Inspiration and Passion makes things happen

04/11/2008 - 20:44

Posts: 452
Joined: 2007-01-23

I just had to post this short video because I simply love people who are inspiring, passionate and willing to help others.

Dan Phillips has it. Passion, inspiration and positive energy. (I call it "PIP"). Although he is not focused on loghomes his ideas are very similar to Skip's overall plan. And that is about building your own home and being frugal and making it happen using whatever is available and not taking the roads often traveled. (ie, becoming a slave to a 30 yr mortgage and/or hiring inadequate boneheads to subcontract your work).

Skip, Ellsworth and Steve have helped thousands of folks and they have made many dreams come true. I think Dan Phillips is on the same path. This country is facing some serious challenges and money is tight. This will be a new era where simple folks (including me) will start to seek out new and better ways to obtain their dreamhomes. The American dream is still alive but you have to have the fire in your belly and pour out some sweat and give the blood off your knuckles. The settlers did it and that is what made this country great. I hope more people start to realize that they can take control of their lives and build their own home AND find financial freedom and internal happiness. One does not have to have money to be rich in the heart.

Stay positive and chase your dreams.The only obstacle is in your head.

peace, courage and freedom,
Kola

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9JkPk0CIo4&eurl=http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=13671.0;topicseen

Democracy is Two Wolves and a Lamb Voting on What to have for Lunch. Liberty is a Well-Armed Lamb Contesting the Vote.
---Ben Franklin

Comments

04/11/2008 - 21:56

Shark

Posts: 559
Joined: 2006-02-23

That's a pretty cool guy!

That's a pretty cool guy! Great thing he's doing.

It would be great if everyone was required to build their own homes. People wouldn't take for-granted so many things.

Kola, how's things out in your neck of the woods? How did you & the Tipi endure the winter?

103 logs...1 month. Almost ready for stain....
- Class of Feb 18-19, 2006
http://jandjloghome.blogspot.com/

04/11/2008 - 22:55

Klapton

Posts: 417
Joined: 2007-08-16

Welcome back Kola!!!

It's GREAT to hear from you, Kola! Folks have been asking about you. We'd love an update!

http://www.LarrysLogCabin.com/
LHBA Class of October, 2007
Status: Waiting to sell current home, planning

04/11/2008 - 23:03

rreidnauer

Posts: 613
Joined: 2005-03-09

KOLA's back!!! Welcome

KOLA's back!!!

Welcome back buddy!

Rod Reidnauer
Class of Apr. 9-10, 2005
Current Status Searching for land
Thinking outside the vinyl sided box
My Log Home

04/11/2008 - 23:07

Posts: 55
Joined: 2007-08-05

Hey, Kola!

It's good to hear from you again. Welcome back!!

"Oh, so Mother Nature needs a favor? Nature started the fight for survival and now she wants to quit because she is losing? Well, I say, 'Hard Cheese!'"
- C. Montgomery Burns

04/12/2008 - 00:04

Roadscholar

Posts: 28
Joined: 2007-09-11

welcome back Kola

Hi Kola

Nice to have you back in the forum. If I recall, your place is out behind cripple creek CO. right?
Don't now if its still there, but I stayed in a log cabin near victor, which is the back way out from that area.
Nice place, but I was there in the winter. If you are comming out from victor it almost walking distance on the right
going back around to the main hwy.
Get back with us and let us know how things have been.

Curtis
Roadscholar

04/12/2008 - 00:48

wwlivin

Posts: 93
Joined: 2005-01-11

Update us Kola

Hi Kola,
Great viedo, inspiring indeed! Hey, please give us an update on your status. Have you stayed in your Tipi at all this winter?

wayne
http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa19/wwlivin/?mediafilter=all

04/12/2008 - 03:22

Kola

Posts: 452
Joined: 2007-01-23

time for change :)

Hi,
Well heres the skinny. Due to a pretty nasty winter it was impossible to get to and from my property. I ended up staying in the Eastern Plains (where my chiro office is). Since my polebarn roof sheeting was exposed since last Novemeber I wanted to get it covered. I was determined and managed to drive up in late January and get tarpaper on it and layed down wood slats to prevent the wind from tearing it up.` I had to park on a main road (which is dirt and not plowed much), unload my horse, pack supplies on him and drudge through some snow that was 2-3 feet in places. It was a hard top coating of snow that would later break away and down. Fun stuff. Once I got to the polebarn I had to shovel about a foot or so of snow off the dang roof before I could even get started...not to mention a nice last layer of ice on the roof which made getting good footing almost impossible. It was easier to kneel as I shoveled. I covered the roof and made it over to my tipi which was pretty much buried but still erect. The weight of the snow had stretched out the canvas quite bad and I did the best to shovel it away. Some critters got underneath my decking and chewed at all my rigid insulation that I had between the joists. Most of the insulation fell down and was blown away. I got inside the tipi and everything was intact and to my surprise no signs of damage and no signs of mice. I has sprinkled an herb called catmint (aka catnip) inside the tipi as a rodent deterrant and I think it worked because they only crawled underneath the deck and never came up into the tipi. It was an all day task as I started at daylight and worked til dusk, licked my wounds, loaded everything up and headed back to the High Plains.

So. It is time to make adjustments. One, I need a tractor to keep my road open. Two, I need to dig a root cellar to store my food. Three, I need better shelter for the rough months of winter. I have decided to take a 10x10 portion of my pole barn and make some living quarters with a woodstove and a sleeping loft. I can still stay in the tipi for 8 months and the other 4 months I can spend in the barn. The root cellar will be a great addition and it will be a 10x10 hole and 8 foot deep. I have looked at some old tractors and am shopping for an old beat up one in the range of 3-4 thousand. I have my eye on an old John Deere with a front loader for 4,500 clams. I bartered for a small trailer that has a 200 gallon water tank mounted on it. I can use this to haul in my water from the nearby artesian well. Once I get my root cellar finished I am moving up there permanently and moving my horses up there as well. I have a serious goal to be living there permanently by the end of the year. The weather should be breaking and I can soon stay back in the tipi and work up there Thurs through Sunday like I did last year. I will first tackle digging the root cellar and then start building my winter living quarters. I will be the only guy with a winter AND summer home both on the same piece of land. LOL. I am buying a used generator off Craigslist and was supposed to pick it up last night but we got blasted with another little snowstorm so that will have to wait.

I am working on my blueprints for my loghome. (Punchpro is good stuff). I changed my mind and decided to buy a really nice loghome kit from Crap E Loghomes. just kidding..LOL

I am still trying to sell my office building and have dropped my price almost in half and finally have gotten some interest. Real estate is tough going here and I think thats the way it is all over the North American Union..wink.. Once it sells I will start on my foundation which will be a full basement 25x25 and I hope to start that in the fall. My long term plans are for a greenhouse, some chickens (for eggs and poulty), a few goats (for cheese and meat) and maybe a cow or two and of course my horses and my dog Cheeko and cat, Bongo. I have also been stocking up on Mason jars and probally have over a thousand so far (ty Craigslist). My girlfriend is long gone as I am slowly becoming married to my dreams and she is no longer a part of it. We will remain friends which is nice. Most of you know I plan (and will) be almost entirely self sufficient. I will need very little income to live. (and in my opinion, as it should be). I don't like money anyway. It's dirty and almost always creates evil beings.

I will also be starting a Myspace webpage that will be focused on tipi living and my adventures (good and bad). I am not doing this to fluff my ego but doing it to encourage others to break free of slavery and live frugal and so that others can learn from my mistakes. The local newspaper learned on me staying in my tipi and wanted to interview me for their paper. I had to decline for several reasons but I guess you can figure out why AND that I am far from any type of REAL hero like Dick Proeneke. But basically there really isn't much of a story as I am just a simple guy trying to live free and easy.

I have a 5 year period of finishing my B&P loghome. I am not financing a penny, my credit cards are just about paid off, I am acquiring my tools and I am tighening up my budget and curbing my spending on things I do not really need. Once my office sells, I will have no more debt and have some working cash to use towarsd my construction process. I will most likely do all of the construction myself and plan to keep the exterior stuff simple (ala LHBA protocol) but get a little creative on the interior. I do not care how long it takes me and if I finish early that would be a pleasant surprise but I am not going to stress about the process. I have built too many things and it is rare when everything goes as planned. I do not need no added stress in my life and hope to enjoy the journey.

btw, I have caught up on some of the posts and really like seeing all the progress. I especially like Mike Simmons and think he is a great asset to the LHBA forum.

That's about it! ....and Spring is coming..I think. :)

peace, courage, and freedom,
Kola

Democracy is Two Wolves and a Lamb Voting on What to have for Lunch. Liberty is a Well-Armed Lamb Contesting the Vote.
---Ben Franklin

04/12/2008 - 03:34

Kola

Posts: 452
Joined: 2007-01-23

reply to Curtis

Roadscholar wrote:

Hi Kola

Nice to have you back in the forum. If I recall, your place is out behind cripple creek CO. right?
Don't now if its still there, but I stayed in a log cabin near victor, which is the back way out from that area.
Nice place, but I was there in the winter. If you are comming out from victor it almost walking distance on the right
going back around to the main hwy.
Get back with us and let us know how things have been.

Curtis
Roadscholar

-----------------------------------------

Curtis, I am about 30 miles west of the mining town/gambling town of Cripple Creek and on the backside or west of Pikes Peak Mountain. I know where Victor is (about 10 miles south of CC) and I have driven across Phantom Canyon. It is said at night you can hear the screams of all the people who went off the cliffs edge in their covered wagons and perished below. Its pretty eerie.

Kola

Democracy is Two Wolves and a Lamb Voting on What to have for Lunch. Liberty is a Well-Armed Lamb Contesting the Vote.
---Ben Franklin

04/12/2008 - 05:30

ajax

Posts: 47
Joined: 2007-08-11

Nice to see your familiar

Nice to see your familiar face.

Like I said before, you got a great piece of land, John Wayne type land, and it should be great with a completed log home on it. God bless and don't give up. Passion by the way is what makes the world go round. It you don't have it, you can't get anything done that's worthwhile.

John

ajax

04/12/2008 - 05:42

GENE13

Posts: 70
Joined: 2008-02-15

HEY KOLA

Kola wrote:

Hi,
Well heres the skinny. Due to a pretty nasty winter it was impossible to get to and from my property. I ended up staying in the Eastern Plains (where my chiro office is). Since my polebarn roof sheeting was exposed since last Novemeber I wanted to get it covered. I was determined and managed to drive up in late January and get tarpaper on it and layed down wood slats to prevent the wind from tearing it up.` I had to park on a main road (which is dirt and not plowed much), unload my horse, pack supplies on him and drudge through some snow that was 2-3 feet in places. It was a hard top coating of snow that would later break away and down. Fun stuff. Once I got to the polebarn I had to shovel about a foot or so of snow off the dang roof before I could even get started...not to mention a nice last layer of ice on the roof which made getting good footing almost impossible. It was easier to kneel as I shoveled. I covered the roof and made it over to my tipi which was pretty much buried but still erect. The weight of the snow had stretched out the canvas quite bad and I did the best to shovel it away. Some critters got underneath my decking and chewed at all my rigid insulation that I had between the joists. Most of the insulation fell down and was blown away. I got inside the tipi and everything was intact and to my surprise no signs of damage and no signs of mice. I has sprinkled an herb called catmint (aka catnip) inside the tipi as a rodent deterrant and I think it worked because they only crawled underneath the deck and never came up into the tipi. It was an all day task as I started at daylight and worked til dusk, licked my wounds, loaded everything up and headed back to the High Plains.

So. It is time to make adjustments. One, I need a tractor to keep my road open. Two, I need to dig a root cellar to store my food. Three, I need better shelter for the rough months of winter. I have decided to take a 10x10 portion of my pole barn and make some living quarters with a woodstove and a sleeping loft. I can still stay in the tipi for 8 months and the other 4 months I can spend in the barn. The root cellar will be a great addition and it will be a 10x10 hole and 8 foot deep. I have looked at some old tractors and am shopping for an old beat up one in the range of 3-4 thousand. I have my eye on an old John Deere with a front loader for 4,500 clams. I bartered for a small trailer that has a 200 gallon water tank mounted on it. I can use this to haul in my water from the nearby artesian well. Once I get my root cellar finished I am moving up there permanently and moving my horses up there as well. I have a serious goal to be living there permanently by the end of the year. The weather should be breaking and I can soon stay back in the tipi and work up there Thurs through Sunday like I did last year. I will first tackle digging the root cellar and then start building my winter living quarters. I will be the only guy with a winter AND summer home both on the same piece of land. LOL. I am buying a used generator off Craigslist and was supposed to pick it up last night but we got blasted with another little snowstorm so that will have to wait.

I am working on my blueprints for my loghome. (Punchpro is good stuff). I changed my mind and decided to buy a really nice loghome kit from Crap E Loghomes. just kidding..LOL

I am still trying to sell my office building and have dropped my price almost in half and finally have gotten some interest. Real estate is tough going here and I think thats the way it is all over the North American Union..wink.. Once it sells I will start on my foundation which will be a full basement 25x25 and I hope to start that in the fall. My long term plans are for a greenhouse, some chickens (for eggs and poulty), a few goats (for cheese and meat) and maybe a cow or two and of course my horses and my dog Cheeko and cat, Bongo. I have also been stocking up on Mason jars and probally have over a thousand so far (ty Craigslist). My girlfriend is long gone as I am slowly becoming married to my dreams and she is no longer a part of it. We will remain friends which is nice. Most of you know I plan (and will) be almost entirely self sufficient. I will need very little income to live. (and in my opinion, as it should be). I don't like money anyway. It's dirty and almost always creates evil beings.

I will also be starting a Myspace webpage that will be focused on tipi living and my adventures (good and bad). I am not doing this to fluff my ego but doing it to encourage others to break free of slavery and live frugal and so that others can learn from my mistakes. The local newspaper learned on me staying in my tipi and wanted to interview me for their paper. I had to decline for several reasons but I guess you can figure out why AND that I am far from any type of REAL hero like Dick Proeneke. But basically there really isn't much of a story as I am just a simple guy trying to live free and easy.

I have a 5 year period of finishing my B&P loghome. I am not financing a penny, my credit cards are just about paid off, I am acquiring my tools and I am tighening up my budget and curbing my spending on things I do not really need. Once my office sells, I will have no more debt and have some working cash to use towarsd my construction process. I will most likely do all of the construction myself and plan to keep the exterior stuff simple (ala LHBA protocol) but get a little creative on the interior. I do not care how long it takes me and if I finish early that would be a pleasant surprise but I am not going to stress about the process. I have built too many things and it is rare when everything goes as planned. I do not need no added stress in my life and hope to enjoy the journey.

btw, I have caught up on some of the posts and really like seeing all the progress. I especially like Mike Simmons and think he is a great asset to the LHBA forum.

That's about it! ....and Spring is coming..I think. :)

peace, courage, and freedom,
Kola

Just wanted to say hey, needless to say we all missed ya!!!

Take care :-)

04/12/2008 - 06:07

NordicPrincess

Posts: 7
Joined: 2005-01-25

Dear Kola, It was very nice

Dear Kola,
It was very nice to log in this morning and read your post. You have been sorely missed around here. I have always enjoyed reading your posts and learning about so many new ideas that you so generously share with us. I hope you will not be a stranger.
I'm sorry to hear about your struggles this winter, but your perseverance and tenacity will pay off in the long run and one day, you will be able to sit back, look around at all you have accomplished and feel a peacefulness of spirit that no amount of money will ever by.
Best wishes on your continued progress.
Shanara

04/12/2008 - 08:00

hemlock77

Posts: 263
Joined: 2006-03-02

Welcome back

Kola

Welcome back. Good to hear you are pushing along with your project. I love the vid, one thing about passion, it is infectious. Just ask my neibors(aka log cabin groupies) as my wife calls them.
Stu
http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/hemlock77/

" and the second little pig build his house of sticks" we all know what happend next.

04/12/2008 - 11:41

greenthumb

Posts: 306
Joined: 2006-10-12

Glad to see you back Kola,

Glad to see you back Kola, keep on keeping on my friend!

Cheetah!!!!

04/14/2008 - 08:19

ponyboy