Q &A
Q. What brand of roofing did you choose?
A. Even though we are very happy with the roof material we cannot make a recommendation at this time because we feel that it would be premature.
Why? Even though, after months of research, we did choose a brand of stone coated metal shakes [there are about1/2 [...]
Roof on top of our head…. now comes the cleanup!
Wasn’t This Worth Waiting For?
Just in time for the rain storm tonight. Tonight’s rain [hence the dreary looking photos - I'll take better pictures when the sun comes out] will fall on a new sustainable metal stone coated roof. Justin read that this type of process [...]
Almost done
Today the “shake style” stone coated metal sections went up lickady split. Honestly, all that hullabaloo the many contractors told us that we couldn’t do it ourselves because we needed “special tools.” Huh! Now that we’ve been hanging around to see their work and how it’s done the next time around we could [...]
Up it goes
The 5 foot length stone coated metal roof sections are going up today! More photos to come.
Urban Homestead Happenings
The latest on the metal roof installation is that it’s not done yet. Thought we’d had a roof in time for the new year but, mother nature, and a phone call, postponed its completion.
The sand coated metal roof would have been done had it not rain last Tuesday night into Wednesday. Not [...]
Grateful
To EB for his continued support of our site. We are touched and humbled by your gift.
Roof Report
The roofing guys are back again this morning; however with a chance of rain on Wednesday they may have to skip a day and resume work on Thursday.
Busy
Yesterday, with the help of a friend, we spent the [...]
Battens are up
Last Thanksgiving we were jack hammering and removing (by hand) the slab of concrete in the backyard. This holiday season we are re-roofing our house. Seems like all our big projects happen around the holidays.
Yesterday, the crew put up felt paper and battens (the metal roofing will “float” above the plywood) finishing 1/2 [...]
Supplies!
Supplies were delivered for the roof today and there’s a crew here to start work. Like I said the roof is going be be finished sometime next week. It’ll be great to start the new year off with a new roof. However, there is not much time to celebrate or for taking a break [...]
New Pioneers Forging Paths Towards a Sustainable Present & Future
As our longtime readers know, PTF started in December 1999 as a very influentialfamily advocate site in one of the most covered father-son saga (which, this month, we just finished putting up just a few of the manyarchives). After this 6 month saga ended, which included [...]
Brrrrr
Nighttime temperatures have been hovering near or below freezing. Last night it was a frosty 27 degrees. When I go out early feed the animals I dress warming with my hand knitted hat, fingerless gloves and scarf and a large second hand coat. Justin likes to tease that I look like a babushka from Russia [...]
Bike Ride to LA
On Saturday we joined the celebration and many bike loving folks from the LA area for theLife Can Be So Car-Free event at the new Los Angeles State Historic Park (previously was the site for the“Not A Cornfield” project). Justin, Jordanne and I along with a friend rode our bikes the 9 [...]
Roof update
The guys spent most of the past couple days trying to finish the last bit of plywood on the roof eaves. First, they lifted up and leveled the eaves with some 2″‘x3″ lumber and then put down the plywood. So now, the front porch and northwest side of the house are finally finished!!! My [...]
Waterfall, natural pool. Justin, Anais relax.
Sabbath-Rosh Hashanah Hike
Yesterday was an absolutely lovely day for a hike – blue skies and nice breeze. We, along, with a friend hiked the upper Arroyo Seco to the dam (about 6 miles round trip)
What a great (free and natural) way to relax and de-stress after a hard weeks work [...]
Goats helping with the plywood, checking our their new ride
Yesterday the sun didn’t come out at all and the same forecast today. It’s damp chilly and we had to shut some of the windows in the house that have been open all summer long. We even brought out the light blankets to put back [...]
Plywood stage almost complete. Cleaning up the attic
We’re slowly and steadily working at putting the plywood up. The major “whole” pieces of plywood have been put up on both sides of the roof. Now it’s dealing with the eaves/gables and having to cut the plywood.
With the exception of the electric circular saw, the plywood is [...]
In the News
Path to Freedom and Pasadena spotlighted in the newHope Dance magazine pg 28.
Issue #58 ~ How Cities are Preparing for Global Warming & Peak Oil
Walking the Talk on the Path to Freedom {Hope Dance}
by Brian von Dedenroth
Inching along the 210 freeway in Pasadena,I can’t help notice other drivers carry the same vapid [...]
The revolution continues to spread. In August the PTF website received over 3.8 million hits (nearly 400,000 unique visitors). Since April, when the site hit an all time high of 3.9 million hits, the site has continued to maintain slightly over 3 million hits / 350 thousand unique visitors monthly average.
We are a little frustrated [...]
Fall?
August is certainly turning out to be a strange month weather wise. It’s a mixture June Gloom and crisp Fall-like weather. If we didn’t know any better we’d say it was late October. The now cool weather is throwing everything out of wack and besides, it’s weird. Those weeks when it was excruciatingly hot we [...]
If we didn’t know any better, could have sworn it was either spring of fall. It was very, very cool out this morning — well, to us Californians that is.
Having siphoned off the wine yesterday, the much of the house has the yeasty, sweet smell of fermentation.
More apples coming in, thinking of canning up someapple [...]
Sierra
Goodbye Bunsie
We have some very sad news to report, Tuesday we had to put our 4+ yr old dwarf bunny, Sierra, to sleep. We are all very emotional over this traumatic decision, but it was in her (and our) best interest. This past few weeks we could see that she was slowing down (her [...]
