~ DayCreek Journal~
Moonfest 2002
Sandwiched in between the frostbitten winds of spring and deer fly-biting summer comes Moonfest. The trick to Moonfest is to find a weekend that our friends can get together, pick a good-weather...
Everyone Knows It’s Windy
Driving back from Kansas on Sunday found me cruising along Interstate 35 in Iowa. As I was approaching the Minnesota border, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye—A wind farm! Of course...
The Tom Rauk Wall
Well, it’s another soggy weekend up at the homestead. Weather can be quite frustrating this time of year and this year is no exception. For those who are estimating how long it will take to...
Waiting Out the Weather
It’s a rainy night, so I thought I would do some writing. The past two weeks have been rather punky, weather-wise. After the week of very warm weather, it has snowed that last two weekends. It...
90° Heat, then Snow?
April can be a month of extremes and the last two weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride. Last week when I arrived, there were still some patches of snow on the ground and one week later I was...
Solar Heating System Bursts into Spring
I hope this comes out legible as I am writing this after a very long work day. It is only Wednesday, but it feels like I’ve been up here for more than a week. Things started on an ominous...
April Fools
Foolishly, my plans were to drive up this weekend with my father and my wife Jo to kickoff the building season. The idea was for me to stay up for the week, while Jo and my dad were to return on...
How to build a $2.50 Cedar Bluebird House in 15 minutes
Mother Nature sure does work in mysterious ways. December, January and February were all mild and dry—then came March! I had visions of working in shirtsleeves, but instead it’s 20 degrees...
Making a Door from Barn Board
Thanks for the intro, Ed. Well, actually it’s only one door so far, but it’s a start. With winter finally arriving in March, I’ve decided to “work from home” until such...
Pondering Insulation Options for Cordwood Wall
Happiness is a Warm Cavity Now that March is here it’s time to get back into the cordwood construction mode. For the last month I’ve been quite busy adding articles, photographs and new...
Building A Cedar Post Bed from Fence Posts
For those of you who think I’ve been slacking off as of late, I’ve actually been quite busy. (Okay, I have taken time to relax a bit, but don’t tell Jo.) The month before the...
A Night with the Leonids
This journal entry has nothing to do with building a cordwood house, but I felt compelled to share with you my Leonid meteor hunting adventure. If you still think I’m sane after reading all...
Stacking Cordwood and the Northern Lights
Its not as large as the first great wall of cordwood, but a double row over 60 feet long by over 4 feet high isn’t too shabby either. Each log was cut to 16″, split and stacked on...
Barn Board Bonanza
On a recent trip to one of the local state parks, I noticed that the state of Minnesota had purchased farmland adjacent to the park. There were two barns left standing, pretty much intact. It...
Doing the Splits with a Log Splitter
After much debate and realizing that a lumberjack I am not, I broke down and invested in a log splitter. There are many different log splitters on the market, from foot powered to hydraulic, gas...
Pining for Pines
I gave up hunting through the wood scrap piles at a log home company. It was mostly slim pickin’s (whatever happened to him?) and the number of 150 mile round trip drives I would have to make...
Cordwood Veneer for Interior Walls?
It doesn’t have the same ring to it as lions and tigers and bears, but they have been quite a menace over the last week. Monday morning the thermometer read 32 degrees and a heavy blanket of...
It’s Getting A Little Nippy Up Here
Autumn arrived a few days ago and the days are getting shorter and shorter. Working until 8 p.m. is a thing of the past now and by 7 p.m. it’s getting rather dark. Yesterday I had hoped to...
The Days After 9/11
Over the last three days I haven’t gotten much work done on the house. The terrorist attacks on America have made working a bit difficult. Every hour or so, I dial up the Internet to find out...
In Search of the Lost Cord (Or Two)
This title is a bit obscure, but for anyone who is a fan of the Moody Blues, you’ll get this pun. Anyway… The fifteenth wall was completed this week. Only one more wall and I’ll be...
Installing Window Frames
One of the recent questions asked on the forum was how I was able to secure the window frames by myself. Installing the first floor window frames have been quite painless (or is it pane-less?). The...
Lucky 13th Wall
Now that the house has been slowly taking shape, so has the hill in front of the house. Earlier in the summer the hill in front of the house was shaped using a bulldozer. This did a great job of...
Some Like it Hot, Some Like it Cold
In the last journal entry I complained about the heat. I really didn’t think it could get any worse, but without any wind and a prolonged period of 90 to 100 degree heat, it did. Just...
Attempting to Stay Out of the Heat
Temperatures this last week have been brutal along with the humidity. Highs for the entire week made it into the 90’s with one day topping out at 100 degrees with a dew point of 79. Because of...
All About Stuff
All About Stuff While building cordwood walls, your mind tends to wander a bit. Besides wondering if the Cubs will ever make it to the World Series again, I sometimes think about other things too....
Up to Double Digits—Wall Ten!
Behind Every Cloud There’s A Silver Lining Although the photo on the left looks rather ominous, the breeze it brought really felt good. Eventually a cool front pushed through the area lowering...
Wall Number Nine
The Fans Follow Me No Matter Where I Go Contrary to the desert, the weather here has been a wet heat as of late. Daytime temperatures have been in the 90’s with dew points in the 70’s....
I Lost My Bearings
I Lost My Bearings It was the front, left bearing to be exact. I was merrily on my way to Minnesota from our home in Illinois last Sunday when the truck started pulling to the left on the highway...
I Gave the Hoe the Old Heave-Ho
Up until this past week I had been mixing all of the mortar by hand in a wheel barrow using a hoe. It really wasn’t too bad physically, but it did take time to get the ingredients mixed. I...
Glass Bottle Wall
Wall number six is the center wall to our master bedroom so I decided to get a little creative with the wall. A double wall cordwood house (such as ours) does not usually lend itself very well to...