A Plan for the Future

The past two nights have gotten below 10 degrees and we have felt it. As you might expect, the heat pump doesn't work too well when the wind chill is below 0. Therefore, we unfortunately have to burn fossil fuels to keep the house a balmy 58 degrees.

During the past year of construction, we have been slowly modifying our plans for the cabin and addition. As a part of these modifications, we asked the architect to produce some concept drawings to help us visualize what the project will finally look like. Attached is a picture posted before on the blog of Heather in the garden and the concept drawing from the north side of the house.

A Firm Foundation

Following Henry David Thoreau's advice, we are laying the foundation of our castle (historic log cabin, rather) in the air. Mike and crew have been cutting, chiseling, and mortaring away for the last month. The beautiful hand-cut limestone from Ewing's Chapel (see February 11th post "Rocks and Snow") is almost gone, but we have secured a few more tons of rock from the chimney of a historic home in Elizabethton. Even with the aid of a modern rock saw, the process is slow and arduous...by 2006 standards, that is.

New Front Door!

Here's a picture of our new front door. Mike made it from walnut he had harvested from the Exchange Place, the living history farm where I volunteer. Wood looks so much better than vinyl!