In Maine, construction doesn’t stop when the snow flies. Contractors just add another line in the budget for “winter conditions” which covers plowing, snow blowing, shoveling and propane heaters. There goes our fossil fuel free…

This week, as the carpenters built a second floor deck on the new ell, Nils and I muddied our boots in the old basement salvaging more of the antique bricks. Historical records tell us that…

This is an exciting week at the work site and it’s only Tuesday! Yesterday morning, Ryan Crowell’s team of carpenters worked under a cold bright sky building the first floor walls of the ell. The…

This Thanksgiving week was a short one, but not without some progress. The carpenters built and raised a few walls on the first floor of the ell, giving us a three dimensional feel for the…

With the old house hovering over its new foundation, masons and carpenters got to work building the structures that will take the weight when the iron bars and cribs are removed. This past week, November…

Like Romeo and Juliet before their first kiss, there is a kind of tension in the space between the old farmhouse and its new foundation walls. Wooden sills hover above, and would descend if not…

House mover Jeff Blake has become fond of the Red House, referring to it as “the old girl” or “she” like sailors DownEast call their boats. Imagining the house as a woman, we can say…

After Tuesday’s drama, the Payne Building Movers’ crew drove off with their fancy equipment leaving Fox & Sons to finish the job. Jeff, Russell and Thor got right back to work. Their goal for Friday:…

Today was the day we’ve been waiting for and it did not disappoint. The crews arrived early and were all set up to go by 10 am. A few neighbors and friends were on hand…

Not everyone likes Mondays. Or rainy days. But today we were happy to start the week under cloudy skies and intermittent drizzle because mid-morning this truck from Payne Building Movers arrived at the farm carrying…

For those of you following our project, you might be looking for a time lapse video of the house move, which was scheduled to happen this week, October 9 -13. It did not happen Monday,…

This has been an excruciating week as we watched our farmhouse sliding along iron beams and pivoting away from its original foundation. The process has been very slow and exacting, with many stops to make…

Thursday September 28 saw the end of the site preparations. Jim from Drew Corp tidied up the foundation site leaving a very clear footprint for the new house. The foundation is now ready to receive…

It was busy at the farmhouse today. Nils took this video with his new Brinno time lapse camera. Today was a practice for filming the house move, which is drawing nigh. We are excited and…

On Friday, while we were at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, learning about permaculture, forest management, growing blueberries and grain, tasting apples and watching teams of horses plow fields, we missed a big moment…