Friday, October 21st 2005
Fall has arrived.
I promised to write again before the snow gets here and I feel I can't wait much longer. There's been ground frost since the last full moon and this morning, ALain woke up alone (I'm working in Montreal) with -2C temperature. That's what is toughest: getting out from under the covers and into our frozen clothes... but it shouldn't be long before it's only a memory.
Those who regularly visit our photo section have probably noticed since the last chronicle that the small wall supporting the roof has been built out of tree trunks, cut in place by the talented chainsaw sculptor ALain has become. The look and feel is even nicer than I imagined. I'm really happy with the result and the fact that it will leave some openings between the front and back rooms.
Next, we manged to put the roof on and insulate it even with all the rain we got. ALain took advantage of the sunny days, yesterday and today to make holes into it: the chimney, the roof and gas water-heater ventilations and... WOW! the marvelous Solatube. This brings natural daylight into the back of the room through a 14" tube that reflects 98% of outdoor lights. The difference is impressive,just after sunset there's still a good amountof light coming in. Also, we went for the optional electric lighting kit which turns it into a ceiling fixture at night.
Tomorrow, we're expecting 2 groups of volunteers and nice weather. It should allow us to do the second tire in-fill and the levelling of the floor in order to pour the slab next week. After that, we'll move into the house and finish the doors and windows.
The media are still interested in our story. the Montreal weekly, Voir, has one page in yesterday's issue. Unfortunately, the journalist probably thought I made a mistake when I told him we would use only 10% of the energy a normal house uses for heating and cooling because he turnes it into a 10% saving which is VERY different...