Woke this morning to 23o outdoor temps, which is rather chilly by the standards of the past couple of weeks. And as I reached for the down vest and kindling I laughed at myself, because two months ago this would have seemed positively balmy. Hey, it’s high-forties indoors! What do you want, beer with your eggs?
“Things I miss about Michigan”: Lord, once upon a time that would have been a bare and cobwebbed list, but it turns out to contain two items after all: I miss proper insulation and a heater that can run all night. I could actually indulge in that second thing, I own the heater but could never pay for the propane to run it.
But that first thing! Ah, that’s the grail I’ll chase this summer. With eye surgery and (please, Murphy) Jeep troubles behind me, I’m gonna start squeezing nickels for tarpaper and siding. Before another year is past I want to be able to post a picture of the Lair without the “someday it’ll be sided” asterisk. There are places where you can see daylight through the walls when the caulking cracks, which it does a lot. That can’t be doing good things for the cabin’s R-value, not to mention the dryness of the insulation.
Last summer I didn’t accomplish much on the Lair but I did get the floor insulated and that (along with a generally mild winter) made a big difference in winter comfort. I don’t remember one case of painful toes, and the winter before that it was an almost daily condition. I already have everything I need for the tiling, I just didn’t get to it before the freeze because – well – what the hell do I know about tiling floors? But it’ll get done soon-ish. So this summer’s big push is the siding*.
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*Oh, and D&L’s veranda. In exchange for their spare tiles and other flooring stuff, I sold my soul to D&L as grunt labor. Did I mention this? The adobe on their straw bales isn’t proving sufficiently weather-proof, so they’re retrofitting an overhang on the two sides of the house that don’t already have one. Has to be done before Monsoon or they’re in danger of moldy walls.
