Potluck

 

Events, daily happenings and course work  have spurred the blogging hiatus, which I’m briefly interrupting.

The graduation of the child and reuniting of all the various step, grand and parental “units” (as my sister likes to call the respective mother / father and their marital partner) went without a hitch.  Well, except the little one involving me making party arrangements at the wrong clubhouse.

Anyhow, there were other graduations to attend as well as a wedding, papers to write, books to read and projects to complete (still completing).

Among the projects is a Neighborhood Cooperative I’m constructing, loosely following a business plan model, with the intent of reuniting humans with nature and their communal roots.

The Blue Bag program is finally under way and there are talks of a CSA or community garden or farmers market???  I say “or” because it’s in the works and the specifics haven’t been revealed yet.

The Green Meets is attracting the attention of a sponsor, no specifics on this development yet either.

Today marked a culmination of these small events that represent a growing body of local, powerful, eco-conscious minded individuals.  The fringes of South Walton County are starting to infiltrate and with some hope and momentum this small corner of the coast may just prove itself in the green department.

Today a group of 14 of us came together for a potluck luncheon featuring local and regional foods.  The tables were set outside in the southern heat, under a canopy of pines, bound together with prayer flags.  The tables were covered with Sari’s and adorned with pickle jars filled with magnolias, produce props and beautifully mix-matched napkins, chairs, plates and glasses.  The representation of food was incredible: Gulf shrimp & fish ceviche, venison burgers, inkberry tea, blueberry-peach chutney over Mahi Mahi, watermelon water, spinach & duck egg quiche, pepper jelly, lima beans, pasta w/ local veggies, peach & basil tea, black bean & soy bean salsas, lemon balm & kaffir lime tea, zucchini bread,and cantelope & cucumber salad.  There were other samplings, though these were the staples.  Great food, great conversation with the majority of food coming from local gardens, farms, the Gulf, Alabama and Georgia.

 

Treehouse as Studio

I started out during the design phase of my home, wanting to build an office/ studio/ guest cottage at the rear of my property. As it turned out, it wasn’t in the budget. This was probably a good thing because at the location where it was sited, I didn’t realize until after the lot was surveyed, there is a nice little grove of young live oaks amongst a thick bed of palmettos. Of course, now that my daughter is graduating and is soon to move on, building another structure just for guests seems silly and the home office still functions perfectly in the the third bedroom. Now I’ve decided if I still need some sort of studio to “get away” or create, I would like to build something open and treehouse-esque. Even though I don’t have any trees large enough to support a real treehouse, I was recently inspired by a childs playhouse nestled in a hardwood hammock that was sporting a bridge to a look-out. For all intents and purposes, it could be considered a treehouse. The treehouse concept is also fueled by a recent holiday gift, Treehouses of the World by Pete Nelson. Each of the treehouses featured in the book is truly spectacular in its own way. The one on the cover, the Redmond Treehouse is one of my favorite. It encompasses several trees that pop out at odd locations and the moss gives it the patina that is evidence that it has evolved over the last 20 years. If you’re engineeringly inclined, you’ll appreciate the design of a little device called the “GL”, which is used in modern treehouse construction as a support to anchor the beams of the treehouse to, so as to allow the tree mobility and growth. The GL hardware device can apparently support up to 9,000 lb.

Really, my intent was to post about ANOTHER idea for a studio, NOT the treehouse, but the treehouse is so organic and small and perfectly immersed in the natural environment, I couldn’t help myself. This other idea is not new, nor is it orginal and I found evidence of this right in my own hood.

The shipping container.

If someone would be interested, I’d love to design them a re-purposed shipping container studio/ house/ outbuilding/ whatever. As for my own purposes, I’d love to use the shipping container, though the problem is fitting it on my narrow lot and wedging it in the back without taking out the sparkleberry tree. The other issue is of course aesthetics, I much prefer the look of two containers together (double wide, if I may) as opposed to a single. I love the charming gable roof on these, though on mine, I would design a barrel roof made of corrugated metal set on some beefy 4″x8″ beams just for fun. The roof would span the double wide. Then I’d design a simple lean-to porch on the long side with again the corrugated (mini preferred) metal roof over 2X4 purlins over 2X6’s, no I’d use “L” channel to keep the profile miniscule, set atop a beam supported by (2) reused 12″ dia. piles. I’ll have to work on that in SketchUp so you get the idea.

If you’re interested in pre-fab design and other ideas that have been executed with the container bay, check out http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm.

I would love nothing more than if we could reduce our living square footage to fit in a couple shipping containers and a treehouse and simultaneously start to appreciate and cultivate creative solutions to our living structures.

Casa de Maraposa - House III

I’ve been meaning to continue my exploration of more examples of the “reduce-reuse-recycle” housing model and low and behold, my work was done for me.  If you recall, the first home I described is a home that will be reused and relocated on the property (still in a holding pattern, though DEP has granted a permit).  The second home was remodeled using recycled materials.  The Casa de Maraposa or house III is an example of building new using advanced wall systems, reducing square footage and incorporating green practices throughout.  This project is still on the boards.  My friend and client has written a great post on the project so I won’t spoil the fun, read all about it at his blog.

About that letter to Microsoft

I recently wrote a letter to Microsoft Corporation regarding the recycling of a non-functioning mouse and keyboard.  I won’t repeat myself, though if you’re interested you can read about it here.  It was written in a moment of frustration, though after some reflection, I’m less certain about the proper placement of that frustration.  I was immediately frustrated because I thought I was doing the right thing by replacing a tiny little transceiver only to have my efforts thwarted by the company’s planned obsolescence.  I was further frustrated by the thought that I had succumbed to the advertising pressures to be that this was an item I needed, though that purchase was made previous to me deciding to become more proactive in the practice of sustainability.

Odds & Ends

I’m still trying to figure out my garden situation that I am now overly obsessed about.  Under the house are some left over deck boards which I initially thought I would build a raised bed from.  That was until I decided that p.t. wood probably wasn’t the best choice of material.  Then I figured I would cut down those pine trees (remember the ones that were infested with pine bark beetles?) and build a cordwood wall.  That would take care of two issues, disposing of the pine trees and building the raised beds, but alas, removing the trees is cost prohibitive at the moment.  Then I had another idea, which I’m still hoping will work.  My neighbor has some nice rectangular cut urbanite stacked up by their guest house.  I left them a note asking them if they would be willing to part with it, to which there has been no reply.  I’m not sure if they intend on using it or if they are possibly concerned I’m just someone who is looking to make a buck off them.  At any rate, I’ll have to wait until I see them working in the yard to approach them about it.  In the mean time, I decided to purchase this pond liner material and stakes that assemble into a raised bed.  My rational was that it’s affordable, easily rolled up and stored or can be moved to another location in the yard when I’m ready to build the permanent bed.

On the seed front, I’ve started some fresh ones: chantenay carrots and bulls blood beets.  Determined to have as little initial investment as possible, I made these little seed trays (pots?) out of rolled up newspaper.  So far so good.  The lettuce is doing well, there just isn’t enough to have more than one salad a week.  On a positive note, my next door neighbor told me she was inspired by my earth box garden and she’s started a few vegetables of her own.

And then there’s the animals… (big sigh) Elvis is great for a rabbit going on 10.  I strategically placed the compost bin near his cage so the compost is fed regular shovelfuls of rabbit poop.  Most Excellent!!  Cool, the sigthers 18 year old cat, is also in the same geriatric club as Elvis, though he gets along quite well.  Last week, he punctured his paw and wound up with an abscess that had to be drained.  Needless to say, he had to wear one of those Elizabethan cones while it healed.  We felt sorry for the little guy and at the same time it was a bit humorous.  Tango, the please rescue me-parvo puppy turned mange face, was completely mesmerized by “the cone” and couldn’t take his eyes off Cool.  Tango has turned into a handful and is beginning obedience classes next month.  The vet wanted to postpone neutering until he was healthy enough and now we are counting the days.  Meanwhile, Lola has turned into a complete mush pot, though she still maintains her position in the household and continues to startle unsuspecting guests.

  

Bohemian Bungalow - House II

Revisiting the past briefly, this is an oldie but a goodie.

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 The down and dirty:

• 800 sq.ft. beach house, built in the late 60’s
• basically destroyed from the inside out by termites
• 5 contractors looked at this project with no takers
• purchased the home at tax appraised value with cash

The renovation:

• $10,000 in materials which included: wood, drywall, wiring, plumbing, concrete, discounted metal roof, new misordered windows from building supply, paint and a LOT of caulk
• scavenged materials: solid mahogany doors from old restaurant, bricks and 5-panel wood doors from 1800’s house, oven and cabinets from street collection, misc. wood, insulation, appliances, plumbing fixtures from nearby house destroyed by tornado
• labor supplied by a close friend, daughter and self.

Where we lived during renovation: backyard, in a 1969 AirStream

Timeframe: approx. 6 months

Appraisal before renovation: $15,000

Appraisal after renovation: $55,000

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This story really begins with a charming red 1963 Dodge Dart convertible with rusted out floor boards and a fuel filter that needed continual cleaning.  I was working with a local architect and making about $12/ hr at the time, and my b.f. thought it imperitive that I buy this car, being that it was the ULTIMATE beach vehicle.  So, I did, for $1,500 that I really didn’t have.  Oh, we sure enjoyed that car though.  Several months after the car purchase, a tornado came barrelling down our street and took out about 10 houses, including a friends house, the Skrabalak’s.  Heh.

I decided it might be a smart idea to purchase one of the newly cleared tornado lots, build a new house then tear down our termite buffet.  The lot I wanted was $18,000 and I needed 10% down.  BTW, this was one of those lots within 1,000 ft. of the gulf.  I put the car up for sale, sold it for the same price as I purchased it, saved $300 and had my $1,800 to put down on the lot, which I promptly did.  After 3 months of trying to convince a bank (any bank) that I was a good risk for a construction loan to no avail, I gave up.  Realizing that I could no longer pay on the lot AND fix up my current abode, I opted to sell the lot and purchase an Air Stream.  I made a tidy profit of $5,000 (funny, right?) and promptly rolled 3 grand into the 24′ trailer, which I figured I would live in while I built a new house.  Still unable to get a construction loan with my salary, I decided I would do the next best thing when you have good credit…apply for every credit card on the planet and take out all cash advances possible.  This provided the $10,000 as noted above.

Oh, I almost forgot.  You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just get a home equity loan.  That’s because the house was in such disrepair it was uninsureable, hence unmortgageable.  Also, it was financially impossible to rent another home and simultaneously fix up my tear-down house.

Having the credit cards and cash in hand, we went about fixing up the house.  First it was jacked up (the roof was sagging about 6″), gutted and all the extraneous rotten additions were removed.  Then each exterior wall was rebuilt, one at a time.  New windows and doors, plumbing and wiring followed.  The floor was a peeling mess of poly-faux terrazo, which we recovered with 1.5″ of fresh concrete.  Then the new roof went on, followed by all the interior finishes, drywall, trim, paint, fixtures, etc.  It was a tremendous amount of labor that was being performed under a time crunch.  It was impairative to be complete before hurricane season due to the fact that insurance companies don’t write policies during that time.

It all came together about a week before June 1.  We completed the house renovation, the insurance company did an inspection and wrote me a policy.  With policy in hand,  I was able to go to my local credit union and apply for a home equity loan.  They gave me $20,000 to do home improvements (after the fact), which I in turn, used to pay off my credit cards used during renovation, as well as a few other debts.  I had about $2,000 remaining which I treated myself and family to a 3 month backpacking trip to Alaska.  This story continues but I’ll leave you here for now.  And that is just the beginning of how a 1963 Dodge Dart convertible transformed into a house.

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