Expanding

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog, and a lot has changed. Timothy our first child is now twenty-five months old, and Patrick our second is 4 months old.

With the collapse in the cost of building materials (and labor rates), we decided to expand the farmstead this spring by adding... a barn! I began getting estimates in late winter, even talking to the folks that built the house. We had hoped to do the barn in post-and-beam, but the estimate we recieved were way out of line for our expectations- and budget. We opted for a stick-built structure, and I designed it myself.

The barn is a classic new-england style story-and-a-half cape, with a 12/12 roof pitch. We built it into the bank to make accessing the hayloft easy. as of July 6th, the barn is complete except for power, painting, and the main door. We used a local carpenter, Wayne Carr out of East Burke, and he was great to work with.

How will the barn be used? In the short term, as a multi-purpose utility building. we want both kids out of diapers before adding animals; We are considering sheep, some pigs for slaughter, maybe a milk-cow, but who knows how we'll feel in a few years. the stucture offers a lot of flexibilty which is key for us.

Our builder's brochure

A couple months ago, our builder took some photos of our house, and interviewed me for a marketing brochure. The results look great, and it's a nice summation of our experience.

We are coming up on our second Christmas in the home, and our first Christmas with our son Tim. Its really great to be back to our daily routine of firing the Masonry Heater. The house looks beautiful decorated for Christmas, we have the tree up and Welcome lights in a couple windows. Also, since Thanksgiving, we've had a great blanket of snow on the ground... As of today, we seem to have a solid 10 inches, with more in store for tonight and this weekend.

It looks like it will be a white christmas, after all!

Here is a link to the Old School Builders brochure. The pictures came out great, better than any I've been able to take of the interior. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

http://www.oldschoolbuilders.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=3745

Timothy Edward

After some gentle prodding from Dale, I am finally getting around to updating this page with some big news, and big it is, indeed!

Timothy Edward joined our family on Monday, May 21st, 2007. He came a few weeks early, after a very difficult labor. All turned out well in the end however, and Loralee and Tim are doing wonderfully. At birth, Tim weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long-- Good thing he came early!

He is beautiful, and everyone is right: NOTHING prepares you for this. We've had him five weeks now, and every day is a new experience, a new adventure. He's settling into a schedule, and has begun sleeping for longer stretches, which is really nice for Mom and Dad.

We've made the decision that Loralee will be staying home next year. This is a big leap of faith for us, but we know it will all work out. Loralee has already been scheming plans to keep her busy come the fall... French tutoring, perhaps, or starting a home-cooked meal catering business... We'll see. For now, we are nesting, keep the garden going, and trying to do a little landscaping between feedings and diaper changes.

Spring has arrived

May 6th, and May is finally here. We've recovered from the April 15th snow and wind storm, and are now getting ready for summer. My father came by today with the Bobcat and power-rake, and we graded the road. Loralee is feeling uncomfortable, but with only four more weeks to go, we've been blessed with an easy pregnancy. Here are some spring-time pictures we took today:

2 months to go

Loralee just entered her 3rd trimester; Everything is going great. we have the nursury pretty much together, except for the crib. Loralee looks radiant!

Meanwhile, Even though tomorrow is the first day of spring, it's still winter here in Vermont. I took the photo below last week; we got 8 inches of snow on Friday, and tonight the temperature is supposed to dip down to minus-10 F!

Energy Star Rated

Boy, it's been a while since I've posted here. We have had a good winter, and really enjoyed the Holidays in our new home. Loralee is doing very well with the pregnancy; a lot of our time has been taken up with preparing the nursury, exploring baby names, and mentally preparing for the next big adventure.

Last week, we got one heck of a Nor'Easter on Valentines day. The biggest storm in a decade dumped 30 inches of snow on the Northeast Kingdom; we have been wanting snow, but were'nt expecting it all at once! The snowbanks and drifts remind me of my childhood growing up here, and we have been enjoying getting out- snowshoeing, x-c skiing, etc.

As far as the house goes, we have really settled in and love it more every day. I am amazed at how warm it stays, and how important all the south-facing windows are for passive solar energy. The Masonry Heater is excellent, and we have found that by lighting two fires a day when the thermometer drops to bitter sub-zero readings, we still stay nice and cozy.

On a very positive note, our Efficiency Vermont report came back, and our home qualifies as a "Five-Star-Plus" rated home! This is the highest level of energy star rating you can get; we recieved a certificate from the State, which I need to register with our Deed at the Town Clerk's office. It doesn't really mean much, aside from the comfort of knowing that we aren't killing ourselves trying to heat the place, but it gives us something to brag about at cocktail parties.

Settled In...

It's after Thanksgiving, and November is Winding down. This has been the warmest and LEAST snowiest November on record for Vermont, and today, the 30th, it's fifty degrees out. We are wondering if there will be a ski season, or if we'll need our snowshoes after all...

Loralee and I have spent the last few months getting settled in. The more time we spend at home, the more we love it. By now, most of our friends and family have come over, and we hosted our first holiday ever- Thanksgiving- in our new home. We moved in just in time, and we have something very special to be thankful for: Loralee is pregnant! I cannot adequately express the joy and excitement that we both share.

The house has come together beautifully, and we've spent quite a bit of time nesting. At some point soon, I'll try to get a post or two up about my thoughts on the process, design in general, and any other wrap-up thoughts we may have.