Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

We seem to be stuck in a weather pattern that includes rain at the wrong time.  The guys were able to get some of the SIPs and the framing in to support them.  But not a lot of progress.

House Site 5/8/2016

We do have a new family starting on the property.  The Tree Swallows are starting to nest.  These two little eggs are in the nest box on the machine barn. I have also seen a Phoebe and some Barn Swallows flying around.  I will be interested to see who takes over the other nests in the barn.

Tree Swallow Eggs in Barn Nest Box

As of today, we have a Morning Dove Family, Bluebird Family and a Tree Swallow family in the barn.

Look wildflowers

It was another slow week at the house site.  It was windy and it rained.  We could use more rain but the wind is welcome to go somewhere else.

They finished putting the sheeting on the roof over the loft room.  That allowed them to put the ice guard and roofing paper on that part of the roof.  They used a lot of yellow head nails to put the paper down.  They are suppose to help keep the paper from blowing off.  This should be a good test case.  One of the major beams in the great room was placed, and they got the garage floor ready for a concrete pour.

House Site 4/16/2016

The weather was nice, so I went in search of wildflowers.  The cold of the previous weekend took out most of the blooms but there were still a few in bloom and pretty leaves.  Enjoy

Trout Lily Leaves

May-apple Popping Up

Blood Root Leave

Wild Violets

Rue Anemone

Hope the weekend weather carries into next week.

I thought it was Spring

Somethings got done on the house site, but not as much as I would like.  I would like the house done yesterday, but I realize that isn't possible.;-).  This week's lack of great advances was due to weather and supply chain issues.

We had snow this weekend, but before that was the wind that comes prior to the fronts.  David and his guys were going to work on roof over the great room this week, but the wind made it unsafe for them.  Completely understand, so I am glad they didn't risk injury.  Plus, the SIPs for the roof didn't show up until Friday.

So, they spent a day or so doing the little things that would allow them to be ready for bigger things.  They filled the wall cracks with foam and then tapped the joints.  David was joking with us that once this house is built we might have to go outside to breath.;-)  Well, at least we won't have to worry about the wind.

Foamed Panel Joint

Taped Panel Joints

Poured the concrete footers for the garage and installed the metal support posts.

Garage Footers and Steal Support Posts

House Site 4/10/2016

Thing Two is hoping for warmer, less windy weather next week.

Thing Two and His Pink Blankie

Did we get concrete?

We ended last week with everything taped and a wish for good weather.  Nothing could move forward until we had the concrete slab.  So, fingers and toes were crossed for good weather Tuesday and warm night temperatures.  And we got-----GREAT WEATHER!!!

The concrete people showed up with their toys and full loads of concrete.  There were concerns that they wouldn't be able to get full truck loads of concrete up the road because of the grade, but they were able to do it.

Concrete Truck

Since we had rebar on top of plastic and Styrofoam, and it was very important that holes not be placed in the plastic, they couldn't wheelbarrow the concrete into place.  So, we had to rent a pumper so the guys could get the concrete pad poured without damaging the plastic.

Truck Unloading Into Pumper

The trucks would backup the the pump, put the concrete in and the guys would use a hose to put it where it needed to go and then smooth it out.

Guys Hosing Concrete Into Place

By Tuesday night, we had a nice concrete pad and were looking forward to some walls being put up.

House Site 3/8/2016

Comme ci, comme ça

David and his guys were able to finally get all the plastic, rebar, seal plates, and the last of j channels in place.  The guys worked on Saturday to get it all done, so a big thank you.  The weather was just so, so this week.  If the weather cooperates, we hope to hope to have the big pour Tuesday.

Finished And Ready for Concrete

Close Up Of Plastic And Rebar

House 3/6/2016

Hoping for a great week

Weather wise it has been a tough past few weeks.  Once the snow finally stopped, we had a little over 14 inches.  Then we had several inches of rain to wash away the snow.  So at the house site we had lots of mud and wind, which equaled very little work done on the house.

House Site 2/15/2016

Tipped Over Port-a-Potty

Yep, that is a tipped over port-a-potty.  We had gusts of almost 70 miles per hour and sustained winds in the 50 mile per hour range.  Lucky, no one was using the potty when the gust hit it.

David and his guys did have a couple of days of semi nice weather and were able to get part of the plastic and rebar put in place.  It stayed in place during all the wind.  Hopefully they get get the other half down and the garage footers put in so we can get a concrete pour.

Plastic And Rebar In Place

Plastic and Rebar In Place

 Fingers crossed for nice weather.

Yea, just not seeing it

The official trashcan records five and  half inches of snow at 12:00 pm today.  It is still snowing off and on, and the temperature is not suppose to get over freezing for the rest of the week.

5.5 Inches of Snow

Not seeing a concrete pour or much of anything else happening with the house this week.

Hope next week is better.

You Know....

...there are just days that I can't wait to get the house built, so I can just walk out see the wonderful view.

Come on septic permit!!

Check

We haven't had any measurable rain in almost two weeks.  The day we sign the contract with the contractor, what is it doing?  RAINING!!  It is suppose to rain off and on for the rest of the week--Thank you tropical storm/typhoon Patrica.  I am grateful we aren't in Texas and will only have to deal with the remnants. 

Still waiting on health department for septic permit.  We are going into the third week of waiting.  I am starting to understand why some people just have outhouses.

Here is to a nice winter and me finding a pot of gold to get this house built.

Tween time

The calender says spring, but around here we call it the 'tween time,' because mother nature can't decide.  One day it is sunny and almost eighty degrees and the next it is in the teens with four inches of snow on the ground.  It will soon settle down and I hope we will have a little spring this year as apposed to going straight into summer like we did last year.
While I would love to be inside on cold days or under a shade tree on hot days, there are things I need to get done by certain times of the year in order to have any hope of reaching my goal of making this place look like when the first settlers showed up instead of an eroded, overgrown, bramble rich, poorly maintained place that we purchased a few years ago.

The people we purchased it from ran a few head of cattle on the place. They went in with the state and got funding to have it fenced and a water system put in for the cattle. They didn't run enough cattle to keep the pastures grazed properly.  They didn't lime or do any pasture maintenance to keep good quality forages for the cattle or for hay.  I guess they purchased it as a dream and it ended up being a lot more work than they could or wanted to handle.  I can completely understand.  I have no desire to do those things either.  At this point, aside from a few self-propelled weed eaters, a dozen or so motivated bug chasers and the dogs, I have no desire for other animals.
So, my plan is to return it back to a time when no one did maintenance on the land.  The open areas will be warm season native grasses that grow there because it is the type of soil they like and don't need any amendments or extra watering.  They can be cut for hay or left to stand as wildlife habitat.  Every few years, if they aren't cut, they can be burned to revitalize them.  Other areas will be turned back into mixed wood forests.  Give the wildlife a place to nest and me a shade tree for those hot days.
So, I guess I better put on my coat and get out there and start creating that forest.  If I can still move, maybe I will tell you about that later.

Bambi's mom gets out of the cold

They said the polar vortex was making a return trip to our area of world.  I know I am with the majority when I say that I wish it would allow for more time between visits.  Anyway, I decided to move the game camera to a cedar thicket that we have here on the property.  I was rewarded with pictures, like the one below, of does moving into the thicket to escape the wind, snow and cold temperatures.

There was very little snow or wind and it felt warmer in the thicket when I went to get the camera card this morning.  However, outside the thicket there was about three inches of snow, and half foot drifts.  The wind was blowing and the temperature was TWO.  Well, at least this time that was above zero.

Turn on the heat

Total of 2.26 inches of precipitation in the past five days.  Really glad that only about .26 of that was snow.  It was 18 degrees F this morning but with the promise of a sunny day.  So, if we can get a little warmth and no precipitation for a couple of days I should be able to get to work on my swales.  However that isn't looking to promising since we are suppose to get more precipitation  by the weekend.

Isn't it always the way

Really wish I could have gotten my swales in this week to see how well they would work.  We are expecting a lot of rain over the next five to seven days.  There was already a quarter of an inch in the rain gauge by 8:00 AM.  Well, I won't complain-rain is better than ice and we do need the rain.  Once I do get the swales in it probably won't rain for a month.