OK, so I’m a Rita Coolidge fan. Wanna fight about it?

Wow! Only been about a week since the last post. Seems like more. A whole lot has been going on with a net result of not much. It’s kind of funny how you can feel like you are racing like mad only to look back and figure out that you were spinning your tires the whole time.

It rained. A lot. The roads were finally drying out, the mud settling into nice hard bottoms then it all started over again. My neighbor to the north was out for several days so we spent a day working on “Our Road”. I emptied the back of the truck and off we went to town. A short visit to the concrete plant and 55 of his dollars later saw us heading back out into the great swamp. We discussed at great length where to put the rock, how many loads would be needed and how great it would be once we had licked the muddy road demon once and for all.

Turning onto “Our Road” we were in high hopes right up until the time that we realized that the truck was sitting a good four inches lower with the gravel in back. Since the truck weighed right at 10,000 pounds with the gravel it didn’t hesitate. It bottomed out and was stuck solid.

“Not to worry!” says I. “We’ll shovel the gravel out, fill the hole, the truck will raise and we’ll drive on out.” Pffffffttttt!!!! We shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled even more. We filled the hole in front of the rear tires and in back. However the truck had no intention of raising and stubbornly refused to budge.

Luckily another neighbor from a better behaved road heard us and came to the rescue. A tow rope and 30 seconds of pulling had the truck out enough that continued shoveling worked. We then dumped the remainder of the gravel, pulled through the hole and took a moment to admire out handiwork. Ever see two grown men cry like scared little girls? It ain’t pretty.

You could hardly tell that we had even been there. The hole swallowed up about a cubic yard of gravel and was still hungry. Obviously our plan had fatal flaws.

Here’s a pic of a hole in front of my property. The swamp is actually flowing across the road so widening the road to avoid it isn’t an option. The armchair reaction is easy, put in a culvert and fill it. Ever try to dig a 14 foot long 18 inch wide and deep trench with a shovel? Much less a trench with the swamp running through it. If I hit the lottery this week I’ll buy a front end loader and back hoe then trenches will be easy. Till then we have to figure out how to fill the hole and direct the swamp to someone else to deal with.

Back at the shack I’m getting worried about the Mean Little Bastard. I haven’t seen him on his bar stool for several days so I’m concerned that he may have got tanked and had a wreck. Or picked a fight with a sparrow or some other large bird. If he doesn’t show soon I’ll have to check into getting his picture on a milk carton.

I took several toys up with me this last trip and the neighbor and I spent an afternoon shooting 2x4s, tin cans and some paper. Of note was the Kel Tec PMR30 in 22 magnum. We set up some 2×4 and started blasting away. He shot it and it didn’t move. Since we were only shooting at about 15 yards neither of us could believe he missed it. So we put the guns away and walked out to inspect. He hit it. The FMJ I had in it went through it so fast the 2×4 never even noticed. Next up I loaded some 40 grain polymer head cartridges. When they hit the 2×4 flew in the air decisively. Inspection showed that the polymer head penetrated most of the way and blew the back out of the wood. I never knew the 22 magnum was such a powerful little load.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record again. I cleared, and cleared, and cleared.

I’m wanting to bring in a couple of 20 foot conex boxes but need a flat, level place to put them. I know I will have to bring in some kind of fill but want to have a good place to put it.

My front yard is out of the question. There are so many rotten logs there that it would take a dozer to level it. So I started on the side working north. I believe I’ve found an area which will work with some more clearing and maybe a dump truck of fill.

The driveway in is coming along nicely. I had to widen it three times since I was tired of driving over trees to get in and out. I have a gate planned right on a sharp turn which will give some security once I block the front.

Nights are getting better since I can pretty much heat the shack with a couple of candles plus maybe a can of sterno. One night it got pretty chilly so I got up about 3 am to light the kerosene heater. It took about 15 minutes to get it lit and make sure that all was well then I was ready for bed. When I got back the Boy was in the middle of the bed and not giving up any ground. His attitude was “You left it. I found it. It’s mine now.” I spent the rest of the night asleep in a chair next to the heater.

I’ve decided I want two conex and a 500 gallon propane tank brought in. No need to point out the obvious reasons for that. Thing is I have to get the road up to speed to do it.

The neighbor wants to bring some conex in as well and has offered to help with the cost of fixing the road. This will help greatly. Another neighbor who only gets out about once or twice a year has offered to help which will help. However since his use of the road is very limited in my mind his contribution should be as well. I use it the most so I’ve decided to take the lions share as much as I can.

I was talking to a friend in town today who owns two Chariots of the Gods. DUMP TRUCKS! I worship this guy. OK, anyway, he’s going to give me a hand with this. The nearby interstate is about to be resurfaced soon and that means dump truck loads of asphalt ground up and hauled away. His trucks will be participating in this. Instead of 800 dollars for a load of gravel I may be able to get this asphalt grind up for around 400 dollars a load.

Spreading will be a problem. It will be me, with a shovel, and me with a rake. I’ve told him to expect to deliver about every four days. I’m hoping two loads will do mostly do the four holes which need immediate attention.

Tomorrow I’ll be buying supplies in preparation for a trip out Wednesday. Wednesday morning I’m taking the truck owner out for a first hand look so he can tell me what I need to do. I’ll head back to town, load up from storage then head out for a week on Thursday.

Some pics before closing. This is a shot of my back yard from the balcony. The driveway comes in from the top and you can see that I’ve cut the brush back to the north a good deal. A lot of the bushes/trees left standing will be taken out since I didn’t want to fight the brush cutter since a chain saw is much easier.

Next is the side yard looking west. The open area on the right is where I think I can put the conex boxes. The track is about 90 yards vs the 125 I previously thought. The poles are markers at 25, 50 and 75 yards. Eventually the whole front of the property will have these markers going out as far as I can reasonably see/shoot. I expect though that I won’t have many shots over 100 to 125 yards.

Here’s the front/side yard. You can tell that the ground is a nightmare. There are about 20 rotten logs there waiting to puncture a tire or trip you up. I’ve not pushed it back much since last post so there’s not much change.

Next is the front yard looking slightly west. The track in the middle
heads out to the hog wallow which I haven’t taken a pic of yet. The crooked tree in the middle of the frame in back is another track in waiting.  Oops. You can’t see the crooked cypress can you?  Well imagine you can. I’ll get a pic for next time.

Last is the front yard. Again not much change other than I’ve done some cleaning. The pile of ookum is a bunch of roofing tiles that I’ve not worked up the energy to move. Those things are heavy as heck.

In closing, my bamboo is doing well. I was finally able to upload a pic of the really giant bamboo I had previously thought dead. The pic is about two weeks old but it is already about a foot tall and has grown a lot since then. 

I had a really great post written up last night. Then I tried to upload some pictures to add in. At that point CenturyLink freaked out, couldn’t upload, then everything crashed and I lost everything. Someday there will be war trials and someone from CenturyLink will have to answer for this.

So I’ve continued clearing, burning, planting, painting, tote that barge and lift that bail. My to do list has shrunk a tiny bit but only because I’m refusing to add to it at the present time. Also every time I sit down to update it I usually wake up about 15 minutes later with absolutely no idea why I sat down to begin with.

I’ve begun burning small piles of brush and moving the burn sites around. I started close to the shack and am moving outward with every burn. This helps me see what the ground is like plus gives a dead zone to act as sort of a fire break. It can be tiresome in areas where there are a lot of rotten logs. Unless the logs are saturated from a heavy rain they tend to smolder sometimes for hours after the burn. A strong wind can cause flare ups so having a lot of water on hand is a must. In some areas there are so many logs that you can’t touch the ground for fairly long distances. This is exciting at times since you might be walking along, hit a soft spot then sink a few inches up to about a foot into the rotted wood. I’m concerned about sinking onto some snake that doesn’t share my peaceful views.

A few days ago I was cutting a path and across a pile of logs about three feet high, 12 feet across and about 30 feet long. Crossing it while carrying a 40 pound brush cutter was both a job and an adventure. Thankfully it was so high that there was no brush growing on it. At some point I’ll have to level it and spread the wood pulp around.

I put up a hummingbird feeder then sat back with visions of a flock of buzzing little birds merrily feasting on the free buffet. I figured that as soon as the word got out there would be hundreds of tiny emails zipping around at the speed of light which would hook me up with the hummingbird network. So far, I have one bird. And he’s a mean little bastard.

He stops off for a fill up on his way to work in the morning but really hits the sauce on his way home in the afternoon. He has a favorite “flower” and though he samples all the “flowers” he always returns

to his favorite watering hole. Today he came buzzing in right on schedule. I was really excited to see another one approaching a few seconds later while visions of clouds of happy little buzzing birds began to form. No such luck. Though the newcomer was twice his size he went to war and ran him off. I don’t know what’s in that sauce I mixed up but it must be some kind of hummingbird crack. In the picture he’s on the left sitting on his favorite bar stool.

I’ve been planting more bamboo. The other day I noticed that the giant bamboo I thought dead was putting out shoots. This really excited me since it was very, very expensive. It also grows to about 100 feet tall under ideal conditions and gets 6 to 10 inches in diameter at the base. I’ve read that it can grow several feet a day when conditions are perfect so I’m burning candles for the bamboo conditions gods. I was asked what I would do with bamboo 100 feet
long and I thought “I’ll be the only person I’ve ever known who has a piece of bamboo 100 feet long.” Anyway, I planted it. The first two days it grew nearly a foot and shows no sign of slowing down so I am really glad I didn’t trash it while it looked dead. Meanwhile I’m having a hell of a time uploading pics so there may not be many.

Today I made a run out and took my dresser, several boxes of parts/materials and some dishes. With the second floor dried out I’ve begun to seal and paint it with the idea of turning it into living quarters and the first floor being storage, kitchen and utilities. I’ve moved an outdoor shower way up the to do list after my last week spent out there. After about five days of no shower even the boy doesn’t want to get near me so I better start work ASAP.

This is a pic from the second floor balcony looking west. The track in the upper right hand is a shooting lane which will be widened with a feeder at the end. The track is a little over 100 yards long and about 8 feet wide. As you can tell I’m now able to park my truck next to the shack which really helps when unloading. On the left are some older burn areas. For some reason living in a wooden shack in the swamp surrounded by highly flammable brush has made me paranoid about fire. In this pic you’re looking south toward the swamp. The track is only about 30 yards long and currently ends at a woodpile I just don’t feel like crossing right now. I want to cut all the way to the swamp then widen the track so I have a water view from the second floor. The swamp may be anywhere from 10 feet to 200 yards past the end of the track. You can see more burn areas and remnants of logs. At first I was thinking that there were dozens of rotten logs about. Now I believe it’s hundreds.

Bugs are out in full force. So much so I’ve put up flypaper. The first day the count was one fly and one gnat so I’m not really optimistic about how well it’s going to work. Everything out here seems to bite, sting or burrow. Bumble bees are a real nuisance. They are aggressive and like to challenge you. They also burrow in wood which for someone living in a wooden shanty is a mortal sin. I’ve found a shot shell in a 22 magnum revolver will reduce them to a vaporous cloud so I’ve ordered more shot shells. The only thing that hasn’t bit, stung or tried to enter some orifice is butterflies but I think they may be just working on their strategy. I’m keeping a close eye on them just in case.

Back at the trailer my little greenhouse is starting to pay off. The brown pots on the left are trifoliate orange that are going gang busters. The green pots on the ground are five pecan trees that made it through the winter. The Wendys cups are oak trees from acorns I just pulled up and stuck in a glass. Behind them are several lemon eucalyptus ready to be planted. The seed tray underneath has about 20 rainbow eucalyptus, a few bamboo, and some more trifoliate orange.
Well, CenturyLink really sux tonight so I’m not going to be able to upload any more pics. I’m going to publish this before it freaks out and I lose everything. As usual, my back hurts, my feet stink and I’m dead broke. But hell I’m living the dream. Who wouldn’t want to be me?

Be It Ever So Humble, There’s No Place Like Shack

Wow! It’s been a long time since my last post and there has been a lot going on.

On two different occasions I’ve spent a week out in shanty town. Mostly it was a fun and rewarding experience with a few “Ah shits”, some “DOH!” and a couple “What in the world am I doing?”

As expected ice is the limiting factor. No ice, no fresh food after a day. No ice, no mixed drink. Both are show stoppers which send me scampering back to town. I have a line on an old propane refrigerator that will partially solve the problem if I can get it to work. An alternative is a small freezer that I power up twice a day at the lowest setting till it shuts off. However for now a week is a good round number to put in before a hot shower and roof that doesn’t leak.

The first week it was pretty cold at night and I kept the propane heater cranked. The second there were two cold nights which was odd since it was in the 80s during the day. Thankfully I had an extra propane bottle so I could cook. I didn’t run the heater all night so I

had to get up several times a night to heat the place up then shut down and go back to sleep. I always knew when it was time to light it off since the boy would be standing next to me nudging me.

When I would wake up he would sit and stare at the heater. After he got over the hissing sound it makes he fell in love with it. I have a wood burning stove out there but need to put down backer board, cut holes for the chimney, put in the chimney and seal the stove. With temps in the 80s mostly I’ll use propane for the occasional cold night and install the stove this summer.

I’ve done a lot of brush clearing. It takes at least three passes to get the brush cleared and managed. First you have to rough cut. This leaves stumps anywhere from a few inches high to about 18 inches. I just zip through waving the cutter and let it fall. Then you have to haul the brush out and burn it. After burning an area you go back and cut out the stumps. At that point you can finally tell how much fill will be needed. In a lot of cases it is further complicated by the dozens of old, rotten logs about. They all have heartwood that is still hard as rock. When you hit one of these with the cutter it goes who knows where so you quickly learn to be balanced and out of the way.

Here’s a view of my front yard. My property runs all the way to the trees in the back and then some. The swamp starts just before the trees. I want to clear all the way to the swamp which is a huge task. The small drum is my burn barrel for plastic, treated wood, left over food and anything else that I don’t want to put in the soil. I burn leftovers so as not to attract unwanted attention from potentially dangerous critters. Like bears. The brush pile is waiting on a slow rainy day with no wind. If you blow up the pic you’ll be able to see some of the logs I’ve mentioned.

This is a view of the side yard. More piles of brush and a couple of partially burned out areas. I fear the small pine tree has a short life expectancy. I’m not sure if I’ll put up an awning or build a screened in porch but it will be to close no matter what I do.

Here is another view of the side yard. On the right you can see a track cut that goes back about 100 yards. I’ll be making it wider and putting in a feeder at the end. I have three more tracks planned with feeders. I don’t know if and when I’ll get around to shooting anything but I’m putting in the ability if I do. The trees in the background are about 1/4 of the way across my property. I’ve still not found a way back so I’ve only seen a small portion of what I bought so far.

This is sort of the back yard. Even when finished it won’t be very big. I’m going back about another 6 or 8 feet clearing then quit. The track
 is my new driveway and under construction. Once it’s done I’ll clear several feet on either side and put in trifoliate orange, pine trees and blackberries on both sides. If an uninvited guest starts in he will have no choice but to back out unless he can defeat the gate which might prove deadly for him. The sign on the gate will be a skull and crossbones with the caption “You Were Warned.”

Here are some views of the place from the road. That’s the second floor you can see. I believe once I get it skinned and painted that it’s going to be very hard to notice. I have bamboo planted between it and the parking area which will further help shield it from curious eyes. The bamboo I’ve planted is several species and grows anywhere from 25 feet to about 70. I’m also planning on putting some tree limbs off the side with Spanish Moss to hide it even more. The parking area will be blocked off and planted soon. I’ll put another gate behind some foliage back where the pine tree is just in case I need it. All the brush along the road will eventually be cleared and replaced with blackberries, trifoliate orange and any other nasty plant I can find. I want it very evident that if I don’t know you or you weren’t invited that pulling up to the drive, getting out with hands in plain sight and shouting “Hello” until I respond is the wisest course of action. There have been shootings out here over the years and I don’t intend to become the victim of some hot headed road hunter.

While I was visiting another camp the other day a guy was out checking game cameras. We were in a nice cleared area with several buildings, grass, generator running etc. We heard a shot and looked over to see what was up. He was only about 50 feet from us at the time. When he came back he had this in the back of his ATV. That’s about a four foot copperhead or cottonmouth. I was never sure which. What freaked me was that it was in among all that activity and not out doing other snakeazoid type things. I didn’t hesitate once I got back to the shack. I put on snake boots, rigged up a snake gun and put up with the discomfort of carrying two guns for the duration. Anyone who plans on visiting needs to think about this and come equipped. I have the guns but only one set of boots an’ I’m using them.

That’s about it for now. I’m headed out tomorrow to finish up some small stuff on the roof, get a door on the second floor and maybe get the driveway finished. Then I need to paint, seal and organize. My plans change on an hourly basis and sometimes a minute by minute. But even when I’m sitting on the front porch, bone dead tired and stinking like a pig I feel good because I’m living the dream.

Things are really starting to come together on the shanty with the roof now mostly, all the walls up, windows all in. Of course there are still a gazillion finishing touches left to be touched but for the most part the shack is basically dried in. The daylight in the center of this pic is where I need to cut an 8 inch wide strip of plywood to finish the wall. There are other areas that the plywood is only held on with a kiss and a promise and needs nailing down. Then there is caulking about another gazillion joints which leak light and cold air early in the morning. Not that cold air will be an issue much longer since it was in the 80s today.

Over the past few days I’ve been framing in the front while Randy did the roof. I’m continually amazed at how fast and precise his work is even though he knows this is just a shack in the swamp. For every four pieces of wood I cut and put in at least two are wrong, often requiring heavy grunting to overcome the nails I so joyfully put in. Randy just looks at things, waves a tape measure around, mutters something to himself, then presto, the roof is done. It took me two hours and three tries to put
in three pieces of wood for a hand rail on the balcony. But dam am I having fun.

As I’ve said, I have a punch list several miles long before even the basic structure can be called done not to mention outfitting it. But now I can relax a bit and smell the tequila.

Tomorrow is a day for hotel load. I have to do laundry. Has anyone been to a coin laundry lately? It’s scary. I usually get it started then sit outside with the boy. This will generate a dead zone about twice the length of his leash that no one seems to want to enter.

Then it will be off to the storage war. I have another endless list of stuff to find in my storage units which will make my life luxurious and wholesome. OK. It will make things better but I can wish.

Sunday I might have a tourist who wants to turkey hunt out there. After the grand property tour I’m gonna put his butt to work hauling brush while I cut it down. Hey, it’s a 23 mile walk back to town.

Monday I’ll load up and head out for a week. I wonder if the temptation to sit in the shade and doze will overcome my desire to hang a door on the second floor.

We made decent progress this week by getting the second
floor walls up, windows in and started framing the roof.  I have to admit to having an irrational fear of heights so I was very uncomfortable working hanging off the side of the building by one hand while nailing on plywood. There are still areas that need to be nailed and screwed down but that will be done from an extension ladder. Randy had other pursuits so we wrapped up Wednesday then headed back to town. I spent Thursday sleeping, crawling through my storage and buying material. Friday morning I headed back out with a truck load  of supplies and 60 pounds of ice to spend several days.

The first order of business was to try to introduce some order into the chaos which results from two very exhausted people just tossing stuff at the end of the day. Heh, what a dreamer. By dark I had one side of the shack cleared out with the first coat of paint mostly. By then it was to late and to dark to cook so my Friday rations consisted of two Nutty Buddy bars washed down with two large vodkas. The white paint did wonders for the light level but it was still rather dark for my taste.

Part of the darkness came from my kerosene lamp which puts out a lot of light. When it’s working. I had it cranked up and was enjoying it for both the light and heat when it went TINK! What the hell? I thought. Then it started putting out clouds of thick black smoke. A close look revealed that a tear drop shaped piece of glass had just decided to fall out of the glass chimney thing so it was burning like mad. I blew it out while cussing the fact that I didn’t have a replacement.

Resigned to the fact that I was going to have a dark corner I set up my propane heater. No sir, no more Ziggster pupcicles tonight! Then I realized I had a 20 pound bottle of propane inside a wooden shack with candles and a Coleman lantern burning. So I cranked the heat all the way up, started shedding clothes and stared at it for two hours until I began sweating. I figured I had the shack pretty well sealed so it should hold the heat for a few hours especially with the candles and lantern. I woke up about 3 am and it was cold as in every joint was screaming cold. So back in came the heater and I stared at it until about 4 at which time it went back out and I laid on another sleeping bag. I woke up about 7 when I noticed the sun coming through the window had heated my toes enough that I was getting some feeling back in them.

After I put on a pot of coffee I looked around and realized I could see daylight coming in from every direction and angle. So much for the sealing I did the day before. I set about

sealing out daylight with a passion and painting like mad. When I was done I decided that my kitchen needed some work and set about remodeling it.

The next day was spent mowing my front yard. I use a giant sized Stihl brush cutter and have to stop frequently to clear the brush when mowing. After a few hours I was worn out but much happier with the view from my front porch. It gets pretty old sitting there staring at the same old brush about 15 feet away which never seems to do anything interesting. Now I can stare at brush as far as 200 feet away which never seems to do anything interesting. Well, my front yard goes all the way to the trees in the back of the pic so something interesting is bound to surface. Anyway, I was tired and hungry since I had forgot to eat the day before. (is vodka eating?)

So I set up the gas grill and set the wood chips to soaking. I had visions of a slow grilled T bone, baked potato and corn on the cob. So of course the gas hose for the grill had a leak in it. Cooking a steak on a griddle on a Coleman stove should be a felony but as hungry as I was it was delicious.

Then it was time to get ready for dark and the sub zero arctic conditions which I knew were fast approaching. I had knocked over the gas lantern the night before and needed to replace the wicks which was an easy task. Then I lit it. Holy crap it turned into a ball of flame. There were flames coming from every joint in it which gave me visions of an explosion turning me and the Zigster into crispy critters. So I threw it onto my freshly manicured front yard. It went out. Thinking it was a trap I shut the boy up inside and stared at it for about an hour. Finally I went over and poked it with a stick. Dead. So I stared at it some more then poked it some more. Dead. I’m just not having much luck with flaming devices designed to give off massive quantities of light.

Compared to my first trial run this wasn’t near as miserable. I’ll dig the solar panel, deep cycle battery and electronics out of storage to solve the lighting problem. A new hose will fix the gas grill. I have a wood burning stove so I just need to put in a chimney for heat with the added benefit of some cooking capability. I had an air pump which worked well on the air mattress but I still had to deal with rolling out of it onto the floor then standing up. Some 5 gallon buckets and a piece of plywood will handle that. I easily have enough buckets full of beans, rice, flour, etc. to make a platform.

I’m hoping to get the shack dried in this week then want to try a full week out there. At that point keeping food cold and mixing vodka will become the problem. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. I got it.

And I’m loving every minute.

“I’m not going to tell you again, STEP AWAY FROM THE TRUCK!“

Well, we’ve had some excitement this week.

Things started well after the weekend off so about Tuesday we felt like we were really cruising by the end of the day. Then I noticed that I had no brakes on my truck which was exciting. So I spent Wednesday at the mechanic getting a caliper replaced that was surely made out of some precious metal. But hey, you need brakes so what was I to do?

Thursday morning we set off with the truck heavily loaded with pressure treated lumber and firewood. We got there and worked all day without incident so we were once again in high spirits by the end of the day.
The second floor porch deck was done, the roof partially framed, some rails up, etc. I wanted to cut some more firewood to haul out the next morning so we left a little early enjoying the short work day.

Then Murphy came a’ calling. I got to close to the edge of the road which seemed to somehow offend the road so it collapsed. At which
point I became highly offended and began to describe the situation in the wonderfully rich and colorful manner employed by submarine sailors the world over. In a nutshell, the situation sucked.

Four hours, two broken tow straps, another tree pulled out of the ground, and $300 dollars later I meekly followed the tow truck out. If you are wondering, the front tire really is off the ground. The passenger side wheel wasn’t touching ground either since it was suspended above a very deep ditch. As I was pulling into the camp ground I’m living at I noticed an odd noise coming from the front end which only further deepened my funk.

The next morning I washed about 200 pounds of mud, roots, grass and other swamp debris out of the front end. This seemed to have fixed the problem but I’m not making any bets.

We did a long week end then hit it hard yesterday and today. Made a lot of progress while keeping an eye out for Murphy. The second floor back wall is mostly in (6″ gap to fill), one sheet on both sides, windows framed, 2×12 header up and more roof framed. Our plan is to finish the side walls, frame most of the roof and maybe get some of the plywood on the roof tomorrow. I’m keeping binoculars and an AR handy in case I see that Murphy guy.

“I’m guarding it. What does it look like I’m doing?”

Gosh what a week. Has it been a week? It’s been a week somewhere I’m sure.

We pretty much got the first floor dried in late Friday afternoon. Randy decided to take a couple of days off so I made plans to spend the weekend at the property. I spend Saturday morning getting everything together I figured I needed and boldly set off for a new adventure. I spent most of Saturday afternoon getting settled then along about dark things began to go south.

I was unable to find my gas grill in storage but wasn’t concerned since I had a brand new Coleman stove. Well, you don’t just toss a steak in a Coleman stove and cook it. You need a skillet or some such device. I didn’t have one. Two pop tarts, a pack of peanut butter crackers and a Busch beer doesn’t sound exciting unless your stomach is on dead empty.

I remember when I was a kid that Coleman lanterns were extremely bright. I’m sure that they are still so but my eyes kept telling me otherwise. Candles did help but I was left longing for my deep cycle battery, solar panel and led lights somewhere in storage.

Then I broke out the air mattress only to discover that it requires some kind of special fitting to blow it up. No problem says I, I have an air compressor. Nope. Bicycle pump. Nope. Shop vac. Nope. Dammit.

Which led to me setting up the cot. An experience I hope to never have again. Thirty minutes later the cot is finally sitting there and it’s getting cold. As in really cold. You would think that a Coleman lantern and a bunch of candles would keep the chill off a 12×12 room that was reasonably air tight. Nope.

I had a propane heater that comes with all kinds of dire warning about what happens when you use it indoors. I was worried enough that I decided not to fire it up until I had the carbon monoxide
detector working. Of course I couldn’t find the detector. Did I mention it was very cold that night?

So Ziggy and I settled in for what we both hoped would be a restful night. At first I tried to put Ziggy in a sleeping bag. He seemed interested until I started to zip it part way up around him. Suddenly he screamed “It’s a trap!”, bolted for the door which was shut and latched then refused to come near the sleeping bag again.

So I ended up in a sleeping bag on the cot while he slept on the only blanket I had brought on the floor. By 4 am it was cold as hell so all the good intentions regarding the carbon monoxide detector went out the window and I lit off the propane heater.

The cot itself was an experience. It was hard as a brick.

By Sunday afternoon I was getting fairly hungry but couldn’t face another freeze dried meal. I don’t know who writes the online reviews for those things but if that is “some good eating” to them they really need cooking classes. Then it struck me, pallets are made of untreated hardwood. An hour later I had two steaks sizzling over a nice bed of coals. Ziggy doesn’t get human food all that often but he agreed that it was the best steak he had ever had. I didn’t bother to tell him he had never had one before but hey, it was a celebration of sorts.

Monday morning I was up before the 5 am alarm, had two cups of decent coffee and set to work. Got some bamboo planted, did a bunch of clean up and set about getting material sorted. By 1 pm the rain clouds were rolling in so I headed back to town with a two page list to bring next time.

It’s been a long three days but we’ve made some real visible progress. We installed the stairs to the front porch, got the front porch deck “mostly” then late yesterday afternoon put in two windows and the first layer of some of the siding. For security reasons I chose small windows that we mounted rather high in the wall. It’s hard to tell from this pic but the front door is pretty wide. I might decide to cut it back in the future but for now I’ve went with large so I can move equipment in and out easily.

Just some random pix. My DSL is still slow as sin so I have to que a whole slew of pix and post whatever it will upload. Another line item on my ever growing “To Do” list. My plan was to spend the weekend out there but I’ll have to burn Saturday getting everything ready then hopefully drive out before dark. Of course that depends on whether we finish the siding plus seal the place well enough to heat with a kerosene heater. I would be OK in a sleeping bag but Ziggy absolutely refuses to sleep in one.

Needless to say I’m getting a bit excited and looking forward to getting settled in a bit. There’s still a mega ton of work ahead to get the place finished but then it will never be truly finished.

Thank god I’m a country dawg.

Well, it will be if I can upload pix. My DSL isn’t the best right now so uploading pix takes forever if at all.

This is the first floor porch looking into the first floor. We have it partially frames and some temporary decking in place. My back is still celebrating because I don’t have to crawl on my hands and knees to get past the batter boards. Next is overall progress. On the second floor you can see the start of the framing for the roof. All of the 4×4 posts will be capped with a double row of 2×4 which will support the framing as well as add about three inches of height. The second floor porch isn’t framed as yet.

If you are interested in seeing more detail just click on the thumbnails in any post. This will take you to a larger image. Click it again for a giant image. Use your browser back button to return to the post.

First floor looking out to front porch. Right now the floor is a single sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. A sheet of 1/2 inch will be added for insulation, sound deadening and stiffness. We’re using nails, screws and liquid nails so the floor is really tight.

Added foundations. In all there will be ten of these with ten to twelve bags of concrete each. The post footers (yellow tubes) have about five bags each so each foundation weighs a total of about 1600 to 2000 pounds each. I have to admit that I wasn’t really sold on these at first but now I like the idea. In time I may build new forms and encase the footers even higher up.

After crunching numbers I’ve realized that cash is starting to look thin. I have most of the material needed to finish the shed and most everything necessary to make it habitable. I still have to add a well and solar power. The well will be a fairly low dollar eater but I’ve had to scale back the solar plans quite a bit. Since my power needs are going to be minimal this won’t be a major headache.

With this in mind my new priorities are finish the first floor porch stairs, finish framing and laying the deck on the porch and sheath the first floor. I’ve already bought windows so they will go in while we’re putting up the plywood for the exterior walls. Due to height restrictions the doors are oddball sizes so they will have to be built on site. No biggie. I hope to spend this weekend in my new pole barn and start working out the kinks of living totally off grid.

Tired so short post. Mostly pictures. We’ve started framing the second floor. We wrapped the shed and porch in 2×12 and 2×4. Added some bracing. And took all the head knockers down. My scalp is raw from banging my head on them.