Are Ya Ready Boots? Start Walkin'.

Passive solar, zero energy prefab house kit
...in the rain.

Yep, I *have* crossed over to the dark side. 
So if you come upon me snarling, striding purposely through your part o' the world, step aside quick.

 

Last night my law abiding, everything-is-German-regimented, would-never-consider-jaywalking-much-less-trespassing, Mr. Corporate Career, M.B.A., Suit-Wearin', Certaintly-T'ain't-No-Hippie Handsome Husband looked me in the eye and said, "I don't care. We're going to get you chickens."
In the meantime, we're eating rationed pullet eggs from The Aults Family Farm...

Handsome Husband went off on this drizzly gray day to the land, delivering gutters and solar pumps and whatnot to the zero energy passive solar prefab house for this week's construction progress.


I am slowly waking up and lo and behold here is an invitation to a Game Tasting!

A nice way to start the day!

I then called my dad to talk about The Ruffed Grouse Society, with which I've grown up. (My dad is prez of the James River chapter.) They are BIG conservationists. Good land management does not always mean old growth when benefiting wildlife. Crop tree release and even, yes, careful logging are necessary to create the habitat in which birds and animals flourish. FYI, you know I am clearly, passionately, emphatically against clear cutting. When I say logging I mean it like they do in Finland- responsibly, selectively, promoting habitat.

From http://bolt.lakeheadu.ca/
~borfor/world/world_finland.htm

"Finnish forestry aims at imitating the natural succession. Here it is quite unproblematic to practice near-nature forestry: the commercially valuable tree species belong to Finland's natural flora and can be grown on their natural sites. Forest regeneration is comparable with forest fires or storms, and intermediate felling resembles natural thinning. ... Rather than being systematic and dull, the forests are rich in variety and subtlety of detail."

Shooting skeet. Leanin' way too far back, YOU
try shooting in heels...!
It was Thanksgiving, hence the heels.

And I've been a big fan of the James River Association for...forever...
Add in some great local food & wine? WE'RE IN!

I used the Game Dinner Tasting event as an opportunity to finally join The Ruffed Grouse Society as an adult- now we have our own family membership!  Did you know my over-and-under Beretta is a Ruffed Grouse 25th Anniversary edition? It. Is.
And yes,  It. Is. Gorgeous.

So in one swoop I think I made some "firsts" - at least, for the James River chapter: My dad thinks I'm its first girl member, and with mah childrenz included in that family membership, maybe we also contributed the youngest members?
Ha, just carryin' the torch, dad...

Speaking of shotguns, I dedicate this next song to Handsome Husband, with whom I'll always happily ride off on our next adventure:

On my second cup of coffee, I read Tempest In A Foam Cup : Lawmakers Spar Over Plastic about Congress replacing biodegradable plates & forks with plastic.

I don't get it. Why don't they just use REAL utensils & plates and wash them in the frickin' cafeteria?

Seriously. If my KIDS can do zero waste at school & bring & wash their own durned REAL utensils, why can't Congress?

Heeeey, that was fast- Handsome Husband Has Returned! Here's our prefab house kit construction update!
I had mentioned to Jason Dorris last week I thought Gigacrete's PlasterMax might be a good water-resistant finish for the prefab's interior of the SIP... along with other more environmentally-friendly drywall alternatives (post 1 on this topic, post 2, post 3...), including where we reused VMI's basketball court on the walls.  He thinks it will be too labor intensive, but it's something to consider.

Last week they finished installation of the HRV ductwork.  The exposed pipes underneath the maple-clad ceiling (VMI's basket ball court, again) look stunning!

We'll use motorized dampers at the entry & exits (at the building envelope barrier) preventing the air from coming in to the HRV when it is not running. Otherwise the run from the HRV to the building envelope is unconditioned air.

They had to build out a bit of framing where the HRV grills protrude the walls... in some cases we will not deal with that until we do the finishing work on those spaces.

The 80 gallon domestic solar hot water tank is on site... now to hook it all up! The pumps and the radiant manifolds are there so we are ready to finish systems plumbing.

The two tanks and pressure tank will occupy all the systems closet. So drat it. We will have extremely little space for luxuries in the kitchen.

Tonight we order the rainwater filtration & cistern pieces...

Handsome Husband & Jason spoke about the window frames - the basketball court could frame it very clean and prettily... but why not just trowel the area with PlasterMax / etc.? I feel like David Day intends for the windows to be invisible, hence why he wants the edges black - I vote for no framing.

The white register / diffuser / vent will need to be painted. Again, the intent is to blend in, so I'm thinking a light caramel vs. a silver or red or black.

Ceiling Wiring: Forget the cloud. Put furring strips on the ceiling which will allow us to run the power where we want (we did not choose to add chases through the ceiling).

Next we get an excavation quote for burying the cistern... and we now need to order the pump & pressure tank for that.

Lissen up: Back to Urban Chickunz: My neighbors have no idea what's about to hit them.
You know I've got the Ace of Spades up my sleeve...
Bring it, outdated Richmond peoples.
(Assumes menacing stance. Then trips and falls spectacularly in a slow wipe out down the stairs.)