9/23/19
(Above: The enclosed bathroom closet.)
Building Summary: This morning’s Jacobhouse activities consisted solely of my adding trim around the outside of the two office cupboard doors – a process that included: measuring / marking / cutting (via hacksaw) aluminum angle-stock and fastening it (via rivets) to the turquoise-painted pieces of plywood laying atop the makeshift workbench in the hay barn.
(7:37 PM Update): This afternoon, I installed hinges onto the three cabinet doors, brought them to Jacobhouse, and then set about preparing / trimming the orifice where the large bathroom cupboard door was bound to be placed. This was followed by my installing that door, and then by my correcting the base piece of 2″ aluminum angle-stock that was causing the panel to stick. This fix was successful, and afterward, I installed a little rubber bumper on the portion of door that threatened to mar (or be marred) by the toilet.
TIL: Today I learned a basic cooking method for Kabocha, a squash otherwise known as the ‘Japanese Pumpkin’. The method was a direct imitation of baking a potato. First, apply a liberal coating of olive oil, and then sprinkle and rub on an equally generous amount of salt. Stab the top a few times to allow the squash to release some of its excess moisture, and then cook it directly on the rack of a 375 – 400 degree F oven for 1 ½ hours – 1 hour (respectively). When eating, I ate a few of the seeds, but I would not recommend it, because they are quite hard to chew. Otherwise, I enjoyed the Kabocha with a slight slathering* of butter. By way of flavor, it reminded me of a not-too-sweet potato… an improvement on the standard sweet potato in my opinion.
Commentary: I’ve got a pleasant evening of cooking ahead of me – a highlight of its own – so I unfortunately cannot include an extensive commentary. Saying this, I have to say that the greatest highlight in regard to Jacobhouse construction occurred this afternoon. To preface this highlight, I will note that a few days ago I took various ‘orifice’ measurements so I could measure / cut cupboard doors of appropriate size for Jacobouse’s various unclad cabinetry. In regard to the bathroom’s closet, I recall taking this measurement and then subtracting ¾” from the entire length because I knew I was going to end up placing 2″ aluminum angle-stock at the top and the bottom of the opening… and then I subtracted an extra 1/8″ for good measure (and to account for the ¾” trim I intended to fasten around the edge of each door).
Finally, I got to experience the results of those measurements this afternoon. As I brought the cupboard door into Jacobhouse with the intention of placing it over the prepared (trimmed) closet, I found myself hoping – hoping as much as I’ve hoped in quite some time – that the door would fit. It did, and to add to this, there were 1/8″ gaps to the top and bottom sides to allow for a snug yet smooth fit.
Thank goodness for the many hours of measure-tape practice Jacobhouse has granted me over the past year.
Final Note: I plan on venturing back to the farm early this afternoon to continue working on the cupboard doors and perhaps fastening them in place in Jacobhouse. However, before I fasten those doors in place, I will need to trim the top and bottom portion of the bathroom cupboard’s opening. (7:52 PM Update): Tomorrow I will be working on adding a couple latch-clips to the bathroom cupboard’s door (to hold it shut) and I will be installing doors on the office closet-wall cabinets.
*By slight, I mean less than 1 tbsp. used for the whole squash.