It's spring in East Texas

Hi All,
Time for an update on progress and such.

All the exterior sheeting is up

Duncan doing his inspection as the wrapping goes on

The triple window on the left is in our bedroom. It is six feet tall and nine feet wide. It is awesome! 

Just before the rain came again about half the windows were in. And rain it did. In the last 20 hours or so we've gotten almost three inches of rain.

All work and no play makes Jack (and Susan and Brian) a dull boy / girl. So we took a day off to go to the Dallas Arboreteum for Dallas Blooms! with my brother and sister-in-law.

Half a million bulbs in bloom and perfect weather

 On St Patricks day we went to dinner with friends at a mutual friend's restaurant in Mount Vernon (Texas), The Chophouse on Bankhead. Yum!

Back at home we walked around close to the homesite and marked all the Dogwood trees so as to not accidently take them out when we get around to clearing some more underbrush. Several will be seen from the aforementioned bedroom windows.

Much easier to see in real life. Come see for yourself! 

That's all for now. Take care.

Brian

Next up, a roof

Hi All,
Since our last post lots has been happening, not all specifically on the house. Things that have been planted are starting to break ground or leaf out. On this list are pecan, apple, peach, pear, pomegranite and mulberry trees, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, mint, cilantro, rosemary, lavender, peas, radishes, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, black berries, grapes, spinach, tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Two weeks ago we made a trip to LA (Lower Alabama) to visit our friends there and pick up our new acquisitions. They are not pretty but seem to be in good mechanical shape. Both have already been put to work.

1980's John Deere Backhoe that Susan has named "The Beast"

New Holland Skid Steer still looking for a name

This past week we had five days we were able to work without rain!!! That's a first since we started framing the house. Other than a few small things inside, the framing is pretty much finished. Friday afternoon we started putting the decking up for the roof. If we can get five good days this week we hope to have the roof finished. The fireplace is virtually complete as well, all that is left is the fire brick in the firebox and the cap on the chimney.

The first few sheets of roof decking

There will be windows.  They are framed but the sheeting needs to be cut away

We think we're really going to like our fireplace

That's all for now. Take care.
Brian

Working Hard Before the Rains Come Again

Hi All,
One of my criteria for where to settle down was a place where it rained. I didn't want to deal with little or no water or frequent droughts. I think we are over achieving on that scale. So we have to make hay while the sun shines. Or at least doesn't rain.

Last Thursday we got a delivery of siding by 18 wheeler. On his way out he got stuck in the mud. Two tractors, a four wheeler and 2.5 hours later he was on his way.

More trusses going up

The fireplace is coming along

At the end of the day, only four more trusses to go

Susan and Duncan after a long, hard day

That's it for now. Hopefully we'll get the rest of the trusses up before the rain comes again tomorrow. If we make it past 8:00 before we're in bed, it'll be a miracle.

Brian

We have walls!

Hi all,
We have made some progress since my last post. I'm sure all will be happy this post will be mostly pictures. All I'll say is "please stop raining". There has been almost no progress this week with rain and freezing temperatures.

Susan hauling lumber for the rest of the walls

We have had a few days of nice weather

Duncan checking out the stone that will go on our fireplace

Trusses were delivered last Friday

The flagstone for the front porch and master bathroom and the stone for the fireplace

The fireplace is coming along

That's it for now. Take care.

Brian

Moving Day

Hi All,
We've had electricity at the building site for several weeks. In my last post you saw the septic tank go in and the water well being drilled.  On Friday of last week the well was completed and it started producing water.  Yippee!

Over the weekend we finished adding a mezzanine to the barn.

Now that we have water, electricity and a septic tank at the building site it seemed like a good time to move our travel trailer back there so we can cut our commute time (to 2 seconds from 2 minutes) and enjoy our view of the pond. So we did. This morning. Did we get any pictures of the trailer in its new place? No. But that's because we had too much other excitement going on!

Still working with Hitachi- Hitachi Power Tools

Standing up the first wall!

Scott and Grady working on the wall that faces the pond

We have two walls up! Like the rain proofing of the electrical outlet in the foreground? It's called a bucket.

That's all for now. We're looking forward to tomorrow and a couple more walls going up.

Brian

Things are happening!

Hi All!
Finally things are starrting to happen here. Some expected, some not so much.

Our next door neighbors to the west came to visit one day.

Our neighbor to the west is a Texas A&M Research Center. Some of the inmates came to see if the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

Then something from much farther North came calling. Snow and a record low temperature for Kilgore, Texas.

Officially it was 10 degrees in Kilgore

This was day II after some of the snow melted. We got between 2" and 3".

This past weekend we had several expected visitors. Susan's niece Honey came by on her way to Tennessee. Somehow we managed to not get any pictures. Our friends Richey and Ankie came over from LA (lower Alabama) to deliver our 'new' tractor! What a beauty she is!

1955 Ford Model 600

It's only Wednesday but it's already been a busy week. Monday the lumber for framing the house was delivered.

The guys drilling our new water well drilled 414' and got water on Tuesday.

Wednesday (today) the well guys got the well casing put in, the guys putting the septic tank in dug the hole, dropped the tank in and covered it up and the guys Susan and I are going to "help" frame the house started drawing on the slab so we'd know where the walls are going. This process is a lot more difficult than I expected. We also found some errors where pipes were put in the concrete. Some rooms are going to be a bit bigger than originally drawn while others are going to be a bit smaller. But it is all working out fine.

Our septic tank. Hate to bury it when it says God Bless America

Going to it's final resting place

Scott and Grady studying the house plans

One last thought during flu season...

That's it for now but things are moving pretty fast now. And the grins on our faces are growing.

Take care.
Brian

Happy New Year!

Hi all,
It's time to let you now what we've been doing for the last month or so. To be honest, I'm not sure. We've been very busy but not much has happened at the home site since the foundation was poured. We finally have electricity, which was no small feat. Since the last post we've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years so that accounts for a bit of time. We've also gotten a quote on the lumber required to frame the house. The water well is scheduled to go in next week. Not sure about the septic tank just yet, probably not long after the house is framed, which should start the week after next. We've lined up a stonemason to lay up the fireplace.

Windows. What do you want to know about windows? That's what has taken up a bunch of our time, learning about, researching brands and looking at windows. I think we're close to placing the order. I hope.

There have been a few improvements around here. Shelton Backhoe and Dozer built a bridge across a narrow spot of the lake. The driveway will cross the bridge.

Susan and I did the rail so we could say we did a part of it

We had a pole barn built by professionals...

The only tool we used on the barn was a checkbook. 

We built the well house from scrap lumber left over from the rotten roof on the crack house....

What craftsmanship!

And we think we're going to build a house? Oh boy. I should point out this well is the one we're on now which supplied the old house. We're just trying to keep it from freezing. Today was the first time in a couple of days the temperature has been above freezing.

Framing will start in about 10 days.  We have some professionals coming but Susan and I want to "help" as much as we can. Hopefully we won't slow down the process too much.

That's it for now. Take care.

Brian