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Author Archives: jim
Triple play!
Today I had three major milestones happen: the cottage passed plumbing inspection, mechanical inspection, and electrical inspection. The last one was the most stressful, in part because the electrical end of things is far more complicated, and also the electrical … Continue reading
Posted in Construction
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A Portable Swarm
It was BLAZING hot yesterday (80 degrees!), and after a long day of toiling on the house project, I came back to the apartment pretty close to sundown. As I got out of the truck, i heard a buzzing in … Continue reading
360,000 bees can’t be wrong
…about how nice it is to live on our farm! The final piece of the farm-grant puzzle came together yesterday, when I went to Portland to pick up a dozen crates of bees for my new hives. A lot of … Continue reading
Well well well
After a long wait, work has finally started on the well. I mentioned our well options about a year ago, and since then we’ve been working to make that happen. I pulled a well construction permit from the state, took … Continue reading
What would Gilligan do?
We still don’t have a well or running water, but one of the things that I have to do sometime soon is a plumbing test for the drain and vent system. To do that, you have to fill the system … Continue reading
Third-world healthcare
Sometimes I have to take a break from thinking about farming and construction, and I sometimes end pondering third-world development issues. I came across this brief clip about healthcare, and it made me so happy I am reposting it here. … Continue reading
Posted in Theory
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Kilarney Red
Emily’s trying a new variety of garlic this year, Kilarney Red. It’s a hardneck from Ireland, which we figured would be a good fit, as Ireland has the same mesothermic maritime environment that we do. We may have guessed right- … Continue reading
Building beehives
Last week we had a break in the rain and cold, and the bees went out for a little buzz around the hive. You go, little guys! I was busy as well, building hives in anticipation of the arrival of … Continue reading
Pulling wire
On to electrical! We’re finally at the stage where we are pulling wire for the cottage. It’s surprisingly physical work, pulling all that wire through all those little holes. As Ryan and Sleep were helping me, Ryan mentioned that it … Continue reading
Grillo walking tractor has arrived
So, something monumental has been brewing for about three years, and it’s finally coming together. A month or two after we got back from Peace Corps in Guatemala, right after we moved to Oregon, we were talking with another recently … Continue reading