Funny moment of the day!

I was looking for the ear protectors, walking on the trailer and looking all around. I was going to use the nail gun.
And I totally forgot that the ends of both sides of the trailer had no floor, but only some pieces of wood.
What happened? I just dropped down into the void!
Hilarious moment to take a picture, thought David!

With love and some pain here and there,
Raquel

Nailgun acessories

Yes, they arrived last week.
We are ready to shoot some nails!
In fact, David already tried the nail gun and it looks like a very powerful tool. I think it is going to help us a lot when it comes to speeding things up.
But I must say, that it's very scary for me as well.
Exciting and demands respect!

Love,
Raquel

Nail gun

Nail Gun

This arrived a few weeks ago..

After much deliberation we decided to buy a secondhand nail gun. This one is a paslode, it is gas powered. It should speedup the framing part of the build, and also when we come to clad the outside with wooden boards.

The advantage of nails is that they don't shear like screws do, which is helpful when working with wood. Also they are faster to put in and generally cheaper.

I have had a go with it. I have to say it is a bit intimidating, but also good fun! We are starting the flooring tomorrow, so I am looking forward to putting it to good used.

David

Cork Insulation

Amazing cork!

A few days ago we received our order of cork. We decided to use cork for all of our insulation as it has many benefits over other types of insulation available. Firstly it is produced in Portugal, which is fantastic as it doesn't have to travel far to be with us. Secondly it is just cork, which is bark taken from the cork oak. This is a process that involves removing the bark of a tree, the cork is then steamed which expands it and helps it stick together and then it is cut into boards. Apparently no harm is done to the trees and the bark grows back in a nine year cycle. It is fully biodegradable and has no added chemicals. It is quite a bit more expensive than polystyrene equivalents but for us with that we are trying to create it was the only choice. I was just reading that because bottles are being capped with more plastic and metal these days, the cork manufactures are looking at ways that it can be used in the building industry, this seems to be a really good one.

A+ efficiency rating!

The delivery driver wasn't able to make it to the Quinta so we met him just outside Benfeita, our local village and did the deal.

Thanks to Marko & Laura for lending us Brun Hilder(the name of their truck)

We quickly loaded up the truck before the rain came.

  

Loaded and ready to go!

 

Posing for yet another selfie! This one with the cork. 

Thanks for tuning in!
David

Floor - extension of the trailer

 Today, David started to put some wood inside of the extensions so we can have a good foundation to do the flooring.

Tomorrow, I will continue with this job.

Picking up some of the wood

Today we went to the wood yard to pick the wood that is ready. We were lucky because all of it fit in the truck!
Beautiful, dry wood.
There is still a lot to pick on the 9th of January, but for now, we have enough to work on the floor and start with the frame.

 

Next, David started to prepare the trailer so we could see the next step: 

 Balu was with us

 

 And Missy too

When we arrived with the wood, we had the care to put it in a straight floor, so for that we used pallets. This is very important because we don't want the wood to get curvy! And after that, we covered it with a tarp so it's protected from the rain or night humidity.

Can't wait to get my hands on it!

Love,
Raquel

Painting the trailer

If you look at the pictures, you can start seeing how the trailer is now. The last picture shows how it was before.
We bought a very robust trailer, but with some rust. That's why we decided to paint it with Bondex - corrostop, which is a treatment for rust and prevents the reappearance of it. 
Here are the charateristics:
Características

Tipo	Esmalte
Indicado para	Exterior
Efeito	Liso
Aplicação direta sobre a ferrugem	Sim
Superfície de aplicação	Metal
Necessita primário	Não
Base	Sintética
Número de demãos	2
Rendimento	10 m²/L
Tempo entre demãos	6 horas
Mais vantagens	Excelente aderência, boa cobertura e secagem rápida
Marca	Corrostop

I loved doing this task. It reminded me a lot of my Grandfather Ramiro. He was a handyman and this was one of his works.
Looking forward to see what's the next step!

Love,
Raquel

Being with what is

As you have been noticing, building our tiny house is more than just physically building a house.
The process is quite magical.
Since we started, a lot of things "came to the surface" - this meaning that behavior patterns, ideas, tendencies and believes come to our consciousness frequently.
And that's one of the things that I most love from this: it is so complete and mysterious at the same time.
We have to be with what is. If we don't, we suffer. It's been our experience that if we just let go of any expectation, things are what they are. It's a choice, everyday. Either we live or we suffer.
It's a challenge in a world of agendas, expectations, desires and other movements that keep us away from what we are in reality.
But today, I only speak from myself, from my own experience.
Today, I am disappointed. But in the middle of sadness and frustration I sense that the right thing is happening. It doesn't matter why, but it's just what is.
Every time that I force anything to happen exactly in the way that I want it to happen, I suffer.
Today I am disappointed because I thought that the wood was going to arrive and it isn't.

Look at this perfect 2 examples of what I am speaking about:

1 - The other day I saw myself looking at David sanding the trailer and thinking: what am I doing, work wise, in this trailer? Nothing! I am doing Nothing. I am useless. With no skills to put a house up. I am nothing! And so, I just went out and asked him if he wanted some help for what he was doing. He said no, but I insisted. So, I helped him to move a cement base to put under the trailer so he could level it. In the process of doing it I banged my head into a piece of metal under the trailer. It heart so much and at the precise moment that that happened I could see that it's no use of forcing things! It's a ridiculous waste of time not being with what is. I am everything! It doesn't matter what I am doing if I am doing it with all my heart. I am not what I do. Things at the moment are like this and I was not accepting that.

2 - Today I called the wood yard, because the wood was supposed to come this week. At the beginning they told us that the wood was coming the same week that we ordered, but then they found out that they didn't have the measurements that we needed in dry wood. So, this week was the week! But no! They made a mistake and the 150 pieces of wood were not dried by them! What to do now? Wait another month for it to dry? Use green wood?
We are going to complain for sure. But one question came to us: working with dry wood in the rain is a waste of money?
What to do?

We decided to stay with it for a while, meditate and go for a big walk.
And enjoy the beautiful life that we have. 
It's a choice that it's very important because the weather is going to change: bye bye sun, hello rain. And we had other plans for January.

We are going to stay with it, but at the same time we need to make a decision.

(Missanga in her Tiny House)

Isn't life curious and so mysterious?

With love,
Raquel



#UPDATE# 
We called again to the wood yard and they said that some wood is dry and ready to be picked up next week!
So next Tuesday we are going to Venda de Galizes!

Visit from the Dr.

Extending the trailer with the help of Dr. Ferro

We have been trying to arrange a visit from Dr. Ferro (metal) for a couple of weeks. On Thursday he arrived in the afternoon with his welding and cutting equipment and a very large generator. He is a well known metal worker from neighbouring town, and proudly gives himself the title of "Dr. Ferro". We were pleased he had made it and was sharing this part of the journey with us.

I explained what we wanted to do, and showed him the van chassis that we wanted to use for material. It was not quite what he was expecting and I was slightly anxious that I had asked him to come without the proper materials for him to do the job, but he was quick to get to work, and we were soon measuring and cutting the chassis to size.

The chassis was given to us by the man that we bought the trailer from. I had initially asked him whether he had any material that we could use to extend it. He originally said that we could have the chassis for a 100Euros but when we were doing the final deal said that he would give it to us for free! We really appreciated it, and it was great to now be putting it to good use.

As soon as we had cut the first piece, the Dr., or Antonio, as he is known, was quickly to work with the welder to attach it to the chassis. He was very fast and I had to be quick to keep up making sure everything was the dimensions we wanted it, and level with the rest of the trailer.

We quickly became a well oiled team working together to complete the mission. It was a cold day and we weren't hanging around. In about 3 hours we had both ends completed.

 

I am generally not that interested in working with metal, but I have to say I really enjoyed this part of the construction. I have not welded before but I have got a taste for it and I would like to learn more.

Mission completed we posed for a quick photograph. I will now paint the parts that we welded on to protect them from rusting. We are now just waiting for the wood to be ready and we will get started with the floor and frame :)

Job Done!

David

Who is coming on Thursday?

Dr. Ferro!

To well the metal extension in our trailer.
Instead of a 7m trailer we are going to have a 8m trailer!
Just enough space for a very comfortable home.

Leveling the trailer

Getting Level

We have the trailer positioned just in front of the bus, on what looks to be a fairly flat piece of ground. However when I got the spirit level out, I could see it was anything but.

When I was working with a carpenter on a project to build a meditation studio, I remember how much he emphasized
 the importance of getting the foundations level. Once you have that in place, whatever you build on top is going to be a lot easier. In that case we were digging holes in the ground to make concrete foundations, and so this is a little different, but the principal is the same.

So I set about jacking up each corner and supporting the trailer on combinations of slaps of concrete, stone and whatever else I could find that could take the weight. I found it a bit intimidating at some points when I realized how much weight I was lifting and supporting. In this picture I was using a jack and a piece of eucalyptus.

At the rear of the trailer there are stabilising arms that fold down. These helped a lot as I could wedge material under them, and create a stable foundation to support the trailer and also the house to come.

Raquel LOVES to take pictures of feet!?! This is one with our feet under the wheel of the trailer.

Getting there! I finished yesterday. We now have a solid level foundation to work on. We are just waiting for the materials to arrive and Dr. Ferro to weld on some metalwork to extend the length of the trailer.

David

Still and yet again, the trip from Santarém

Traveling in time

On our way back from Santarém, we decided to come trough the National Road. I always loved to do this in Portugal. We see people and contact more with the culture as well with the Nature. And I thought that we might find what we call pechinchas or achados. There are always people selling things on the National Roads. It's amazing! And that's what happened!
Right after Venda das Raparigas and before Leiria, we found a big storage place that was selling second hand things (Loja de Velharias). What an amazing store! For me was like traveling in time.
It was more than things, it was an adventure.
Me and David spent about an hour there, exploring, having fun, "going to the past" and seeing things that we really liked. At the end, we met the owner (I forgot his name!). What a character!
He is a traveler and that's why the things that he sells are not Portuguese only. There is stuff from all over the world. A seller, but nor forcing us to buy anything. I felt that he loves old things, people and the business. We couldn't resist to bring an old chest, an old military box and an old beer. The chest has already several functions (like in Permaculture!) and goes very well with the Moroccan theme that we would like to have in the house. It's going to be a sofa and a music box.
At the end, when we said goodbye, we took pictures together and he said to us: "you know what is life? Is about being honest, having humility and having a little bit of money!".
After that, it took as a while to start the journey again, because we had the windows in the car and we still had to fit in the (not so small) chest. But we did it!

We loved this experience and we recommend everyone that likes this kind of stores to go for a visit. Even if you don't buy anything, it is worth it to meet the owner and to just have fun in this time machine!

Oh, and look at the owner: he said to us that in New York he was confused with Joe Pesci. I understand why! I went back to "Home Alone" just by speaking with him!

 (picture from http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/Joe_Pesci_4.jpg)

 

With love,
Raquel