#153 New Beginnings
It's nice to see those two cabins together. Old and new This one's new. I don't know how old, but it's modern. And the other one could be 100 years old or more. The difference being, that it is 100% built out of stone, and mud as a mortar. This is built with cement, and the inside is red brick, so it's not fully built in stone.
Almost all new buildings are set up now with brick on in the inside. So it's easy to put stucco on and then it's easy to put... electricity channels in there as well. And it just goes up much faster.
And you don't need as much stone. You can see the difference clearly on those very big cornerstones. Structurally, you need them, If you build it with just mortar as mud. So it's the same sort of structural integrity as a dry stone wall.
So the selection... the choice of stones that you use, especially in the corner. But all throughout the wall it's much more important whilst if you have cement it just glues it all together, It makes it much easier to make it structurally strong. But I really appreciate these old buildings When I'm going to build the workshop, I'm going to try to also use those big cornerstones. This week my girlfriend Ela is staying with me We invited Johannes for the first lunch outside The sides [of the greenhouse] are still open, so it doesn't get really warm yet. just under the eaves, there’s space yeah we’re lucky with the weather Look at that, flowers! well, you know, the other side is different I was at the viewpoint yesterday morning, just really nice Yeah. You got everything packed? Hi! Oh, look at you! I feel underdressed.
How are you? all good? ah but today it is warm no, the weather is great You're opening up the barbeque season? you are brave! haha no, we ate outside the other day you lived in a tent once Oh, yeah. It's a similar kind... Do you know the green water can is it there or..? I haven't seen it for a long time. I think it's up there, under... Yes, long... how do you call in English?
“Espositione” [long exposure] this... I forget it “fienile” the place where you store it. [hay] But they have a... I think it should say it here no... in Engreugnian they have a name for it Which Romano... But there's still some on the on the other side.
If you go walking, you can still find some of them, some of them still make them. But very few people now I told Martijn, if you have a... you have to show this book to Romano Yea, he told me. Oh a neighbor, he's going to be... he will remark a lot on...
how polished everything was, and how clean everything was of course. Andmaybe he's right. No, no, he's absolutely right Very nice, a taste of summer I still have to wait for the pomegranate to fruit you have also a little tree..? I have three Three? alright.. And you could use a difference. The ones that are in the greenhouse
And the one that’s growing outside, have a variety that technically supports -18 degrees C. The problem is it would never bear fruit because we don't have hot enough summers Right. But in the greenhouse... I've already... in the first year it grew to the top, which is three meters from like a small plant I do have some, cuttings that sprouted, so I all I would need for pomegranate is a better climate.
So I'm counting on climate change, there you go. Yeah, hahaha my first work bench, it has to go you want to do it? 300... do you need help? yes, these need to be cut into small pieces I just clean this up, otherwise the butter sticks on it Cheers! Cheers. it’s beautiful! not bad huh? they’re perfect The water tank has been reinforced, but i forgot to buy plumbers tape, so installation has to wait Nice week. It's slowly warming up. Very slowly...
Nice to have the first fire in the fire pit after winter. having lunch here with Johannes and, it's nice to have Ela here, Antonela... She lives in Turin, in the city nearby. It's where we met last year. And, So she works as well.
She works in, textile and fashion sustainability. She has a full time job, but, works remotely, so we're spending more time here together, which is really nice. And I can't wait for spring and summer. Spend more time outside. It's just so fascinating.
If you go down just 50, 70m in altitude, there's no snow anymore, and it changes so rapidly. You know, here you’re still in deep snow, but in the valley, you've got the flowers growing already. Narcissus... Other yellow flowers that are early It's always fascinating living in the mountains, that the seasons are just so close. Changes are so fast, you know, I think the delay of spring is... compared to the valley, is about eight weeks.
It's kind of like one week per 100m. So the growth on the trees, these beech trees, which you have the same in the valley, they are eight weeks earlier, more or less, it might even be more, but it's a big difference when spring is already in full bloom in the valley and you ride up here and you kind of come back in winter. And I brought two trailers of concrete here, sand, because we're expecting a big snowstorm on Saturday night, in the night So still, as the temperatures go up, you can have a snowstorm here, but just a little bit lower it is rain, so it dissapears Snow stays long here. And, you might remember from last year, if you were watching this table was under snow in half March.
And just a 100 meters lower there was nothing. And also on the south side, like Johannes had snow too, but it disappears in two days or so. With a good amount of sun on it, so it's fascinating. It's difficult to work, especially with the heavy trailers getting through put snow chains on and taking them off with every ride.
It's a bit more work, but it's nothing new. I've been doing this for more than 3 years now, so it's all part of it. And the snow is a part of the beauty of living here so I'm not complaining.
2025-03-08 11:46
