A Dome Home

Street-side view of the Dome home.

We enjoy perusing unusual housing alternatives and

recently had opportunity to attend an open-house featuring 

a monolithic dome home.

The cost of this type housing is about the same as traditional stick & frame,

but because the insulation is on the interior of the home, 

it boasts a higher energy-efficiency.

(Edit!!!---the man informs me that I was too busy ooohing and ahhh-ing

at the decor and taking photos to pay close enough attention

to the construction details..... ;D.....

So here is the corrected version: 

The interior of the dome is concrete,

and the high-R-rating rigid insulation covers the outside.

This enables the concrete mass of the home 

to collect heat and maintain it so that even if power goes out,

interior heat is lost very very gradually.

This also results in very low utility bills.)

The shape of the home is reported to be exceptionally stable

in turbulence such as hurricanes or tornadoes as well,

which makes it an attractive option for some folks.

Enjoy the photo tour...

Entrance door to dome house, with carport on right.
I like how the carport does double duty as a patio
for outdoor hospitality.

Living and Kitchen half of the home.
The entry door and  Dining area is to the left, just out of camera-shot.

Dining Area

Kitchen

Another Kitchen shot

From Kitchen end, looking into Living area.
Entry door is on right, dining area is even further right,
once again out of camera-view.

Bedroom side.
There is a large walk-in closet out of view to the right.

Bedroom side looking into the bathroom.
Note the white frame above the doorway:
access to attic storage space.

Looking into bathroom: unseen on R is toilet and laundry stack;
on L is shower/tub unit.
The yellow wall shelf is removable to expose the hot water heater.

Shower side of the bathroom.
There is an extra sink in the bedroom area.

Toilet and washer/dryer stack in bathroom.

For more images and information on Monolithic Dome homes,

check out the link HERE.

Under Contract

Little Rock House

We are under contract---

Praise the Lord!!!

If all goes well,

our closing date is scheduled for November 14.

Keep those prayers on our behalf rising, please!

(and Thank You for taking time to pray!!!)

The Week in Blessings: Friday~Wood & Wire

After several weeks of typical winter gray-blah,

we awoke to clear sunny skies

and temps that soared to the upper 50's by afternoon.

Perfect for another day in the woods--cutting wood.

Photos courtesy of the Treasure.

:D

I knew she had found a creek to play in

but had I known my camera ever got this close to it

her photography career would have been cut very short.

Dog courtesy of the friend who so kindly let us cut wood on his property.

Poor fella,

he was called "Princess" in the most endearing of tones--

all day long--until the Treasure discovered he had boy parts.

Then he became "Mr. Princess."

:D

The Man threw in some discarded wire

so we could build a fire and burn the outer coating off

in order to recycle it.

Made the day seem like we were camping.

Almost.

:D

My Man cuts the wood, and then he splits it too!

(I just pick it up and load it onto the truck.)

We were blessed with so much this day:

 fresh air & sunshine, hope for spring's coming,

wood to warm us twice, fire for fun and warmth,

a happy girl puttering about in the woods,

wire to recycle for income,

and lots of exercise.

Blessings indeed.

(And did I mention the blessings if Ibuprofen?

Makes it possible for two middle-aging and

far-too-often-sedentary big kids

to get out of bed the next morning

after being blessed with such an active day!)

Happy Hen House

The current poultry compound.

It occurred to me recently that it has been quite a while

since I posted about our little friends in the backyard.

Some of the following photos will be familiar

to long-time readers, as they are being imported over here

from our private blog.

To the rest of you they will be new material.

A little over a year ago we began constructing the current hen house,

and for some time now it has been finished and in use.

I just forgot to update you about it!

To keep this as brief as possible,

I'll mostly recap the building process with photo captions:

This is an old pop-up camper the Man salvaged only because he wanted
the trailer frame. Hurricane force straight-line winds did this damage
one fine summer day, insuring that the trailer was indeed trashed!

When I see the Man in this stance, I know his wheels are turning and the
creative process is starting!

And then, when he begins digging through what I affectionately call
"The Poor White Trash Pile,".....I can be certain that something is up.

Here he is, cheerfully de-constructing the camper.
Demolition is always the fun part!!

Down to the frame, and floor, almost ready to start building.....
as soon as that back bumper comes off!

And here is the beginnings of the new hen house.
We pirated a general design from a commercial structure we'd seen,
but a lot of the measurements and such we had to figure out as we went.
Like I said.....creative process.

A family project.....the Treasure learns some new skills.

The frame taking shape.

Roof and sides are on, time to fill in the ends.
Where will the door fit?

And here it is, all cozy and complete.
The "tractor" to the right is the portable summer apartment,
we move the hens around to whatever greens need decimating--
usually garden weeds!
The pen on the far left is a dog kennel that a family member
needed to find a new home for, and we put wire mesh over the top
to discourage the chicken hawks.

It is hard to get good photos because it is so small,
but here is a shot of the inside.
Water is in an insulated jug (keeps it from freezing in winter)
and their feed is in the galvanized trash can on the left.



The roosting poles go across the back of the building.
We intend to build 3-4 nest boxes where the lighter boards
are under the window, but at present this is not a priority
as we only have 3 hens and they are on strike right now.
(I keep repeating the rhyme my dad told me to say to them:
"An egg a day--keeps the hatchet away!"
They pay me no mind. Guess they know
they are pets and are in no danger of being eaten!)




And on the right side of the door you see the hanging feeder,

a water dish, and the current--but very neglected--nest box.



So there you have it, our portable little hen house.

Small, simple and functional.

We do plan to take it with us when we make our final move,

but I think we will place it on a larger trailer to transport it,

rather than try to run it down the road on its little wheels!

The hens love it.

It is so funny to see them lined up at the gate of the big pen

every dusk these past winter afternoons.....the Man has them trained

to march right into the coop as soon as he opens the door.

Inside, they cluck and murmur and scratch in contentment.

A house that makes the hens happy.

~~Honoring Old Quilts~~2

Here's another old quilt to cheer your day!

This one comes from the Man's side of the family~

unfortunately, I do not know any of the history behind it.

It came to us with a couple other tattered quilts

after the second of his two paternal aunts passed away.

Both aunts never married, but they were sweet, precious,

Godly women who knew how to make and keep a home

with very little income to work with.

They were always gracious and hospitable

and welcomed me into the family with wide open arms.

I can only wonder about the history behind this quilt...

from appearances, it was treasured to tatters!

It was so threadbare that I despaired of finding

any way to salvage it...

yet it was so beautiful I couldn't bear to throw it in the trash.

I really love this pattern that creates a red and white checkerboard,

and I love the simplicity of it, and the warm homey-ness.

So I looked very closely at the entire quilt,

and was able to find a few places that I thought would hold up to

a gentle washing...

and maybe create some new memories for a little girl

I particularly love.

Those few places were cut out...

the largest was hemmed and became a new quilt for the doll cradle,

a smaller area became a pillow for the same.

I thought I had some photos of them in the cradle,

but they are evading me at present.

So here is one more recently of the Treasure...

...with a doll and a quilt that she now treasures.

Bliss Amidst the Boxes

About a month ago, on a trip to check on my folks,

we stopped at a Goodwill store that was just off our beaten path

because the Man wanted to see if he could find a some jeans and chambray shirts.

He scored well~ 3 pairs of jeans and 2 shirts for less than $20.

While he was shopping I made a sweep around the rest of the store

and saw this most adorable doll house...

I really loved it but didn't think the Man would go for it...

but, when he found it, all on his own, he was intrigued.

And when the Treasure added her very vocal adoration for its charm...

for another $19.95 it went home with us.

Home, in this case, meaning it lives at Poppa J's house.

(We are not going to move it twice!)

It was/is intended to be an early 'holiday' gift,

and the Treasure is delighted!

Turns out to be something she looks forward to on on trips,

and, it has really sparked her creativity as well.

The striped bedding is a thrifted napkin.

The pillows and blanket were designed and hand-sewn by the Treasure.

The doll's name is Anne, (like Anne of Green Gables)

and she belonged to my momma.

The rocker is hand~carved and was thrifted.

The purple and white rug is a piece of finger knitting by the treasure

that she requested I make into a rug...

I coiled it on a piece of paper and zig-zagged it to itself using a sewing machine,

starting in the middle and going around to the end.

(The paper was too stiff, so I soaked it in water

and dissolved as much of it as I could--

it works ok, but next time I'll use lite weight interfacing.)

A picnic supper set out for the dolls...

the dishes are vintage, I played with them when I was her age...

and the bowl of 'food' is just plain interesting...

The rag doll is named 'Charlotte' (like Laura Ingall's doll)

she is the momma...

Another thrifted chair...

...and if you look closely, there are several plain wooden 'babies'

(thrifted, of course!) nestled in-between Charlotte and Anne.

I'm enjoying watching my Treasure

find her own bliss amidst all the packing boxes...

Where We Are

We are in the midst of finishing up a few projects around our home

so that we can get it on the market soon.

The-Man dove in and finished up this rock project up last week,

and I'm so proud of him that I wanted to share

his handiwork with you.

We live in an old house that has a beautiful rock exterior.

This is just inside the front door, an enclosed porch

and the window that was once here

was removed and we drywalled over the space

when we gutted and completely remodeled this home.

We usually keep a wood-burning stove in this space

and use a fan to blow the warm air into the rest of the house

which helps our heating bills.

(We really prefer wood heat anyway, and love watching the flames)

 

It has been our intent to rock this space

to make it more fireproof for a long time...

When in his late teens-early twenties,

the-Man watched--and occasionally assisted--his dad in

rocking a wall at their family home,

but other than that he has no experience in this kind of work.

He's been dreading this job for years...due to his "inexperience"

but it only took him a week to complete,

and I think it looks great!!

(Too bad we have to leave it now...

but it will bless someone else's life,

and we consider it a good learning experience.)

~~~~~~~~~~~

We have a couple more loads to move to the farm

before we actually put our home up for sale...

we hope to get those two trips made before Thanksgiving...

so we are going to be crazy busy

and traveling a lot during the next 3-4 weeks...

which means I will be very challenged to post on a regular basis....

so I am going to pull several posts from the past from our private blog

that I think may be of interest--

at least there will be different photos for you to look at

when you stop by--

and hopefully that will relieve my self-imposed feelings of pressure

to keep new material at the top of this page!

As I have time, I'll be posting short updates and such,

but I will schedule these others to sort of fill in

when we are away from civilization.

Hope your month is wonderful,

and that every day is Thanksgiving Day at your home!

Blessings...

~~Honoring Old Quilts~~1

I love old quilts.

So much so that I can't bring myself to get rid of them

even when they are so old and tattered they are beyond household usefulness.

If you've ever made a quilt,

you might understand my dilemma.

It takes a lot of work to make a quilt.

It is also an artistic expression that comes from the very soul of it's maker.

Not to mention all the work and resources that went into

growing and processing the fibers of the original fabrics a quilt is made from...

then the labor that went into the making of the garments that were

the fabrics first use.

Then the collecting and selecting of the pieces

from garments no longer useful...

the designing and cutting and sewing of the bits

into a quilt top...which is then

layered into a sandwich with batting and bottom

and finally tied or quilted

into a newly functional thing of beauty.

Old quilts, and their makers, are deserving of honor.

At the same time, they do no good mouldering in a cardboard box

in my attic or basement or garage...

it's a quandry sentimentalists like me  wrestle with.

So I decided to make decisions.

Most of the quilts in my possession

would simply disintegrate in the machine were I to attempt to launder them,

and the outcome would be similar if I tried to wash them by hand.

I'm not going to bring them in and use them on the beds

because of their sad states of unpleasant odors,

possible infestations of moths or spiders,

and their lack of durablilty.

So what to do?

I pulled them all out on a late summer's afternoon

and decided to hang them on the line

and photograph them... then share them...

then assign them a new fate.

It is the best way I can think of to solve my dilemma.

I'd like to share these quilts~

and their stories as far as I know them~

here with you from time to time.

I'm told the above quilt was made by my paternal grandma Clara.

When my Momma married my Daddy,

they lived with Grandma, who was newly widowed, for a couple of years,

and Momma says that Grandma had made it

from her late husband's old worn out woolen suits.

It had been used as a top quilt for warmth for many years,

but by the time Momma joined the family it was worn enough that it

had been demoted to use as a cover for the box springs

on the bed that Grandma slept on.

(Waaay back then, box springs weren't the fancy fabric covered things we know,

they were actually just an open wire framework of springs and metal,

and they could snag and tear the best of mattresses if left uncovered.)

By the time I came along,

this old quilt had found its way to our home

and was still being used as a middle bed layer,

though it went to a box when my parents were able to upgrade

their sleeping system.

It has been boxed up ever since,

except for the occasional peek into the box and resulting

pulling it out and fingering.

I love the soft muted colors,

and the way they are placed in diagonal design.

The quilt is tied with purple-faded-lavender wool yarn

and I love the simple double hand stitching around the edges.

The batting is thick cotton,

and the backing is a cozy pink and grey striped cotton flannel

(you can barely see it peeking through the damaged area here.)

I love the scrappy and rugged look of this quilt.

It is so "country"...and the muted colors

are very reminiscent of the prairies and the open skies

that surround the farm where this quilt was made.

Although this quilt is no longer at home in the house,

we are using it to protect furniture and other breakables as we move.

I still love it, and it is still useful.

To be loved.....and useful.....is an honor.

I hope to be as fortunate when I'm this old and decrepit!