WE'RE (not quite) DONE!

Some of ya'll might have seen I posted the cabin ready to rent on Facebook today. It is! I mean, it soon will be!

Friends and family are welcome to stay and check it out beginning this September, when we'll have it all ready. The rest of this month we're finishing up some final details on the main build. Small details, you know like water.

Believe it or not, we have a WELL! It only took literally 8 months to get it done. We have a 180 foot well producing a not so amazing 6 gallons per minute. It's as good as it gets there and we'll take it! It is not, however, currently plumbed in. That's coming the weekend after next. 

We also have a functioning full blown septic system! That, took two tries...

The last blog post I made in April told you about how Michelle and I started to hand dig the septic. Yeah, bad idea. It soon rained (if you follow these blog posts you know that's not out of the ordinary) and filled our hole in (in more ways than one). We soon ended up renting an excavator and got it dug and put in quickly, mud and all.

Much easier!

We ended up getting it set, the leach field put in and everything buried that weekend.

Then we filled it with all of the water we had on hand, about 150 gallons. It's a 500 gallon tank, so we knew it wasn't enough. But there was no rain in the forecast so we figured we'd just bring more water the next weekend to finish filling it. After all if you don't fill it with water and it rains, it will float up out of the ground. Thankfully though, no rain was forecast.

So we came back the following weekend with additional barrels of water and pulled in to see this...

You guessed it. It fucking rained.

So it was back to square one. We went several weeks waiting on the rain to stop and lo and behold it did stop in late June. 

Now that we were in the dry season we were able to get topsoil, fill dirt, road base and gravel brought in.

Soon thereafter we were able to put in our permanent gates. My dad built the H braces and I installed them and the new double gates. The idea was now that we have the road base in and our permanent wide entrance we'd be ready for the well drilling rig soon.

Meanwhile, we were able to do more interior decorating and furniture buying.

We even put in a porch swing.

Forth of July rolled through and we were treated to an awesome fireworks show by our neighbors across the road. This display went on solid for hours!

Then my folks came down and helped put the septic back in. It was awesome because my dad is a professional heavy equipment operator and he made it quick.

This time we buried it deeper and ran a 100' lateral line.

Then came the day these guys showed up.

The well drillers are here!

And two days later we have a well!

It may not look like much but it's everything I always wanted!

With the septic in and well dug we were then free to begin the outdoor kitchen and living space. We've been waiting so long to start that addition! Michelle and I built it in a weekend.

It's a 10' X 20' addition.

There's lots more left to do, but it's happening fast! There will be gutters all around with rain barrels. Those will be used to irrigate the raised bed gardens that will surround the front porch and other side of the cottage.

These two 60" fans put out a lot of cool breeze!

The white pipe sticking up is our future outside bathroom and shower next to the hot tub!

We also have a bar going in, including a 2 keg kegerator, stainless sink, shelves and tables and furniture.

We'll be all set by September and can't wait to see our friends and family enjoying it as a soft opening. Then we'll go live on Air B&B and VRBO and see how it goes. 

After that we plan to take off the rest of the year and hunt and enjoy the place. Then early next year we will begin the second project we're calling the Hideaway... 

From Vacation Rental to Survival Bunker

So, what's going on with you guys? Anything new?

Yeah. Well. It's really great to have a place to get away these days. Ya know what I mean? I really wish we were further along though. A couple of weeks back we went up and threw some details in the cottage. We had big plans for the following few weekends like furniture and then beginning the outdoor kitchen/party areas but we were slightly derailed what with a global fucking meltdown overnight and all. Our lives haven't really changed all that much, but the ol' cliche of uncertainty has surely made us cool our jets on spending. Our business is still good - for the moment. We actually turned down some work last week. But since these days we're hyper focused on risk management both in our health and wealth, we're deciding to take it easy on the cottage spending for the moment.

Last weekend we went up with plans to finish the cabinet doors, build some other cabinets and finish the minor amount of kitchen tile as well as finish painting the trim. But all we ended up doing was relaxing and taking it easy. Kind of hard to motivate these days. We did begin digging for our septic tank. Which we did just to see if it would be possible to do it by hand rather than rent equipment. It will be relatively easy to do by hand so we dug about a third of the way, happy to continue at a later date.

A little muddy to start.

But we quickly got down to dry dirt. This is about 2 feet deep and took about an hour.

All together we have to dig about 5 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 7 feet long. Not too bad.

Since it was just a relaxing type weekend we walked the trails and took some photo's along the way to print and hang in the cottage.

This massive tree is about six feet across at the base. It's about 1/4 mile back on the main trail and we plan to put a cool swing in it made of branches.

Near the back pond we found this guy all by himself.

This new growth forest is at the start of the main trail heading to the deep woods.

This old hay rake is left over from when the property used to be farm land. Trees now grow up through it.

The previous trip we did some decorating. Just before the non essential business were forced closed we picked up this guy at an antique store in Powderly, Texas just south of the Red River and about 15 miles from the cottage.

Meet Smuckers. He looks cool wearing a bow tie and sunglasses.

Refrigerator, counter tops, sink, shelving and lighting all in.

A full size, deep sink is a super step up from the tiny camper one.

We also were able to put the slides on the drawers, install the stove and put in the microwave as well as install all of the door trim and baseboards.

Need to get the doors built and finish up the tile.

We hung the second TV and some wall decor.

Including a cool old cross cut saw. Lot's more decor to come.

We put in the bathroom light fixtures as well as all the towel bars.

Although camping chairs work, we really are ready for furniture.

Nothing like sitting by the fake fire!

Spring has sprung!

We even mowed the grass. Everything is so green now.

We are very lucky to be this far along and to have such a great escape. We're so close to being finished now it's ridiculous. But it is 100% livable as it is, even down to hot running water. I'm just really anxious to get the outdoor space finished. It's going to be bad ass!

It's pretty freaking good as is and even more importantly, there ain't no Covid at Fireside. So if things get crazy, you'll know where to find us.

We've Come a Long Way Baby!

You might think we've been doing a lot of work on the cottage over the last month or so and I just haven't posted about it. We haven't. In fact, we haven't even been up to the property but a few times this year. That is until this last week. Michelle, Gavin and I went up last Sunday and just came home this morning. In five days we:

1. Finished the exterior trim, paint and stain.
2. Finished all of the plumbing and hooked up our temporary water and septic.
3. Installed the floor tile.
4. Installed the shower tile.
5. Installed the kitchen back splash.
6. Sanded, stained and sealed the loft floor.
7. Stained and sealed the kitchen ceiling.
8. Lacquered the bathroom ceiling. 
9. Put the final coat on all of the walls and ceilings.
10. Finished the loft railing.
11. Installed the bathroom vanity.
12. Installed the shower fixtures.
13. Installed the toilet.
14. Built, primed, painted and installed the kitchen cabinets.
15. And many more little things!

There's still more to do; about another weeks worth. But it sure is coming along nicely! Just two blog posts ago we were only at the sheet rock stage!

We still have kitchen cabinet doors and drawer slides yet to install, a built in bathroom cabinet for linens and to house our washing machine, the loft closets and entertainment center cabinet to build, baseboards and door trim to install, kitchen upper shelving and kitchen counter tops to put in as well as all of the cool light fixtures and other awesome details. 

We have all of that ready to go, we just need more time. The plan is to go back up in two weeks and push hard for the finish. Next up, the outdoor kitchen and entertainment area and I can hardly wait! Then it'll be an all call for a party and sign up as Fireside Trails and Retreat will officially be open!

Paint and stain complete!


This is the the side the outdoor kitchen will be on.

My smoker is patiently waiting to be surrounded by the full outdoor kitchen.

We found the sign above the door at a local brewery's art bazaar.

It's only temporary while we wait to get the well driller in after the rain has stopped.

What you see when you step in the door. (If the ladder is out. It's on casters and pushes straight up too!)

Full size kitchen.

Everything is turning out just as we envisioned.

Our current living room furniture was designed by Academy Sports.

Bathroom has a cool white lacquer ceiling finish.

Can't really tell but the vanity has three drawers and a sliding barn door.

Subway tile with charcoal grout.

The loft is really shaping up too.

Not a bad way to spend a night.

The view out of the rear loft window is as good as any.

Can't wait to continue with the details!