Basement walls

North (window) and east sides of basement. Click on photos to enlarge.

East or front side of house.

South side of house.

West side of house (walk-out basement)

Photos were taken on Sunday. There will be a four-seasons room on the east (front) side of the house which will not have basement under it. The dogs and bird will probably be housed in this room as they are in our current villa. Eventually this room will become the living room of the cottage. There will be retaining walls added to the west side of the house for the walk-out basement after the floor for the basement is poured, the west wall is framed in, and the remaining excavation for the retaining walls is completed. Cats will have area in basement for litter boxes, etc. The basement walls will, in some areas, be out of the ground up to four feet. There will be back-fill up against the basement walls. There will be steps to climb to get on to the front porch and at least one step from the porch into the main part of the house. The elevation of the house will, hopefully, give a nice view from the kitchen window of the lake, and definitely will afford that view from the sleeping loft.

Bonnie went to the Good life Show at the Coliseum this past Saturday while Kathy worked. She is more determined than ever to go green in the cottage as much as we can afford to during the building phase and, when not financially possible now, then down the road as money permits.

We will be doing the tankless hot water heater from the get-go and also Kinetico water system and reverse osmosis drinking water. Though a reverse osmosis system is not considered green, Bonnie justifies it's inclusion in the cottage because of it's health benefits (we will have a well). Bonnie plans to use Safecoat paints from Green Way Supply in Indianapolis for our interior colors. The colors we currently like are very rich and earthy.

We are also looking into bamboo flooring which is harder than red oak or maple and can be resurfaced several times...bamboo because it is a renewable resource. In addition, if we can afford it, we will have Icynene applied as our insulation of choice. It is Energy Star compliant and green certified, is healthier than other insulation, and acts as a noise barrier from outside noises.

We will be taking our current stove and fridge because, when we purchased it for our villa in Ft. Wayne, we thought they were the last we were going to buy and we got exactly what we wanted. Though Kathy has since changed her mind about the side-by-side fridge (the freezer is too small and too narrow), she does like the ice and water through the door and the great filtering system. She thinks the drinking water through the door is about the best she has ever had. Also, the fridge is Energy Star compliant. So new and less expensive appliances will be in place when the villa goes up for sale, saving us hundreds of dollars. We have a commercial upright freezer (Energy Star compliant) that will go in the basement as well as a small dorm-sized fridge/freezer and a wine cooler, so we are set for fridges, coolers and freezers.

Bonnie brought Kathy home some apples from the Good Life Show that are excellent. They are from Country View Greenhouse in South Whitley. They are a green apple and are called Shizuka. Part of green living includes buying locally. You buy an apple from a local grower and you save energy by not purchasing the same apple from the State of Washington where it had to be shipped. Here is my question though...if you have to drive to South Whitley to buy the apples, aren't you still using energy (gasoline) to get there and back? How is this green? Or is it just greenER buying locally grown produce than that produced in far-away states?

Bonnie complimented Kathy on having lived somewhat green most of her life. If buying clothes from Goodwill and wearing them until they have so many holes in them that they are indecent and you have to be told to put them in the rag bag is green, then she is green. If buying a low-mileage used car and driving it for 15 years or until it won't run any longer without huge repair bills is green, then she is green. If wearing the same pair of shoes long past when they have gone out of style, or pulling Bonnie's cast-off tennis shoes out of the trash to wear to go geocaching (even though they are two sizes too large) is green, then she is green. If making do with tools that aren't quite suited to the job in order to not have to go out and buy a new tool (even if that means taking twice as long to do a job) is green, then she is green. If washing the colors with the whites to conserve water (even if it means that the colors might run and the whites have to be washed over again using bleach) is green, then she is green. If (and this is Bonnie's least favorite of Kathy's green doings) getting every drop of margarine, mayonnaise, etc., out of a bottle, jar or tub is green, then she is very, very green! If taking a shower only once a week in order to conserve water is green...ok, we have gone too far! But you get the picture.

Friends and neighbors

The forms going up for the walk-out basement.

Denny and Barbara's home.

The front of the Dull home.

Another angle of the front of the house. Click on photos to enlarge.

The top photo today is of forms going up for the walk-out basement for Blossom Ridge Cottage. As of today, the basement has, supposedly, been poured. We will check this weekend as we will be driving by the area.

Today's blog is about our friends and neighbors who live adjacent to or near the farm. Some of these people qualify as friends, some as neighbors, and some as both.

The first neighbor we will discuss is Richard Hansen to our north. You may see photos of his beautiful log home in previous posts. We aren't quite certain what Richard does for a living, and we would have to check his business card for confirmation, but he might dabble in the gold market.

Richard lives in his log home with a variety of people, or so it seems. He has a large, gentle dog named Regan, and there is, more often than not, a second large dog at the home. His son lives with him (or did) and there are various cars and people coming and going from the home on a daily basis. We see Richard to wave to and that has been about it since he graciously gave us a tour of his home about a year ago when we knocked on his door and introduced ourselves to him after purchasing the two acres next to him. Perhaps there will be more dialogue after we move in. Richard's home has been for sale since before it was completed. The original price has been reduced, but in today's market it may be a very long time before it sells. Bonnie spoke with Richard once at the airport and came away with the feeling that he didn't really care if he sold the home or not, and only would for the right price.

Denny and Barbara Dull, our underground neighbors to the south, are everything you could hope for in neighbors. The first of today's photos of their spread shows their barn, a small out-building that is currently housing our tiller thanks to Denny's generosity, Denny's observatory (he says that light pollution from the city of Fort Wayne interferes with what once was a great view of the sky), and an entrance (from above) to the house below from its "roof."

Two other photos of the front of Denny and Barbara's home shows how it is tucked into the hillside. This house is in no way dark as there are windows all down the front of it. These photos also show Denny's gazebo. His veggie garden is between the gazebo and the barn.

Denny is retired from GE and living, with Barbara, what appears to be a very comfortable life. Denny is a bear of a man about our age, while Barb is a very petite woman. They are clever, witty, generous, and we consider them our friends. We look forward to having some wonderful times with them. Denny keeps his eye on our property in our absence, and more honest and caring neighbors would be hard to find.

Jonathan and Olivia Kline own Camp Timber Lake, and it was from Jonathan that Bonnie purchased our 2-acre farm. We understand that Jonathan knew from a very young age that he wanted to buy the campground, and purchase it he did, right out of high school. What Jonathan and his family have done in the few short years they have owned and operated Camp Timber Lake is staggering. Jonathan is a Jack-of-all-trades, and there is not much he can't do when it comes to developing the campground. Olivia, also a hard worker, does much of the mowing, cleaning and, I am sure, many other things that go uncredited. She is a recent college graduate with a degree in graphic arts if I am not mistaken. The age difference between the younger Klines and us will probably keep us from developing more than a casual friendship with them. We have, after all, children much older than them!

Jonathan and Oliva have been helped enormously in the development of the campground by Jonathan's parents, Rex and LeAnn Kline, and LeAnn's mother, June. Also on the roster of campground developers is Don, who is 85, and has been a fixture at the campground for many years. Don is currently recovering from back surgery which has forced him to participate less in the more stenuous activities at the campground. As of last year he lives year-round at Camp Timber Lake in a small cottage that used to be the campground office and which was moved to the location on the largest lake where he had a summer cottage that was not set up for year-round habitation.

Rex is a retired plumber and electrician whom Bonnie has contracted with to do all of that type of work for Blossom Ridge Cottage. LeAnn still works parttime but puts in many hours, still, at the campground. Rex and LeAnn love to ride their bikes on long (50+ miles and more) trips with groups and friends. They are always busy with one project or another. They recently put a metal roof on their lovely A-frame home and Rex, though retired, continues to work as a plumber and electrician as much as Social Security will allow. We feel blessed that he agreed to work on our cottage. The advice he has given us has been invaluable.

LeAnn, like Kathy, rescues kittens and cats. We have lost count of the number of cats she is currently housing. It makes Kathy's three cats seem like nothing. Not all of these cats are housecats, but they are well taken care of and loved. Homes are being sought for some of them. (Perhaps Possum will post their photos on his blog.) Again, we feel fortunate to have Rex and LeAnn for neighbors and hope for more of a friendship with them down the road.

June is a wonderful woman. She keeps herself busy in her retirement with her veggie garden and volunteer work. She has a wonderful little rescue terrier named Scooby. A visit from June is always a treat. We hope to also have a deepening friendship with her over the years.

Moving to the cottage will also cut 35 minutes off the drive to Logansport to visit Kathy's mother and two brothers, a trip that usually takes 90 minutes. It will also put Kathy closer to geocaching partner and friend, Rick, his son, Ricky, and Geodog, Patrick.

Cottage drawings

Yep...walk-out basement!

Main level

Loft

© 2008 Bonnie Pennock

Click on photos or drawings to make them larger.

Footers

Bonnie inspecting the footers last night.

The temporary electric box.

Bonnie and Little Bear after basement excavation.

Our neighbor to the north.

Mille examining the covered leech beds.

Walk-out basement looking toward road.

Gizmo checking out the fall colors.

Footers.

The grapevines are making a come-back - Cabernet Franc.

Traminette

Vidal

The footers have been poured and have passed inspection. We are hopeful that the forms for the basement walls will be put up today. There is a 70% chance of rain late this afternoon into the evening. We think the forms may go up but that the walls will not be poured.

As you can tell from the photos, the cottage is very small...cozy is our preferred word. We have also uploaded photos of the rejuvinated grapevines.

The log home in the one photo looks like it should be the lodge for Camp Timber Lake. Our little cottage will look like the servant's quarters for the log home. This is a beautiful log home, very spacious, and would make a wonderful B&B. It wasn't completed when the owner, our neighbor Richard, had it up for sale with a very hefty price tag on it. We have had a tour, compliments of Richard, and it has a wonderful, open feel to it. No fireplace. A home like this should have several fireplaces.

Our neighbors to the south are Denny and Barbara Dull. Their home is equally impressive. It is underground. We have also had a tour of this lovely home. In some of the previous photos you can see Denny's huge white pole building that houses his camper, his car and van, and his woodworking shop. You may also notice a building with a round roof. That would be Denny's observatory. Near the observatory is a small outbuilding where Denny has graciously allowed us to house our tiller until we can have a building of our own constructed. See first photo in previous blog for distance shots of Denny and Barb's homestead and also photos from inaugural post. We will upload a photo of the front of Denny's home soon. More about these people in an upcoming Friends and Neighbors blog.

So the work is progressing on the basement and Bonnie wanted made mention the fact that she saved 35% on the windows for the cottage. Builder Mike went to a place in The Fort that sells orphaned windows and more. These are windows that people have ordered and then, for one reason or another, have not used. They can be purchased at a tremendous savings. So we now have more windows for 35% less money than the original estimate which included no windows for the front porch. By buying the orphaned windows we now have windows for the porch. Kathy's favorite window (sight unseen) is going to be the huge window that takes up the whole south wall of the cottage and overlooks the vineyard.

The cottage...breaking ground

The fingers for the septic system in background.

Part of the leech bed.

Giant caterpillar!

With permits in hand and all of the sub-contractors chosen, ground was finally broken for Blossom Ridge Cottage when Rick Bauer began installing the septic system. The weather had to be just right, soil samples were taken to make certain that the ground was dry enough, and Rick began. He got as far as the above photos when the Huntington County Health Department had to come out and okay everything done. The tanks still needed to go in, but Rick, who is also doing the excavation for the basement and the backfill when the house is up, wanted to wait until Doctor Construction would be out to pour the basement so that the opening would not be left open for a long period of time, at the mercy of fall rains. Rick needed the earth from the excavation to use for mounding the septic.

Yesterday the basement was dug even though rain was called for today, as both Rick and Doctor Construction were not concerned about the amount of rain expected. We need to go out and take photos of the hole and check on the progress of the septic and the basement. Doctor Construction felt they needed 3 good days with no rain to pour the basement. They also need to, in conjunction with Rex Kline, leave openings for the plumbing and electric that Rex, as our plumbing and electrical contractor will run through the basement walls. Rex has already been in touch with REMC to have temporary electricity run to the site and has the box up. Bonnie already has an account set up with REMC. (The top exec of the local REMC is a neighbor whose son Kathy went to culinary school with. More on Friends and Neighbors in another blog.) The well man will also be out soon, but wanted to wait until most of the heavy equipment used in the excavation and pouring of the basement was done.

When the basement is done, Mike Tribolet and his crew will begin construction of the cottage, and Mike is hoping that will be as early as next week. We are at least one month later beginning construction than we hoped, so celebrating Thanksgiving in the cottage is not realistic; however, Christmas may be.

So let's talk about the cottage. It is very small...about 400 sf on the main level which will be a kitchen and bathroom with some living space. The cabinets will be custom made by John Battershell of Hicksville, Ohio (whose brother works for Bonnie at Cooper Tools in Hicksville) and will be made of hickory. Custom hickory cabinets were not one of the things we had to give up.

There will be an additional 400 sf of living space in the basement which will be a walk-out basement and will house Bonnie's winemaking supplies for now, as well as a washer and dryer and other mechanicals needed (water heater, etc.). We hope to have an on-demand water heater and will be running electric baseboard heat for now. We will also be keeping our gas stove, so will need to have LP gas run to operate it.

There will be a loft (bedroom) over the kitchen overlooking the living area part of the main floor. There will also be a 3-seasons room that will, hopefully, be a 4-seasons room before too long. There are also plans for an addition at a later date. The total sf including porch and loft is about 1200. You really need to get along with someone to share that small of a space.

We currently have 7 pets (see http://graytiger.blogspot.com/ for photos, names and ages), so it will be very cozy. We aren't certain where the dogs will be housed when we move in. It will depend on time of year whether they will be on the porch or in the basement. There will be lots of windows everywhere for fresh air and light.

We closed for the mortgage with Farm Credit Services on Monday. It could be very tight financially if we don't sell our camper or some acreage Bonnie has in Arkansas soon. The villa we currently live in may go on the market next spring. Right now the housing market is terrible. Bonnie is thinking of leasing. Kathy is against that unless it is a last resort.

We both hope to draw early Social Security at 62 and Kathy will be drawing about 9 months before Bonnie, who will also retire at the time she reaches 62. There are so many unknowns. Kathy feels certain Bonnie's pension has been hit hard by the fall of the Stock Market, and that may impact retirement plans and the ability to pay off the cottage when Bonnie turns 63. In addition, Kathy's SS payment will not be large. Kathy will be drawing on her ex-husband's work record, and we have no idea how much that will be because SS won't tell her until she is ready to begin receiving payments.

Once the villa is sold/leased (or maybe sooner), we will move into the cottage fulltime. That will mean a 35 minute drive for Kathy to work each day and about an hour for Bonnie. Bonnie feels that she can put up with the drive for a year or year and a half for the peace she feels she will experience living at the cottage.

Bonnie's veggie garden

Tomatoes, herbs, etc.

Radishes, beans, onions, etc.

Melons, squash, etc.

If at first you don't succeed...

...take the danged thing apart!

Bonnie had a wonderful inaugural veggie garden this year. She studied lasagna (layered) gardening and ended up with raised-bed gardens that were layered with all things organic. She planted marigolds and herbs to repel harmful insects. All seemed to work quite well. As with the grapes, we enjoyed successes and failures. Our onions, garlic and shallots were a bust. Too much rain, perhaps? The tomatoes (cherry, yellows and reds) did quite well. We loved our red cherry tomatoes (as sweet and nice as any we've had), our large yellow tomatoes and a pinkish tomato that I can't remember the name of that tasted like a beefsteak tomato. All of these, I am certain, we will plant again. Luckily Bonnie kept records.

Our beans, likewise, did well. Kathy liked all of the beans we grew - yellow wax, flat Italian, and Blue Lake. Bonnie preferred the Italian and Blue Lake and is thinking of growing a different wax bean next year. Kathy was pleased with the wax beans we grew this year.

Bonnie lost her watermelon plants but we had cantaloupe and charentais. The cantaloupe was not very sweet. The early charentais were excellent.

Bonnie did not care for the butternut squash, but Kathy liked it, so I suppose we will change varieties next year.

Our herbs did very well. We used the basil and rosemary but not the sage.

We had blueberries, and a couple varieties of raspberries. The blueberries are still in pots and need to be planted next spring. The raspberries need to be put on a trellis system. We also want to purchase Macintosh and Honey Crisp dwarf trees (one each) and train them to espalier. We also purchased and Autumn Blush Maple tree to use for shade on the property. There is a chance it can still be planted this year. If not, it will winter over at Huntington Nursery and be planted in the spring.

The Vineyard...trial and error

With the first of the photos uploaded reference the early development of the land and vineyard, we can now discuss many of the mistakes we made.

Why did we decide to cultivate grapes?

Bonnie and Kathy both enjoy wine, and our palates have evolved over the years from drinking the semi-sweet (and very tasty) Oliver Red, White and Rose to dryer reds and whites. Oliver Winery is one of the oldest and largest wineries in the state of Indiana. Their wines are sold all over Indiana in liquor stores, grocery stores, and restaurants. We purchase ours at Sam's Club. Almost everyone in Indiana who drinks wine, began with these wonderful, light and reasonably-priced wines.

When we realized that we would have no problem drinking a bottle of wine an evening, it was time to think about making our own. This Bonnie did from kits she purchased, mostly from Patterson's Do-It Best Hardware Store in New Haven, Indiana, where the owners are home winemakers and stock a large supply of wine equipment and kits. We also purchased supplies from Francie Lengerich at The Brewers Art Supply Inc. in Fort Wayne.

Still other kits were ordered through the mail, and Bonnie even tried her hand at making wine from Niagara grapes she purchased. We have driven to Indianapolis to purchase Catawba and Zinfandel juices from Easley Winery. Some of these endeavors met with success and some with failure, but each was a learning experience.

We attended a winemaking class at The Round Barn Winery in Michigan, and though we did not bottle wine from the grapes we personally picked, we did bring home some wonderful Syrah, half of which we left dry and half of which we bottled at 4% residual sugar. Both are very yummy.

We traveled to North East, Pennsylvania to Presque Isle Winery for another class, where Bonnie impressed everyone with how much she knew, making them wonder why she was there in the first place. Kathy was just trying to understand the whole process and had to keep herself interested by sampling the winery's wines as they were passed, which reminded her why she had agreed to the class.

The owner of the winery is Doug Morehead. When the class was over, we went to the shop to sample and purchase wines, and Bonnie asked Doug about a newer grape (Noiret) that she was going to grow. Doug was kind enough to take us to his wine cellar and let us sample his first vintage of Noiret that he blended with Cabernet Franc, as well as just about every other wine in every barrel in the cellar! We enjoyed this very much.

I believe by that time, Bonnie had decided on the varieties of grapes she was going to plant. The whites included, Vidal, Vignole, Cayuga-Riesling, Traminette and Traminette-Ravat. The reds included, Marquette, Noiret and Cab Franc.

The first vines were received and placed in 5-gallon buckets with amended soil and spent their first growing season at the side of our villa in Fort Wayne where we could keep an eye on them and keep them sprayed. They were then transported to the farm where they were transplanted and joined by dozens of other vines received in the spring of this year. Some fared better than others. We lost all 3 of the '07 Cayuga-Rieslings and a few of the others. Replacements will be ordered for spring '09.

In retrospect, we probably planted the vineyard a year too soon. We were unable to get on much of a regimen by being there only on weekends. Even driving down during the week wasn't enough. The holes, dug using the same large auger used to set the vineyard posts, were just too big. After planting the vines we got far too much rain. The vines sunk deeper into the holes. Since many of them were grafted vines, they had to be pulled up by their trunks and re-set. There are still depressions around the base of many of the vines that we should fill in. There was just too much rain in the spring, followed by, of course, draught. If that wasn't enough, the vines were devastated by Japanese Beetles.

Bonnie wanted to go organic as much as possible, so Kathy sprayed with the Cornell formula (baking soda, water, horticultural oil and insecticidal soap). This worked very well for molds and mildews, but did nothing for the Japanese Beetles.

As fate would have it, Bonnie went to a Farmer's Market in Roanoke and met Camille Cupa at her berry stand. Camille is a graduate of SUNY Cobleskill with a degree in horticulture. She agreed to act as our consultant, and a time was set up for her to survey our vineyard.

Camille put us at ease immediately by telling us that, in her berry business, her family had also made some mistakes for which she had had to seek advice from her former professors. She told us that no two growing seasons were identical, so what worked for you one year might not work for you the next. She told us that we had to get some leaves back on the vines and, even then, she was afraid that it might be too late to save many of them. She advised both foliar and root fertilizing, which we have done religiously since her visit to the farm. We have not been able to get the NPK levels in the fertilizers that she wanted us to use, but hope to have sources for them next year.

Camille got Kathy very excited about using nematodes for Japanese Beetle control next summer and also convinced Bonnie that non-organic products might have to be used at times. When the meeting ended we were all excited about the vineyard. Camille agreed to stay on as our advisor and to help us set up drip irrigation and trellis next year. We purchased grape varieties we could use on a VSP system because we felt we could manage them more easily. That system should help reduce the chances for molds and mildews and, hopefully, will also allow us easier canopy management.

Camille was pleased with the size of our vineyard in that we had kept it small. She advised us not to make it any larger until we have a handle on what we already have. She will help us with pruning, canopy management, and help set up a spraying regimen for Kathy (who isn't afraid of using chemicals) to follow. Bonnie, in turn, will help advise Camille on making wine from her wonderful berries.

In the meantime, we continue to plan vacations and outings that include trips to vineyards. We love the Finger Lakes wine trails, have been to Michigan, Ohio, Missouri (the Herman area), Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and, of course, Indiana vineyards. We will make it to Napa Valley one day. We also adore mead, and Kathy has been enjoying a new adventure in beers. We also attempt to go to local tastings and enjoyed a trip to Vintage Indiana at Military Park in Indianapolis in 2007.

Of our evolving palates we would like to say that everything changed for us after Bonnie made a trip to visit her son and grandchildren in Kansas and stopped at Herman, Missouri, and sampled some Norton (Cynthiana) wine from Robller Winery. She found that she was beginning to enjoy dryer wines. After her return she purchased a $30 bottle of Cline's Old Vine Zinfandel which she opened at Camp (summer '07). It knocked our socks off. We finally appreciated that dryer reds had to be room temperature, and Kathy realized that she must have thrown hundreds of dollars worth of dry red wines down the drain because she served them too chilled. Merlot and Syrah/Shiraz, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Pinotage, Super Tuscan, Norton, and others followed. Kathy leans toward Shiraz and has a prized bottle of 1999 Penfolds Grange (the price of which is fluctuating at auction due to the current disastrous economy). She also still loves Zinfandel, the Super Tuscan, Merlot and Cabernet. Bonnie has a prized bottle of Opus One and loves her Merlots and Bordeaux, among others.

Next: Bonnie's lasagna garden.

In the Beginning

View of largest lake to which we have an easement.

Two acres of farm land Bonnie purchased.

Bonnie: empty wine glass signifying beginning of vineyard.

Preparing ground for grapevine planting, spring 2008.

Hole for vine which later created issues.

Vines are planted and Bonnie is resting.

Tilling with new tiller.

The tilling is done.

The annual rye grass coming up.

An individual Marquette vine.

For some reason, this blog has been flagged by Blogger as a spam blog. We think it might be the word Farm in the name of the blog. We hope that Blogger will take care of this soon.

We are Bonnie and Kathy, two sextogenarians, looking to retire at age 62 and live off the land in a small cottage we are having built near Roanoke, Indiana.

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle the development of Blossom Ridge Farm, the name we have given to the two acres Bonnie purchased in Huntington County, Indiana, adjacent to Camp Timber Lake, where we have been seasonal campers for several years. Since our cat, Possum, already has a head start on us with blogging, we have placed this blog under his account and will let him manage this one also. His blog can be found at http://graytiger.blogspot.com/.

After a very long wait for the deed to be processed, we were finally able to lay out and plant our vineyard of 80 vines this spring. Then, after many more months of Bonnie designing the cottage, acting as her own general contractor and hiring her sub-contractors, we finally broke ground in September with the beginning of the installation of the septic system.

We are trying to build as green as possible. Unfortunately, green equates to a higher expense for materials. The metal roof was not affordable on our budget, nor was the cement shingle siding. We then settled on asphalt shingles that had a lifetime warranty which we have had to downgrade to 30-year shingles due to expense. The siding has also been downgraded twice.

That having been said, we still hope to go green as much as possible.

We are uploading, at this time, photos of the land at the time of purchase through the planting of the vineyard.