New Barn

This past summer was a whirlwind as they usually are. This year's big project was an 18 X 28' barn that will serve as our summer art studio. The project began with clearing some large trees and bringing in fill and crushed stone for our poured concrete slab foundation. We then opted for 2 X 6" stud walls 16" on center. The walls are 12' high with scissor trusses on top angled at a 12/12 pitch. Inside it is 24' 6" to the ridgeline. This open space feels much bigger than it actually measures in square feet because of the volume created with the open, tall ceiling or actually lack of ceiling. In other words it is open to the roof. The roof is sheeted with 1" rough sawn pine, covered in 30lbs. felt paper, 1 X 3" purlins, and then top of the line metal roofing. The snow ought to slide off this roof nicely. Next summer we will add more windows and sheetrock for a brighter space as it will serve primarily as a painting studio. We hope to add a ten foot, "bump out" addition on the back for a framing room. A solar array to power led lighting is also in the long term plans. Once the rest of the windows are in place we will finish siding the gable ends with cedar shakes.

"Salt Road" by Debe Abbott

This original pastel painting by Debe Abbott is right down the road from our Dragonwood.  SOLD

http://debeabbottsartblog.blogspot.com

The Cabin at Dragonwood

Fall 2010

The last week of October we enjoyed three days of "Indian Summer" with temps in the 70's and a lot of sunshine. Here are a few shots taken at Dragonwood over the last couple of days. A look up the driveway with all the autumn leaves. Also a couple of fall garden shots including our fall crop of leaf lettuce, leeks and one of our just planted garlic beds. This year we planted over 150 garlic cloves of six different varieties.

One photo is of a small lake just down the road. Deb has painted this scene a couple of times and sold both originals. She also did a print from one of the paintings that has since sold out.

Will be up this weekend to cut and split more firewood. We will also begin putting things away for winter. Next week will be the beginning of November. Here in the Tug Hill region that means snow will be on the way soon. I will box up the solar panels and put away a lot of the garden tools etc. . I have seen things crushed by the weight of the snow. One year a garden cart was left out. The weight of the snow that winter all but destroyed it.

"Rock Run"

A Good Haul! KII and I never pass an opportunity to grab some good field stones when we have the chance. We have numerous ongoing stone walls and other stone projects as well as some Andy Goldsworthy style sculptures planned for the gardens. You can't have too many rocks. We have several piles in various places around the property. These get sorted every now and then into "rounds",corners,flats, uglies, etc.. This makes it easier to find the right stone for a given need.

We plan to clear about an acre for additional gardens and some fruit trees. Pulling stumps and bulldozing should produce a bounty of choice specimens next spring.

Stone Wall Detail

I thought I would post this close up of one of the many stone walls that I have put up at Dragonwood over the years. This one is a little over 10 years old and look at the moss and lichen. It looks as though it has been there much longer. The stone work at Dragonwood is a never ending project. I hope to do some stone spirals and towers in time.

Blue Angel Hosta

Our Hosta collection is ever growing. We now have well over 30 different varieties and Deb is always looking for more. She has become obsessed, a real "Hosta Freak". I even see a series of paintings in the near future.

This Blue Angel above is one of my favorites. I especially like the blue foliage. Other favorites include Orange Marmalade, Yellow River, Dream Weaver, Sum and Substance, Katie Q, June, as well as some of the variegated varieties like Patriot, Minuteman, Whirlwind, Wide Brim and Francis William.

At some point I will photograph and document them all.

Logging Off Black Cherry

My buddy Vince is culling about 40 Black Cherry trees for us this week. The market is not optimal by any means but if Kevin II is going put up a yurt in the spring we needed to clear some out anyway.

Autumn Colors

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day at Dragonwood.

Huge Sale at our Gallery

HUGE RECESSION SALE! This downturn in the economy has really put a pinch on our business. In order to try to get things going we are marking down all prints 50% - 75% and are willing to negotiate on our originals. Take advantage of this opportunity to buy that painting you have been wanting or get a jump on your Christmas shopping! http://www.abbottsstudio.com/

Abbott's Studio, 624 So. Main St., Central Square, NY 13036 315-668-9459 HoursMon - Fri 10 -6 and Saturday 10 -3 or by appointment.

Used Bricks

We all hear the phrase, "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle", and I think most of us try to put this principle into practice to some degree. We definitely are trying to practice what we preach at Dragonwood.

Gleaning, scrounging, dumpster diving is an art form for us. You would be amazed at the things we have picked up over the years. Our cabin is built largely from "recycled" or "salvaged materials. My son and I picked up two mini van loads of red cedar shakes from a building being razed back in 90's. These shakes are very expensive to purchase and last a long, long time. They now are on our cabin. We also used doors and windows picked up on the side of the road.

Palettes picked up for free have made great compost bins. We have developed a nice system that is easy and free. These bins are ideal, the cost is right and they are easily expandable should your needs grow. I expect at some point I will take photos and post a quick piece on here about these easy to build compost bins.

Pictured above is our most recent find. A house burned in our village and before rebuilding, the contractor completely gutted the building to include the old brick chimneys.

Old bricks used to be easy to come by, but as demand has grown they have become hard to come by and actually cost more to purchase than new bricks.

This particular contractor apparently had no use for them or didn't want to bother. He was about to put them in a dumpster and have them hauled off to the landfill. Given that he has to pay by the ton to get rid of the construction/demolition debris he was all too happy to let us take them away.

So far we have filled our truck three times and I estimate there are two to three more loads. Many are broken but a lot of them are whole. We are taking even the rubble as we intend to put that down as hard fill where my son is putting in his driveway.

Nothing goes to waste! Finds like this are out there, you just have to keep your eyes open and not be afraid to ask. You will get turned down sometimes but the times you get a yes make it worth the trouble.

Happy scrounging!

Carolyn and Mike Chute

Novelist Carolyn Chute and husband Mike at their Maine Homestead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/books/04chut.html


I thought those of you who follow Dragonwood Chronicles might enjoy this article from the NY TIMES.




*I am experiencing difficulty with my hyperlink functionality so you will have to copy and paste the link. Sorry!

American Goldfinch

We have a variety of birds and other critters that visit Dragonwood on a regular basis. These Goldfinches are among our favorites.

Solar Panels

Well we finally took the plunge and I don't know why we waited so long. This 45 Watt system is basically a solar battery charger. I had to purchase a 12 Volt deep cycle battery to go with the system. Basically a marine or RV battery. This system came with a regulator and two DC 5 Watt compact fluorescent light fixtures.

One of the biggest challenges of being off the grid is lighting. As soon as the sun goes down things become difficult especially if it is overcast and no moonlight. We have used propane lanterns, tiki torches and rechargeable lights as well as oil lamps.

I was somewhat skeptical, but I have to tell you it works great. This system is an inexpensive set up made for campers or a remote cabin like ours and clearly has limitations. We will eventually have to purchase an inverter if we wish to operate AC appliances, but for now I am just happy to have the lighting.

As an experiment I ran both lights all night long, which normally I wouldn't do. The two lights only drew down the battery to 12.3 from 12.8 on the regulator.

The solar panels connected brought the battery back to a 13 on the regulator in just a little over a half hour. I am impressed.

Cabin

People are always curious about the cabin. Here is a shot I took yesterday from the bridge.

Weeding the Lavender

We have several garden areas with Lavender that normally does quite well. This year it seems to be having an off year. Perhaps it's all the rain we have had or maybe it's just time to ammend the soil.

All of our gardens are essentially raised beds as we must add top soil, humus, compost and mulch on top of the hard pan. Some of the beds are defined by stone or wood but most are just mounded on top of the ground.

Shoveling the roof

Every year about this time we have to think about how much snow weight we have on the roofs of our buildings. It can really add up and sadly we lose a few more old barns every year. Porch roofs, garages, and out buildings often collapse under the weight of the accumulated lake effect snow. Sometimes even houses and commercial buildings come down and mobile homes seem to be especially vulnerable.

The cabin at Dragonwood is one that I make sure we shovel at least once every year about mid-winter. The weatherman is calling for a warm up and the chance for rain. Although I have seen deeper snow on the cabin roof, if it rains, we would be flirting with disaster. The cabin is over built in many respects, but when you take 2 - 3 feet of densely compacted snow and add a couple of inches of rain into the mix, that adds up to a tremendous amount of weight.

I'm glad to have my son home to help this year!