. There's still time to get my act together, but there's so much to do. I was at Britton's the other day asking about siding when I realized that we had already come to a decision on siding, so no reason to even go there. I did get some information on how to set up a contractor's account, so maybe that's a good start. R talked to her dad and they agreed on some process of having a set amount of funds at the ready and then replenishing as necessary.

With that in mind, we'll go ahead with what we have on the barn. The siding looks good and I'm still not sure if it's a viable choice. We need expert advice rather than questions about what we want. We don't know what we want. That's the problem with these kinds of projects, you open the door a crack and the flood comes bowling you over. It's feast or famine on this end.

The project will entail cutting down some trees, which is a bummer because of cost and hassle. We have two huge trees in the back, with four others. GL had a logger come and look at them and decided that about seven trees had to go, including the dead hemlock in the driveway. I actually got to meet the famous Snake, tree man extraordinaire, who both G's know and love. Either way, they said we had some options, which always complicates things. Either cut the trees and then cut the wood for firewood and boards, or just leave them to rot in the woods.

What I wanted was for them to just come in, deal with it, and leave me out of it, but no such luck. I'm going to not only have to be involved, but I have to make decisions. Never a good thing. Actually, scratch that. It's a good thing, just makes me uncomfortable, but for a slacker like me, forcing me out of my comfort zone is a good thing. Otherwise I'd defer to the path of least resistance, which is not always the most rewarding. Indeed, it often is not.

I also had my sensei CH come out and look at it, and he is a logger/climber as well, not to mention a trusted good friend. He said he could do it and wanted to know when to begin, but wouldn't throw out a number, which I need. Just a ballpark, but we can't go forward without some sense of cost. Also, I'd be much more involved with CH, in fact, I'd be right there in the thick of things, which is how I'd like it. I feel much more comfortable with CH, but I just need that darn price.

Karate has been good with the return of M&R. I was a bit skeptical about seeing them again, I assumed that wherever they went didn't seem to work out, and I believe that was the case, but it's good having more bodies, and they are very serious, if not a little out there. Either way, it's been good having them, and one more leader is not a bad thing. We all benefit from more learning. Working my way to my green belt, two more katas to learn. Have to practice, and am thinking more and more of bringing the kids along with me, but we shall see.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Lining Up Contractors

This whole house building thing is a bear, and it's all been laid out for us, so it could be so much worse. We seem to run into the same problem every time, based in lack of information, i.e., ignorance. Everyone asks us the same question-what do you want? I don't know what I want, I guess I just want someone to come in and tell us what to do. It's not, however, going to be so simple, and we are going to have to make some big decisions, which never goes over well with the likes of us, especially where money is involved.

However, now that we have GL with us, there's no more messing around. Not only is he the ultimate do-er, but he's got time to burn, and he's chomping at the bit. So it's time to round up contractors and get some quotes, and get this show on the road. Yikes!

Moving Ahead

We are moving ahead with this barn, and G couldn't be happier. He is asking me about choices for siding and he brought over a couple of guys to estimate the cost of felling some trees. Not too keen on cutting down trees, but these seem like they need to come down for the best of the project. I had originally planned on asking my sensei, but G jumped on it and brought these guys over. They seem like they know their stuff, and I trust G, but I'll ask my friend. They mentioned that the pine would be worthless, and I hate the idea of it going to waste, but what do I know?

The maple, on the other hand, could be used for firewood, so that's good enough for me. As for the siding, I'm not even sure where to begin. We are leaning to taking all the boards off, planing them and using them for the floor. Then we would put up plywood, cover it with Tyvek, and then figure out what to put over that. That's where things get a little sketchy, mainly because of my cluelessness. Such is the life of a flatlander. Time to do some research.

Until then, thanks for reading.