Priorities

After more than 80 days working in Montana on our ranch I returned to Boise, and the many summer projects that need to be finished before school starts on August 25th. The list was very long a week ago, but we are crossing things off at a pretty quick rate. We've replaced a dilapidated screen door with a new Andersen glass door, replaced multiple door handles and deadbolts, power-washed the house and deck, repainted exterior doors and trim, built a bench on the deck, painted the deck, and done more yard work and weeding in the garden than one ever thought possible.

The trim repairs proved to be a bit more complicated than I expected. After removing the rotten trim I discovered a surprise; the old fascia boards were custom cut to fit together like a puzzle. To replace them would require a table saw. Off to Home Depot after doing some research on Consumer Reports. Creating the new fascia was a piece of cake with the right tools! We reevaluated some of the project priorities and decided that we needed a bench on the deck, and with the new table saw I figured I could handle it.



It was a chore to complete in the heat but we are quite pleased with our new addition!

Just as a side note, thinking of the ranch. Here's a picture of my 1965 John Deere 4020 with the loader. Althought it is nice to be home, I kind of miss the massive amount of daily labor that we managed to do every day on the ranch. I spent most of yesterday (and most of my next several days will be spent) catching up on my studies.

Summer Photo Log

Finally home! I returned to Boise on Saturday evening after a nice 12 hour drive through Montana and Idaho. We chilled out for a night and then started our long list of projects we've got to do here at our house. Gardening and yard work were first on the list. There was also a good bit of laundry and house cleaning intermingled throughout most of the day. I've added pictures to our photo repository from our summer so far. You can see the mess our renters left behind, the clean-up effort. We got so many things done, most importantly the transformation of our ranch from a junk pile to a cozy place to stay.

I just installed a dog door for our 3 boys, they seem confused. I think they prefer having a doorman. We'll write more later, enjoy the photos!

Work Work Work…

After we cut the extended cable we get 14 or maybe 15 channels, if you count the ever fuzzy HG channel. I don't watch nearly as much television, but I do have more time for projects. It seems like I've watched through the snowy picture what seems to be every home selling show ever made. From the reactions of the prospective buyers it seems that people would rather see a “move-in” ready home rather than a “place that has potential”.

I’ve been pretty busy around the house and yard trying to make this a “move-in” kind of home. You may have seen my rambles on here or maybe you had to listen to me rant about my chores, almost as if I were complaining. I wasn't complaining about it, I'm thankful that I'm able to do all this stuff. I can't imagine paying someone for this work, it would break the bank. The two college classes are not forcing me into major study sessions, nor are they making me write page after page of dribble about Mark Twain. I did get to write a pretty good paper on JFK for my Western Civ class. Sociology is, um. It’s a class that I really enjoy, but it doesn’t really take all that long to do the work in this particular class. . Thanks for reading and/or listening to me ramble about this stuff

Anyway, back to the work subject. To get a good sense of the scope of work we’ve done around here browse through these, and then check out the other house folders here. The older pictures are towards the bottom of the page. Along with school, preparing this home for sale seems to have become my work. Frankly, I'm happy to have the job :)~

Do you eat lemons or make lemonade?

I’d say I try to make lemonade most of the time. A glass of cold lemonade tastes better than plain lemons. After power-washing the house yesterday (all exterior painted and concrete surfaces) we decided we wanted our front concrete stoop to resemble the back step, which looks pretty good now.



This is what I found after a couple of passes with the powerwasher. Nice eh?



Today is one of the days we find lemons, now it’s time to make lemonade. See those cracks? The 2500 lbs psi stream of water will destroy the steps so I’ll have to seal then paint the steps. We’ll have to use a textured paint so the friction coefficient will be tolerable. I think we can make it look great. Do you think we can make lemonade? Any color suggestions from the peanut gallery?

UST update

It is all quiet here on the eastern front.

The above is the final picture for February 28, but not the final picture for the tank removal. Cohesion INC. will finish the job by prepping and seeding grass in the work area to try and restore the lawn to "pre-tank removal" condition. I think it will take years. Check out the updates below to see how we got to final picture of the day.


This is the truck they used to hauled our contaminated dirt to the private landfill.



Tucker standing next to the UST.


Nice quad dumptruck bringing in the crush-n-run.


It was huge.


Pushing the crush-n-run and topsoil back into the hole. (btw, the hole ended up being about 10x12 by 18 feet deep!)




Chris showing us how deep the dumptruck ruts were in my grass. I might sound like an old fart but, it made me hurt to see the lawn torn up so badly today. Hopefully it will be better soon.

Crazy

Who would bury an above ground tank? It just shouldn't be done. Why not you ask? Because they aren't designed for it! Finally, someone else is digging! Selina will be happy to know that our kindly excavator operator dug up the hydrangeas.




Nice isn't it? Would have been better if this above-ground tank was actually installed above ground! Notice the holes on the bottom of the tank.



Can you believe they just pulled the filler and vent caps?



This hole is now about 8'x8' by about 13 feet deep. Because of the holes on the bottom side of the tank we'll end up with much more exfil than first thought.

Cool Tools

The other day I mentioned our tools. Other folks have cool tools too. For example, what boy hasn't wanted the biggest Tonka toy on the block? I have it in my backyard right now!

Shed Update

The shed has been moved and it is still standing! Thanks to everyone involved.

California

There is a tour going on, are you watching? Most people probably aren't watching and many of you probably don't care about bicycle racing. For those of you that do care, here is a quick update on the Tour of California. The kid from Montana is winning, 2 stages left in the race, short of a nightmare he'll win it. Levi is his name, Levi Leipheimer. Checkout his website if you'd like to see more.

The race can be seen on the old OLN channel, or as it's now called Versus.

Those of you at work can sneak it in on the computer if you'd like here.

New Project

Now that you know what's growing on around here, I'll fill everyone in on what's going on at the homestead. The new project has begun. It's a big one. So big that I've called out a few good friends to help get it done. The shed needs to be moved, and we're going to do it Saturday. Here's the basic picture.



The shed move has consumed me over the past week or so, it's all I talked about for days. My poor friends... :) After talking to a professional about the methods used to move a shed I decided that with help it was possible to do ourselves. A few calls and we've got a crew. There will be pictures from the move, I promise.

I'll share some progress before I fall asleep. It's been a long day round here. I started by exposing the 4x4 skids the shed rests upon, then I started unloading the shed. I am shocked at how much stuff we have. At twelve feet wide by twenty feet long, it provides a ton of storage space and is a huge plus for our house.



Dig, Dig, Dig...



All four of them. Dig, Dig, Dig...



Nice sawhorse table.



Can I dig? Carrying all this stuff is making me tired. By the way, does everyone else keep every little scrap of wood that might be useful in the future or is it just me? Ridiculous, eh?



Everyone needs a little supervision. T-dog is providing the supervision for this project. Can you tell he'd rather be playing with the Frisbee?



During today's excavation I took note of our tools. We have cool tools. Does everyone recognize the tool on the right?

This Moment

Not much writing here lately.

Mid-winter is a lullish period in North Carolina. [Sidenote: my friend Tricia from South Florida wrote me yesterday to say she is currently having the best tomato crop ever. She and her daughter (husband doesn't like tomatoes! can you imagine?) have to eat a minimum of four tomatoes a day to keep them from rotting.] We aren't quite as temperate as zone 10, but here in zone 7b, early winter could be considered late fall and during late winter here, spring is close enough that you can really start planning your garden.

Normally at this time of year, I would be obsessing over hordes of plant and seed catalogs, pen and paper in one hand and catalog in the other. Last year's winter activities included measuring the potato bed and graphing out the space in order to determine how many seed potatoes to order from Wood Prairie Farm. Having only grown potatoes once in Florida and with an unmemorable degree of success, I called Wood Prairie Farm to ask what I should grow in my area. The owner of the farm got on the phone and gave me a 15 minute explanation of early and late varieties, why I would want one over the other, what varieties would be best for our growing season and climate, how to plant, how to harvest, and how to store my harvest. I doubt I will ever have reason to buy my seed potatoes from anywhere else.

But I digress. We are not doing any homesteading and we are certainly not harvesting, aside from the occasional yield of a haiku from the mind. I feel like a bit of a fraud, but mostly I am frustrated that our plans to move to Boise have been stalled by forces that are totally out of our (okay, my) control. We have decided that we will put our house on the market, but in order to do so, the leaking underground oil storage tank so graciously left by the previous owner must be mitigated.

The state of North Carolina is in our corner and they are pursuing his action on our behalf, but it is a slow process. Several environmental consulting firms have been out to the house to assess the site, including the recent college graduate who showed up at my back door at 7:30 pm in the dark and the rain and scared the beejezus out of me. Presumably, the previous owner is seeking bids for the work, but my concern is that he will continue this process in an effort to draw out the conclusion or worse, that he will try to fight us in court (he will lose as the statutes clearly state his responsibility, but this will be another unwanted delay). Yesterday, Jon told me that we got a letter from an attorney and my heart leapt into my throat. Turns out it was from my dad. Scared the beejezus out of me!

See, The Great Plan is that once we get to Boise and Jon finishes nursing school, we will be in a position to either move to or spend a significant amount of time at the ranch in Montana. And that is where the real homesteading will happen.

What I am being continually reminded of in this process is that you cannot map your life's path just because you sit down with a pad of paper and a pen. No matter your intentions, the universe will curve the road that stretches towards your destination, and the lessons for me are 1) learning to adapt and 2) learning to live in the moment. Two things that require alot of practice on my part.

I have been noticing that all of this anxiety over the future is manifesting itself in my muscles and my brain. I mentioned recently that I have started yoga again and this is helping immensely. I look forward to my Monday night yoga class like a kid or my friend Shena looks forward to a birthday.

I also checked out a book on mindfulness and meditation from the library. I haven't started to practice much, but just reading the book helps me to pay more attention and to recognize the interconnectedness between myself and sources of my stress. I'm not losing sight of the goal, but I must stop agonizing over how to get there.

As Baba Ram Dass said, "be here, be now." I'm trying Ram, I'm trying.

Weekend Update

No, not the Dennis Miller kind of update. It is our project update. Kate and I got back on our “housework horse” this weekend. Kate did a great job painting the guest bathroom trim while I struggled with the master bath trim. My finish work needs help, probably even lessons…



Remember this? The back of our house never did look very nice, I think you could've called it ugly. Perhaps it was the vent pipe, the old window, or the dilapidated door. I decided it was in the best interest of the house to lay down my brush before I inflicted damage that couldn’t be undone. I decided to do something more suited to my abilities. You guessed it, DEMO! Yep, I made a covered patio yesterday.



Check out the new digs. It really made a change in the appearance and feel of our backyard. Once the shed is moved closer to the property line near the back of our yard we’ll be able to enjoy an unobstructed view of our entire yard, even in the rain!

Not in the moment

Today I found myself longing for spring already.

We've gone full circle.

Hear ye, hear ye...bathroom construction is complete. Only two minor details need to be completed, caulking and painting.

Remember the gaping hole that used to occupy the far corner of the house?

No longer are we forced to live with the hole, now we have a complete master bath!

I’m so happy this is finished, but now it’s time to get started on the gutters. Oh yea! I almost forgot to tell ya’ll, good news came to us today from the NC DENR about the UST. The previous owner is taking the steps needed to get the disaster mitigated. Our list of things to be completed prior to our departure for Idaho is growing shorter and shorter!

Construction area in use, “hardhats not required”

Kate and I were finally able to start using the bathroom! The completion of this room makes it official, our house has been 100% remodeled! Sunday while Kate was doing a massive house cleaning project for the impending holiday visitors I was trying to put a few finishing touches on the bathroom. I finished the window trim.

I hung both mirrors.

I finished the inside of the closet and also made some progress on the exterior of the closet. I still have to finish the closet floor and doors.



We also rearranged our bedrooms during the cleaning. It’s been nearly 2 years and we are just settling into our master suite….. just in time to move to Idaho.

Progress

I started on the "custom shelf" this morning. I had to shim a few things before I started because nothing in this house is square.


Pine walls and pine shelves form the interior of the closet. There will be poplar on the outside of the case, finished with two 40"x17" doors. We've increased our storage capacity by 4 shelves! If i'm lucky I'll be finished with this project tomorrow.


To my surprise I've been subcontracted to Dot (our neighbor) by Kate for a portion of Sunday. I didn't find out about tomorrow's project until last night. I just have to secure the windows on her shed.

Rock Solid

And solid rock! Our countertops were installed this morning and we are extremely pleased with them. They are just gorgeous. Apart from the finish details we only have a few major tasks left; the remainder of the wall tile, floor tile, plumbing. It's shocking that we've come this far as fast as we have.

Check out the slab

Ten Percent

So this weekend we started tiling the bathtub surround. This is our first tile job, so please be gentle. I wish we had helped our friends tile their floors so we could have had some experience and been able to estimate our tile requirements correctly. We calculated the square footage and added 10% (not quite enough for us) for mistakes. We didn't account for the waste involved in making aesthetically pleasing cuts. We've got a very symmetrical surround, but we also wasted quite a bit of tile.
I've read some tiling advice on the internet, all the pros say to "start small". I don't think they meant you should start tiling walls, perhaps small floors would have been a better beginner job. We ran out of bullnose today. We'll have to get more and finish setting tile Monday or Tuesday. The bullnose debacle means we won't be able to start grouting until Tuesday or Wednesday. On the bright side, we get our countertops installed tomorrow!

So close to finishing! We just need a few more pieces of bullnose.

What do ya think?

3rd quarter update

It is that time of year when most companies have to file their 3rd quarter financial reports so I thought I'd file my 3rd Quarter productivity reports today :-)~ The past 3 months have flown by for us. Everyone that reads the blog knows of our UST situation, sadly there has been little progress. North Carolina has sent threats via mail to the previous homeowner to try and motivate him to clean it up. He has about 20 days left to get it taken care of and file the papers with the Dept. of Natural Resources. Since quitting my job we've taken several trips and done a massive amount of work on the house, particularly in the master bathroom. I am taking 13 credit hours of coursework at school, remodeling, and trying to finish the necessary repairs for our impending move to Boise, ID. Kate has been helping with everything around the house and yard while enduring some horrible luck at work. Today I slept in until 8am, sounds great right? Wrong, I was dreaming about the things that need to be done around the yard prior to having our UST situation mitigated. The dreams (or nightmares) of my morning prompted me to get working outside since the weather is so nice and also we cannot go any further on the bathroom until the granite, sinks, and tile arrive. Most things have to wait until the day of, or the day prior to, the backhoe and dumptruck arrival but some of the chores need to be done ahead of time. A couple of weekends ago Kate and I moved some flowerbeds, today it was compost time. The compost used to reside next to the shed but it needed to be moved to the back of the yard. About halfway through my chore I was interrupted by a representative from United Van Lines. I made an appointment with her yesterday to come in and check out the contents of our home so we can get an accurate estimate of the cost of a full service move. I’m guessing it will be twice what a Uhaul will cost us, but really hope the price is comparable. In a few weeks we'll have the shed sitting right next to the compost bin again.

Holy Crapper!

It has been another busy weekend here in NC. Kate and I decided not to head to the mountains for our annual Halloween kayaking trip so we could get the bathroom ready for the impending appointment to template the granite Monday morning. It was a tall order since we still had to finish mudding, sand the drywall, prime the walls, and set the cabinets. It rained all day Wednesday and part of the early hours Thursday morning and I'm pretty sure that affected the drying time of the mud. Around midnight Friday night I was finally applying the last coat of mud, trying to be very precise with my ceiling corners so I wouldn't have to spend all day sanding. Saturday morning we ran a few errands, checked out some tile, and picked up some light fixtures before I started sanding. I absolutely, positively hate sanding joint compound. Wearing a nice mask doesn't seem to stop all the dust, it gets everywhere. By 2:00pm I was satisfied with my sanding and I was ready to begin priming. While running our errands we decided not to purchase a new can of primer ($32.00 a can) because there was an unopened can in the shed. The can had been in there a very long time. After stirring the old can of primer for 30 minutes I was rolling primer onto our bathroom's new walls! Sunday morning our chores began just shy of 9:00 am, perfect time to set cabinets! I thought we would be done in two hours, maybe 3 tops. I was way off. I was haning light fixtures at 2:30pm. I was astonished that it could've taken us that long, but we are quite proud of our accomplishment. We ordered middle of the road KraftMaid cabinets in the 3 sections, 2x27" and 1x18". The guys that do it for a living almost certainly could do it faster than we did (and with far less profanity I'm sure) but I know the finished product would be the same, perfection. Here are a few pictures for ya'll to see.