Six Weeks.............

Six weeks... that is our answer whenever anyone asks how long until we move into the barn, six weeks!  But the trick is to keep it as a rolling six weeks, so it is always six weeks! Then voila one day we are moved in!

One of the drivers behind our big adventure was how unsatisfied Mr M was with his work life.  Not necessarily his job but how his job was being driven, mostly by deadlines.  It is a sad state of affairs when ticking a box for a date met is more important than the quality of the work you are producing!  Therefore we have never set any deadlines, taking time to enjoy the process and the rolling six weeks will continue for the foreseeable future!

This week has seen lots of progress.  Firstly the floor for the bathroom has been put in, fun to be able to actually be in the "room"...

He also framed the shower so it is ready to have the shower pan built, the walls put in and tiled...

 

Also fitted the bathroom fan and fitted the vent to the outside! just need water and we are all set :)

 



And he has now started putting on wall board (plasterboard whatever we are calling it) it is really starting to come together!!

Bedroom wall....

Kitchen window.....

My corner office in our kitchen dining room...

So just six more weeks and we will be in!

This weekend I have been cracking on with my garden, putting in paths and digging out for my raised beds.

 

Lots of help, loving how it is coming together can't wait to get growing......

 



We also had another fire today, I think the success of this one is the result of Mr M's misspent youth, he is definitely more proficient on the fire front than I am!

Birthday Queen Daisy certainly agrees, "I can see my house from up here"...

Although she would like a bigger bed to enjoy the view from....

Finally, not wanting to be a complete bore but we have ended up with about 17 inches of rain for January! It's ok though as it is February tomorrow and the USA clocks go forward IN SIX WEEKS TIME.

NASA called... they want their space ship back!

It's all about warmth this week... we are now fully insulated apart from the floor.  We have used a mixture of traditional and modern insulation.  We have regular, pink, *don't breathe near it or you will die* stuff and some newer modern technology shiney stuff!

We used something similar in the UK when we did a loft conversion, it means you can fill much smaller depths and essentially achieve the same level of insulation, providing it has been installed correctly of course! *looks at Mr M for reassurance*

It works on the premise of a radiant barrier and therefore needs an air gap around it, so we have installed it on the big internal wall allowing a gap between it and the wallboard both sides, and also around the new outside wall, as the studs are only 4 inches deep and therefore we couldn't have fitted regular insulation in there to get the right R rating.  We were really pleased with the insulation we had used in the UK and so were more than happy to give something similar a go over here!

Besides it's like our very own little tribute to David Bowie and his Space Oddity!

"Ground Control to Major Tom"

 

Another business idea sprang to mind, warm and waterproof dog jackets!

Designed exclusively by Mr M, modeled by Daisy Matthews!

I still favor the more traditional *certain death* insulation, there is something more convincing about thick, pink and fluffy!!!

This is the corner where my desk will sit...

 

Should the saw stay or go? decisions, decisions!

 

Back of the bedroom wall, leading into the bathroom

 

 

Bathroom...



Lovely and toasty, it really does feel warmer in there! we have also ordered our pellet stove this week, so as soon as it arrives Mr M will get it installed and we will be able to dry out any moisture that might be in the building before installing the wallboard. 

We decided to go with another pellet stove as opposed to a wood burner as we were always so happy with the one in our old house.  Low maintenance, you can fire it up, fill the hopper and leave it to take care of itself, doesn't create much ash and will eventually be moved into our "house proper" as our main heating source!

I have also decided on the color scheme for the internal walls! and in my mind my kitchen is going to look fabulous - even on a budget :)

This weekend we managed to get up into the garden to lay out my vegetable beds, I need to start digging out the grass and then we will get them framed out before buying a bulk load of compost to fill them all ready for Spring planting.  Spring really is just around the corner, daffodils are starting to flower and the frogs are getting loud and proud most days.

I know it looks like a lot of stakes, but there is order to the madness...

*NERD ALERT*

 

So another week flies by, another wet week! I need to empty the rain gauge again, it's only been a week but we are just over 6.5 inches for the week!  Sure does rain a lot here in the winter, filling up our well for the summer.

The Great Wall of Port Orford!!

This week we had both the plumbing and electrical inspectors come out, everything is fine and they don't seem to spend long looking at stuff, in fact the plumbing inspector seemed to spend more time looking at motorbikes than pipes!

The big task of the week was the new wall, this is now in place instead of the garage door, I love the garage door but not enough to have it in my living room!

First it was framed...

 

Using the wild flame throwing nail gun....



 

Then it is has tar paper laid over it to waterproof...

 

Siding was cut to fit, edges painted first..

 

 

Our bargain "'ow much is that" $50 window was installed"....

 

 and voila - we have a new wall!

We will be painting the siding to match the rest of the barn, and I think then it will look much more like a home!  We are so pleased with how this turned out, I am thinking window boxes for the summer!

So this week he is going to start insulating the walls, it is full steam ahead now to get it all insulated, wall boarded, floor down, bathroom and kitchen installed and Mrs M in-situ ASAP!!

"From mid-May to mid-October, the weather is so predictable you can count on sunshine and 65 to 75 degrees with a comfortable ocean breeze almost all the time. During the winter, the weather is so unpredictable that one day you'll see hurricane force winds, giant crashing waves and horizontal rain... followed by blue skies and warm sunshine the next.".....





....quote taken from www.wildspring.com

It's been a week of wind, heavy rain, sunshine and blue skies!!

The rain gauge has been busy measuring, so far for January we have 6.5 inches...

But as long as a day of heavy rain is followed by this...

Then we are happy humans.... that's all for this week folks, soon be Spring!



 

This week's lesson.....

Ola peeps... the first full working week of 2016 is completed, and we survived! YAY!

Mr M has been busy busy busy getting all his plumbing and electrics completed so he can get his rough in (first fix) inspections completed.

All the little things that needed to be done are finished, I could bore you all with all the little details but mostly it consists of pressurizing the plumbing system..

Stripping and pig tailing all the electrical outlets - hands up who knows why it is called pig tailing?  Silly me thought it was because of the cute little curls at the end of each wire ...

but apparently No, that is not why! it has something to do with adding wires to link sockets together *yawn*

He also laid the big cable for the stove and the welder, fitted the bathroom fan, put a socket outside on the side of the barn and did lots more interesting tasks!

And the other BIG task that got completed was framing the big dividing wall that is separating the garage from the living space, all the electrics are also in on this wall!  It is great to have the completed space laid out, we also set the bedroom size and we have marked on the floor the kitchen appliances and workspace, we can now see how it is going to look.  I think everything will fit!

So this week we have the electrical inspector and the plumbing inspector coming! things are moving right along at a good pace which is so exciting! not that being in the airstream is any problem, hardly any fighting amongst the troops - honest!

Crab season kicked off this week, apparently this season has been delayed by a month due to something going on with the crabs in the Pacific - maybe they were away on vacation or something?   We went to the dock last Sunday and it was completely chocca with crab pots, which by now have been dropped, pulled and emptied quite a few times I am sure!

The interesting thing about Port Orford, and the thing that puts it on the "world" "American" map is that it is the only 'dolly' dock on the West Coast, where vessels are launched and retrieved using the cranes, and housed on homemade dollies when not fishing.

You can read all about it here.. if you are so inclined!

http://www.portofportorford.com/home

It is so cool to see the boats being lifted in and out of the water, we always stop to watch!

And then for a bigger one!



They do this everyday of the year, and apparently due to this method with no harbor and no ocean bar to cross, Port Orford has the most fishable days per year! Who Knew?

As Mr M said, it's not just put on for the tourists and us monkeys to go and watch, this is a busy working port!  So it's crab all round at the moment! we might have to go out for dinner soon!

'Ow much is that?????

Well that is it, all festivities done and dusted for another year! everything is put away and it is full steam ahead for 2016!

So another short work week has flown past Mr M has been very busy with wires, lots and lots of wires, of many different colors! and boxes for switches and plugs and lights etc.  I am seriously confused but he told me he knows which cable is for which box etc!

Everything has a little label on it :)

If nothing else, with all the wiring, and the plumbing the garage is at least looking pretty and colorful!  Apparently the wiring is nearly finished, just the stove and the welder to go - because all good houses need a welder!

And then the next phase will be the internal wall going up, and the wall that will be going in where there is currently a garage door!

This week we took a trip to Coos Bay, which is about 60 miles north of us.  We wanted to visit a shop called "Habitat for Humanity Re-store".    It is essentially a thrift (charity) shop for gently pre-used building supplies.  Contractors and/or the general public who have upgraded houses, take the stuff that has been stripped out to the store for them to sell to raise money to assist lower income families build their own homes.

We are really focused on keeping costs down whilst converting the garage, it is only a temporary home and so we decided that we would see what we could find!  What a shop!!!!!

'ow much is that?  That game for all the family that never gets boring, you could basically play this game ALL day long and probably never get it right!

We got a toilet.... 'ow much is that?

Go on - take a guess, you won't get it right.... the cheapest new toilet we could find in a store or on line was around $65... this little baby cost us just $20 bucks!

Bathroom sink - did I hear you say bathroom sink - with taps (faucet) and a plug.....

Nicely modeled by Mr M... 'ow much is that? - yep just $15 bucks!

What?? you want a kitchen sink too? a double sink, with drains included... Seriously??

'ow much is that? O M G - just $10 bucks!!! What a Deal, What a steal, Sale of the Century right here!!

But the real reason for the trip was to find a window, we are going to put a temporary wall in, in place of the garage door - because as much as want a garage door along with the welder in our home, that is SO last year!

And we figured it would be nice to have a window or 2 in the wall, but not if we couldn't find one.  We weren't being too specific, didn't have to be UPVC (vinyl), but did have to be double glazed, and 2 small ones, one big one, maybe a sliding door... whatever we could find.. Well what a find we had!  6ft x 3ft UPVC double glazed, opening with a fly screen..

 'ow much is that?  go on guess... new these retail at approx. $250... we got it for the champion price of $50!!

It will look fantabuloustastic in place as it will match the other window perfectly!

and to round off a very successful trip we even got a vanity light for the bathroom for just $5 bucks!

We walked away with a truck full of goodies for just $100, what a day! we both were excited to save some money but also to benefit a great LOCAL charity!

http://coosbayhabitat.org/

We will be going again to look for kitchen cabinets, although Mr M is going to build some of them himself we want some over head ones.  Also window blinds, paints, tiles.. the list goes on and on :) whatever we can use from there we will.

This weekend I have been doing some more work in my garden.  We put in another bed this time for my raspberries.

• Quiz - who remembers me saying I had dug up and brought some raspberry plants with me from our old house???

Well I did, and they had been doing ok in the pots where I had manically planted them during the throes of our move! however I noticed they were starting to sprout new growth, so they needed to be rehomed in a more permanent location.  They are now all planted out in neat little rows with some mulch on them, I might need to add some more soil to the bed come the Spring, but for now they can start to work on getting ready to provide us with yummy raspberries - Oh and I planted up my red current bush too! can't wait!

Only January 3rd and already new growth! definitely not cold winters down here...

Today on the beach we happened to notice our rocky beach....

Is once again a sandy beach....

The ever changing face of beach life!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!