Updated house model

Brent has been busy (he can't help himself - and I'm so glad) improving his 1/30th scale model of our new home. The weather has been awful - super cold and icy streets here in the KC area. So we were pretty much stuck inside for the weekend and this is how he spent the time.

Toward the end of the week it became apparent that the layout of the stairs in the new house might need adjusting because, in case it isn't obvious, Brent is pretty tall. I think it would be super unfair to make him duck to avoid hitting his head when going downstairs in a house we custom-built for ourselves.

So, using all his engineering skills as well as some newly acquired software knowledge, he modeled a new stair layout AND found a way to add a bunch of storage space both upstairs and down.

New layout for stairs showing pantry extending over the stairwell

Here is a photo of the new kitchen pantry. It has about twice as much space as the original plan because it now extends over the stairwell.

The white wall with the angle at the top is the west wall of the pantry. It goes all the way to the ceiling. In front of it you can  see the coat closet (without its west wall) which does not extend to the ceiling to maintain the airflow needed to pull heat from the sunspace.

Not shown in this photo is the step up that's inside the pantry. That step forms a shelf and creates the head room needed in the stairs for tall people.

The big change in the stair layout is the turn at the top that changes the direction of the entry to the stairs. People will now enter from the south and descend just a few steps to a landing.

In the process of working out the new stairway, Brent decided to build all of the walls for the rooms downstairs. And he and Rick (our builder) found a way to add another storage area under the stairs.

downstairs with walls

The old plan used the space under the stairs for the washer and dryer. There was also a plan to stub in an additional water line for a sink (allowing for remodeling plan in the future).

With the new stairs Rick suggested moving the washer and dryer into the mechanical room. That freed up that under-the-stairs area. So Brent added a wall and doorway that will create a cool storage area. And the water line for the future sink will go on that east wall of the downstairs bathroom (in that little space under the top turn in the stairs).

We are excited to see the layout. This process helped us confirm we have enough space for furniture, too, because Brent also made some flat, to-scale cutouts of our living room furniture. We had a lot of fun arranging those cut-outs in the living room - all without hurting our backs :-). I wouldn't be surprised if Brent finds a way to make 3-dimensional versions of our beds and sofas if the weather stays this cold. Who needs Legos when you have foam core and an X-acto knife? :-)

Winter flower fix

Okay, you know you're a plant nerd when you get excited about this:

pineapple

It's a pineapple! You have no idea how excited I was when I noticed it today. It's on a shelf that's over my head, so I didn't see it coming (so to speak). I've been growing this plant for maybe 3 years from a top I cut off of a store-bought fruit. Dang, that's fun :-)

Not only that, but my orchids are blooming. This is the first year in several that I haven't gone to the flower and garden show. But, at this point, I'm pretty much full-up with orchids and that's all I want to see at the show anyway.

Here are my beauties:

creamy white phalaenopsis 

magenta phalaenopsis

close-up of Epidendrum bloom

 And here is an orchid I purchased a few years ago, three maybe, that has reliably bloomed and never fussed. It's called an Epidendrum. These blooms sometimes last into summer. Every new stalk will bloom. The photo at left shows the smaller of two stalks with blooms. There are at least two more stalks that are also forming flower heads.

Epidendrum plant

Here's another photo of this lovely plant to show you how big the plant gets. It is desperate for repotting, but I'm afraid there aren't orchid pots big enough! Right now it shares our bedroom with the giant Norfolk Pine.

There are more flowers, but for now, I think I'll just leave you with the orchids. Needless to say, the house in winter is a jungle - just the way I like it :-)

Backhoe Brent has been making progress

Brent by the earth from the greenhouse foundation excavation

That's a lot of shoveling! Brent has completed excavating both the west and east sides of the foundation. He digs a very neat trench and has a pretty detailed plan for using the salvaged cinder blocks from the house as the base of this greenhouse. It will be the first of the working structures on the farm - and my home-away-from (but still very close to) - home.

South side of garage showing "door" to greenhouse and foundation

I love being able to visualize the size of the space now that both sides are in. Brent has actually started the trench for the south wall of the greenhouse too. Lucky for me, he loves spending time out at the farm. And the fact that he also likes being productive - and is capable of designing and building - is about the most awesome thing ever! (Yes, I have to pinch myself often.)

So, even though the construction of the house is moving kind of slowly right now, rest assured that there are still things happening and growing at our little farm :-)

Water proofing and drainage

The pretty new foundation has a coating of water proofing and there are coils of tubing for the drainage. In addition, the extra concrete that was splashed into the area that will be the slab has been broken up and removed - all neat and tidy :-)

drainage tubing

water proofing on west foundation walls

view from east showing waterproofing (and the beautiful sky!)

 Not taking shape at lightening speed (yet) but it's progress and already it feels like a nice warm spot on a January day in Kansas.

Changes to the garden - before it even starts

We are getting to know our neighbors already and like them a lot. Community can be a little hard to find in a rural setting, but happily that isn't the case on our little stretch of road in Leavenworth County, KS.

Late last Summer, our neighbor Keith stopped by on his 4-wheeler to ask if we wanted to sign a petition to chip and seal the portion of 178th Street between Evans Road and Kansas Avenue. Currently our road is gravel with all the dust, noise and mud one might imagine. So paving (as in chip and seal) changes all of that. It will be a much better maintained road year-round.

Unfortunately, the change in road surface also means the county has access to more of our little acreage. They require an easement that will destroy a windbreak of mature (12 foot tall) cedar trees that borders the west edge of the area on our property where we will have our vegetable gardens.

You can see in this photo the cedars and the flag that marks where the easement will extend into our property. And all the cedars will need to go.

So, since the road project will happen in 2016 (I think), we have a little time to grow some new trees. We hope to start planting those in March. I know, it will take more than a couple of years to get them as tall as the trees we have now. But at least I won't be tempted to plant things too close to the road and there will be some visual screen that still makes it feel cozy :-)

Starting the greenhouse

Standing by while the house is being built is a very anxious time. We have a ton of faith in our builder, Rick Robson of Robson Custom Homes. Yet, it all takes time, and we can't wait to be out there!

For me, it's sometimes just best to keep my mind on other things - like plans for a barn and chicken coop, learning about alpacas and fiber, going to horticulture conferences and reading about perennial propagation. For Brent, it's good to have a different project to act on. 

Brent has started a BIG project that has me very excited - the greenhouse! 

This will be a roughly 16'X16' space on the south side of the old cinderblock garage. The two spaces (garage and greenhouse) will be connected by a small doorway that already exists in the middle of the south wall of the garage. The peak of the greenhouse roof will run south (perpendicular to) and level with the garage roof.

Here's my guy "Backhoe Brent" digging the trench for a foundation:

Brent sitting in the trench for the west side of greenhouse.

 He has finished the trench for the west wall. The dirt from the trench is piled to the left in these photos.

finished trench for west wall
and line marking the south wall of greenhouse

As much as possible Brent is building the structure with salvaged materials. The lumber he and our sons salvaged from the old house. He purchased a few large windows on Craigslist from a remodel and we have one salvaged sliding glass door from the old house. As the walls take shape, the remaining spaces will be filled by other various windows we salvaged from the old house. The big purchase for this project will be the transparent panels for the roof. We are hoping we can keep that price under $500.

We feel pretty good about using recycled materials for the majority of the project. And I can't wait to see it! This will be my sunny home away from home :-)

I think we have a logo!

Over the holiday break from our day jobs Brent and I found time to work on a logo for our new place. Here's what we came up with:

We think it represents the fun and adventure we envision having on the farm. Our farm's name is a dedication to Brent's daughter, Vivian Ragsdale, who passed away in 2010. She was Chinese and a rough translation of her Chinese name is Happy Apple.

Needless to say to those who know us, much of what we do is a testament to and legacy of all the people we love. So we are very happy to be able to have Vivian's name represent our new life on the farm.