Thursday, December 31, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
Sitting Bull
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Friday, December 25, 2015
John Lubbock
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
George Bernard Shaw
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Arthur C. Clarke
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Michel de Montaigne
Monday, December 14, 2015
RMH Bench
A few years ago, we made a Rocket Mass Heater in our living room. There wasn't much space, so the design had to be fairly compact, but it still worked great. We can light a fire in the evening for a couple of hours, and the thermal mass will still be warm in the morning. The only thing we regret is that we hadn't known about the concept of an RMH before we started building, so that we could have put a larger one into the house design.
The town house, on the other hand, has plenty of room, mainly because we don't actually live there. So, we figured we'd use some of the space in its living room to try out a larger design. It is now finished, and turned out really beautifully.
We've only run it for an hour or two so far, as it hasn't been that cold. It heats up the room fine in that time, but hasn't yet been able to warm up the whole bench. Although neither of us likes the cold, we're kind of hoping for a front to move in, just so we try out our new butt-warmer.
Check out the full flickr set for a better idea of how it was all put together.
The post RMH Bench appeared first on VelaCreations.
RMH Bench
Sunday, December 13, 2015
John Ruskin
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Pamela Hansford Johnson
Monday, December 7, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Friday, December 4, 2015
Nursery continued
Do you ever feel like your husband is trying to plant you out of house and home?
The post Nursery continued appeared first on VelaCreations.
Nursery continued
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Jacques Yves Cousteau
FunFortless
A couple of years we ago, we made the kids a Funfort in their room (see howto here.). It was awesome and the kids loved it.
The only downside was that it was pretty big and took up quite a bit of the space in their small room. They started bringing more and more toys downstairs to be somewhere with more area to play. So, with their permission and approval, I took it all apart and converted all the lumber into shelving for around their room.
It should work fine until we get to build our room on the west end of the house (whenever that might be), at which time the kids will have a room each.
The post FunFortless appeared first on VelaCreations.
FunFortless
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Monday, November 30, 2015
Puppies
We dropped the ball on Sophie's (our female dog) contraceptive. Somehow we miscalculated the date and she came into heat without us getting her another shot. Anyway, as soon as we realized what we'd done, we put her in one of the barn rooms, hoping that she may have avoided being bred. You may have gathered by the title of this post that we were wrong!
The other day, she disappeared. Given that our male, Sam, was still around (they often go off hiking together) and that it was around the due date, we assumed that it was her time. The only problem was that we couldn't find her anywhere, and it happened to be the one day in months that it was pouring with rain. Soaking wet and chilly, we gave up looking.
All of a sudden she came to the front door, birthed a puppy on the doorstep and then took off. I wrapped the pup in a blanket and gave it to the boys to keep warm and then went looking for her again. I eventually found her and brought her into the house with her pup, and set her up on a pile of old sheets. She instantly relaxed and went on to have a total of 9 puppies. They are all camped out in the entranceway room (as are the boys most of the time), and seem to be happy and healthy. Sophie is almost excessively attentive, although she does occasionally go outside, even if just for a little bit.
Once this litter is weaned, we will get her spayed. It was always our intention to let her breed once with Sam (although ideally we would have wanted her to be closer to 2 years old than to 1). Our other dog, Salsa, came from a shelter and was fixed before being released, and it always seemed a shame that she never got to be a mother. In the meantime, we get to enjoy these warm and fuzzy little bundles of joy!
The post Puppies appeared first on VelaCreations.
Puppies
