Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[glenn kangiser]

Peter --- you better not touch that one--- the comment....

I have to talk to that girl. :-?

[glenn kangiser]

Jonesy wanted to see a picture of how the cabin fits into the ground and asked me to climb a tree to take the photo.  What I got was not the greatest but here it is.  



The forklift lost its prime so is stuck right in front of the cabin.  The garden is behind it and that is all that shows from that angle.  The greenhouse is directly over the uphill patio.  The cabin is under the garden starting at the left of the greenhouse glass and going 61 feet to the left under the garden.

After that I decided to do a little video so you would get a bit more of it.  This is around the inside  then out the front and up to the front of the RV garage.  We'll see how this goes then if you want more let me know.

I used a quick movie editor - it's a bit chopped up but you should get the idea.  The original movie was too long for photobucket.  Maybe I'll do a better one later-- after I figure out what I'm doing.

[jonsey/downunder]

Hi Mate, thanks for doing that, although I was bit worried about you climbing that tree. I'll need to swap over to explorer to watch the video. I don't have flash with mozilla.

[jonsey/downunder]

I'm having a little trouble with the video, my connections not the best today but the photo is good. It gives a bit of an idea of how the house fits into the landscape. Thanks again for doing that and I'm happy to see you didn't fall out of the tree. (More poetry)

[glenn kangiser]

You're not missing much on the video --  next one will be better - That is the first time I even tried that movie program.  I shot it in one long one -- next one I'll take several and  stick them together.

[desdawg]

I like the chryscolla rock. Do you have some copper deposits in your neck of the woods? We have some around here. I used to have a couple of mining claims. We got some copper minerals from one. Chryscolla, turquoise, lapis azul are all gemmy stuff found in the oxydation zone of copper. The other claim had crystals. Amethyst crystals had formed, then a clear quartz crystal had formed around the amethyst. It is called a phantom crystal when you have a crystal within another crystal. Ever notice how I can get off any topic in a heartbeat?

[glenn kangiser]

Good job on getting us off topic, desdawg.  I was getting a bit bored.

That rock is known as greenstone or green andesite.  It runs the length of the gold chain and I understand it id metamorphic basalt.  It is harder than the back of my head.  We have a few small copper mineral areas.  Had a copper mine near Fresno that I heard played out and one year a herd of cattle out here got anthrax.  They ran them into the mine shaft and sealed it up.  Don't know where I heard about that herd. :-/

There are a lot of minerals in this area - wish a had more time to go rockhounding.

We have areas with large quartz crystals near - I just got an old book that shows quartz crystals with 4' faces near here.  

[desdawg]

We were pretty active rockhounds for some time but life has a way of making you busy with other things. We still would enjoy it and have a hard time looking around a new area without staring at the ground for a while.
OK, you can go back to the topic now.

[John Raabe]

The discussion on Rocket Stoves has been moved to [link=http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1167119392]Rocket Stove Project[/link]

[glenn kangiser]

I did a few more things while Sassy was away at work.  I put in the window wall between the great room and the uphill patio, just to the right of the bridge as you walk out the French doors from the kitchen.  Slowed the winter winds that passed through from 10 mph to 2 mph.  Still more to seal up, but it's progress.



Think of the center section where the great room and bridge are as the dogtrot - now it is getting closed off since Sassy's unrelenting drive to get something done before the family get together last 16th.  I thought that as long as I had gotten that far I may as well continue and get the window wall up.  It will keep the place warmer in winter and cooler in the summer.  It is 61 feet from the south entrance to the great room at the 3rd bathroom wall, to the window wall at the edge of the uphill patio.

[PEG688]

You must have a great salvage yard or lots of friends that give you building supplies   And it's a good thing Sassy has that unrelenting drive or you'd be sittin a bar gettin drunk instead of building on the under gnd bunker  

Lookin good , eclectic , but still good  

[glenn kangiser]

I didn't spend any money as you well know.  The boards were given to me by a guy who owns the only wood recycling plant in San Jose.  He pulls all the good boards out for me to trade on a piece of equipment I have that he wants to buy at a reduced rate.  I told him I would take salvage lumber in trade for the balance.  I even got about 6 around 10x 16 gluelams.

The windows were free from the local glass company.  All tempered door glass panels - some dual pane.  I still have a truckload or so left.  He gave me 3 or more truckloads - I cant remember for sure. These were mostly leakers but the panels can be cut apart with a razor if they are bad enough that they need fixed or cleaned.  Each truckload was stacked about 18" deep - even broke a few -they were so heavy.  The small ones are 2'10" x 6'4"  big ones are 3'10"x 6'4".

People often watch out for things I may need and give me them.  I watch out too.  I'm a pretty fair scrounge.

I think I would be likely to be sitting at the computer on Countryplans if not for her drive.

[Sassy]

Was bracing for the big storm today & the sun ended up showing its face so thought I'd take some pictures    The temp got up to about 43 degrees while the sun was shining, now back down to 33... quite a big difference from 70 degrees yesterday.  Oh, when the sun came out, Glenn's passive-agressive solar heater came on & was blowing air at 58 degrees (the room was 49) - still working like a champ!


Here's a picture of the master bath with the curtains & towel racks etc... only trouble - its been a bit too chilly in there to take a bath - think we'll still have to get a little propane heater to go in there...  :-/


The conversation pit (cob & rock) try & figure out what Glenn's sculptures are...

[desdawg]

Forget the sculptures. I am trying to figure out that log beam balanced precariously on the round rock. Is your insurance paid up Sassy?

[glenn kangiser]

Everybody loves that rock.

It was what fit at the time- as I recall I just lifted the log and slipped the right sized rock under it.  5 years later it's still there.

It's actually not as bad as it looks.  Each beam has a 16" rebar spike jambed through it.  That rock couldn't get away if it wanted to.  At the left end of the beams is earth piled 7 feet high and undisturbed also, directly resisting letting that rock roll away.  It's good -- It's all good.

[desdawg]

So let me understand this. Because of the rock you call it a conversation pit?   It works. It started a conversation with me.  8-)

[glenn kangiser]

Not just the rock-- there are other things to talk about there.  How about the table?-- It was going to be a butterfly but there wasn't room for the wings.

....and did you see the little oxen holding the post in place???  He's under the table.  It's surprising what comes out of the mud.

There is another around 10,000 lb rock under the frog.  That's why there is a conversation pit there - some of the rocks were too big to move so I left them there for earthquake bracing and of course for a conversation pit area,  The cat clay oven is there also because  it is on top of not easily moved rocks.

[John Raabe]

You could say "they don't build them like that anymore", but, of course, THEY never did build them this way.
You don't see a lot of this kind of thing in production housing.  

Quite the landscape of the mind.  

And the spittoon, it looks to be well positioned... for the frog.

[glenn kangiser]

Yeah-- I think about that once in a while, John.  I think - "My granddad had his own sawmill and I want to build my own house like he did, cut my own boards - design my own house and put it together."

Then I think again -- he never would have built anything this crazy.  

However he wasn't above keeping the revenuers distracted while grandma and others poured the illegal beer down the sink in the kitchen.  It drained out into the cow pasture below the house -- kind of a muddy swampy area.  The revenue agent went out into the mud and scooped up a bunch and took it to court as evidence against them.  The judge took a look at the evidence and laughed the agent out of the court.  I wonder if grandpa supplied beer to the judge?   At least that's the way I remember hearing the story.

Think I told it somewhere here once before, but it's all good -- as Bill would say.

[John Raabe]

Yea it's crazy... crazy and creative. Whimsical inspired building that nobody else will ever do in the same way again. Yours is the kind of place the real estate agents won't know what to do with when you leave the planet.

They will either have to bulldoze the place or turn it into a museum or tourist attraction. Kind of a Watts Towers only more magical in some ways.

What is history going to do with you, Glenn?

All I know is that we are all honored to be here helping in small ways to share the ride and watch the magic happen.  

[glenn kangiser]

 I hope to make them wait a little while longer.

I once worked along side the tracks in Watts - hired a local boy there - a young kid to watch my tools and truck.  It was money well spent.  I picked him up another time to go help me with a job down there.  Never did see the Watts Towers though.

In the meantime-- I guess I'll just have to keep adding to their future confusion, and also -- It's great to have such a great group along for the ride.

[desdawg]

Now that I am not worried about that rock I have to say that is a neat little area. The creative juices were flowing pretty well when that was done. Very nice.

[glenn kangiser]

Part of that area became necessary to build because the logs a friend gave me were 33' long.  Rather than cut the logs I decided to expand my thoughts of what I could do there.  If you take a Bobcat and mix up a couple thousand pounds of clay, sand and straw for cob, and start to make something with it, things just start to crawl out of the mud.  

...and, to answer your question, Peter, no, I did not find a ladies mud wrestling team in the mud. :-/

[PEG688]

...and, to answer your question, Peter, no, I did not find a ladies mud wrestling team in the mud. :-/

So who's that , ah , lady in the mud that formed up that table  :-/??  :oSassy?? Dolly??

Need a better picture of the lil oxen , I can barely make it out now that you told me about it

[glenn kangiser]

Never did have anyone in mind when the table came out of the mud...  It was just there. :-/

The little oxen was just to fill a space between the rock and the post but due to the space and proportions he couldn't get any bigger.  Did you see the elephants foot-- to the right near the Christmas Cactus?  Wandering elephants occasionally leave there feet laying around I guess.  Actually I wanted a buttress there for some of the mud around the window and the elephants foot was in the mud.

The eagles foot was another buttress outside the front door on the bottom of a cob column.