Hey. How ya doin’? Been a while….
I suppose I’d like to begin with an apology, as it has been a very long time since our last project update. However, you’ll all be glad, I’m sure, to hear that the Ranch has been relocated and is now living with friends at a beautiful farm upstate, where it can chase rabbits and play in the fields and be happy all the time…
Oh, okay, you got me. That’s a complete lie. Continue reading
Among the things I love about Sonoma County are the abundance of goats and the willingness of folks to let me photograph them. Continue reading
Hey Friends and Followers,
We’ve been a bit quiet lately, as far as this blog goes, and we don’t have a ton of progress to report on the house. It turns out that we have an issue relating to our septic system planning, that, until sorted out, brings us to a full stop. It’s not clear at this time just how long it will take to resolve, so we’re hanging in there and doing what we can to move things along. Continue reading
With PHCA‘s annual meeting (the Building Carbon Zero California 2015 conference) and the commencement of the Daily Acts‘ permaculture design course both looming this week, Tara and I have found ourselves thinking that we should have some sort of card or something to hand people who might be interested in reading the Ol’ Gimpy Blog. So, with the rain lately, other delays in getting the project underway and a bout with the common cold, I’ve had a bit of down time to work up some dumb stuff in Photoshop… please note that examples of this work will be shown below, so fair warning (and sincere apologies to those of you with a discerning eye for quality design). Continue reading
One of my regular routines here at the ranch has been to check on Charlie the Spider and see what she is up to. Most of the time she is not up to anything (other than waiting for something to fly into her web), but all the same, I have found it oddly reassuring to see her in her spot each day, doing her spider thing.
In this, the next installment of our interview series, we’re super excited to be able to talk with Graham Irwin. Graham was one of the first Passive House Consultants certified in the US, as well as a founding board member of Passive House California and the Passive House Alliance, US (PHAUS). He was subsequently trained by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany as a Passive House project certifier.
First, a quick note about some upcoming events that may be of interest:
Passive house construction guru Terry Nordbye, a key member of team Gimpy Dog, is speaking about innovative air sealing techniques at the October 25 meeting of Passive House California. It should be really interesting and we’re looking forward to going – more details are here.
Today, in the first installment of our “interview with” series, we’ll be speaking to Charlie, a spider who lives on our porch. Continue reading
I am very pleased to announce that the first round of exploratory digging has been completed here at Gimpy Dog Ranch.
Did you think we forgot about holes, and the digging of holes, and the resulting piles that come from the digging of holes? We did not. We had holes, and so much more. There was a ladder, and there was effluent, there was a surprise water heater, and a visit from our neighbor. There was even some septic related education. It was truly an exciting day. Continue reading
There is a lot of ivy around here, and we are determined to remove it all.
Well, we may both be determined to remove it, but Andy is the one who has been taking action on the issue. In the last week or so, Andy has been removing the ivy from around the fence that surrounds the “yard”, one section at a time.
the gimpy dog ranch 