Companion Planting

I came across an article from Mother Earth News on companion planting today. The idea seems to be instead of planting things to "drive away" certain insects, plant items that attract birds and other insects that will eat the problem pests. I'm planning to plant cream peas and okra this summer so I'm thinking I'll plant some sunflowers with them and see how things work out.

Exterior Panels

First off, here is an article that I LOVE that someone shared on Facebook about a guy who lived in LA and NYC and moved out to the West Texas desert to live a self-sufficient lifestyle. It's so inspiring to see people who live in the desert succeeding.

I'm so excited!!! We finished drying in the house this past weekend minus the front door and plastic covered windows. We'll start buying those in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, this weekend we bought some exterior insulation for the house that will eventually be covered by metal siding. We also got gable vents for the attic, a breaker box for the electrical, electrical sockets, and a chain saw so Tony can spend this coming weekend cutting down trees for the electric company so they can run their lines. In case of rain I wanted to make sure that we didn't lose any more time, so now we have interior projects we can fall back on with the interior electrical and plumbing equipment.

On Saturday, Bubba helped us finish the last couple of rows of insulated panels on the roof and put on a roof cap. Here's the roof cap and roof. Next step will be to get the green metal roof panels. Not sure how soon we'll do that.

Here are the other insulated panels we got for the walls. We decided not to go with the same panels we used on the roof because it takes so much time to put them up and they are fiberglass which is a pain to cut. We itched so badly the past couple of weeks from them. Cost wise they worked out about the same, they just don't have the same structural benefit the SIPs (structural insulated panels) as what we used on the roof. The house is structrually sound though so we figured we didn't really need the extra "stability".

A close up of the panel, it's just a thick foam with the company logo sheeting on one side and aluminum foil on the other. If you are doing a brick or stone exterior the foil side is placed facing out to reflect the heat that the brick and stone absorb. For other exteriors the foil is placed facing inward to reflect the heat or air conditioning back inside depending upon the time of year.

We also got the 2nd living room window put up. These windows make me happy. I'm estimating that just from the windows and sinks that Tony's mom and step-dad have given us that they salvaged from past home improvements and real estate remodels they've saved us at least $1k.

Gable vents installed on each side of the house and gables sealed off.

Putting up the exterior wall insulation. In the distance you can also see all the smoke from the grass fires that broke out all over Oklahoma between Friday and Sunday. This was on Sunday before it started raining that night.

Gardening

I'm dying to get my hands dirty and start gardening, but anything I plant here in Texas I won't be able to harvest before we move to Oklahoma and anything I plant in Oklahoma I'm not there to tend. I plan on starting cream peas (similar to black-eyed peas) and okra once we're in Oklahoma since they love the heat, and it occurred to me today to start a few herbs that I can easily take with me.

I know I've mentioned before that I am interested in square foot gardening and in Oklahoma it will be our only option since we'll be living on a mountain. I have a book I've been reading, but today I came across an article that broke the info I've been searching for down to the bare bones and it's so unbelievably easy it's mind blowing. http://www.naturalhomemagazine.com/natural-landscaping/square-foot-gardening.aspx

Basically I'm going to need a mixture of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 blended compost. From there if plants say to thin to 12", 1 plant goes into a square. From there plants to be thinned to 6" get 4 per square, 4" gets 9 per square, and 3" get 16 per square.

Now I'm trying to decide if I want to do long rows or 6 to 8 - 4'x4' boxes... Decisions, decisions.

The ugly panels are back!

So it's been a while since I made an update. There hasn't been anything dramatic to show over the past month, so I thought I'd wait until I had something significant to post. There was also all the cold weather in February that made it hard to get any work done but now that things are starting to warm up we're seeing progress.

Davis Buildings in Stigler finally had some insulated panels in stock that we've been waiting on so I picked them up Friday and we got most of the roof done last weekend. Quinton & Diane's son, Bubba (Quinton Jr.), was a tremendous help getting the panels laid. I'm extremely grateful for him. This coming weekend we'll finish the roof panels and get started with another type of insulated panel we're getting for the walls (Polyisocyanurate Insulated Sheathing).  

The weekend of February 26 & 27, Tony worked alone on the house and put plastic up over the windows like in the photo above and started on the plumbing and electrical inside. The way Tony is doing the plumbing is by installing pvc conduit pipe, which is also used for safely running electrical wires through a house, then he will then run PEX pipe (in the photos below, blue is for the cold water line and red for the hot water line) through the conduit so if there is ever a water line break we can just pull the bad line from a central location instead of having a water leak somewhere in the wall. The PEX is also more flexible and easier to run than copper pipes, is cheaper, and has been shown to be less susceptible to corrosion than copper so long as it's not exposed to sunlight which can quickly make the PEX brittle.

All the electrical he's done so far is putting electrical boxes in place. 

I wasn't feeling well this weekend between nerve pain and a horrible migraine so Tony was sweet and let me kind of do my own thing, and I worked on knitting some seed stitch cloths that I can clean with, which I actually used to do dishes and scrub down a porcelain bathroom sink Tony's mom gave us from a rent house she owns and recently did renovations on. The sink had some paint and rust on it, which the paint came right off, but I still need to do some work on the rust which thankfully isn't bad.

I also spread some grow anywhere grass seed around the pond, where we plan on planting some trees (like a redbud) later in the spring. 

This Friday we're going to pick up the insulated sheathing like I mentioned above and I'm also going to get my front door, I'm so excited!!! The door in the link is the wrong size but it's essentially what we're getting, one w/a window since that wall won't have a window and the window has the mini-blind built in so there is no cleaning involved. Yay!

Snow Ice Cream

The snow just isn't stopping here in North Texas. Where I happen to live we got over an inch of ice plus 5+ inches of snow on Tuesday. Today we've gotten another few inches. A dear friend sent me a photo of her 21 month old daughter eating some snow ice cream. Of course I had to know how she made it. It's simply snow, milk, sugar and vanilla, and it is so yummy! Growing up we didn't have any traditions like snow ice cream. I did often go out and find icicles and pretend I was eating carrots or make the occasional snow angel.

It's so simple to make. It's 1 part sugar, 2 parts milk, vanilla to taste (a teaspoon to a tablespoon), and snow. Mix the sugar, milk and vanilla to combine, then add to snow. Mix until it reaches a consistency you like.

For example, I used 1/2 c sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 Tbs vanilla and I'd venture to guess 5-6 cups of snow. Keep adding snow or the milk mixture until it reaches a consistency you like. I personally dumped the milk mixture into the snow and I was happy with it.

Thanks, Mendie!!!!

We Have Walls!!!

Before I give an update on the walls, I want to take a moment to thank the Grahams for all they have done for us. It was Quinton who got Tony the new job and gave us the opportunity to finally build a house with our own hands. Quinton and his boys have helped us tremendously with building the house and lending us tools. Diane has been tirelessly taking care of Tony in addition to the rest of her family, doing his laundry, cooking for him, etc., and it is greatly appreciated. I can't thank them enough for all that they have done for us over the years. They have opened their home and their hearts to us, making great sacrifices to be our friends. They've never hesitated to help us even when it would have been easier or understandable not to. Our dreams are coming true because of them. I love them deeply for their selflessness and generous hearts.

While I was up on Friday running around getting our vehicles repaired, I drove past this house that used the same metal sheeting that Tony and I are intending on using. This is my inspiration, it's going to be so cute!

The place we have been buying the insulated panels at has been out of stock recently, so Tony and I decided to first put up OSB for the walls until the panels come in. For a few hundred dollars it'll add another layer of insulation and help protect against drafts that might slip through the insulated panels.

The first board is up!

The first wall! This is the north side wall for the bedroom and closet.

My utility room! I really want sky lights in our next house.

Tony framing in the bathroom window.

Exterior door and utility room. 

Kitchen wall. Right now the plan is to have the sink under the window with countertops and cabinets on the left and a freestanding stove and fridge on the right.

Front of the house that looks over the view to the southeast. The living room is on the left and the bedroom on the right.

My closet. I'm trying to keep things as neat and organized as possible to make the whole process smoother.

Our table!

Exterior wall that faces northwest that  is the bathroom, kitchen and utility room.

After getting the first board up, we realized how difficult it was to hit the studs without them being marked, so I marked them all, but Tony still missed from time to time, and eventually went around and filled every hole with Great Stuff. He also sealed in any gaps he found. This is one of the steps he's taking to this being Super House. If money were no object, he'd insulate the entire house in Great Stuff.

Tony in action with is favorite material.

Some cool stuff I saw while hiking around the property. Fungus and moss. I LOVE watching how nature changes with each season.

And finally, me!

The Roof!

I finally have photos of what Tony accomplished over New Years while I was in Texas. He and Quinton got the roof framed, I'm so excited that our place is really looking like a house now! That is Q's son, Bubba (also named Quinton), in the photo.

Maybe once we have our carpentry skills down we can do an open beam ceiling in our bigger house. I love the angles.

This past weekend while I was in Oklahoma, Quinton and Bubba helped us put the first layer on the roof. Originally we wanted to do jut a layer of insulated panels under the metal sheeting we use as the exterior layer, but the place we buy the panels was out of stock on the size we want, so we decided to do a layer of OSB instead (until the panels come in) and it will give us one more layer of insulation and help protect against potential drafts with the insulated panels. 

End of the Saturday.

Sunday Quinton and Bubba put up the OSB on the other half of the roof while Tony framed in the utility/storage room. 

Quinton and Bubba also covered the roof in tar paper to protect the seams between the OSB from leaks. When I go up the weekend of January 28 we'll put OSB up for the walls.