In The Trenches

We've been waiting for weeks to have a break in the rain long enough to dig our trench for the power service line from the meter to the cabin build site and our break finally came on Easter Sunday.

I needed super heavy #2 wire, 3 strands of it, to run 250 feet in conduit underground to service our cabin. I found it at a local electrical supply for over $.30 cheaper than Home Depot. That's a great savings spread out over 750 feet. So I bought it and my mom and dad made the trip down to use their ditcher and make fast work of it.

Even though it was still a bit wet for the first 30 feet or so, we managed to make it through.

Once we were through the muddy start, it was like a knife through butter.

250 feet, about 3 feet deep in about 15 minutes.

Then came the hard part... pulling that heavy wire. All together it weighed about 300 pounds. We had to chain the conduit to a tree and use the tractor to pull it through.

Redneck ingenuity.

We pulled it through 6 sections of pipe.

It took the biggest part of the day to get the wire pulled. Then we laid it in the trench. I only pulled the longest run of the largest wire. We also laid a second conduit for future smaller runs to our RV hook up station.

Then then we simply covered it all up!

You'd never know there's so much copper 3 feet down under there.
PS - Our cabin will be built behind those trees in the upper right at the end of this covered ditch.

Next we plan to run the wire to the RV hookup station, which is about halfway from the meter to the cabin. This will eventually be for guests to use but initially we'll plug our camper into it so we can finally unplug the 100 foot extension cord plugged in at the meter we're currently using.

We now have full 220 service ran all the way to our cabin build site and are ready to get moving on it in the coming weeks. Lot's of great things to come!

One Down...

Work in Dallas is BOOMING and we have not had much time at all to get up to the cabin. We have managed to make it up a few times in the past couple of months and have made a little progress on small things like clearing brush and trimming trees, nothing too blogworthy.

Then we decided to schedule 5 days to go up and get our workshop built. People all thought we were crazy to try to do it in just 5 days. We did it in 3 and a half. And it rained for two and a half of them.

As you probably have read, we decided to build the workshop first as a sort of practice run to work out some details before we get to the cabin. Just like the cabin, the workshop has a loft and therefore a ridge beam instead of trusses for the roof. The two will also share in the same pier and beam foundation and overall aesthetic.

Things went very well! There are a few things left to do; install the roof drip edge, trim the shingles, install a few more trim boards, stain the cedar shingles, paint the body and trim and rock around the bottom. Still, you'll get the gist.

We ordered all of our lumber from McKinney Home Depot about 2 weeks prior and had it scheduled to be delivered on a Friday. On the Thursday before I get a call from the Paris Home Depot saying they were the ones filling and delivering the order but there was a problem. They only deliver to our area on Tuesdays. Believe it or not, I stayed calm and explained to them that wasn't going to work because I was building beginning tomorrow. They "made an exception" for us and said it'd be there by 4pm the next day.  We drive up Friday afternoon to get set up and by 3:30 there was no sign yet of any delivery so I call them. They said their delivery truck broke down and there were no deliveries being made that day. I wasn't so calm this time. When I was finished cursing them up and down, I called the local McCoy's Lumber in Paris just to see what the odds were for them to deliver that day. They were happy to on the spot! In fact, they have 5 different size delivery trucks. Hmmm. So I quickly called Home Depot back and gladly cancelled the entire order and literally by 4:30 McCoy's was offloading our lumber at our build site. McCoy's now will get our entire build and Home Depot can suck my balls.

McCoy's had a big, heavy off road forklift to bring our lumber up the driveway. There were several trips to be made and the ground looked dry enough with some standing water here and there. But with every pass the forklift made I started noticing the ground would literally wave as he drove by. When he was done we took this video to show how much water was under the dry surface. Incredible!

 We only organized the materials Friday evening and began the build by laying the subfloor and floor first thing Saturday morning and then began framing.

DAY ONE:

Standing water, but we were mostly on the deck anyway.

Mud is not fun to work in.

Michelle in the mud.

Ridge beam is up, rafters going in.

Of course we're square, plumb and level.

Couldn't have done it without Gavin.

End of DAY ONE! We were expecting rain overnight so the tarps came out.

DAY TWO:

DAY TWO began by decking the roof and then adding the felt and shingles.

After the roof was done we added the wall sheathing.

Then we put in the side door.

This was a muddy fucking mess.

But by the end of DAY TWO, we were even able to put up the siding!.

DAY THREE:

Day two was a cloudy and misty day and then it stormed that night. So the beginning of day three was a challenge. It was as muddy as ever and we were to add the soffit, fascia and trim and the cedar gable ends. It was a wet and muddy mess, but we were able to get it done. We also were able to build the loft inside. 

We added the fascia, soffits and the cedar shingles on the gables.

Getting close!

We even added the loft inside. It's 4' X 12' and is 8' off the ground.

DAY THREE AND A HALF (Okay, it's day four, but we only took a few hours to wrap it up):

It stormed heavily the night before and there was so much water surrounding the workshop we had to dig drainage ditches before we could even begin.

This will eventually be a French drain.

It's working!

We then added the big doors.

And made it super secure.

Looking good!

Needs a few details, especially the rock skirt around the bottom.

There you have it. Three and a half days and a 12' X 12' workshop!

It was quite an undertaking, but nothing stops us! Very ready to finish up the details and show you the color scheme. Until next time...

Full Steam Ahead

It's been about a month since we've documented any goings on at the property and there's much to tell.

I get asked about the pigs a lot by friends and fans of our online diary here. I'm hesitant to say it but it sure seems like they're well under control. I haven't talked to the dude since the last big blow up but its obvious he has done the best he mentally and physically could do, albeit that is equal to a normal person's bare minimum, to keep them contained. He has had some help in that department by mother nature as many of the beasts have died of disease and starvation recently. I don't know a total number but driving down the road past his place you can spy several dead and bloated pigs in a makeshift pen (along with live pigs). Those dead bastards have been there for weeks and I'm sure their numbers will grow. Especially since the lasts few weeks we've seen no sign of human life except for one interesting instance a few weeks back.

 Back in late January we were working around the property, trimming trees and burning brush when we caught wind of the unmistakable smell of goats. I look around the camper to see about 8 walking through my gate like they were ghosts. I ran at them and unlike their idiot barnyard mates the pigs, they turned and ran. Give it about twenty minutes and there's that smell again. This time I spy them walking the old pig path through the woods, about 30 yards away. I had my .22 revolver on my hip and popped a white one a few times broadside. He ran and others followed, but they slowed and stopped again. I grabbed my .20 gauge loaded with hollow point slugs and set out toward them, which is also toward the neighbors junk pile, where they're supposed to be penned. Essentially, I found myself aiming somewhat in the direction of the neighbors place, shooting due north with the neighbors place being slightly north east and only about fifty yards away. I half heartedly blasted at the white one again and missed. Pissed that the pigs are contained and now his filthy fucking goats are invading I was determined to send a direct message. So I knelt down and took aim on the largest male. He's a beautiful goat as far as goats go, but this son of a bitch was trespassing and his good looks weren't going to get him out of it this time. He reached up, stretching to eating leaves off of a low branch and he turned the top of his head directly at me. I steadily placed the bead at end of my shotgun directly between his curled back ram like horns and placed my finger on the trigger. A split second before I pulled the trigger I heard a woman's voice yell, "Frank! Come on home boy. Come on guys! Get back over here!". The neighbor's old lady had heard all of the gunshots. Knowing I'm ready and willing to eliminate any of their animals on my land she stepped out and began calling them. It was a huge victory because I didn't have to kill a goat and leave him for coyotes and varmints to eat and also because I see first hand that my message was heard loud and clear. There was no sign of the bad neighbor, Michael. And we have not seen him or his old lady since. I honestly feel we're in our last days of that mess. All of his animals are sick and starving. We've seen evidence of packs of coyotes picking them off nightly in the neighbor's absence. None of what's going on down the road there is sustainable. The guy doesn't own the property he's destroyed. He's only been there six years and I believe it's just about run its course and he will be moving on soon for good.

This used to be a calf. Coyotes have strewn picked clean bones all over,

On the other side of the tracks, we're doing great work! Our place is looking terrific. We've began trimming all of the low branches around our driveway and cabin site. We've also burned all of our brush piles and it has really made the place look clean and beautiful.

Burning multiple brush piles at our cabin build site.

I found a trick to really getting the fire going by using a leaf blower as a bellows.

We've done some things to the camper to make it more comfortable and convenient like adding storage shelves and insulating all of the plumbing so we don't have to unhook and drain the system every time we come and go. It is really a pleasure to go up there.

This trip was cold and rainy, but we didn't let that stop us. We had okay weather this Saturday and we took advantage of it by putting up our floor joists on our storage shed workshop. It's looking awesome and we have scheduled five days next month to return to build and finish the entire shop! It is being built in the same style that our cabin will be done. It is a great practice run to work out some kinks before we get to the main house, which will begin this spring!

This is our 12' X 12' shed that just like the cabin will have a loft.

We spent a lot of time with our rural neighbors and friends this trip as well enjoying lots of camp fire time, cooking out, riding the property and generally having a great time.

We were leading our neighbors on a tour of our property.

Showing off our oldest tree.

I do build the best fires.

Looking forward to heading back soon!

Kicking 2018 Square in the Ass

And Choctaw Electric Co-Op said "Let there be light" and there was light - and lights. And a sweet new TV picking up the local digital channels. And a DVD player for watching movies after a long day of cutting trees. And a slick clock radio just because. And a microwave since cooking everything over a fire is stupid. And...

You may have already figured out that WE FINALLY GOT ELECTRICITY!

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that "Without electricity, the air would rot". And while he may have made the worst kind of cheap-o TVs sold at Walmart in the 80's, I kind of think he's right on with that quote.

We've been roughing it by lantern and campfire out at our property since March and last night marked the first day we were able to turn the light on to use the bathroom, flush the toilet and take a warm shower. Then we were able to lay in bed and watch the local weather and then a movie in a comfy heated camper under the warmth of an electric blanket. The leap made from spending sultry summer nights on a cot in a tent to last night's luxurious sleep on a heated memory foam bed was so giant I pulled a groin muscle that wasn't even mine.

I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE WHEN THE CABIN IS COMPLETE.

Every single thing we do to improve the property makes us fall deeper in love with it and it becomes harder and harder to leave to come back to reality.

We went up to the property Friday afternoon. Our friends Tommy and Marsha, who you may remember purchased the land across the road from us in September and we recently met, were going to be there Thursday through Sunday. It has still rained there at least an inch a week for as long as I can remember and this week was no exception. So it was still as flooded and muddy as ever, but we're learning to work with it. For Christmas gifts to each other this year, Michelle and I decided to give the gift of finally purchasing the power pole. Generally speaking, I usually save the giant pole gift for Valentine's Day. Never the less, we called up the Friday before Christmas and paid for the pole to be installed. We weren't expecting it to be installed for a few weeks, but on our way up last Friday Tommy called and told me the electric company was at my place putting it up.

Note the County Road behind the pole here. Yep, it's still flooded.

It was about 3:30 when we arrived so there was no time to gather the parts I'd need to install a service panel and outlet below the meter that day. We just roughed it that night, spending most of the evening around the campfire with our friends.

So great sharing the campfire with good people.

The next morning we went into town and I bought everything to get the camper trailer on the grid. We spent most of the day working on the power and burning brush piles.

And that's all there is to it. A long extension cord to the camper trailer and we're in temporary business.

We have three piles this big to burn.

Tommy and Marsha left early Sunday morning. Michelle and I had to decide if we were to stay or leave and the new power was so awesome we decided to stay. First we checked all of our cameras and found some more great shots of wildlife.

Note the times of day here. A good reason we wear our pistols when we're messing around in the woods.

Mutant raccoons.

Deer and raccoons living in harmony. It's anarchy!

One mean pussycat.

Nice little doe.

A nice spike.

Now we're talking!

"Is that a camera? Better inspect closer..."

Deer selfie.

Next we went in to town again. This time we brought back some amenities to help pass the time during the long dark nights.

Our new antenna.

Who knew Domino's delivered way out there?

Electricity rules! We spent the final weekend of 2018 at our property in style. One year from now we hope you'll be reading the last chapter and seeing the final pics of our beautiful finished cabin, where we plan to ring in 2020 like it's 1999.