Dollar Stretcher "Silly Questions" thread

THe shed isn't full of mice, bugs yes. It is an unsealed/rough shed. You can see daylight through the rafters a little bit. It is SOLID as all get out. That was my priority. It isn't a finished "tiny home" sort of thing. It's on skids and can move around as needed (with a decent truck and people who know what they are doing...no my subaru!). The bugs, and fresh air, come in through the gaps. It's all real wood, no plywood, no foam insulation to seal cracks.

I want to work with the builder because ...SOLID and they will do non-standard construction. The next home is supposed to be a post-n-beam framework with cordwood and cob infill, sitting on a rubble trench foundation (drainage and it spreads the weight of a very heavy wall). THere aren't other builders in the area that I trust with this sort of thing. They also give me a price, and stick to it. No changes, no add-ons that I pay for unless I agree in writing to pay for them (and the builder tends to add on to make things pretty).

As for the mice...no matter what I build it will be sitting in what was a hay field for 100+ years because that is the land I bought. There will be mice. Mice are a thing in the country and especially where I am. I have mice in both vehicles...and mouse traps/poison in both vehicles. In 3 years (4 winters) in the shed, only 2 rodents inside. Both came through the solar wiring conduit. I try to keep it blocked but shrews are determined little beggars. Easy to catch.
I avoid cooking and eating in the shed because that is the number 1 way to attract mice. In the real home, I will be doing my usual epic amounts of canning and cooking so I assume there will be mice.

OK...so NOW someone OVERPLOWED my driveway. It's actually HARDER to snowshoe to the car because the person trespassed and plowed most of a quartermile of driveway. 1 lane wide. I guess I could back in all the way from the highway, or back all the way out if I drive in. somehow the plower missed the point of me parking by the highway. I think they assumed I was poor or incapable of dealing with snow, not that I make a conscious choice to hike to the road on my snowshoes. I am not keeping it open or driving on it. We've had another 8 inches of snow and probably a foot coming tomorrow. It takes me about 3 minutes to snowshoe the extra distance to the highway where I park 10 feet off the road, vs snowshoeing to the bottom of my hill where the gravel drive starts (ends?) on my property . As of this morning there is enough snow to keep the snowshoes on but I had to break a new trail up the drivewy and climb over the giant berm they left.

I know the intentions were good, but seriously, perhaps ASK before crossing the clearly marked "no-trespassing" signs people. It also gave me nightmares of people trespassing. I know no one is going to hike through all that snow up to my place but if they could drive on the plowed drive and only hike a little bit, I'm feeling less safe. I hope I can catch whomever plows, they did this once last year too, and let them know that someone else would appreciate their kindness in ways that I do not.

Yes. Hope to do that. Right now the snow is so high and the ground completely frozen. the slope on the drive (the highway is higher then the property adjacent to it which is headed down toward the creek) would put that tape about 10 feet in the air. I will figure it out tho. I'm thinking of a tripod maybe that I can set on the driveway until I get a proper gate or find a way to string that flagging tape across.

i did figure out who was plowing. It's a very nice dude who mows for me in the summer. I thanked him and asked him to stop it. He has several kids and is trying to make a living farming. I'd rather hire him properly and pay him if I decide to have the road plowed.
Anyway, at least I know who it is and that it wasn't someone creepy.

It was below zero over night the last two nights but friends of mine in town have been gone and invited me to use their house for a few nights. NICE.
I had the carcass from a smoked rooster I'd helped a friend butcher and used that to make some killer soup. Work lunches for the week! I left them a pan of soup and threw in some wild rice. I did warn them that this was an elderly rooster. Even after being slow smoked, and boiled a couple of times, the meat-bits are still tough and flavory. This is NOT canned soup.

I could stay one more night but the weather isn't quite so cold and their smoke detectors were freaking me out. They kept going off at random times and then stopping. Nothing was on fire. No carbon monoxide. I unplugged everything plugable. I don't know what was doing it. I am going to go home and take my chances with a woodstove. At least if there is a fire I know I am the one who set it. I do have a fire alarm and a CO alarm as well.

Greetings all....I've been busy AND I clearly need an attitude adjustment. I think I've had the adjustment, though I'm still busy. I talked to Mr. Builder and Mrs. Builder...they claim I am NEXT on the list and things will start in MAY!!! WOOHOO! I knew when I insisted on April that it would be a bit later. The ground has been too wet but now it is dry enough to drive on and dig so they hopefully will show up.

I had a younger cousin visit and she thought I was a little to "on the grid" for her taste. I have a compost bucket toilet system. She asked if she could pee outside...I told her to knock herself out. Pee anywhere. 36 acres in bad need of nitrogen.
She works in the wood products industry (I have very little idea what that means). She was in the area for a client (??) and trying to meet up with a fellow wood products guy. This guy can certify special cut timbers! This is important to me because Mr. Builder got a saw mill and wants to cut my beams and posts himself. These won't be the same strength as typical cut lumber and since the strength is an unknown, each one must be certified. The engineer I paid to do and stamp drawings will certify as well, but he lives further away, on grid and will charge more $$. This friend guy lives about 15 minutes away, off grid and likes alternative building. Yay!!! THat visit was very worth it. I hadn't seen the girl but once since she was 8 years old. I think we're the only 2 people in our extended family who would think a bucket toilet was fine so turns out we now have lots in common and she expects to be back. She called to check on visiting, apparently after her grampa (my uncle) assured her I was not scary or mean. I'm a little of both actually, but so is she. She asked if she could hang a hammock and sleep outside. I offered her a square of buggy floor and she took it. I also said that I was extremely busy working the weekend and getting new bees for the hives so if she wanted to see me, she'd have to ride around and help. She did and she was very helpful. No screaming about the bees, very little whining when I forgot to feed her one day (she just went and found some apples and my jar of sunflower seeds and helped herself...good), no whininging about the floor, in fact she wrote down the brand of camping mattress. So, she is welcome back.

Again, sorry for my cranky-ness in a few past posts. I'm working on it. This is my first day off from work in 2 or 3 weeks. I'm not even clear on that. As an introvert, it was tooooo much but I have a job that runs in cycles between full time and too much time so it happens. Mostly it is an excellent job but sometimes overwhelming.

Enough for now.