I Was Simply Floored

When my less than powered tools gave out this evening, I had 1/3 of my wood floor finished.

On a complete whim, I stopped by Terry Garrison's Home Pro in Westmoreland on my way out of town this morning and asked Poochie (not to be confused with Squeegie, who used to work there) if he had anything out on the lot that would supplement my small number of pine wood boards for my flooring.

Poochie showed me a corner of the lot where lived a large order of tongue and groove pine that the orderee never picked up over two years ago.  He said for me to go inside and talk to the manager and see what deal he could give me on the wood.

Keith, the manager, practically jumped at a chance to rid the lot of this wood.

I said all that to say...here are the pictures.

Also, I finished attaching the gutter and downspout to go in the 250 gallon water container.  Only one day's worth of rain garnered, as you will see, over 55 gallons of water!  Wowzer!

Excitement all around.  Enjoy the pics, and click them to embiggen.

It Was the Most I've Worked; It Was the Least I've Worked

With apologies to Dickens, here's what I mean by the title.

I'm worn out!  Pooped!  Dawg tired!  With fatigue--as one is with child.  I've been put through the wringer.  I've been run ragged.  Run down, exhausted, and, if you don't get it by now, I'm tired.

(Cue Lili Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles)

And "Why are you tired?" one might ask.  

Simple answer:  I dunno.  

All I did today was bring in another couple of solar panels, set up the water tank temporarily on an old pallet, and pretty much finish the interior paneling job (including the furring strips).

The water tank will sit on the northern side at the west corner of the house.  It'll be fed from the gutter that will hang on the west slope of the roof.

Also, I chose some paint colors today.  More on that later.  

**Yawn**  I'm going to bed.

Here are the promised pix.  Notice that last picture; it's evidence that even a gleaner has construction 'trash' that can be repurposed.  I will offer my scraps for free on Craigslist and hope someone can use them.

Power Up!

Today saw the installation, at least on a temporary basis, of electricity at Charlie's Chottage (or Carlie's Cottage?).  I got a slightly damaged solar panel set (15 watts x 3 panels), a power box, and two 12v, 5w fluorescent light bulbs.

Also, I began the installation of the paneling (donated from Ralph, the next door neighbor) in the, uh, whatever I'll call it ultimately.

Also, I happened upon a 250 gallon food-grade plastic container with a top intake and a large spigot.  It held candy syrup, so I have to rinse it before I can hook it up to the back gutter and began the rain collection.

Here are the photos; I'll post one of the container when I get it cleaned.

Snug as a Thug with a Slug (That's the urban version)

My sweet sister next to what she calls, inappropriately, "the doll house".

A long day of working--in fact, two long days of working--has yielded this:

--exterior trim and caulking doing
--interior insulation finished
--itchy eyes and arms

All of which leads me to say that by November 1, 2010, I should move in.

Green house with white trim, anyone? Anyone?

R-13 plus the styrofoam plus the Hardie Board.  Pretty tight!

South wall now finished; see the white caulk?

Close to Enclosure

Over the past few days, with the weather holding steady in the 70s for highs with no precip, it's been perfect to get the exterior almost completed in time for the raindrops to come.  When they do, I'll be snugly ensconced inside, working on the insulation, paneling, and the pine board flooring.

Here are the pics from the progress over the past days.  All done by widdle ol' me. Some of the Hardie Board, being scavenged, was already painted, but will be repainted.  Some of it is simply dirty.

The color scheme I've hit upon is green siding with white trim and doors.  I think the 4" trim will show up nicely.

I especially like the framing around the window; it seems rustic somehow.

As if a one-room, off the grid, shed roof house wasn't rustic enough.

Click the pics to embiggen.