Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal
- Thread starter Mike CHS
- Start date
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- #92
Mike CHS
Herd Master
Things worked out at work that I was able to take off from Christmas Eve to January 3rd so we made some progress. We had dinner with the oldest daughter on Christmas Eve and had planned on the middle son on Christmas Day but both the grandsons had a nasty bug and Grandpa is germophobic when it comes to kids and the bugs they get.
No pictures until I find the camera but we got the shop completely framed in and about half of the insulation put up. I'm still researching HVAC units so I'm leaving one end only partially closed up till I decide on what we will use. The weather is mild enough at our place that I wasn't sure I even needed a system but the neighbors assured us that when the weather got cold outside that you could have light rain inside. I was skeptical but saw the reality when the weather switched gears on Thursday.
We had accumulated a lot of concrete debris and rock/stone from building a retaining wall to divert water and all that "STUFF" had been pushed into a treeline adjacent to the driveway. It didn't bother me much since the trees pretty much kept everything hidden until we started getting heavy frosts.
I was outside with the dogs and having my coffee while getting ready to start on the shop on Friday. I happened to look at all that debris long enough to decide that plans changed and I spent the next day and a half moving it all to a dry pond to use as fill. Much of the rock and concrete was too big to put IN my front end loader so I either pushed it with the bucket or worked chain around it to pull it down there. If you get bored sometime and want a little excitement try pushing a 3-400 lb slab down a hilly/rocky pasture without digging into the ground too much.
I do have some before and after pictures that I will post if they show enough detail.
I also found Mr. Murphy to be alive and well. I had installed the garage door opener and just had it plugged into an extension cord from the house. There had been a heavy wind blown rain going on for awhile and when I went to shut the garage door I noticed some water leaking from the roof that the builder was suppossed to have fixed. It was leaking directly on the opener and shorted out a circuit card.![:\](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/side.png "side :\")
The electrician is supposed to mount the breaker panel this weekend and hopefully the power company can get out next week to set the pole and meter.
No pictures until I find the camera but we got the shop completely framed in and about half of the insulation put up. I'm still researching HVAC units so I'm leaving one end only partially closed up till I decide on what we will use. The weather is mild enough at our place that I wasn't sure I even needed a system but the neighbors assured us that when the weather got cold outside that you could have light rain inside. I was skeptical but saw the reality when the weather switched gears on Thursday.
We had accumulated a lot of concrete debris and rock/stone from building a retaining wall to divert water and all that "STUFF" had been pushed into a treeline adjacent to the driveway. It didn't bother me much since the trees pretty much kept everything hidden until we started getting heavy frosts.
I was outside with the dogs and having my coffee while getting ready to start on the shop on Friday. I happened to look at all that debris long enough to decide that plans changed and I spent the next day and a half moving it all to a dry pond to use as fill. Much of the rock and concrete was too big to put IN my front end loader so I either pushed it with the bucket or worked chain around it to pull it down there. If you get bored sometime and want a little excitement try pushing a 3-400 lb slab down a hilly/rocky pasture without digging into the ground too much.
I do have some before and after pictures that I will post if they show enough detail.
I also found Mr. Murphy to be alive and well. I had installed the garage door opener and just had it plugged into an extension cord from the house. There had been a heavy wind blown rain going on for awhile and when I went to shut the garage door I noticed some water leaking from the roof that the builder was suppossed to have fixed. It was leaking directly on the opener and shorted out a circuit card.
The electrician is supposed to mount the breaker panel this weekend and hopefully the power company can get out next week to set the pole and meter.
Progress is always slower than we want and often expect, but you're coming along nicely. Glad you had some time with one kid for Christmas, sorry it didn't work out with your son and grands. Since mine moved away, I take the opportunities to see them regardless. My son and his fam stayed with me for almost a week right after Christmas 
- Thread starter
- #94
Mike CHS
Herd Master
Thanks Latestarter - we are having our make-up Christmas on Saturday.
- Thread starter
- #95
Mike CHS
Herd Master
Because our consolidated families are spread out all over the country, our Christmases stretch out from December through January but we all manage to get together.
Ferguson K
Herd Master
We do that, too. But we're spread wide and far amongst Texas. Most family members live over 300miles away.
- Thread starter
- #97
Mike CHS
Herd Master
All of the young ones have already been pushing us to get done and moved so they can converge on Tennessee.
- Thread starter
- #98
Mike CHS
Herd Master
These pictures don't really show the scale of what was there but I'm still glad to have it mostly done. There is still some more hand work to clear things out so I can rebuild the fenceline but my neighbor and I are sharing the cost and labor on that so it should go easy. This section of our property is the only really rough spot left on the place since I've picked a small section to clean up every time we go there. I often think there hasn't been enough progress and have to remind myself with pictures how bad it was to start with. The day we 1st looked at the place we had to shoo two horses off the portch to get in the door.
The big blob behind the stones in the 1st picture is an old rotten hot tub that had been there for no telling how long. This is literally the last of the previous occupants trash so I was a happy camper.
The stack of lime stone slabs came out of where we built a retaining wall to divert water from the house. I was going to drag them off also but decided to move them to what will be the goat pen since they are so flat and stable. They should make for some fun climbing for them. Some of them are 5'-6' around.
The big blob behind the stones in the 1st picture is an old rotten hot tub that had been there for no telling how long. This is literally the last of the previous occupants trash so I was a happy camper.
The stack of lime stone slabs came out of where we built a retaining wall to divert water from the house. I was going to drag them off also but decided to move them to what will be the goat pen since they are so flat and stable. They should make for some fun climbing for them. Some of them are 5'-6' around.
frustratedearthmother
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Big difference - and it looks great!
Hens and Roos
Herd Master
looking great!
