The days are getting shorter and shorter while the nights drag on longer. Winter is coming, and it's coming in fast! The first snow already fell but melted the next day. The surrounding was white for a moment but as soon as the sun shone, all melted away. This is just the beginning! Nature is just telling us that soon, the snow will pile up so do all the things you have to do before the snow starts piling up!
Within half an hour the weather changed and the surrounding became all white!
The houses built in this area are made similar to the warmer areas of mainland Japan. The main problem is that during summers, the house is hot inside and very cold in winter! There are draughts going inside the house from all around. To lessen the draught problem, people in this area place a temporary wrap on the windows. Most of the draught go through the window so it is essential to cover it properly. Double pane or even triple pane windows are very expensive so most of the houses here simply use a normal window.
Setting a 7mm bubble wrap on one of the rooms
Covering the other entrance that I never used! I placed wood frames then about ten centimeters of foam insulation. I will place a plywood or a pallet to cover the foam.
One of the ways to reduce heating cost of the house is to lessen your living space. This means only using the stuff you need, not buying more stuff, and making the room use as efficient as you can. I covered the other room and then sealed with a plastic bubble wrap.
Heating the house is also one of my concern this winter. The way you heat the house will greatly affect the cost of heating the house. Currently, most people use kerosene to heat their houses. It easier and more convenient to buy kerosene and simply turn on the stove and wait until the house gets warm. Convenience comes with a hidden cost. It is really irrational to think that the fuel used to heat the house has to come from another country. To process the fuel, another fuel needs to be used. To transport the fuel, fuel again is needed. Before it reaches your home, it already used a considerable amount of fuel. Comparing it with using firewood readily available in my surrounding, firewood is more efficient energy wise, and environment wise. Fossil fuel is a non-renewable energy source. It took thousands of years to form and it takes only a few centuries to use all of it. As for firewood, you cut the wood, and new tree will grow in 6-10 years. Using local resources to heat the house was the best choice for me so I replaced the kerosene stove in the house with a wood stove. I got a help from my friend in installing this wood stove.
The chimney is not yet installed but the bricks were placed around. The bricks were not mortared permanently because next year I will be building a house and I am only renting this house.
Before the snow falls, I started gathering firewood from all over the town. Fallen branches, felled trees from the typhoon, demolished houses, and cardboards from neighbours. I was amazed as to how much stuff people don't need that can still be used! They consider these things as trash but once you decided on pursuing a minimalist lifestyle, nothing can be considered as trash!
Still not enough firewood for one winter!
One of the exciting jobs in winter is construction work inside the house! Now, I can start doing some carpentry or masonry work in the house. I wanted to cover the grey-colored cement floor with a more earthy touch of brown or beige color. I mixed some clay with cement and sand and plastered the whole floor of the entrance!
Cement plastered floor. Personally, the grey color gave off a bleak feeling
Cement, clay, sand mixture.
First-timer's plaster job!
This was my first time doing a plaster job. I have no idea how the plaster should feel or how much water should be added. I improvised as I went! It was really fun and it was pretty levelled. This is one aspect of living a DIY (do-it-yourself) lifestyle. Instead of hiring someone to do this for you, you try to do it with your own skills. No matter your skill level, as long as you try doing it yourself, you learn through the process and a feeling of doing it better next time will arise. You slowly learn how to use your own talents to grab hold of your life. Many DIYers miss the point that DIY is not simply carpentry work or doing something fashionable and stylish. DIY means knowing that you are capable of living in its true essence. Besides carpentry and handicrafts, you have to learn how to cook, how to build a house, how to fix the toilet, how to build a bathroom, how to grow your own food and many many more! DIY also entails reusing as much materials as you can. Instead of using new, non-renewable materials, we try to reuse them as much as possible because we are aware of the environmental impact of manufacturing these products. In doing some carpentry work, instead of using imported wood materials, we use local materials. Instead of buying new insulation materials, we try to find alternative, more ecological materials. In the entrance cover that I made, I reused the insulation foam used by the previous farmer and also reused the wooden frames and pallets. There are limitless possibilities!
As the winter sets in, more thoughts, considerations, and imaginations flow into or spring from my mind! I am thankful for the hot summers and the cool autumn. I am thankful for the busy life of summer. Now, I am thankful for the calming winter. It is time to stop. Start meditating and planning for next year's bounty! Winter is a time for imagining the next spring's co-creation!
"Now is the moment you should be in. Be in it. Cherish it. Then happily let it go."
(Photo taken at Katsurazawa Dam in Mikasa City)
