Part of my efforts to build up my orchard is to have a plentiful supply of elderberries! A few years ago I purchased some young plants, but they were mostly eaten down by deer.
This year, I procured some cuttings from Todd Hardie of Thornhill Farm, our local rye, elderberry, and honey bee expert! He gave me two local varieties – York and Coomer.
I took some extra precautions to avoid the same deer issue by building a deer fence with fishing line that is intended to scare and confuse because they can feel they’re running into something, but cannot see it. I am hopeful it works!
My process for rooting was to first soak the cuttings in water for 24 hours. Then I dipped the ends into a honey simple syrup, which is reported to be a rooting agent and anti-fungal. I stuck these ends into a reused container filled with potting soil with a hole made in the soil so the honey rooting-agent wouldn’t be wiped off.
I am keeping them wet and in a sheltered area (although at the moment they’re getting covered with snow!)
Hopefully this works and I’m thinking about other woody plants I can use this process with, including some amazing plum trees I’ve had my eye on in town!
Wish me luck and if you have any questions or ideas to share, please do!
Nearly a year ago I asked my daughter to design a logo for my Airbnb treehouse business. She was pretty quick to respond, but getting from there to here – with my sign up to welcome our guests, as well as friends and family – took way too long!
This is what happens when you have too many ideas a projects going on. (!)
I had the logo made into stencils, then I stenciled it onto a piece of scrap wood and protected it with some leftover Vermont Natural Coatings.
Last fall I put the post in – which sat there as a post all winter.
Then, the other day I cut the brace and the piece to hang it from and screwed that together and hung the sign – finally!
In the meantime, with this pandemic issue I came across a group on Facebook (518 Rainbow Hunt – Spreading Rainbows Worldwide) and my good friend also made a rainbow flag, and I was inspired to make one for the sign out of scrap material I had (I couldn’t find orange!) .
I just love it! It brightens things up during this uncertain time and dreary, brown time of year. And soon – I hope – it will be welcoming guests, friends, and family.
STRUCK ONE FROM THE LIST THAT I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN!
Before Christmas I wanted to make those “Bees Wraps” as gifts. You know, the beeswax coated fabric that you use instead of plastic wrap? Seems as though using less plastic has been on a lot of people’s minds (and rightly so!) so I though that making these as gifts would help people reach that ideal.
I collected the supplies I needed, but never got around to it. I ended up adding to my ridiculously long to-do list, and the materials have been sitting on my kitchen table since December.
Here is what I learned: don’t bother – just buy them!
It was such a messy and labor intensive project, I never want to do it again! I do have a small stack of them that worked out (I think) after some trial and error, but definitely not worth the effort and even the cost.
One tip if you’re doing anything with beeswax, though – find an old crock pot and keep it warm as you work. I had to reheat the mixture probably about 10 times as I was melting it on a homemade double boiler in the kitchen and doing the messy work in the basement.
Well, I lost my momentum keeping up with my posts after only three days! There were some reasons for this – I was figuring out how to organize my websites and then I got busy with other things.
Been keeping busy catching up on some of the items that have been on my to-do list for a long time. I’ve been at home for two weeks now, but I’ve barely put a dent in my list.
It makes me realize how unrealistic my list was. I’ve definitely gone overboard! I keep being tempted to add more projects to my list, but I do stop myself. Trying to get more realistic!
How are you doing with your project list? Do you naturally overextend yourself?
Things always take longer than we think they will, don’t they? Well, that is the case with the treehouse too, but the good news is that it is coming along!
Over the past month, the builder I’m working with has been working on the floor, framing, roof, and now the sheathing and windows – and now it’s looking like a real treehouse!
All along, I’ve been planning next steps; laying out the floor plan and deciding upon a lot of details that I’ll be doing – the flooring, counters, composting toilet, hearth and gas stove, the seating area, storage, water, insulation, electricity, and even small details like building screens. There’s a lot to it even though it’s a pretty small building!
So, there’s still a lot to do – and the work coming up will be work that I do. Luckily I have a bit of time off coming up soon and I can focus on it!
Basements can go one of two ways – gross, cluttered, and cob-web filled – or organized, tidy, and functional. My basement has experienced both of these states!
My friends who know me know that I tend toward being organized and tidy, so can you image how I felt when my basement looked like this??
Despite the crazy mess, I have tried to organize and reorganize the basement for years on a budget of $0, and all efforts would fall apart.
I couldn’t take it anymore, and my kids are getting to the age that they could really benefit from having their own hang-out space (plus I won’t need to listen to loud 13-year old boys playing video games!)
So, I started gathering things to create a cool teen room!
After years of having no money for anything above-and-beyond survival, I got really good at finding deals! Here’s a breakdown of some of the things I bought for their space and where I bought them:
Finally – and here’s the heftiest price tag – I hired my favorite handyman to build walls at a price of $1,100 for materials and labor. These walls separate the kids’ space from storage and utilities and was well worth that cost and I’m grateful I was able to do that!
I’m not one to tolerate very much clutter, so the teen room needed an entertainment center to have a place to store all of the stuff! I looked on Pinterest for ideas and came up with purchasing used kitchen base cabinets and building up from there.
I went to our local recycled building supply store, Resource, and purchased these three base cabinets for $130! It took me two trips to get them home in my little Suzuki, but didn’t end up needing to pay for delivery!
I still plan on painting the cabinets, but was anxious to get them in place. Then I decided I wanted to paint the walls and brighten things up before I installed the cabinets, so I painted the cement walls with some paint I had laying around.
It really made things much more cheerful!
I will also still build up from the cabinets and put shelves on top.
To build the countertop I purchased three pine boards.
Mistake number one: I forgot that a 1×8 isn’t really 1″x8″, so I tried for a 2″ overhang, but it ended up just covering the top of the cabinet. Not the end of the world – at least it fit. But, something to remember in the future!
Mistake number two: thinking I can eyeball where to screw. That is why you see oddly placed plugs for the screw holes. I also used a countersink drill bit and didn’t go quite deep enough on some of the holes.
Mistake number three: Even though I used a mallet to hammer in the plugs, it still dented up the wood. So, I should have used a piece of scrap 2×4 to cushion the blow.
I suppose this is the place to make the mistakes and learn! The kiddos won’t care!
The kids are really loving the space! The woodstove keeps it comfortable and there’s firewood stored on the other side of the wall. And there’s lots of fun stuff to do either on your own or with friends!
There’s still more that needs to be done:
Build the shelves on top of the cabinets
Paint the ceiling
Get real electricity run through the room (now we have two power strips)
Build a few more small walls to create a closet
Put risers on the stairs and paint the stairs
Put shiplap on the walls of the stairs going down and on the new walls that currently have particle-board.
Maybe put some sort of coating on the floor
Get a real couch in here!
I’ll gradually pick away at those things, but for now the kids and I are happy to have a functional, comfortable, and fun room for the teens to hang out!
I’m a big fan of lists. When I have a big project or I’m managing a lot of pieces, a list is essential. When the list gets too big to just keep in my head, getting it out on paper creates order. It can also add to the satisfaction of getting through things.
Being a DIY kind of person, looking at my house project list was once overwhelming. But now, it feels good to look at – look at all of those things that are crossed off!
What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting through it? What propels you forward?
I’ll be sharing the projects that are already crossed off, and the ones I complete moving forward. Join me on my diy home improvement adventures!
Nearly twenty years ago, when we bought the land in Hardwick, it was the brook that runs along the property border that sold me: it’s a beautiful, year-round stream bordered by birch, balsam, spruce, cedar, and hemlock.
I wanted to spend as much time down there that I could and the best way I could imagine doing this was to build a treehouse. So, I’ve been dreaming about this for a long, long time – imagining sitting on the deck, relaxing to the soothing sound of the stream and taking in the beauty of the trees.
Well, that dream is currently becoming a reality!
Now, the foundation is the most important part to get right, whether it’s a regular house or a treehouse, so even though I’m a pretty hard-core DIY’er, I know my limits and I wanted to leave this to the experts.
I remembered hearing that there were guys in Vermont that had a tv show about building treehouses, so I thought I’d look them up. My memory served me right and I connected with B’fer of The Treehouse Guys!
B’fer came to visit to check out my site so he could see if the location was realistic and to take measurements for the plan.
The plans made it seem like it was finally a reality!
B’fer was also happy to work with my budget and gave me multiple options for how far they would take it. I ended up going with the bare bones option: they would build the frame/foundation and then I’d take it from there.
After going through the zoning process and getting approval, in November 2017, Jody (see our selfie, below) came to build it!
I’ll pick the process back up once winter is passed and then I’ll be at the helm – you can watch the progress on this site. I’ve been collecting materials and I’m excited to get going again once spring is here!
I know I’m not the only one that was excited to build my first home – what an exciting (and stressful!) adventure!
When the house was first built, we were on a bare-bones budget. While the sweat-equity I put into the house allowed for a few higher-end features on the inside (tile and hardwood floors), the outside was pretty rough-looking. And it stayed that way for nearly 15 years!
Finally, in the past few years, I’ve been able to make some improvements to the outside, and what a difference!
Here is the before (a few years after the house was first built) …
and after (now)! And while the work is still not complete, I love it!!
Throughout this blog I’ll walk you through many of the steps that have gotten me to this point, and the work I’ll be doing moving forward. There’s been a lot of blood, sweat, tears, failures, and successes, and I’ll share them here. I think you’ll enjoy the journey!
