A Bedroom Window Is In!!

We battled to put this frame in. Along the way, I managed to smash Joni's finger with a hammer...




The window frame (a bit crooked, but I fixed that)...just needs a window!

And the window is in...

This will be one of two large windows in what will be our (Joni and Allan's) bedroom. Progress is being made...

Jazmine Practices Her Riding Skills...

But all is not work out here where the Sierra meets the Cascades. There is time for healthy play. What child shouldn't learn to ride a bike, while the family dog keeps guard?

Clean air. Clean water. Good dogs. No traffic. Nature. Helping to build a house out of natural materials. Neighbor kids down the road with horses, chickens and goats. These are gifts not many kids get. Yes, they still have the TV shows and the Ipods. Those are things that can be purchased. But what is the experience of riding your bike without fear worth? Or showing a child a Cougar track, as Bald Eagles circle above? Or hiking down the canyon? Or climbing a tree?

Nature isn't visited here; it is lived. How many children get to experience such, right in their own back yard?

Capping the Strawbale Wall...

After we built the window buck, we capped this wall to make it more secure. An easy process, just a couple of 2 x 4's connected to the Posts.

The wall is strong enough for Joni to sit on.

That's me drillin--attaching the 2 x 4's to a plywood cap.

On top of strawbale scaffolding...

Joni on top of the wall, sanding the Posts.

On top of this Cap we will create a window the length of the wall. That is, if we can figure out a way to do it. This is a creative process!

The First Bedroom Window...

It is very difficult to tell from pictures--but the work required to put in the bottom of this "window buck" is enormous. We dig the clay from our property. Sift through rock. Put it together with straw and make Cob (two batches for this window--and also finishing the rest of the wall to make it ready for strawbale). All told, it took us four hours to put in this bottom board to what will be one of our bedroom windows.

A Peek Behind The Plastic...

We took the plastic off for a bit on this sunny day:

And pulled the plastic over to help the Cob dry:

From the deck:

We continue Cob work today; getting ready to put another window in. More photos later...

To the Lintel for Lent!

Someday, there will be a front door in this space:

The rock work we did last week:

We made another batch of Cob today. Finally, we are up to the lintel of the window. Our rallying cry was: "To the Lintel for Lent!"

And we made it:

I Have Become A Rock Star...

We finished another section of the Stem Wall today:

Joni working on the wall...

So now we can finish two more walls. Hopefully within the next month.

Starting Another Stem Wall...

We finally got a break from the rain today. Time to start on another Stem Wall.

The before photo:

Getting the trench ready to build Stem Wall. There is two feet of rubble trench underneath this:

Ten feet of wall built:

A work in progress:

Tomorrow we will build this wall higher...and maybe do some more Cob work.

Angel the Helper Dog...

Here is Angel helping Joni sift gravel. Angel works for cheap (non-union). However, her lack of thumbs doesn't make her too helpful.

A Noahic Challenge: Rain!

Work has been suspended here at the Solar Compound because of rain.

It has rained everyday for what seems like eternity. A blessing really, because this area needs the rain. We average 56 inches of rain a year (although some say it is closer to 80 inches--as we seem to be in a rain belt). Almost all of it comes between November and April. Thus far, the winter had been 50% of normal in rainfall.

A check of the rain gauge shows we've had ten inches of rain over the last week. Lots of water. Brings us up to around thirty inches for the year.

Joni has devised little runoff systems for the water.

Our roof doesn't leak. We are getting much needed rain. The rain gives us time to read. Cook. Ponder.

I have to disagree with those who say "there is no bad weather, just bad clothes". This wet rain chills to the bone. It is a soaking rain, that my Father used to love to see. It doesn't come down hard. Or fast. It is just persistent--a constant drubbing of water.

A temperature of 39 degrees F. makes it dangerous. It is easy to get hypothermia. After the first week of rain, all shoes are drenched. No hope of them drying out until an extended bit of sun reappears. This leads to wet socks. Cold feet. And a grumpy disposition.

It is hard not to be grumpy with eternally wet and cold feet.

I venture out once a day for my walk. I think all this burning which others are doing (which I wrote about the other day on my Walking blog) is just our neighbors way of dealing with cabin fever. It gets you outside and doing something--and also provides for a bit of warmth. Drag stick. Burn. Drag stick. Burn. Drag stick. Warm yourself. Burn.

This Noahic hell makes me motivated to get this Addition done before the next rainy season. To have more room so that we aren't piled on top of each other. To have a woodstove that I can watch the flames in. To have more warmth. To at least have enough space to walk more than three steps without running into a wall.

A house should be big enough to have more than seven paces before you run into a wall.. Less than seven paces feels like a jail cell.

This is what the rainy season is like...

Snow at the Solar Compound...

I got home later than usual last night. It was snowing when I drove up the mountain. We woke up this morning to this!

Jesus without Atonement Theology

I can remember the day I emotionally left the Church. It was in Leeds, North Dakota listening to my brother (a Lutheran Pastor) give a sermon on Good Friday. It wasn't because of my brother's preaching (although he has gotten much better through the years); it was because it was during that service that I could no longer stomach Atonement Theology.

This idea that a jealous God would require his "only Son" to be put to death to save my soul seemed to cheapen what was really going on in Jerusalem that day. I saw Jesus's death as a political death. Yes, a sacrifice. But not a Salvific One that makes up for Eve's betrayal in the garden.

I drifted away from the Church. All plans to become a Lutheran Pastor put aside.

Doesn't mean my interests in spirituality or Jesus waned. I continue to read many inspirational books from a variety of Faiths and Teachers. Some Christian; but many from other Faiths (and New Agers). And my interest in Jesus hasn't subsided. I continue to read all sorts of folks who write about Jesus: J.D.Crossan, Marcus Borg, Bishop Spong, Bart Ehrmann, Elaine Pagels and others (mostly from the "Jesus Seminar").

Within the past few years I have drifted back to the Church. Episcopal. I missed the beauty of the liturgy. And Episcopalians are tolerant. In fact, there seems to be a new Christianity emerging..and the Episcopal Church is in the lead.

In fact, at Church last week I picked up a great book in the Church library. "The Last Week" by J.D. Crossan and Marcus Borg. The Jesus Seminar has matured and now is reaching out to those of us who would like to incorporate the "historical Jesus" into our lives. Scholarship married to Faith.

They approach the Gospel of Mark with a damning critique of Atonement Theology. This book made me feel as if I could be a Christian again. I don't have to leave the Church just because a rather bizarre theological dogma gets in the way.

Suddenly the Jesus Project comes alive. It is "the way" he lived. The way He remains present with us. The mystery!--without some St. Anselmian syllogism of blood sacrifice. We can let Jesus off the Mel Gibsonian meat hook. And let Him lead.

The Church is recreating itself. Finally.

Cutting Wood...

The valiant firefighters who saved our Homestead last summer, created a fire break on our property. We used some of the trees for our Addition. Some we couldn't use. We are cutting those up for firewood today.


I hired a young kid (who has the requisite chain saw and pick up truck) to clean up the property. Cut the wood for burning; clean up the rest. These young bucks can do in an hour what it takes me a whole day to do. Such is the difference between being 21 and 47.


We won't finish the job today. I have to drive down through the rain to the Napa Valley to earn a living.

More Cobbing and Sanding!!

Joni cobbing...

Halfways done!

I sanded the three Posts and we built the Stem Wall this week.

Not quite the progress I wanted for the week, but good enough!