Yesterday I looked up from my computer screen, and out the window into the trees. I was shocked to find that I felt gratitude, gratitude for visual depth. Yesterday I noticed for the first time, on a conscious level, that I miss depth, I long for it. And not just visual depth. I also hanker after depth of meaning in my day to day life.
After waiting 21 days for news of the final inspection and approval of our driveway, I decided to call the Township and inquire. All of my interactions with the Township office have been pleasant, to date. This call was no exception. The Administrator explained that the final inspection had been carried out, the driveway approved, and that the cheque for our deposit refund would be “cut” and mailed out.
With the driveway approved, we can begin to landscape around it. We do have this Sunday off work, so hopefully we will be able to get over to the camp and get busy!
I have been having the time of my life, looking at different cabin ideas over at Cabin Porn (quite the name!). I don’t enjoy the architect designed examples very much, although beautiful, they are beyond the reach of most ordinary folk, and so of little interest to me. All that glitters is not gold. I love the cabins that ordinary people have built, used as sheds or lived in, all over the world. The bonus for me is that a few of the ideas I had for our shed at the camp have been used by others, and there are images of how those ideas look in real life. It is easier to make decisions when one can see an example of an end result.
We plan on using found materials for the shed, to the greatest degree possible. However, there are structural practicalities that will inspire the outlay of some cash, such as pressure treated wood for the foundation and floor joists. I am having fun looking for ways to use plastic water bottles as roofing, without much practical success. There are good ideas out there for this type of roofing, but for climates that have relatively little snow. The more than eight feet of snow we receive each year presents a roofing challenge. I did see a lot of water bottle privacy fences though, I might give that a try.
While I was rummaging around on the internet, I ran into a little blurb about masonry heaters. I highly recommend masonry heaters, having heated exclusively with this technology for a decade. We did not opt for the oven, and we haven’t missed it. There are also ways of heating water with the masonry heater, another feature we did not opt for. Because we tore out an old, inefficient fireplace and retrofitted with the masonry heater, there were a lot of structural issues to consider, issues that are easily resolved in new builds.
We have perfect summer weather today! The country house is heaven in the summer, with the trees rustling around the house, windows open, bright mornings, long evenings… In the summer I don’t want to sell the country house, and in the winter I don’t want to live in the country house. The summer months can lull me into wanting to stay, the winter months, all six of them, will slowly turn the desire to stay into ice.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
22°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Friday 25 July 2014
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.5 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 22.1°C
Dewpoint: 11.1°C
Humidity: 49%
Wind: W 17 km/h
Quote
“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.”
Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 – 1959)
Yay! Glad to hear that your driveway has been approved! What do you have in mind for landscaping?
Spent a few minutes looking at CabinPorn. I like the Kitchen Cabin in Tasmania. I’ll have to go back and look at more later.
Are you going to be converting an existing shed or are you just talking about a shed-like structure?
Have you tried looking at bunkie plans? They’re basically tiny cabins, some with “facilities” and some not. I’m thinking that interiors of bunkies could give you some good ideas. I think I’ve even seen some pics of converted garden sheds.
The building by-laws in rural Ontario favour affluent people, minimum standards are very, very high. We can only build a garden shed without a permit, so that is what our plans will entail. If we were to build anything larger, then the $7000 development fee would kick in, and a septic system would need to be installed, and the building permit would give us only two years to complete a building. BIG investment, so our initial plans are… a garden shed. Tents are good!
Our metro area has a maximum size for garden sheds, anything over 10′ x 12′ requires a permit.
Are you on Pinterest, Maggie? I started a Pinterest site for business purposes but I find fun things for myself over there all the time. As a matter of fact, I have a couple of lovely garden sheds saved in my listings.
I love the interior of this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/21281245@N04/3912307931/in/set-72157622228268985/
And here’s a beautiful exterior that even includes plans and materials list: http://www.familyhandyman.com/sheds/dream-shed-made-easy/view-all
I think it was Sarah Richardson who renovated a shed/cabin a few years ago. I remember the two biggest changes she made were to 1) clean the old shed (though you’ll be building a new one, I assume) and 2) paint the inside white. Somehow those two simple things went a long way to making the space seem more inviting and larger.
*grin* We have a 10′ x 12′ shed in our backyard. The one thing I’m looking at doing with that right now is putting a window in it, and then eventually redesigning it to handle what it has more efficiently. But for the moment I’m more interested in just removing 2 other “sheds” on our grounds that are mostly just taking up space and not doing much.
Maggie, just thought I’d explain that my question about Pinterest was a rhetorical question. I wasn’t asking to try to find you on Pinterest, I was just wondering if you had access so you could look at the garden shed ideas they have on there.
If you’re uncomfortable with anything I said, go ahead and delete whatever makes you uncomfortable.
Thanks for the links on sheds TopsyTurvey! I am not using Pinterest at the moment, tried it once and did not warm up to it. I collect links with my browser, and save info to pdf if I want to refer to it again in future.
Sheds are a lot o fun! We are going to be taking our time building at the camp, so the planning period will be long indeed! The internet makes it so much fun to wander around collecting pertinent information.
I am over-the-moon enchanted with Cabin Porn – though the name is a little off-putting.
So I Googled it and am much happier.
Porn: Television programs, magazine, books, etc. that are regarded as emphasizing the sensuous or sensational aspects of a nonsexual subject and stimulating a compulsive interest in their audience.
The site is addicting – and so dreamy – and so everything! I have a very good friend, Judith Fein. She’s a travel writer – she teams with her husband, Paul, a photographer. No one life is perfect, but theirs is quite magical. They have a small place in Santa Fe, NM but are rarely there because they travel so much. There’s nothing prissy about the travel they plan. their destinations are often obscure blips on a map. Knowing Judith and viewing sites like Cabin Porn often fill me with pangs of regret that I didn’t travel very much – breathe in the air of all the wondrous peoples and cultures – to immerse a bit more. I compromised too much in life. Instead of choosing my path, I allowed it to choose me – sometimes even bully me. Um, that doesn’t make the sense I’m trying to convey. *sigh* It’s amazing, though, how much smarter I am at age 66. *laughing* I spent my entire life seeking security instead of my natural inclination to be free of constraints. Dang!
It is a great site, isn’t it Reenie! I have toured the entire site now, it makes me feel very peaceful.
it is unfortunate that we only get to live one life, that we know of. There are so many interesting things to do!
The thing that fascinated me about cabin porn is the similarities between the various structures, no matter how out of the way or foreign the areas/countries might seem. My favorites, though, were always the stone structures. I especially like the one that was built under an overhanging rock.