Heard this evening...

"Politicians are like dirty diapers: they need to be changed -- and often!"

- Gary DeMar at the Midwest Regional Worldview Conference at Providence Church in Morton, Illinois

Bucolic

Bucolic, adj. -- Pastoral; relating to country affairs and to a shepherd's life and occupation. From Latin bucolicus, pertaining to cattle, pastoral.

This view out our living room window is proof the cows are back in the pasture across the road. Watching the cows meander, eat, rest, eat, and socialize -- and eat some more -- is very relaxing. A lot more relaxing than if there was a pack of dogs roaming about the pasture all day.

Provided the weather cooperates, we don't get a pest infestation, and the birds stay away, it looks like it could be a bumper crop for the cherry tree this year. Fortunately, our survival does not depend on this crop, but it would be awful nice to stash away a few dozen quarts of cherries in our freezer. Thanks for visiting!

Construction update #35

There's a lot to be said for doing a job the hard way: 1) you figure out at least two ways to get a job done, 2) you get to enjoy the experience much longer than most people do, 3) you get more exercise and burn more calories, 4) you get a lot more time to contemplate the necessity of doing the job, 5) you aren't nearly as tempted to brag about how efficiently you completed the job, and the list goes on. When we poured the floor for the barn, (since we eventually hope to heat that floor) we put rigid foam insulation under the concrete to reduce the amount of heat that would go into the earth beneath it. At the time, I didn't think there was much need to insulate the sides of the floor. I've changed my mind.

It may shock you to know that I have not yet calculated how much heat would be lost through the block foundation around the floor. I don't need that calculation to know that it would almost kill me to see snow melting around the foundation knowing that I was paying for that kind of wastefulness. So instead of spending an hour and putting insulation on the inside of the foundation walls before the floor was poured, I get to spend days insulating the outside of the foundation.

The first step is to remove the dirt around the foundation. In our case, the foundation is only two blocks deep, so I didn't have to dig down very far. It was necessary to scrape the dirt off the blocks and brush it clean when dry so the adhesive would stick to the blocks.

I cut some sheets of 1.5" rigid foam insulation so they covered most of the block, but were easy enough to manage in the ditches. I had bent some aluminum cladding sheet into a drip edge that fits over the insulation and under the siding since the insulation is thicker than the siding. The metal curlicues on the left are the result of a little field modification to the drip edge. Construction adhesive held the insulation in place on the foundation, where I hope it will remain until I backfill the ditches.

Eventually the insulation will be coated so it lasts longer in the elements, but I'll have to show that in another post since I don't have all the insulation installed yet.

This is how the project looked from the roof of the house on Wednesday evening. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

First mowing of the year

Two weeks earlier than last year, but maybe that's what happens when the temperature peaks out above 80°F several days in the first week of April. Part of me wishes I could put this off for another 6 months.

Gretel's Baptism!

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." -- Romans 6:3-6

This past Lord's Day was a memorable day for our family in that Gretel was baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and our family became members of Providence Church. Praise God for his grace toward us, and for our dear church family at Providence.