Turkey Tails and Bamboo Rails

 

While the kitchen counter was getting installed, I went to check on the pump house.  There were new turkey tails on some of the recently exposed rotting logs.   A thick carpet of redwood and pine needles, springy beneath my feet, kept me from having a steady hand taking sharp photos.  But I tried!  It was good to get outside and breath in the sweet air. I stayed outside as the adhesive for the counter had a strong odor. This was the first time I felt a little ill inside the house.  It is a testament to all the natural products used from cotton insulation to clay paint and earth plasters.  There is little out-gassing.  We opened up all the windows, the breezeway doors and soon the smell dissipated.  The counter does looks great.  

Kitchen is nearly done.  The round globe light was the only GU-24 light we could find.  It looks like we dotted an I.  It is a cheap ceiling light and not what I intended over the sink.  But somehow, it looks okay.  Kind of quirky.  We will see.  It was easier to put in all GU-24 lights, than to figure out the percentages of energy efficiency required for service areas.  Even though this house is a passive solar home and has natural light streaming in (even on foggy days!) the code is the code.  We didn't want to stress over it.  Keeping to the small, simple and clean.

The photo doesn't really show the beautiful texture of this particular wall. There are bits of grog and little bits of  dark blue earth pigment. It is subtle, but the sunlight moves across it as if a graphite pencil, sketching in shadows and coloring values. 

The railing is up.  The rails are black bamboo and harvested locally.  The bottom rails are the thicker canes, graduating in size upwards. The posts will get some stain and wax.  A loft ladder is in the works and will sit inside the wall.  It will pull out when needed.  And tuck out of the way, when not.  I tried looking for a library ladder, but in the end a custom made ladder was needed.
 

Life goes on.  This redwood partially uprooted many, many years ago.  That "trunk" is actually a branch about 15' in diameter.   There's a cave of sorts underneath. Tim's two sons built a small fort (hobbit hole) using scrap lumber.  It is very cozy and well crafted.  He said he would take it down, but I really love it.  I love the thought of  two boys building it. How they planned and worked.  It looks swept.  There's even a shelf.   How wonderful and fun.  It isn't visible from the house. So it will remain.  A secret place. Beneath a tree.......

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.   ~Hermann Hesse


 

Doors and Salvaged Windows

“...so I wait for you like a lonely house
till you will see me again and live in me.
Till then my windows ache.” Pablo Neruda

salvaged doors and windows yard

We went to nearby Albion to look for an old window.  We have six salvaged windows in the interior to let light into the bedrooms.  Our shower looked a bit dark so I asked Tim if we could put in a small, rectangular window in the interior wall. The sink and mirror is on the other side.  If you stand at the sink you can peek into the shower or vice versa.  Herr, at first, thought it should be frosted.  Huh?  As if I would sneak a peek? So clearly, he needed some disillusionment. I wanted an old window with clear glass.  I looked all over at Urban Ore and Omega Salvage in Berkeley, but all were too big.  Surprise! Tim found one nearby, in the coastal town of Albion.  Perfect in its imperfections.  We loved it.  It even had lavender paint painted over its once turquoise frame.

  

 the outside facing is lavender, the inside is painted white

Well, Herr broke the glass when he was trying to photograph it.  He felt so bad that we immediately drove up to Albion to see if they had another.  We were in luck as there was only one more in that size. We got it and returned to the house.  Then we started thinking how easily the glass shattered.  Not so good for a shower.  Herr took the glass bits out of the first window. It is now at the glass shop getting tempered glass. It was a good thing after all the window fell and the glass broke.  I think the house was telling us something.  

 

a small kitchen makes one think about function, utility and paring down to essentials

Now to decide on the wall color in the kitchen area.  The cabinets are in and I forgot to pick out hardware.  We have no upper cabinets on the window side as we plan to put up shelves for our daily dishes.  I don't know what's with all the outlets, but apparently it's code.  Tim put up 3 plaster swatches.  They are all too dark. And I think it needs a bit more ohhhh. It even seems like the house is saying, "No dull clouds, no drabby fog---make it thunderous!  Have an adventure in purple gray of driftwood and wet sand."  I say okay, lighten up the swatches and the house will say AHHH!

 

Finally. We went around and around about the front door. The door's framing was on hold until the plaster color was done. It was too pale and blah.  Then just yellow. Tim wasn't happy with the color.  I wasn't happy. Definitely the house wasn't showing a happy face.  So finally I asked if he could just do a wash of green pigment with a bit of blue on top and ta-dah---there was the color and texture we were looking for........

just the right green and now the door frame is next

From the road it appears more mossy green. Up close more verdigris with chalky straw streaks.  It has depth and hidden character now.  It gives this passive solar house a voice. Enough to say:

Happy New Year!