Dancing Deer/June

Today, we had some exciting stories to imagine.  Only the tracks of the deer were left to see.  The cameras were not rolling, so we only know from the footprints left behind where they’d been.

Everywhere.

White foam sheets show muddy footprints, but by the time we arrived to meet the crew for the day, a new layer of foam blocks were laid on top of plastic sheeting, and not much was left to view.

 COMMON NAME: White-Tailed Deer
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Odocoileus virginianus
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Herbivores
GROUP NAME: Herd
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN CAPTIVITY: 6 to 14 years
SIZE: 6 to 7.75 ft
WEIGHT: 110 to 300 lbs

So, here’s a reminder of what these neighbors look like.  With an active imagination, it is entertaining to think of those slender legs climbing down the slippery sides of excavation area, then walking on a rink-sized styrofoam field.

Here is how the prints look in mud.

There is a lot of mud; rain has fallen each of the last 3 days.

Under the mulberry tree the mud is very churned up, and the lower branches stripped of berries.

We might get some berries for ourselves, but this year, the critters get most. Mulberries are all around the area.  Purple stains the sidewalks and streets where overhanging branches drop fruit.  Native Mulberry was last found in Minnesota about 100 years ago; the newer White Mulberry has proven to be tasty, but non-invasive.

By the end of the day, the dance floor looked quite different from the previous evening.  Being a Friday, there is some time before the next steps turn the basement/foundation into a smooth surface.

Until then, we just keep following the plan.

 

Rapid Progress

Plumbing in, ready for thin-set concrete

Things are progressing rapidly this week.  Our builder Ryan Stegora is definitely not letting any grass grow under his feet.

Yesterday, Ryan and his crew poured the foundation footings for the garage and breezeway, as well as a thin-set layer of concrete on the sand below the basement to provide a nice flat surface for the insulation.

Thin-set concrete going in

 

 

 

Today, they got the foam insulation built on top of the thin-set, and started the outside wall insulation, as well as framed up the forms to hold it all together when the single-sided ICF forms and concrete get started.

 

Installing insulation below basement floor

 

How it looked at the end of the day — sort of like a large shallow swimming pool.

Sub-floor insulation for basement, looking west.

 

Another Passive House story

Minnesota’s progress in renewable energy – POWER! POWER! POWER!

Renewable Energy Report: More than 22% of Minnesota’s electricity came from renewables in 2016

Minnesota Celebrates Renewable Energy in June Newsletter (PDF)

Mid-Summer’s Day

Tiny Apples

• It is Mid-Summer’s Day, and a fine time to celebrate the peak of sun, and the fullness of summer’s potential.  Here is a bit of the natural world at the Sweet Tree Passive House’s site, and two photos showing work status.  We’re in waiting mode for an inspection before further site work can be done.

 

Ripening Berries

 

Another Neighbor

 

 

Forms under the Breezeway

From Breezeway to basement

19 June 2017 – Low-tech and High-tech get down in the dirt.

Final stage of excavation

New neighbor, holding vermin in its paws. Good kitty!

• One of our new neighbors

Best Laid Plans lie right here!

 

 

• As soon as the backhoe left the site, the forms for concrete footings were set in place.

Forms for Foundation

 

• Tools and equipment vary from hand tools to laser measuring devices, human-power to diesel.

Basic tools are always in style

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

 

• Before the final excavation was completed on the garage, the plumbers were already installing drain pipes under the future house.  Seen from the East:

Stage 1 of Plumbing (from E)

 

• Seen from the West, hours later:

End stage 1 Plumbing (from W)

 

• The weather was amazing, and the mosquitos were scarce, likely because we had a squadron of dragonflies on the move!

Dragon Fly Attack Interceptor

• These neighbors clear the air of the tiny blood-sucking demonic mosquitos.

 

Another day, another discovery

• Day One of excavation discovered a brick “beehive” water cistern.
• Day Two of excavation found something else.  We’re not really sure what this is.  Maybe a cesspool?  Anybody have any good ideas?

Inside the septic tank

The edge of the septic tank, perhaps?

Getting A Little Graphic

Groundbreaking!

It has begun.

Large machines directed by talented people are changing the landscape on a bit of land in Minnetonka to accommodate a new idea.  A home will rise to welcome winter sunshine, and shade summer glare.

Yesterday an old brick cistern was found where the new foundation will be.  A backhoe rode atop it for quite some time before the top caved in. The previous home had been built in 1915, and the bricks in the cistern looked as if they’d not been underwater for much time.  The buff/yellow look like Chaska brick, fromthe town where we’d lived in a historic brick house. 

We’re thinking about how to put a few of those bricks somewhere in the new house.

The house will be a Passive House, certified to keep its temperature stable with minimal input and maximal comfort.  We’ve looked and planned for years, first to find a site, and second, to develop a plan.  Budget constraints always set limits to imaginations, so the grandness of our dreams will remain dreams, but the grace and functionality of the house will please us for many years.

The basement and footings are almost dug.

Large windows to the south will bring in the sun’s light and heat, and small ones to the north will keep the cold to a minimum. A closed breezeway will connect the house and the garage.  Insulation will keep the outside cold from creeping in during winter’s chills,  and air-exchanging will moderate the incoming air to more closely match the outgoing air all year.

This home will be the first certified Passive House in Minnetonka, and one of the first in Minnesota.