Workshop Stove Up and Running!

Last week we finally got our hands on all of the necessary parts to install a flue for our stove, and by the end of the week it was up and running. My fingers no longer freeze while I am working on projects in the barn (yippee!) and the smell of burning birch logs is quite cozy.

In addition to installing the flue, we also used 000 steel wool to shine and clean the metal hardware on the stove and gave the body a coat of black stove paint. The whole setup looks pretty sharp if I do say so myself.

The cabinets and walls inside the barn have also been painted, and the photo display setup is almost done. More photos to come soon!

Just Call me the Reluctant Driver

When I moved to Boston in 2001, I came without a car and remained blissfully carless for the following 11 years. I was not only content, but actually happy to walk and take public transportation 99% of the time. I loved walking through the park to get across town and riding the train over the bridge to Cambridge. Train rides became my time to think, read, and listen to music. The skyline view over the Longfellow Bridge made me smile and feel thankful to live in such a beautiful city every time I passed it.

While working for Google, not only was my train pass paid for, but I was also able to drive Zipcars for free by participating in the company's Zipcar incentive program. On rare occasions when a car was required (usually for thrifting outings) I could hop in one of the dozens of cars parked within a few minute walk of my condo and cruise around for half an hour or a full day for free.

All of this meant that my yearly spend for transportation came to a whopping $0. Living car free, while not for everyone and not for every city, is completely liberating as far as I am concerned. No car payment, no insurance payment, no gas bill, no parking bill, no car repair costs, and no road rage. But the most important benefit to me was being one less person pumping pollution into the air. Getting off my butt and walking to get where I needed to go felt right and it felt good.

Well, all of that is about to change. Living car free in downtown Boston is easy, but not feasible in rural Vermont. There is no public transportation, we are not within a reasonable walking distance from town, and if I am going to get this vintage business a fair shot, I'll need to drive long distances to hit up flea markets and estate sales. Before moving I privately brainstormed ideas for transportation modes not involving a car, but seeing as though "horse and buggy" was the only option I could come up with, I resigned myself to the fact that I would need to give in and buy a car eventually.

That day came yesterday when we drove off the dealership lot with a shiny sage green 2009 Subaru Forester. While I am still not loving the fact that I have to drive to get everywhere, I must admit that it will make life more convenient. Next week it will come in handy when we pick up my parents in Boston and drive the 2.5 hours back to VT with them in tow. That trip is not very pleasant crammed in the back seat of Josh's Toyota Tacoma access cab.

For now I will appreciate this new "luxury" but remain a reluctant driver, looking forward to the day we have a clean, low-impact way to get from one place to another.

The Vermont Salvage Exchange

My hunt for awesome thrifting spots in the area unearthed a gem of a salvage yard about 40 minutes away in White River Junction. The Vermont Salvage Exchange covers three floors of a HUGE warehouse, and the industrial space reminds me of a Hollywood set, staged perfectly for the big shoot out showdown at the end of an action or horror flick.

The dark, dusty warehouse is packed to the gills with all manner of architectural salvage supplies, including old windows, age weathered doors, antique claw foot bath tubs, ornate moldings, giant wall cabinets, industrial lighting, the contents of an old bowling alley, retro school desks, wooden stadium seats, limestone sinks, and a thousand other things.

In the basement, hundreds (maybe even thousands) of windows are stacked on the half dirt half creaky wood plank floor. A sign on the wall informs customers that windows are priced "by the pane." 6 pane windows are $20, 8 pane are $25, and so on.

The main floor is chock full of large pieces like wall paneling, columns, hand hewn beams, display shelving units large enough to cover an entire wall, an enormous green factory turbine, stairway banisters, and a huge pergola in the middle of it all.

While the salvage yard is full of amazing eye candy and is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, unfortunately the prices (with the exception of the basement windows) are somewhat inflated. I would have loved to take home a few of the pieces we saw, but there were no bargains to be had. Still, the Vermont Salvage Exchange is definitely worth a visit if you appreciate old architecture, antique furniture, and general oddities.

Stove Piping and a Plow

This week's snow flurry, though light in our area, motivated us to take care of a few projects that must be finished before winter really sets in. We still need a flue hookup for the wood burning stove in the workshop and a snow plow for the truck.

The Stove
As previously mentioned, we will be using a wood burning stove to heat the workshop this winter. It's getting cold enough that spending an extended amount of time in the workshop without heat is not feasible, so hooking up the stove is a priority. We bought a stove a few months back at a flea market, but the real challenge will be installing flue piping through the wall and up the back of the barn to ensure the smoke safely exits the building. Code requires the piping to extend a few feet above the roof of the barn, and because our barn is just over 20 feet tall Josh will be spending a decent amount of time on a very tall ladder.  As a safety measure, he's been slipping on his rock climbing harness and attaching it to the roof rafters while he works just in case the ladder slips. The whole thing makes me nervous, so I'll be glad when the installation is done and he is safe!

 

The Plow
Our house sits at the top of a hillside, and in addition to living on a class 3 road, we have a long, steep, gravel driveway. We are responsible to plowing a small portion of the class 3 road as well as our driveway, so needless to say a snow plow will be crucial. Snow plows are not only pricey, but require a bit of research before a purchase can be made. What kind of plow can your truck handle? How much snow will you be plowing? What kind of a mounting kit do you need? How will the plow be installed? We decided to go with a Fisher Homesteader plow and will hopefully have it installed by next week. Let's just hope we don't get a big storm before then!

 

Photo: Fisherplows.com

Lamp Roundup

Now that we are *so* close to having the workshop ready, I've been cruising the web for work lighting options. I don't actually need a new lamp, but it's fun to window shop. Never hurts to look, right? Here are a few of my favorites:

Clockwise from top left: Alberta Table Lamp in Turquoise & Cherry from Caravan Pacific Lighting, Dokter + Misses Table Lamp from West Elm, Modern Table Lamp by Ample Furniture, Grasshoppa Floor Lamp from Horne, Titan 1 Pendant & Diffuser from Horne, Atomic Yellow Table Lamp from CB2, Black Powder Coated Swivel Lamp with Brass Shade from Onefortythree.

Permaculture Prep

Last Friday Josh mowed the hillside in front of the house in preparation for permaculture projects/experiments we have planned for next spring. For those unfamiliar with the term (as I was a few months ago), Google defines permaculture as the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.

My understanding is that permaculture techniques allow people to work with nature instead of against it to grow food, build homes and communities, and care for animals. Simple examples include incorporating bug repellant plants in a garden to keep pests away instead of using pesticides or building a home with large south facing windows for passive solar heating.

Our plan is to set up a half indoor, half outdoor chicken coop using the horse stalls in the barn and start out with a few laying hens for eggs. We'll grow kale and swiss chard on the hillside across from the stalls for chicken feed along with nitrogen fixing cover crops to enrich the soil. We'll allow the chickens to graze the hillside, and their waste, combined with the cover crop nutrients, will eventually create fertile land for growing other types of food in the future.

Below are some pictures of the "permaculture site" being cleared along with a few of the pups, who had a good time playing in the grass while we worked.

Ocean Edge

We spent last Thursday through Sunday at Ocean Edge on the Cape for Josh's sister's wedding. Ocean Edge is a fairy tale type of place, with two large pink roofed Victorian mansions perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The weather cooperated beautifully and all the wedding events wrapped up before Hurricane Sandy started to roll in. My favorite part was meeting and spending time with some of the out of state family members I had been hearing about for so long. Here are a few pictures from the weekend via Instagram.

↓ Ocean Edge Resort

↓ Chandelier in the lobby

↓ The beach at Ocean Edge

↓ The wedding took place under a giant Linden tree

↓ The happy couple :)

Congratulations Mat & Jenna!!