Weather Talk
11/27/06 - 2nd Day - Before Breakfast. December is almost here and it still feels like October. The temperature this morning is a balmy 60 degrees. Most of November has been in the 70's during the day with quite a few days in the 80's. We were getting down to the high 30's at night for awhile, but the last few nights it has been in the 50's and 60's. We sat out on the screened deck last night and it was probably in the 70's. I think our coldest morning yet is on the way though. On Wednesday the prognosticators are calling for one of our patented 50 degree swings. 80+ during the day, and 30 by morning. Winter here comes in fronts, and it rarely stays long. It gets really cold when a front comes through, and this might last for a day or two, maybe more. But it is not uncommon for us to have 70's and 80's in every month of winter, shockingly interrupted by low 20's when a yankee cold front marches through.
Things are about to get really busy down here. We are trying to get the root cellar finished by January 1 (if the Lord wills), and we will be starting a second root cellar and a milking shed as well. Then yesterday one of the ladies asked us to start on her cabin, which we will be doing simultaneously. Two other families will be moving down by the 1st of January as well.
Our new friend Homer (one of the neighbors) came by yesterday to say hi. Homer is an older fella and he likes to stop by in his big truck and sit on our porch with us and chat. His son lives about a mile north of us and told us he was going to shoot a deer for us this winter. So I was showing Homer the root cellar, and he says, "You oughtta see this underground house that was on the land my son bought. It was built by an old man who died about 10 years ago. He built it all by hand". So I told him I would love to see it, so we drove over to the land to take a look at it. This old man had built this underground house (about 1000 square foot) by hand. It had mortared rock walls and a cement roof held up by cement pillars. This old man had built this whole house by hand (it is empty now). He sold the land to Homer's son about 10 years before he died, with the agreement that he could live in it until he either died or had to go into a rest home. Anyway, I learned a lot by just looking around at how the old man did things. By the way, the old man had also built a nice milking shed, so I learned a lot about that too!
I am convinced that building a good part of the house underground is THE way to do things here. Because of the extreme heat in the summer, the cost of cooling a structure is prohibitive for those who want to live our lifestyle. It's not just that we want to keep people cool either. You can't store ketchup, mayo or other things when it gets to 111 outside and it is over 90 in the cabin overnight. This past summer, my children's crayons melted on the interior porch. So that is why we have been working so hard on the root cellar, and will be building a second (but different) one soon. There needs to be a place to store food and other items out of the heat, and it will also be a place for us to get out of the heat for awhile too. This is a great place to live, with awesome weather most of the time, but the extreme heat in the summer is our one mountain that has to be climbed. We are going to be climbing that mountain (with the Lord's help) this winter and spring. I hope to finish the two root cellars, refit new windows in the cabin, install heat shield material in the roof, install what is called Roman air-conditioning (non-electric), and we are going to repaint the cabin a lighter color. That with more insulation and a better cross breeze ought to really help us cool things down next summer. Of course, we make our plans, but the Lord directs our steps.
We have planned for our second root cellar to be a 20' x 8' one built in a totally different (but still old school) style. This one should be even cheaper to build than the first one. I have been studying how people used to make root cellars back when this land was first settled. The "dugout" or root cellar was the first construction project on the land back then, and after having gone through two summers here I know why.
Hope the weather is nice where YOU are. Maybe leave a comment and tell us what it is like.
Michael Bunker
Things are about to get really busy down here. We are trying to get the root cellar finished by January 1 (if the Lord wills), and we will be starting a second root cellar and a milking shed as well. Then yesterday one of the ladies asked us to start on her cabin, which we will be doing simultaneously. Two other families will be moving down by the 1st of January as well.
Our new friend Homer (one of the neighbors) came by yesterday to say hi. Homer is an older fella and he likes to stop by in his big truck and sit on our porch with us and chat. His son lives about a mile north of us and told us he was going to shoot a deer for us this winter. So I was showing Homer the root cellar, and he says, "You oughtta see this underground house that was on the land my son bought. It was built by an old man who died about 10 years ago. He built it all by hand". So I told him I would love to see it, so we drove over to the land to take a look at it. This old man had built this underground house (about 1000 square foot) by hand. It had mortared rock walls and a cement roof held up by cement pillars. This old man had built this whole house by hand (it is empty now). He sold the land to Homer's son about 10 years before he died, with the agreement that he could live in it until he either died or had to go into a rest home. Anyway, I learned a lot by just looking around at how the old man did things. By the way, the old man had also built a nice milking shed, so I learned a lot about that too!
I am convinced that building a good part of the house underground is THE way to do things here. Because of the extreme heat in the summer, the cost of cooling a structure is prohibitive for those who want to live our lifestyle. It's not just that we want to keep people cool either. You can't store ketchup, mayo or other things when it gets to 111 outside and it is over 90 in the cabin overnight. This past summer, my children's crayons melted on the interior porch. So that is why we have been working so hard on the root cellar, and will be building a second (but different) one soon. There needs to be a place to store food and other items out of the heat, and it will also be a place for us to get out of the heat for awhile too. This is a great place to live, with awesome weather most of the time, but the extreme heat in the summer is our one mountain that has to be climbed. We are going to be climbing that mountain (with the Lord's help) this winter and spring. I hope to finish the two root cellars, refit new windows in the cabin, install heat shield material in the roof, install what is called Roman air-conditioning (non-electric), and we are going to repaint the cabin a lighter color. That with more insulation and a better cross breeze ought to really help us cool things down next summer. Of course, we make our plans, but the Lord directs our steps.
We have planned for our second root cellar to be a 20' x 8' one built in a totally different (but still old school) style. This one should be even cheaper to build than the first one. I have been studying how people used to make root cellars back when this land was first settled. The "dugout" or root cellar was the first construction project on the land back then, and after having gone through two summers here I know why.
Hope the weather is nice where YOU are. Maybe leave a comment and tell us what it is like.
Michael Bunker
posted by Michael Bunker at 11/27/2006 04:19:00 AM
5 Comments:
The weather in Missouri is just, well, odd. This is an area that always displayed distinct seasonal changes. Spring and fall were usually shorter and more intermixed with hot and cold swings, but summer and winter months were very hot and very cold, respectively.
This year, here we are at the end of November, and there are actually buds sprouting on our lilac bush. Annual bulbs are popping up their leaves making a push toward a too warm sun.
I miss winter. The frost and deep freezes always killed many of the too abundant pests, which plague our crops, and buzz at our ears. What is going on anyway?
Is God sending us a message in all this? Used to be when you saw certain things happen on the earth you were able to know what to expect. Not any more.
Just for fun, the weather is messing with us. We try to study how to plant, and reap crops in this area, but this area is not acting like it used to.
Regardless, the Lord is in charge, we are convinced of that much. We trust in Him to lead us and to give us peace, no matter the weather.
Michael, It is nice to hear about your progress with the root cellar and also the plans for the future work on the ranch. I have thought about a house built at least partially underground. Would save on the cooling costs in summer. The weather here for the next three days will be in the 60's and then thursday the high will be 23 degrees. Too cold. Praise the Lord that I am Texas bound soon(DV). See you soon. God bless, Chris
It's about to hit into low 30's hight 20's here by the end of the week. It has been warm though for this time of year, knew wouldn't last to much longer. We hope it won't get to much colder before the move. Our plan on building is to build an above ground basement. Bring the dirt from digging the pond up to three sides for insulation. Have done alot of research and asking how to keep venilated, (DV), we'll be able to build it. God Bless.
We are building what is called
" An Earth Berm House" It sounds fancy doesn't it. LOL!! God Bless tell the family "hello"
Michael,
If the Lord wills, it would be nice if I could come too visit and help you with some of this building. However, right nowthat isnot possible.
I am looking forward to more pictures especially, when you start building the other cabin. Thanks for all the good info on root cellars. I am storing it in the back of my mind so I can pull it out when needed in the future when I start building one myself.
Bryan
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