First thing? YES!

Looky what's in the back yard!Tiny house a.k.a the Chateau has it's foundation. I'm so flippin' happy it's obscene.

This should've been in the last post but it's ridiculously difficult to insert a photo in the middle of a post on blogger.com.

Only thing I'm changing to it is the dormers upstairs which are flush with the exterior wall but bring the roof height up to an even 3' 8'' widthwise as well as lengthwise. Also the downstairs bedroom won't be used as a bedroom.

On a side note, my wonderful brothers suggested that to save space I add a trampoline to get up to the loft and a fireman's pole to get down. To which one of them added I could probably make up a lot of money that way and offered to make me a neon light that says 'The Hen's House'.

Thanks guys, I think I'll pass.

Le Chateau

I have a new project in the works. A BIG project.

Based on this tiny house:

Jay Schaffers Tumbleweed. Lusby is the particular model.

This is the photo that stole my heart:

I want to live here. Possibly forever. It may seems strange to some (I am strange to many people) but I've never wanted a big house. I've always been drawn to small efficient spaces that utilize the outdoors as part of the living space. 

My house will of course have a full bathroom. No tub though, I don't like baths, just showers. Our current plan is to hook it up to the septic system but I would love to have black water (poo) and grey water (shower/kitchen water) tanks attached so I can take it on the road like a real RV.
I need a fabulous kitchen of course! Smaller models have the kitchen in a small 6'x4' room but I will build it along one wall in the main 6' 1/2 x 6' 1/2 room. Mini (4 cubic foot) fridge, 2 burner LP stovetop and a sink of course. Planning on a microwave & toaster oven. I hardly ever use the oven anyway, don't think I'll miss it.

Only thing it'll be missing is a washer/dryer. I figure as long as I'm parked on the property it won't be a big deal to walk across the yard to wash my clothes. There is space for some sort of clothes washer if I decide I NEED it in the future.

Sleeping is in the loft which runs the width of the trailer (8') and 6' long. The original design is 3'8'' at the peak and follows the slope down, but we're putting in dormers on either side which will make it much roomier.

You can see a storage loft on the far side. We're extending that as well, right over the porch. So it will be bigger than the photo.

Here's an inspiration pic. The cedar shakes are so lovely. I'm thinking of putting them over the exterior porch overhang and the side dormers.

Here are my drafts, they are to scale (yay me!) This one is my favorite style:
The front view is not to scale. I don't know how to do that with perspective. But it does give you an idea of style.
Here's a second style, front view is to scale, off center is not:
It will also have a small side room (6'x4') Don't quite know what I'm doing with it yet...dressing room? Library? Tv room?

I need 2 nice recliners so Katie (or guest) and I can watch tv/movies and drink wine. I'm not compromising on that. Just don't know how I'm going to fit the in there, it is a truly tiny house. I may need to substitute one of the recliners for a small chair futon so I can take a guest and go road tripping.

We'll see. First things first!

Mad Scientists...

.. are the best kind of scientists!

And he was the best and maddest of them all.

Nikola Tesla

Never heard of him? You're not alone, but you should be. The AC motor, the basic devices of systems of wireless communication a.k.a. the radio, robotics, devices for x-rays, devices for charged particle beams (Ray guns!), the bladeless turbine, and VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft are among his 300 patents.

So why have so few people heard about him? Three words... Edison was evil. Yep the famous inventor Thomas Edison stole his inventions, slandered him, and along with Westinghouse conned him out of a huge sum of money. You want to learn about Edison? Look up the first execution by electric chair. I guarantee you will never see him the same way.

Nuff about that, here's some cool stuff Tesla did:

This is the first photograph ever taken by phosphorescent light. The face is Tesla's and the source of light is one of his phosphorescent bulbs. Keep in mind this is 50 years before florescent lamps come into use. January 1894.

April 1895. The high voltage high frequency current is being passed through the human body to bring the lamp to incandescence. Yes that is Samuel Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain who is holding the loop over the resonating coil. He and Tesla used to hang out, how cool is that?! Tesla is in the background.

1898. Tesla holds a highly evacuated, gas filled tube, powered by one of his high frequency oscillator units. The one amp tube operated without any connection to wires. Wireless energy was one of his special interests. Imagine what our world would be like if he had the funding that was promised and was able to pursue it.

May 5 1899. In this experiment, Tesla's body is charged to a high potential by means of a coil responsive to the waves transmitted to it from a distant oscillator. A long glass tube waved in his hand is lit by the electrical charges conveyed to it through his body.

Mad? Yes. Brilliant? Absolutely!

Go learn about him. GO NOW!

Winter Cometh

Finally!

It's been in the 50s for the last month. No snow, no ice to skate on, all brown and boring.

But Saturday night we got snow! Just barely enough to cover the grass but it's better than nothing. Of course the chickens disagree. All except Chaaya who seems to be immune to the cold. Oh well, deal with it chickens!

The high today was around 18 F but even so I saw some dummy on lake Independence with his fish house tilted into the lake on one end. Yeah, turns out one cold day doesn't mean you can take a 200 pound fish house out on the lake. But that happens every year no matter how cold the weather, someone isn't paying attention and picks the wrong spot.

Gorgeous sunset today and my kitten sleeping on the pillow behind me. Think I'm going to make some cocoa and start going through the seed catalogs. Life is good.

The Kobayashi Maru

Points to you if you know what the title refers to. The unwinnable test on Star Trek that Kirk beat by cheating (sort of). Also:

This adorable kitten.

Found on a busy road, suffering from pneumonia, malnutrition and ear mites. This kitten was in an unwinnable situation. Just after getting on antibiotics it went downhill fast.

It was the weekend so we called the emergency vet. They said all they could do is put the kitten on oxygen and get x-rays done and it would cost $1000. a night minimum. Keep in mind we had had the kitten for 5 days at this point. I was already very attached, but a grand a night?? Just not even possible. I was a mess. The kitten can hardly breathe. Can't lay down, can't eat because every time her head goes down she can't breathe at all. What do we do?

Pick up some canisters of oxygen at the hardware store.

We propped the kitty carrier up and rolled up towels so she could rest with her head up so she could breathe, and piped the oxygen on super low into the carrier. A canister lasted about 45 minutes. We did 5 canisters in the first 24 hours. In between treatments I'd give her eye droppers of KMR and pedialyte. In the first day she hardly moved and I was not at all sure she'd make it. Believe me, I did not sleep. It was agonizing.

By the next day I felt like there was improvement, she was lapping more out of the eyedropper and seemed to breathe a little better. Another 24 hours of oxygen and milk/Pedialyte. By Monday she was eating again and we were both able to get a good night's sleep. This lucky, lucky baby cheated death yet again!

A trip to the vet after the last round of antibiotics (20 days total!) and we found out it's a girl! This whole time we thought it was a boy kitten. I'll admit it, I went right out and bought a pretty grey collar with a pink flower and bow on it. So her name is Kobayashi Maru, just Maru for short.

As for giving her up, no way. Not after what I went through to keep her alive. The other kitties will just have to deal with it!

Dec. 24 update: Izzy is dealing just fine but I couldn't deal with Katie's disappointed over the name. She says it just reminds her of Kobe (an awesome restaurant) and she hates it. So after nearly a month without a name. We settled on....Lucy. Honestly I think it fits her better and she already answers to it.

Roadie

Well, I had an eventful weekend...

Sat. riding at River Valley, this time with the book club girls + 6 of Necole's friends. We had a group of 15 total so no cantering. :( But it was fun anyway, and I got to spend some time with my girl Robin... isn't she pretty?

Just to get a visual of a 17 horse trail ride (we had 2 guides with us). You can't even see the beginning of the line. It was a ridiculous number of horses.

After riding we took off for Necole's for pizza and fun. Got home about 2:00 after rocking out on Rockband.

Sunday on the way to meeting mom & dad found a kitten in the middle of the road. On hwy 10. Stopped the car in the middle of the road and called him, he came running. Poor little guy must've been so scared. If they didn't stop he would've been killed, no question. It's a busy road.

Got him home and called me to come take care of him. He has 2 little marks on his coat where the hair was singed off, but not all the way down to the skin, thank goodness. Also has a respiratory infection. He's wheezing a bit and will have coughing fits. We think he might have crawled up into a car engine and that's how he got the singed fur and ended up on the road. Who knows though... He was also super hungry, took a chunk out of my hand when I was scooping out some cat food. I think he'd been without food for a couple of days.

He's feeling better today, got an appointment with the vet for tomorrow. Probably will need to go on antibiotics for a while, but that's ok. I think he'll make a full recovery.
We're calling him Roadie for now. It's cute and it fits. If you had a band he'd totally haul your gear for you and handle crazy fans.

Think we have a few leads on people who might be able to give him a home. Will have to wait and see how the vet visit goes. I'd love to keep him but with the 2 antisocial girl kitties we already have, it probably won't work out.

He's such a sweetie though. Will NOT let you out of his sight. Cries if he's away from people and just rubs all over you. He's sleeping on my lap right now his head rolled off the side of my leg. Adorable! I can't get over how tiny he is.

Last Call

Ahh Duluth. City of my soul.

I truly love this place. It's where we would take our family vacation in the fall before school started. Château Lavoux, where you fall asleep to the sound of lake Superior crashing on the rocks and have your morning coffee on the deck overlooking the lake.

Hawthorne Suites (now just called The Suites) in Canal park. Enormous rooms in a converted warehouse, pool where the loading dock used to be.

But most of all I loved the hiking. We must've hiked up and down every river along the north shore from Duluth to Grand Marais. My favorites have always been Tettegouche, and Temperence River. Although Devil's Kettle is amazing, Cascade is beautiful, Caribou is just a great walk, and everyone should see Gooseberry and visit Castle in the Park at least once.

This trip we got back to our roots, sort of. Just the immediate family and just a weekend trip. Up on Saturday, home on Tuesday. Ok so that isn't a traditional weekend, but still, our trips lately have been 7-9 days.

It was amazing to go back to all the old places and find them pretty much exactly the same. Rock doesn't change much, even in a decade.

The difference came in our after hours.

Irish car bomb. Offensive name perhaps but oh so tasty! Half a glass of Guinness, a shot of half Baily's half Jameson. Pop it in the beer and drink it fast. Like an alcoholic milk shake.

This was at Green Mill in Canal Park. I highly recommend the bar in the evening, Chris the bartender is the best I've ever met, plus we had great conversations about brain tumors, the ability to cross ones eyes and books.

We also tried Old Chicago- noisy and not so much fun. And an Irish pub further up the hill- great atmosphere but horrible specials. The Long Island has SPRITE in it (blech!)!

So Green Mill became our jumping off point for other shenanigans. Like walking across the lift bridge to find out if the other side was, as Kip asserted, Wisconsin and not an island. Katie and I both knew he was wrong, but the most fun was finding a small hotel, getting the guy to unlock the door and asking where we were. Yeah, it's still Minnesota and most definitely an island.

Also saw a big ship go under the lift bridge at about 10:00.

Gorgeous with the bridge all lit up and the moon shining down.

We got to go out to Castle in the Park where the Gooseberry river empties into the lake, and Katie found this amazing little spot where you can sit just above the waves and soak in the sun. The words Kay's Cove were carved into the rock. I love the ancientness of this place.

At the mouth of the gooseberry we stopped and set up the camera for a pic.

Also got one at the lower falls in Gooseberry.

My room had a great view of the Irvin. LOVE The Suites. The rooms are incredible and it has the feel of the lake, maybe just because we have so much history here.