9/3/2010 WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN
Well, what can we say? The house is done. Today is the first day that there’s a
nip in the air. You can feel Fall here on the Northshore. It is so much nicer now
to have a fire going in the woodstove, wood put up for winter, pickles and beets
canned, apples in the orchard (yeah baby- that’s our first apple in that pic above!),
a garden full of goodies to snack from, a kitchen to cook them in, cats lounging
in strawbale window sills, a bathroom to use when you eat too much and a bathtub
for Jen to soak in and relax. It’s just great in general to have this huge puzzle
behind us. I have officially spent 7% of my life building this place. Both of my
parents died during this process. I could have died from that fall off of the roof
very easily. There were times where Jen probably felt like killing me I’m sure.
When all is said and done though, we did survive, and now it’s high time to start
relaxing and enjoying the fruits of our labor. It’s a total trip sitting back in
the evening and looking up at the blood, sweat, and tears all around you. We are
so glad to be moving on to a different, new and exciting phase with this place, and
we couldn’t be happier with the results. Somebody way crazier than me built this
place. From the pictures he looks a little like me, but I don’t feel like he was
me. I wonder if others experience the same dream like type recollection of their
building process? Maybe it’s the mind trying to block out the difficult times, who
knows? But the relaxation is definitely happening. And now comes the fun part-
hanging out and living in this place! You’ll all be glad to know that I have put
off the construction of my solar powered blimp for a few years, and am going to calm
down and be a little less Thiemannish for awhile.
This past year saw a bunch of little things being sewn up as well as a few last big
things. Local birch flooring was put down on all of the upstairs floors. This was
fun. I enjoyed whacking it into place with the nailer and mallet. Sanding it was
cool too. Our house is now officially more flammable than Pier One Imports, but
it sure does smell good. I swore I wouldn’t do it, but I found myself hacking in
a two acre back yard in back of the garden (which went nuts this year- harvest time
is turning out to be fruitful). I will mow it twice a year. Horseshoes Y’all! I
was gazing out at the acreage one day and figured that we had years of free fuel
out there, so a few weeks ago we installed a very efficient woodstove. We now are
set up with off-peak electric for the floor heat, gas if needed (only the stove runs
off of that so far- but it has been stubbed into the brewery), and wood to heat the
house during the day. I figure I’ll set the floor tubes for around 62 so that it
kicks on late at night when the stove cools down for warm footed coffee in the morning.
The upstairs bath was completed recently also while listening to the world cup.
The strawbale is performing amazingly well. We’re sewn up now 100% and ready for
our first super warm winter finally.
Sooooo, many are wondering about the business. Well, it’s official as noted in
my earlier email. Borealis Fermentery LLC is a reality. All the hoops are being
jumped through as I type. Working with code people at state and federal level, checking
out equipment, etc. Exciting! With Belgian style ales being very popular in the
beer market, we’ve decided to go ahead with the brewery. Soon, there will be 750ml
bottles of Minnesota made beer flowing out in all directions like spores exploding
from a stomped on puffball (sorry, that was a weird analogy- I went mushrooming this
morning for chantrelles). There is a bit of work and code stuff to get done in the
brewery, but it seems like everyone I speak to is as stoked as we are to get this
thing up and running. I would give an opening date, but I’ve learned not to give
dates while building this place. I will say one thing though, what’s still to come
HAS TO BE easier than what has already been done. We’re super excited when we think
about the future of this endeavor. The worst drawback to this whole thing is, we’ll
have to write off trips to Belgium for R&D purposes. So we’ll let you know when
the doors are opening. We have recently been talking about putting in a hopyard
in the back too. Many fun things. Onward Ho!
All in all, that’s about it. Come on up and have a beer! Once again we have to
say that we couldn’t have done this without the help and support of so many people.
From those who came out and lent a hand, to those that through email or on the phone
that gave positive vibes. On the coldest, nastiest, darkest, mentally numbing days,
there were still those that believed in this thing. They’re the ones that deserve
huge props. The biggest thanks of all goes to the love of my life- my wife Jen.
Without tag teaming this thing from different angles, true belief, our crazed out
work ethic, and eccentricity, this place could never have come to life. “It’ll
never work”, “You’re going to lose your ass”, “You’re crazy”, “What the hell are
you building a place out of straw for?”. Well... it did work. And it does work.
And it works really well while being one of the funkiest places I’ve ever seen.
Dream big and dream smart. We thank you all for being a part of this process and
hanging with us on this crazy ass adventure! You all mean tons to Jen and I. Thank
you, thank you, thank you! We’ll see you down the road and keep you informed...
or we’ll see you up in the sky. Just wait until I start building that blimp......!
Cheers,
Ken and Jen
Fall 2010
