Plumbed In

We took a break from the Turtle in late October for the upcoming holidays and such but Austin has recently been plugging away at the plumbing and electrical in the Turtle. I had really hoped the cottage would be "done" (read - usable as a kitchen/bathroom ... not necessarily have all the finish detail work done) by the time PJ is born. Well, I'm just over two weeks from the due date so that is NOT going to happen. I've slowly come to terms with that - through a few tears. But, here's a snapshot of the progress we've made.  

The appliances are all positioned in their approximate locations. The fridge is working and is stocked with goodies to eat! It is a bit less convenient for cooking since I'm still doing all the food prep and actual cooking in the cabin (nursery) but I don't mind it too much. The box sitting on the ground on the left is the dish drawer. I cannot wait to have a dishwasher again! Ignore all the cardboard on the floor - the floors are stunningly beautiful but we're trying to protect them while working.

This is an up-close look at the bathroom. Isn't the clawfoot tub simply adorable!! I spent entirely too much money on it and it is really only practical as a soaking bathtub for children ... but I love it. The toilet, sink, and tub are all working, although the septic drain lines are not connected to anything yet so don't use the toilet, please! The tub and sink drain lines are just draining to the yard for now. We haven't put in the septic drain field yet ...

And the adorable little ceiling fan! We didn't have enough cypress or pine to finish the interior ceiling so we'll be back at the mill buying more wood eventually. But, that's just aesthetics for now. I'm more focused on getting this project functional. I do think I will buy the light kit for this fan, though ... I didn't really think about it when buying the fan originally. Proper planning really is important for this kind of project! But. I had no idea what I was doing when I started and I've learned a lot.

Well, I have to be completely honest here ... this is the progress Austin has made. I really haven't helped with any of this as I've been preoccupied with nesting in the cabin. Here's our nursery for baby Page! I put together the crib, sewed the curtains, had a thrift store piece of art framed, and so much more. The art on the wall is the limerick "Old Man with the Beard" ... one of my favorites. My mom and I found it at Goodwill and paid $2.50 for it. I got it framed at Michaels and it makes the perfect focal point for the nursery. I also had the antique farmhouse chairs re-glued and recovered with some of the fabric used in the curtains.

And because I can't resist bragging - look how cute these tie-dyes came out! Thanks for your help and the inspiration, Kelly!

The Turtle is in the News :)

The Orlando Sentinel did a piece on tiny houses and the reporter, Erica, contacted the Central Florida Tiny House Enthusiasts for some local perspective. I shared my story and the progress Austin and I have made on our Turtle project. Here's the piece:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-12-01/news/os-wee-houses-central-florida-20131201_1_home-sizes-permanent-home-small-home

I'm proud to be an advocate for living small and sustainably.

Deadline for Drying Her In Looms!!!

We got our "eviction notice" from Papa ... fruit is coming in so we have to vacate the packing house. Well, that was Thursday and we're still there. Thankfully he gave us another week to get more work done before we head of to Australia for my sister's wedding. Here's all the progress from the time here and there this week that Austin and I could spare:

Most of the pictures are self-explanatory ... the last one here is a small storage cabinet next to the front door, above the sitting bench (that hasn't been built yet!)

We're pulling a looooong weekend to try to get all the interior paneling up and the floors down. Then we're going to take a short break for our trip halfway around the world! 

Tongue-and-Groove siding should go quickly, he said...

Austin's dad generously let us pick through a stack of rough-hewn Cypress planks that were strewn, forgotten, under a collapsing shed. Austin picked out the best boards, trying to avoid the worst of the water and bug damage and sent them off to the mill to be planed and tongue-and-grooved. We paid $0.84 a linear foot. The resulting planks are phenomenally gorgeous.

Now, tongue and groove should be relatively simply, right? You just snap them into place. Voila. We envisioned just flying through the siding in one day and moving on to the roof in quick fashion. Um. No. Two days of labor and we only completed the two long walls. Obstacle #1: insect and water damaged boards. Many of the beautiful long planks had to be chopped up into smaller pieces due to damage. Obstacle #2: warped and bent boards. About 1,000 chop saw cuts, several colorful curse words, and two grueling days later, we have both long sides mostly sided ... minus the highest segment on the loft.

I'm gladly taking suggestions on coating ... I was thinking polyurethane. I don't want to stain ... I want to maintain the original color and beauty of the wood. I just want to add water protection and gloss. 

Progress! The walls go up.

So you may notice the long lapse of time in between my last post and this. Life has a way of throwing a kink in your plans ... I had wanted to finish the Turtle by August. Well, we actually didn't get any work done on it over the summer. Why? Because I'm pregnant! Construction just doesn't sound very fun when you're puking and a simple run to the grocery store leaves you whimpering for a nap. But I'm 4.5 months pregnant now and past all the first trimester tribulations and Austin has a few weeks before the citrus picking begins so we're going at it full swing. Now my goal is to finish this thing up by the time Baby PJ comes in January!

You may have noticed the change in venue. We no longer have the beautiful lake as our backdrop but we also don't have to drive 2 hours to the build site anymore ... now it is just 5 minutes down the road!

This week Austin worked on framing the walls in all by himself. He did an amazing job! I felt bad telling him there were a few placement problems. But we'll just work around them. (One window is very low and another is in the wrong spot on the wall, blocking where I was going to place a small built-in flip-out table.) Overall, he did a fantastic job and if I'd had to do it on my own, I'd probably still be working on the first wall section and it would look like a toddler was playing with Lincoln Logs.

Me helping .... notice the baby bump!!

Here's the progress from this week:

While in Virginia this summer, we found a beat up tiny door for sale at a boutique that does upcycling. The shop owner hadn't done anything to the door yet. It came from a house in Nelson county, VA ... close to where I grew up. The house was from the 1890s but not sure when the door was from. The glass is definitely old glass (wavy from gravity settling)

Step 1: remove the hardware that had fused onto the door. Seriously. I didn't know rust could be so strong. Step 2: sand it down and try not to breathe in what very easily could have been lead paint
Step 3: Realize the water damage on the bottom is beyond repair and without much forethought, bash it in (notice the hole in the middle panel....) I'm hoping Blake can fix that...

Arizona Adventures and Stalled Progress ...

After an exhilarating 8 day camping trip in the deserts and mountains of the American Southwest, I ass-u-me-(d) that i would make stellar progress on the Turtle. Well - here's what happened.

1. Mother nature has decided to water Florida a LOT lately. In two days, I only got in 3 hours of work. When it was sunny, I was at the home supply/hardware store. Arg.

2. Plumbing sucks. I had a well-meaning friend come help with the grewater drain lines. I realized at the last "build day" (rolling eyes) that I would have to undo his work ... he did not actually make anywhere for it to drain TO.

3.  also realized CPVC would be an awful choice for hot/cold lines ... one bump and those joints are undone and I've got major water damage to deal with. Switching to PEX.

4. Gnats. I *%$!#@& hate gnats. Do they serve a useful purpose on this Earth??!!??

On the less-annoyed-more-pleasant side, my desert adventures included coyotes, the best view of the Milky Way I've ever seen, the very cold Colorado River, Saguaro cacti, and nervously watching my boyfriend rescue Aussie women about to make a choice that would certainly lead to a 100+ ft fall to their deaths. Here are a few pictures :)

Build Day 1: Frame the subfloor

After a few design changes, we finally got started on the actual construction of the Wandering Turtle! The first hurdle - where to place the water tanks so that they would not be exposed below the axle but still distribute weight evenly. After playing with it, we straddled the axles with the tanks. All that was tricky to figure out since the tanks haven't even been delivered yet. (Should be here tomorrow!) Blake made the first cut and my heart soared. My dream is coming true!

Once we got the framing done, we opted for Tyvek house wrap instead of aluminum flashing. I know it may need repairs in a much shorter time frame than aluminum sheathing would. But...Blake made a good point. Tyvek will make it so much easier to access the plumbing in the subfloor should anything need repairing. Cutting out the aluminum or ... even worse ... tearing out the hardwood flooring to access the subfloor for repairs would be a nightmare. 

What a lovely day for a build! The next build event will be two days. Our goals: 1) install plumbing in the subfloor framing, 2) lay the plywood subfloor, and 3) frame out the walls. Yikes! That means I need to find the rest of my windows PRONTO!