Winter 2007- Spring 2008 ~ My dacha ~ Summer 2007 Part 2 ~ 2007, mostly Staritsa, horses, and trips between St. Petersburg & Staritsa ~ Spring & Summer 06 ~ Winter '06 ~ October to Dec. '05 ~ August & Sept. '05 ~ Typical residential Moscow ~ From Vovchik's camera ~ Staritsa, Summer 2005 ~ Zamoskvorechye district of Moscow, May 2005 ~ Ryazan to Krainka, Tula region, Summer 2005
A few random photos of my dacha (December 2007).
The comments are intended for those who are looking for a way to make rural living comfortable quick, easy, and cheap. Questions welcomed.
The outhouse
If you look carefully you'll notice that the structure is raised. This way the material is washed away when the pit gets full of water after heavy rains. When the level crap is too high I pump in water from the nearby pond.
Note the ergonomics of the interface. The box is oriented with the edge to the front to give some room for legs. An old bucket was inserted into the whole to direct the material being deposited.
Construction material: discarded sides of logs bought at firewood prices.
Instead of cleaning the pit under the outhouse I've dug a whole behind it. The material flows there. The longer it sits in the hole, the less obnoxious it becomes when carried out by water (see above).
The old "banya" now used as a shed. I often opt to stop further deterioration as opposed to "properly" fixing things. This approach seems to work well under local conditions, when supply is difficult, prices for materials high, and time limited.
The living room. I stripped down layers and layers of wallpaper and patched cracks. Note the shelf made from cheap board and supported by tree branches.
The fireplace in the darkest corner of the living room.
Note the small but powerful heat generator on the left. The raised platform serves as a bed. Quite comfortable in the winter.
The shower house, with a small room upstairs. This I build myself around 2002 or 2003. Presently materials alone would for a house like this would cost no less than $3500US.
Inside the shower/sauna house. The bathtub was found in a dump. The stove like this presently costs around $800.
The kitchen. Again, note the shelves that fit well into the "hunting lounge" aesthetics of the house.
Kitchen walls are painted white because one window facing west does not let in much light.
Again, note the shelves. I am strongly in favour of keeping things in the open.
Water is kept in this barrel.
