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.