Julie & Jonathan Maxson’s blog

We got a break in the weather late on Thanksgiving Day and superinsulated the west curtain-wall.  With rain and snow forecast for the next three days, we had to work late into the evening covering the insulation with a Typar shell.

These photos and those of the previous post depict our initial experimentation with the exterior superinsulation retrofit as a sustainable design strategy for small homes in cold temperate climates.  The exterior footprint of the original house was 18' x 24'.  An enclosed, wrap-around porch was later added to the east, south, and west walls.  The porch was poorly built.  All of the basement windows were boarded up.  The north wall, which faces the road, was left unobstructed and a large picture-window was added - just about the worst location for a large window in our climate.  To make matters even worse, the limited view and solar access provided by other first-floor windows was largely blocked by the wrap-around porch.  The 3 and 1/2" exterior walls of the original house were filled with blown insulation. There was no vapor barrier. 

The north and west walls of this house are subjected to severe winter winds as well as noise from the road.  The ground around the house slopes up toward the road on the north side.  Water leaks into the basement along the north and east foundation, and to some extent the southwest foundation corner, during rains and high water-table periods.  For these reasons, we decided to begin our superinsulation retrofit by removing the west porch, placing a drain tile along the north and west foundation footings, and superinsulating these two walls.  We saved most of the west porch building materials and will later reuse these materials for outbuildings.

With the closing date of our first home less than a week away (finally!), the most important thing on my mind today is this tribute to our final way-station  -- our little apartment on Collins Pond in Caribou.  I never did complete my “before and after” photo project, as promised, but here is the grand finale.  The way the apartment looks before all chaos breaks loose.  It was quite a plunge, I remember, deciding to move into this tiny (and somewhat dumpy) loft apartment with my new husband of less-than-one-year.  We were moving, if not upward than at least forward, on our journey together, in the middle of nowhere, to jobs serving Maine’s most desperate, with no idea of what it meant when they said, “The winters are long, cold, and snowy…”  I remember feeling a rush of excitement, fear, and determination as Jonathan and I chose this place over a more conventional, 2-bedroom apartment in a big complex.  We were eating lunch at Tang’s restaurant (the only place within a 3 hour drive to order tofu), and asking ourselves once again, “Can we take it up a notch?”  “It” means everything you can imagine to Jonathan and I when we ask ourselves this question – “It” means our love for each other, our commitment to a sustainable lifestyle, our growth on the spiritual path.  It was quite a plunge, I remember.  It would mean more simplifying, more downsizing, more negotiating, more honesty, and more work, as Jonathan and I moved from a spacious 2 bedroom flat and my cushy VA job to something else.  Something with a lot less room and a lot more stress!!!! 

If you’ve been following my blog, you know how it goes… First year was rough.  The apartment was dreary, the weather was dreary, and so, too, were our moods.  We weren’t making much headway on improving the new living space beyond the initial essentials we did when we first moved in (e.g., leveling the stove and refridgerator, replacing the toilet seat, and washing the windows).  Jonathan’s job totally consumed him while I struggled to figure out what the heck I was supposed to be doing here.  But we stuck to our plan…stayed faithful to the path…despite the sour moods and occasional meltdowns.  Finally, summer rolled back around, Jonathan left the agency job, and I was somehow one of the last standing psychologists in the County!  Year two was destined to be better!

And it was, without a doubt.  Yes, the winter here is long, cold, and snowy.  In fact, we are very proud to say that we survived the snowiest winter ever on record in Caribou, Maine (127 inches).  But, somehow this one passed a little bit easier than the one before.  The new colors inside brightened up the outside.  Jonathan embarked, and re-embarked, and re-embarked again, upon his newly founded career as (simply boiled down) an independent scholar.  Basically, he just keeps studying how to get better and better at It.   Meanwhile, I’m getting closer and closer to understanding what my role is here.  Helps when I find my confidence, that part of me that, for whatever reason, hides herself too often.    So now, here we are again, asking ourselves, “Can we take It up a notch?”  Gulp.  Get ready.  Set.  Jump!  The next plunge:  buying our first home with 5 acres, in the County, no less!  The vision is big, the consequences will hopefully be mostly (if not all) positive to Mother Earth.   

So, stay tuned.  I’ll try to keep a chronology of the renovations as we go, long before the grand finale/opening, I promise, slated for 2022. 

Don't squeeze their thumbs!!

These two look-alike aliens landed at Moxie Pond this past week.  Thank goodness Mom had her camera ready or no one would have believed her! 

Jonathan has been busy the past few weeks helping Dad shingle the steep, steep new camp roof during the juicest of Maine bug season.  Unfortunately, he didn't get to see the project right to the very end, but, hey, I can only share him for so long!  Besides, I think Mom was missing her alone time with Dad.

Summer is finally here and fast and furiously we try to do everything we can't do during the long winters.  Nightly walks, design a deck garden, stay up past 8 o'clock.  It's great! 

I started my new invisalign dental treatment this week (Day 5).  I'm getting used to them, but I'll wait to share the hysterical stories for when we talk in person...

That's all for now! 

Seems like all my photos are the same...the change of seasons in Northern Maine.  I remember the day when there used to be 4 seasons, but now it seems like there's only 3, Winter, Spring, and Fall.  I don't even remember Summer.  Although, maybe this year will be different because I've been on a public school schedule for the last 7 months.  The countdown to Summer Vacation has started!  Here's where things really get busy.

Lot's of plans/events ahead.  Next weekend Jonathan and I will be officially joining the UU Church.  I guess there's some little ceremony during the sermon that we will participate in, a book signing or something.  I don't consider myself a "church-goer," nor have I ever been one, so I might be still very naive about these whole things...but, thus far, it just feels like an open-minded place with a lot of tolerance for oddness.  Jonathan and I fit in very well. 

Weekend after that, Jonathan has a 4-day trip planned to Albany to visit his mom, Carol.  I may or may not join him, depending upon how far behind I am in my reports at work.  His sister (Karin, who went to Quebec with us last summer) may also be there as she's moving back to Albany to work and be closer to her mom.  We were very pleased to hear of this news.  I guess everyone ends up figuring out where they want to be after awhile, but it's not like it used to be.  I mean, look at us -- planning another move in 2-3 years.  Then, what?   Does that question ever go away???  Just one of life's mysteries, I suppose.

Mid-May, Jonathan and I head down to Dover-Foxcroft.  I'll drop Jonathan off for a week to help Dad at camp, then, before you know it, it's Memorial Day Weekend!  Drive back down to pick him up, hang out with Dean and Doreen, and visit again with Grammy.  Whew!  Oh yeah, and somewhere in there, I'm on emergency-call for a week.  Alright...  Maybe not half as crazy as Troy's move and Dean's running schedules these days, but for us slow-lane, County-folks, that's a lot to do!!! 

Don't forget, future visitors!  In the County, summer doesn't even start until July and it lasts 6 weeks, at most.  But, one thing we've learned that we like since living in Caribou is that people here make up their own rules.  Who cares if the snow is not going to fully melt until June and the robins have just arrived??  Folks have started barbequeing already, the Harleys are on the road, and I could have sworn that I heard a lawn mower yesterday in Madawaska.  The natives might be on to something here...  No mind the snow; make the most of the warm temperatures when you can!

Hope all are well, no matter the season.  Looking forward to seeing you all very soon! 

It's January again.  Holidays are over, the New Year is upon us.  Time now to settle in for the rest of Winter....only four, maybe five, more months to go???  Sigh.

Well, on to what's new this year:

1.  Jonathan launched his new blog / website on his 36th Birthday, January 25th.  

2.  I had seven (7!!) teeth pulled Wednesday, January 23rd, and am dying for a hearty bite of something, anything!  Getting tired of soups and oatmeal.  Braces (again!) are next.

3.  Wheezie's aging gracefully, but I've been worried about her.  I'm trusting she'll tell me when she's had enough.  She's been with me since Will.  Eegads.

4.  Jonathan and I joined the local Unitarian Universalist congregation and are getting to know some of the local, like-minded folks.  Fun stuff. 

5.  Renewed the gym membership for another 3 months.  Looking forward to when the sun is up at 5.  How does Grammy do it? 

6.  Work is ... busy.  Occasionally, I daydream about the day when I can "unplug from the system."  It's just such a messed-up world somedays.  But, overall, it's a good job.  Beats working at Dexter Shoe, I suppose. 

7.  It's been sooo cold (30 to 40 degress below zero, fahrenheit, according to our deck thermometer) that the car battery has been dead just about every other day.  Thank goodness for "Triple-A" and jumper cables.  

8.  The bookclub's book of the month is Atonement.  No fair cheating and going to see the movie!

9.  Taxes are done!!  Came out just on the plus-side this year, which was a relief.  I suppose in support of our floundering U.S. economy, Bush would like me to blow it on goodies at Wal-Mart, but we'll undoubtedly use it toward our outstanding car debt.  So Un-American of us, I know, but we kind of prefer it that way.     

10.  And, finally (Wow, there's been more going on than I thought!) ...  I can't really think of anything else.      

So, that's all.  May the rest of your season, be it Winter in the North or Summer Down Under, bring you moments of true meaning.  

What's that?

A bit of snow arrived over night last night.  Looks like it will be a while before Little Miss Weazie and I will be suntanning out on the deck again!    Well, here's to a White Christmas!  Happy Holidays, everyone! 

It is Thanksgiving in the U.S. today.  Jonathan and I awoke this morning in Caribou to find the largest accumulation of snow yet this winter outside our windows.  It is the perfect day for it as we are going nowhere for the traditional turkey dinner this year.  We thought this holiday would be a good one to just stay put as we're so often feeling like there's somewhere else we're supposed to go or someplace else we're supposed to be.  Hadn't realize how much we were missing out on, though, until Emma called and asked, "Are you eating pie for breakfast?"  Ahhh, eating pie for breakast -- probably the most notable contribution I have made to my niece's life yet (but hopefully not the last!).  Unfortunately, today, Aunt Julie is without pie.  All these years of eating Grammy's and Mom's pies, I never really learned (or wanted?) to make one on my own...  Say, Bob?  Can you help me out?

We are, however, having ployes, a fat-free, cholesterol-, lactose-, and sugar-free, buckwheat pancake created by the French Acadians Exile who settled in Northern Maine.  Why ployes, you ask?  Because on the way to the gym in our nearby convention center, one has to walk through the lobby, down the hall, and past the Greenhouse Restaurant.  One cold morning this week, at approximately 5:30 a.m., Jonathan and I got a big whiff of buttery pancakes with maple syrup and sausage as soon as we stepped out of the car.  Ummmm-um!  That smelled good.  But soon our spirits sunk when we remembered our commitment to the vegan diet.  Until..... Jonathan said, "How about ployes?  Nothing but buckwheat flour and a little water."  With vegan butter and pure Maine maple syrup, we're back in business!!  They're delicious, and have a variety of uses besides pancakes.  Plus, they're a local dish, in support of our local economy, so how can you beat that?

Happy Thanksgiving, All! 

Hi Everyone!  I must say that I am enjoying the posts and pictures everyone shares and we check to look for updates frequently, waiting with baited breath to see if Uncle Bobby will look so wrinkle-free without his wife.  Also, I can't wait to hear how Dad and Dean did in the half marathon in Portland this weekend and see pictures of Emma and Steven's birthday celebrations in Gardiner.  It was a real Hartley family get together.  Hard to believe my brothers have mini-families of their own now.  Being the youngest, I have always had the privilege to watch the choices Troy and Dean made ahead of me.  Some of their choices I've chosen to follow, and well, others I haven't.  The quality of our three lives are all deep and rich though, just different.  Cool stuff, to a psychologist, I suppose.  

Jonathan and I wish we could have visited long enough to help more with the cider pressing.  Really, we do.  We missed out on cranking and cranking and cranking the press as fast as one possibly can before passing out under the spray of apple pieces (and sometimes whole apples) hitting your head -- Who wouldn't miss that fun??  Besides, we got away with only one container of cider, which is already almost gone.  It's soooo good! 

So, check out the new photos while you're here.  Jonathan went on a two week painting binge and painted our whole apartment.  My job was primarily to be responsible for some before and after pictures, so I''ll post them room-by-room as I complete my end of the project.  I know Jonathan's mom will appreciate these photos the most.  She is the one who taught him great taste in color and home decor, among many of his other good-man qualities. Thanks, Carol!  =)