October Update

October 2, 2015
      So much to catch up on.
       We basically have about a 90% functional home.  Walls are textured and painted.  We have laid a little over 1100 square feet of flooring in the addition and guest bathroom.  Next we will floor the hall ways and then progress to our bedroom and master bath.  Joe can't set my slipper bathtub until the bathroom flooring is down.  He might be afraid I will quit work and just soak for days on end.
      The dark flooring really sets off the white cabinets and the it brown pin striping.  The kitchen has turned out to be gorgeous and functional beyond my dreams.  This next month we will paint the molding and put it around the top of the cabinets like crown molding.  We will reset the base molding , hang the pantry doors and Walla, we will have the kitchen finished.  I have even taking up cooking meals.  My new cooking interest though is baking white bread.  This is something I just couldn't master in Phelan.  I think it had something to do with the altitude.  I have been baking two loaves of bread daily or every other day for over a week.  As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect".  I am now cranking out consistently good homemade bread -- no I am not using the bread machine.
   Since the weather is cooler, we have been taking some time to weed, plant flowers, work on the chicken coop, and bush hog more of the pastures.

Living in a construction zone

May 19, 2015
     I guess it is time to return to my blog. I haven't written since the end of January.  I'm disappointed in writing on my blog since I can't get pictures to download anymore.  But, I need to update my blog, which is also my journal of this project.
     Where to start.  We moved into the house in February full time.  We had the addition drywalled and hung plastic over the hall entrance to try to keep the heat in.  We burned the fireplace 24/7 just to keep a livable temperature.  The HVAC guy finally got the heat up and running!  What a difference that made though we were still hemorrhaging heat.  We started the task of mudding and taping, sanding, and mudding again.  This has been the worst part of working on the house so far.  This is mid May and we still don't have it all taped.  Joe's back and leg are bothering him so work is slow.
      Joe did get the kitchen cabinets set about two months ago.  Peterson Marble and Granite were able to salvage most of the granite counter tops that came with the cabinets.  We only had to purchase one slab to be used where the old granite couldn't be put back together.  What a difference counter tops make!!  Joe hooked up kitchen electricity, the double ovens, cold water, the refrigerator, and the glass top stove.  We now have a pretty functional kitchen.  I have even been cooking.  The youngest granddaughter , Meghan, in 7 th grade, came over after school one day and baked in both ovens.  She made a birthday cake, cupcakes, and brownies.   It was so fun to have her over and us use the kitchen together.
      We are almost finished taping and mudding the addition, both guest rooms, and our bedroom.  We have started on the guest bathroom .  Joe put mortar down and set the shower pan.  It has dried for two days so we will be ready to hang the concrete board and run the plumbing.  I can then start tiling the shower.  I expect to be showering in the guest bathroom within a week.
       Guys are coming the first part of June to finish the last coat of mudding on the 10 foot ceiling and a few joints. Then,  they will texture the inside of the house.  I have drawn a line in the sand about us trying to texture.  Not happening!!!!!  I think we can finish everything else once the walls and ceilings are textured.  Oh, the texture guys said everything has to be out of the house so they can work,  except what's in our closet, and the counters of course.  Those have to be covered.  Back to storage with the bed and TV.  Where to put all the tools.  I think Joe needs another big tool box.
      The underlayment for the laminate flooring was delivered last week.  One of our major problems is finding dry areas in the shop to store things.  The Shop needs a new metal roof, but that is not even on any to do list right now.  Most of the Flooring is stacked in our walk in closet, along with the dining room chairs we bought to go with our dark table.  I am not putting the chairs in the shop and there isn't room in the storage unit.  The rest of the flooring is stored in one of the guest rooms.
      How could I forget to mention one of the most exciting happenings this month?  Joe hooked up a  washer and dryer we were given.  They are older but work great.  They are out in the shop but who cares.  I can wash clothes here.  Thank goodness Leslie and my mother- in- law have let us shower
and wash clothes at their houses.  Don't think we would have survived without their help.
     Don't think I posted about it before, but several months ago Joe's sister and her husband bought a house and 40 acres in Lead Hill.  Joe's mom moved with them and is just getting settled in a nice new double wide on Val and Sam's 40 acres.  Rumor has it his other sister and her husband may be moving back by summer.
     Well, that's the quickie update of life in the construction zone.

Pictures aren't uploading????

January 26, 2015

     I can't figure out why none of my pictures taken after December 23 are available to add to my blog posts.   I gave even tried pasting a picture to the blog, but it doesn't show up.  I have checked my privacy settings and it is checked to share photos.  I am at a lost as pictures were available through December 23.  After that, no new pictures are available.  I am bummed.

Guineas

January 26, 2015

     After a colder, drizzly Sunday, the weather is supposed to be sunny and 10 degrees warmer today. Next Wednesday should  be 68 degrees then possible flurries on the following Saturday.  Crazy weather.

      Now for the exciting news...I think we may have 3 Guineas that are Buff colored or partial buff colored.  Buffs are fairly rare.  I hope at least one is a female so we have a chance to get some buff colored keets.  I have orders for any keets we have this year.  We have our original 4 Guineas and 9 of the ones the lavender Guinea hatched.  The young ones move around like a giant  amoeba .   They just seem to flow as they move all close together.  So funny to watch.  The youngsters were raised with the 4 little chicks so when the chickens come for bread , here they come.  The older Guineas try to keep all the others away from the bread, like it is something bad.  Quite entertaining everyday as I feed some bread to the hens and Guineas.  The bread store in Harrison sells shopping carts full of bread, some of which hasn't reached its expiration date, for $6.00 .  It's an inexpensive way to supplement feed for the birds and Rosie, the pig.  

    

Drywalling continues

January 17,  2015
     It's a heat wave here today - 56 degrees!  We spent the entire day outside.  We met with a wonderful lady from the local USDA office.  She came to the farm and evaluated the place for cross fencing, ponds, and pasture rotation, now called "prescribed grazing".  We spent several hours with her and learned a lot.  Since I am a woman farmer, and under served by the government, I was able to get free pasture insurance, which pays me for the loss of pasture should here be a drought this year. I

   Joe and our son-in-law cut a fallen tree off one of the cross fences.  We now have firewood stacked on the porch for the next cold spell.  It felt good to cut our own firewood from a fallen tree on our property.
   We are considering buying between 15 to 20 bred cows to get our little cattle operation up and going.  I think we will try red angus or black angus cross cattle.  Those seem to sell the best back here.  We would like to sell grass fed beef to individuals as opposed to selling the calves at auction.  We will see how that goes as it will take marketing on our part.
   With the cold spell, we have just been working in the addition where we have the fireplace blazing and occasionally turn on the blast heater for a shot of extra warmth.  Joe and I are the only ones working so progress is slow, but everyday we make progress.  Half the addition is drywalled!  Joe just finished blocking for the cabinets.  I need to start cutting and hanging insulation so we can get more drywall up.
  Having the big TV and the fireplace make it a lot nicer to work in the addition.  Of course we watch DIY and HGTV.

Winter Advisory

January 10
     A Winter Advisory has been issued for our area.  We may get a bit of intermittent ice tonight on through Sunday afternoon.
     Last night the temperature dropped to 12 degrees.  Thank goodness we have a good little electric heater we keep running at night because we ran out of propane during the night!  The little heater managed to keep the trailer 47 degrees.  Our little 5 gallon bottle is only lasting a few days in these low temperatures.  I keep two heavy Afghan blankets by the side of the bed .  They were "Looking at Afghans" but last night! they became "Using Afghans".  We stayed toasty under the covers.   Muffin and I stayed hunkered down until Joe got back with propane.
      Both of us are taking a break from much lifting today but will finish hanging drywall in the hallway and entry hall on Sunday.
     Monday, Joe and Wayne should hang the last of the ceiling drywall!  Let the mudding begin!!

   

New Year 2015

January 2, 2015

     Joe and I hope everyone had a joyful Christmas!  We wish everyone a Happy New Year foe 2015.
We are excited that we are getting so much closer to having the plumbing and drywall in.   Mud and taping may be challenging, but we have made it this far so believe we can also tackle that job.
      The weather has been quite cold the past two weeks and even colder weather is predicted around January 5.  Thank goodness most of the work is inside for now.
     Joe and Wayne got the soffits and trim up on the high end of the roof lady week.  We had to hire a tractor with a lift to reach that high.  They wound up putting a ladder on our scaffold strapped to the lift to reach the peak! Thank goodness that part of the soffit is finished.  We probably won't put up anymore soffits or siding until warmer weather.  The house is wrapped in Tyvek so it is water tight.
     As soon as we can get the HVAC guy back out to finish the last vent and connect the system, we will have heat and air in the house!  Miracles never cease.
     My granddaughter, Meghan, and I are visiting my son and his family outside of Memphis.  It is my grandson , Jackson's, 3rd birthday on January 3.  So happy to be here for his birthday.  Little Evan who is 1 1/2 years old is such a character and so glad to get to spend time with him also.
     I hope our Red Wattle sow, Rosie, waits to have her babies until I get back home as I would like to be there to see the babies.  Joe is great at helping with animal deliveries if need be.
     The 12 foot sheets of drywall for our walls were delivered Dec. 31, so we are just now ready to start hanging it.  I can help Joe with the walls as that drywall is so much lighter than the ceiling drywall.
     Joe and I took a two day break and went to the Chateau Resort in Branson.  So wonderful to have room service and rest.  Really recharged the batteries to keep us working on the house. Muffin and Freckles even went to stay at a dog retreat in Branson so we knew they were safe and cared for while we were away.
     I decided to make some time to paint a 4 ft tall soldier to go by our front door for Christmas.  Callie and I made peppermint star shaped tree ornaments one day.  I misread the cooking time and our first batch cooked for 30 minutes, not 3 minutes!  That made pretty pink blobs , but they were not star shaped ornaments!  We  worked out the kinks and finally made some darling ornaments.
     Happy New Year and may your dreams come true !   
                           
 

Fireplace & Drywall

December 8, 2014
    The past few weeks have continued to be busy.  The TV cable is run through out the house.  We have been setting the kitchen can lights, running more electrical, and getting the fireplace up and running.   We are using the fireplace this week to make sure it works before we finish the wall framing and put up the stone facing.
    The kitchen wall next to the refrigerator had to be built out 8 inches so the cabinets are even with the refrigerator casing.  Customizing that took a little time, but it looks great.
     We have a little Christmas tree in the back room.  The tree really brightens up the house with holiday spirit.
      The heat and AC ducting is all in.  I finally finished stapling the attic air vent panels.
     Joe ordered the ceiling drywall and part of the drywall for the addition walls.  We'll put up the ceiling drywall first.  Once the ceiling is drywalled, the house should be so much warmer.  We have spent the last several nights bundled up in insulated overhauls , down jackets, boots, and fur hunting hats trying to stay warm enough to watch National Finals Rodeo on our big screen TVA in the addition.  Without drywall or insulation in the addition,  the fireplace has not been able to keep the room over 40 degrees.  Thank goodness the drywall goes up Thursday, so we might get a few nights of being warmer watching rodeo.
     The big event for me will be temporarily hanging the kitchen chandelier to see how it will look and see if 3 pendant lights will be too much over the sink area.
      Day temperatures this week will start in the low 40's but up to 60 over the weekend.  Great weather to get things done

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

     Big day at Leslie's house.  She is having Joe's 3 family members over, Bill's family, us, and a few drop-ins over for Thanksgiving.  I think the last head count was up to 22 people. We are taking a ham, pumpkin pies, green beans, rolls, and pistachio and ambrosia salads.  We bought a turkey roaster so Leslie could cook both turkeys at her house.  The roaster will come in handy for big get togethers.
     HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Girls and the mini horses

    I finally got the picture of when the girls came to dinner a few months ago.  Joe cooked chicken on the grill and we ate out on the patio.  So much fun listening to the girls talk and visiting with them.  Before dinner the girls were out loving on the minis.  They took some great pictures of each other.
   We are looking forward to all the Grandkids visiting and spending time here!

The new roof!

November 13, 2014.                     Just need to finish the roof trim!!

                               

Red Wattle Sow

October 25

     We bought a heritage breed of hog! The heritage breeds are rare and we wanted a pig that does well foraging for most of its food as opposed to one that is penned up and fed just commercial feeds.
We chose a Red Wattle sow named Rosie. (probably because she is red).  She is friendly but quite large so not quite what I would call a pet.  No, we aren't going to eat her.  Rosie is two years old and has been bred to a Red Wattle boar.  There should be about a dozen little piglets born around the first part of January.  Rosie will be kept in part of the barn and one of the cattle pens this winter so we can keep an eye on her and keep the piglets warm with a heat lamp.
    A Red Wattle pig has two wattles hanging from its neck.  The wattles don't do anything, sort of like our appendix.  They are just distinguishing breed traits.

Oct 30 - Nov 12 Roof on

Who knew there was so much involved with getting a new roof?  Not me, that's for sure.
      After removing the red metal and two layers of shingles and tar paper, there were hundreds of nails that had to be popped up.  Again, thank goodness for the proper tools and strong able bodied people.  Then some new bracing and sheeting was cut and installed.  The sheets of under liner went down and then the metal was put on the addition first so the metal would not have to be hauled across a finished roof.  Joe and Wayne had a few challenges with the 20 foot panels in the blowing wind, but they did great and got the job done.  Then the process started again on the old roof.  I don't know how the guys have been able to work on the roof as the temperatures are running about 25 degrees below normal.  This weeks high was about 31 degrees and low around 22 at night.
We now have a beautiful green metal roof ! The trim is on all sides except the high end of the house.  That will get put on next week when we have a tractor with a lift on it so the guys can reach the peak.
     Joe also put in the last two French doors.  What a difference they make in the way the patio side of the house looks.
     This week I have had a cold and have not been any help.  The cats and my Yorkie, Muffin, have loved snuggling in bed while I slept the week away.  I have basketball tournament week and homecoming.   Callie and Emilee borrowed Papa Joe's flatbed trailer and decorated it for the homecoming parade today.  He was out in the dark last night hooking up the trailer for them.  They didn't call until about 7 pm.
      Rosie, our Red Wattle pig has settled in nicely.  I have let her out to graze, but she seems to always wind up in the yard by us.  Very sociable.  She knows her name and comes when called, especially if she thinks food might be involved.  I added another strand of electric fence tape so that should keep her out in the pasture.  She has a house made from straw bales in one side of the barn.  She seems warm hunkered in her straw bed in her house.
    Joe's mom, sister and brother in law finally arrived from California.  They bought a beautiful place on acreage just across town.  It will be wonderful having more family back here!

And the roofing continues

Wonderful fall weather in Lead Hill.  The hillsides are becoming dotted with the changing colors of fall.  It is so beautiful here.

   October 29, 2014
   Work continues on the roof.  Stripping the metal, then the two layers of shingles.  Once the shingles were off we realized there were many places there the roof boards had to be replaced.  I am so glad Joe wanted to strip the old layers of the roof off or we might not have seen all the places that really needed to be replaced.   We had had help getting the shingles off as it was just too much work for us to get done.  We had finally gotten the roof stripped when rain that was supposed to go north of us was heading our way.  We hurried to Home Depot and bought a 20' by 100'  roll of heavy plastic. Joe and I were on the roof until 2:40 in the morning rolling out sheets of heavy plastic and stapling them down.  Thank goodness the rain didn't start until about 3 AM.
   The next day our worker, Wayne, came to help Joe hang the 16 foot sections of facia trim.  Today we had to go to Bentonville , so Wayne finished replacing any bad wood on the backside of the  roof.  He also cut out any bad wood on the front side.  They will be able to replace the sections in the morning and then finish the facia trim on the front.  I can't believe how different the house looks with the new white facia all across the back side of the entire house.
   The roof should be fixed and the roof liner put down this week.   I am so thrilled that the new hunter green roof goes on soon!!!
    All the hard work and frustrations are so worth it to get to have a new house on our beautiful property!  Yeah!



 

Oct. 18 roof

Sunday, October 18

      Saturday night was the coldest so far this fall.  It dropped to 41 degrees.  I looked outside this morning and the fog is so heavy I can barely see across the yard.  High temps today should reach into the upper 60's.  This is good weather to continue stripping the layers of old roof off.
      Have I mentioned that we would be in a house by now if we had just bulldozed the old house down?  Building is SO much faster than removing almost the whole house and now the old roofs.  Yes, that was roof with a plural S at the end.  Joe and I removed the old red metal roof and are going to reuse it on the shop or barn.  We got about 1/4 of the next layer up and I called
Tiffany's boyfriend and got his brother and cousin to work on removing most of the other layers on the front side of the roof.  Thank goodness, they are coming back to finish that side after church today.
      After looking at umpteen roof/ house color combinations, we have switched from a brown roof to a hunter green.  Brown on brown would have just been too dark.  Besides, 50 million US Forestry brown cabins with green roofs can't be wrong.  I think we will be much happier with the dark green metal roof.
      The cows were up by Francis' barn so we were able to get our calf ear tagged so we know which one to keep at our place.  She is weaned, but still hung out by momma when several were penned, so we could identify her to tag her.  Charolais are cream to white colored so it can be very difficult to tell  them apart.  Momma cow, Heidi, is part something else and a reddish brown with a distance white markings.  We didn't tag her because she is very easy to ID.
     Granddaughter Tiffany was able to get three of her cows tagged and identified her bull calf.  It was impossible to tell which calves belonged to which cows so she will get her two calves marked when we see them with the tagged moms.  I am so proud of her for buying a small herd of 5 head of cattle last year.  She will sell the bull calf this coming week.  Two of her cows now have babies and a third should calf this winter.  I know it is hard for her not to buy new clothes, or get material things young people want today,  but she has such good sense and is making such a good investment with cattle.  When the other kids things wear out, Tiffany's cows will be continuing to multiply and increase her savings.  You can sell cattle on any Wednesday and Thursday back here at the sale barn if you need immediate cash.
      If this fog ever lifts I need to get the rest of the facia board painted so Joe can get them up.  I think they go up before some channel for the roof goes on.  I was hoping to have Thanksgiving at our place, but may be lucky if we are in by Christmas.  There is only so much Joe can do in a day, and thank goodness we aren't paying me by the hour!  It takes me 20 minutes just to get a tea and my tools together before I can think of actually doing something. The interior is where my work really kicks in.  I can paint, trim, tile and put in outlets and bulbs.  I am going to learn to help put down laminate flooring and hang drywall.
     The 4 baby chicks are starting to get feathers and little combs.  I am pretty sure two are roosters so I need to sell them soon.  All 11 baby Guinea keets are growing and starting to get feathers.  Their little necks are starting to get longer.  They look like long necked quail right now.
      Enough rambling for today.

October 5 pictures 2

 Joe bush hogging waist high weeds

 

 

              Fireplace corner.   French door openings.                   Beside the kitchen area

October 5 house pictures

Latest updates.

 

Back to the Blog Oct 5

Finally back to the blog.
   The  roof sheeting and roof liner are up.  We have finally decided to go with a slate brown for the metal roof color.  We have vacillated between dark green or brown.  Green would look like a forest cabin, brown will blend in.  Who thought making a color decision would be so difficult????  We have also decided to take off the layers of old roofing on the original part of the house.  We can do this ourselves with one worker to do heavy lifting and haul the trash to the dumpster.  We will put down new lining.  We are having workers put the metal roof on as I do NOT want either of us up on the addition roof since it is so tall.
   With the help of our son- in- law and his backhoe and another worker, Joe got one of the double French doors in the family room and the fireplace at least in the room.  All the windows are in the whole house now.  We are going to have some beautiful views!  One of my favorite views is of a beautiful wall of the quarry in the distance jutting above the tree tops. Once we get the drywall delivered next week, Joe can frame in the outside den wall and set the French doors there.  That leaves one Double French door left to put in the family room.  We will need Bill, his backhoe, and a worker to get that door up into the wall which is about 5 feet off the ground. (The decking is going up  before the siding , so it seems like we are off on another part of the plan).
   Joe and I were able to get all of the kitchen in for temporary placement for electrical and water.  Good thing we did a trial run, as Joe has to frame an 8 inch wall out behind all the cabinets next to the refrigerator.  The fridge cabinet totally encloses the sides if the fridge so the other cabinets are made to be even with that cabinet front.  This will be a rather simple framing for those cabinets.  The other wall of  cabinets don't need any adjustments.  The kitchen is going to be quite large and homey!  I can't wait for us to install them once the drywall is in!
   The AC/heat unit and ducting are close to being completed! Then we finish our wiring, and finally the drywall goes in! Think we will hire pros to texture the walls.
   Joe and I have tried to get in some outside time and have almost reclaimed another pasture by just bush hogging (mowing) it with the tractor.
   Today, Joe has some finish work to do around the AC /heater unit inside.  Then, we will try out the biscuit joiner to make some window trim and get it nailed on.
   MY goal is to be in by Thanksgiving!  I need to try to have patience and remember the two of us are doing a lot of the work, which means Joe is doing most of the work, but I am learning.  I can run Romax for electrical, I have put up the hurricane ties on the rafters and learned to use the handiest tool - a palm nailer, which works off the compressor.  A palm nailer is the best tool I have ever used.  No hammering. Insert nail, barely push, nail is in!
   I will have to keep up better with my blog.  I have even having some pain issues and CAT scan revealed gall stones.  Also pulled an abdominal muscle.  I will see the surgeon Oct. 20 and find out his recommendations.  I have too much to do and want to be able to ride Bo in this beautiful weather.
Joe has been having some knee pain but his main problem has been literally hundreds of probably chigger bites from his ankles to his waist, he got about a month ago when he went into the woods without bug spray.  The itching has been terrible.  I personally am keeping the Deep Woods Off company going.



 

Welcome September

Tuesday, September 2

     I am home and rested after a fun and busy week watching the Grandkids while Doug and Misti got away for some R&R.  The nanny was there during the day which was a tremendous help to me.
     We are finally getting a much needed rain, but it is not helping get the roofing up.  With the lack of rain, we were getting worried about the pastures and lawns drying up.  I was particularly concerned about the  huge older trees in the yard loXosing so many leaves  so I did water them during our few week dry spell.
     Since my last post,  the addition  has most of the exterior sheeting up, the roof trusses are in place and some of the roof sheeting has gone on, but but we are on hold with the rain.
     The air conditioner installer is working for a few hours tonight setting the room vents and intake vents.  When he finishes getting the AC system installed, we can start the drywall!  Yahoo!

Memphis, Tennessee

August 20
   I may not be posting for a few days as I am babysitting with the Grandkids just outside of Memphis.  Jack is two and a half, Evan turned one year old last week, and big sister, Melani is seventeen.  The boys' nanny is with us during the day and she is a tremendous help to me.  Melani can help in the evenings if I need her to. So great to get to spend time with the kids and get to know little Evan better.
  Joe is home holding down the fort and making good progress getting the outside sheeting up on two walls.