An American Homestead

What a day! We worked so hard yesterday and felt like we should have gotten more done, but for 3 people I guess we got more done than most. We rented the generator in the morning and got things set up for the day. There are several things that I have learned in building this house.

1)You can never have too many nails or too much wood.

2)You can never have too much water to drink, when you think you have brought enough water then grab about 5 more gallons and you may have enough for one day

3)The majority of people don’t want to help you unless you are giving them over a thousand bucks for wood or something

4)Most people don’t want to help even if you offered a thousand dollars. LOL

5)You have to make old people stop and take a break

6)If little boys are allowed to have full access to the cooler and food table, they can be entertained for hours

7)Cletus has a good life

8)When something is measured 44 ¾ inches, it does not mean 45 and certainly does not mean 44.

9)Windows are heavy

10)Everyone is important

The generator was not big enough to run the compressor that runs the nail gun so that meant either a day wasted OR nailing by hand. We were not about to have a day wasted so, we nailed by hand.

Yesterday we managed to get the front and back porches on the house. They are a bit smaller than originally intended but we wanted to get them on and get moved in. AFTER that, we plan to wrap the porch from the front of the house all around the south side and around to the back porch. That will be 3 sides of porches. After getting those done, we started framing out the windows. We got 4 windows in the front of the house yesterday! It is starting to look so good and I cannot wait to get the other walls framed out. We will be starting the roof soon and work on the other windows as well. We are still shooting for June 1st and since we are in our final few weeks…..the countdown has begun!

We had a good time yesterday. Amanda left with Perrin at about 7:30. Jimmy and Hazel left right after that. When everyone was gone, me and Chris stood in front of the house and hugged each other in happiness. Then Cletus joined us for supper while we talked about what all needs to be done and when. We packed up at about 9pm and made our way to our current residence. Shutting up chickens, getting laundry off the line, a quick shower and a few minutes of American Idol and we were off to bed. The yard sale is this Saturday and then I will start packing things up here and there, moving more things and trying to get a roof up so we can move in. Life is good.

Thanks so much everyone. This is really a true dream coming to life and we are just so excited. I cannot wait to spend that first night in our home, trot out to the outhouse and then blow out the oil lamp before we go to bed, make coffee in the summer kitchen at 6am and take a bath on the back porch after a long day!

Yesterday, we got two walls up! We worked until about 9pm with only a 15 minute break for a piece of chicken and a bottle of water. We even got the walls raised as we made them so they are standing and braced. Today we will finish up those frames and get everything ready for the plywood. Tomorrow Amanda is taking off work all day and my other daughter Shannon is keeping Perrin. They will get all of the plywood done tomorrow and then we will be able to start on the roof! We are working so hard on this house and know that we will certainly appreciate it so much more when it is done and know we did it all by hand ourselves.

On a side note, as we were working yesterday, my granddaughter, Lakota was with us. Her “chore” was to babysit Perrin while she got 11 gallon jugs filled with water from the lower branch. We needed to water al those shrubs we planted. She was thrilled, because this meant she got to get in the water. About an hour later, Perrin came running up the hill. On his way down the last thing Amanda told him was “Don’t get too dirty”. We looked as he was running up the hill and he was COVERED in mud and soaking wet! When Amanda asked what happened he informed her the “icky mud monster” attacked him and he was able to fight is off and escape! 2 1/2 year olds are just adorable! They were both covered in mud but it was so heart warming to see them having such a great time in that branch and not sitting in front of a TV. Things like that will make this whole experience worth while!

No pics today, I was too tired to make any this weekend…and too busy.

This weekend we:

*moved a bunch of statues from the gardens, drift wood, a few plants and such on Friday. We moved some more patio furniture and made plans to shop for windows because it was supposed to rain all day Saturday.

*on Saturday I woke up to no rain, so at 7am I dug up my magnolia tree and a lilac and planted them on the hill near the house. I also carried about 6 gallons of water over to water everything. We then were able to move another lilac, 2 azaleas, 2 forsythia, 4 crepe myrtles, a fig, a small ornamental spruce, all of the daylilies and the turtlehead flowers. We got them all planted and watered. Then the rains came…..uh…briefly. We then had breakfast with my daughter and grandson and shopped for windows. The prices were astounding and disheartening for what we needed. I did not want to go for less than a double pane. What I wanted was almost $400 APIECE! We needed 8! I know to some that is nothing but to someone who wanted to build this house without debt and for around $4000 it is A LOT! On the way back home we decided to stop by the junk place on HWY 68 that we had went to and she gave me an iol lamp that matched my Mam-maws. She had no good windows visible and we chatted a bit. Then she told me she had some NEW windows in one of her 5 million buildings….lol…but she could not sell them cheap. I told her I’d like to look at them. They were almost identical to the ones I had wanted for $400. There were 8 3′x5′, 3 2′x3′ and one 3′x3′. 12 windows in all, still wrapped in plastic with the cardboard corners. We talked about price and she said she would sell them to me for $100 apiece if I would take them all! That is $1200. They are double pane.with screens. I told her I would think about it and before we got home, we decided it was a yes. We took her money this morning and now have 12 beautiful windows in Jimmy’s garage, waiting on the walls and roof to be done!

*Today…we hauled the windows, carried 22 gallons of water to water all of the trees and plants, moved  some 14′ 2×4’s and 4×4’s to the building site to be used for porches and a summer kitchen, leveled the floor perfectly, we had to jack up a few places and put some shims in but now with the string level….it is all level, solid and waiting on the walls. We had a Mother’s Day dinner with Chris’ mother and then chatted with Jimmy and Hazel until dark. We then went to our new home and stood in the middle of our floor in the dark, listened to the bullfrogs in the pond, watched the lightening bugs and hugged each other before coming back to our current residence.

While at the junk place, we were talking about floor and it just happens that the lady (she is the sweetest 78 year old lady you could ever hope to meet) said she had two large storage “buildings” of hardwood, tongue and groove flooring. We looked at it, loved it and she is not saving it for us. When we move in we will be putting the hardwood flooring in as we have time and it is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow, we will be starting the walls. We will water all the plants and move a few more. We are going to get the outhouse done this week as well. We are HOPING is the weather holds up, we will have the walls finsihed in a week and the roof in another week. Amanda is taking off work for 2 days this week to help Chris with the walls. I may take off one. I will take of work 2-3 days when we start the roof. I cannot wait to see those walls go up, the roof started, the windows in, the porch done and us living there. We still think it is possible to be done by June 1st!

The only thing I am really dreading is moving the chicken coop, the chickens, and figuring out how to move the storage building and shed. THAT…is when I will begin fretting. I did find someone to move my bees for me and that will be done this week as well.

Got the wood delivered yesterday for the walls. I am so excited. Yesterday we got the rest of the subflooring put down. I have to admit, when we started it, we were putting it down wrong. It was NOT fitting together properly. This has certainly been a learning experience for us. But honestly, for 3 people who have absolutely NO experience in building a house,  it is coming along fine. We got all of that subflooring nailed down by hand other than the two last rows. They are tacked down in the corners and Chris will be putting the rest of the nails in this morning. Yes….I have some blisters on my right hand. LOL But to know we built every bit of that floor by hand AND…..we all ran around on it, jumped on it, Cletus and Perrin ran and chased each other on it, we bounced and sat and skipped and played and the floor is as sturdy as it can be, not budging, not bouncing, not moving, not nothing….just a good solid floor and we are so proud!

We are waiting until Monday to start the walls. I am looking into a generator because well….my right hand tells me it might be a good idea. I nailed while Amanda and Chris laid the plywood down, then they helped nail and after over 200 nails…I need a generator. LOL So I will check on that and get one for next week.

Meanwhile, we are going to get the outhouse built this weekend….I hope….if the rains are not too bad. We have the wood and the pit dug, so we should have an outhouse in a few days.

I will get as many people as I can over to help raise the walls when the time comes. That will be a big day, but you know….every day that we are able to accomplish something is a big day. I am going to get some pics of yesterday up on my photobucket and will post them in a bit.

We had an interesting evening at the home site yesterday. Things did not seem to fall into place, literally, as they have been doing. We started mailing the subflooring down and after a few rows, it just was NOT fitting together properly. It seems to me they cold make those tongue and groove things a little more functional! LOL

We ended up taking about 8-10 pieces up and re-doing things. I just cannot imagine what we would do without Jimmy. He can talk us through anything. We finally got things started right and it all started falling into place shortly afterwards. Amanda still cannot nail worth a crap….lol….but we are at least to the point of being able to get the pieces together correctly. After that, we get to drive about 40 nails into each piece and the floor will be DONE!

I got the wood ordered for the walls. $584.00! That still beings us under $2000 for the foundation, floors and walls. If I can get the roof for around a $1000.00 we will be doing GREAT! That will give me extra to play around with the windows a bit. If not, it will all fall into place. We will go with a cheap standard and then buy a good window once every week or two and replace them. I will be so happy to sit on that front porch for the first time and rock in a chair or swing in the porch swing and relax.

After working on the floor until Amanda left at about 8pm, I decided to get my altar set up. Chris had taken everything over to the cedar area for me yesterday. I got the altar set up, the lamps and posts, my dream catchers and other special little things hung in the trees and special stones laying around. The altar is now facing the columbines and it is just beautiful! The area is really taking shape and I will get pics and post them late today.

As I was typing, the driver called to inform me he is on the way to deliver the wood. YAY! If we can get that floor done by Monday, we will be building walls by the first of the week. I am going to grab Lakota this evening if I can and get her to help move some more plants. Maybe if Tim is off work, we can get him and Shannon over with a hammer to work on the floor with us.

I was very exhausted last night and am almost glad it will rain on Saturday. It will force me to stay at my current residence and get things packed up for the big sale! Other than that, things are well. Work is good, first of the month now, so I have to start my reports. I may make a trip to literally…WINDOW shop this weekend. I think today I may try to get the fire pit moved and set up so we can have a nice fire one evening.

Things are going so great for the house. We put up 14 more foundation pillars yesterday evening after work and only like two more having that completed. The floor is VERY steady now. We are adding a scab to each joist where they meet today, so that is 23 small pieces to nail on. We are also adding about that many more stabilizer pieces between the joists. After that….it will be time to place and nail the plywood! We are going to nail it down by hand and we are all three anxious to get that done so we can run, bounce, dance and play games on the new floor! LOL

I took Lakota and Perrin with me and we dig up my Columbines, Lily, Astible, Hydrangea, a Poplar Tree Sapling and a nice green shrub I forgot the name of. We took them over to the land and planted them all in designated areas. Lakota made a lot do trips to the branch with a gallon jug and watered the plants well. We had supper over there together and just had a blast!

I am ordering our next load of wood today and have it delivered hopefully tomorrow. It will be for the walls. Lots of 2×4’s and plywood! I cannot believe in a few short days we will be starting the walls. They should go up pretty fast and before you know it, we will be starting on the roof. Meanwhile, We will try to move 5-8 plants a day so we can have them moved over by June 1^st.

There is a special spot I have discovered that has a small grove of cedar trees…..seen in pic below. This has been designated my favorite spot I think. It is just beautiful there and so peaceful. The stream is just below it and the place is beautifully shaded. This is where I will be putting most of my plants, the goldfish pond and my altar and some birdfeeders. It has a calming effect there and I look forward to spending a lot of time meditating under those cedars. 

April 29, 2008

I plan to rent a generator so I can run the compressor and nail gun. I am not above nailing by hand but it has been discovered that out of the three of us, I appear to be the only one that can drive a nail. LOL It works out OK as Amanda measures and holds boards so Chris can cut them, but then I nail them all. We all play our part in this home building, but I sure am building up a good size muscle and a few blisters. A nail gun will REALLY help.
We are currently adding more foundation pillars under the floor. After finishing the joists, I felt that there was not enough foundation underneath. I’d rather be safe than really sorry later after we get a house built on that floor. SO now we are working on adding some foundation pillars. After that we will begin nailing the plywood subfloor and hopefully will have all of that done and start putting the walls together next Monday. Of course it is supposed to rain again this weekend, but I am still hopeful that we will meet out June deadline.

The man who had the cows in the field was able to get them moved yesterday. SO YAY…. Nothing is holding me back form moving my plants now. Amanda and Chris will be working on that foundation this evening and I plan to grab Lakota and Perrin and start digging up plants. I will begin moving them a few at a time every evening until I have all of them moved that I want to keep. I wanted to move the redbud and crabapple trees, but they are just way too huge to even think about moving. But I discovered a BUNCH of saplings of each one and will dig all of those up and move them. Mother’s Iris’ are in full bloom right now, so I will have to wait a little while on those before I can dig them up. The Magnolia tree is blooming as well, so I will wait on it. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of my favorite things and now have to leave them behind.

I am boxing things up for the yard sale and have most of the electrical items in the house boxed up. We have no toaster, lamps, CD players and blow dryers in the house right now. LOL I sold my incubator for the chicken eggs and put that money towards to house fund. Chris is going to start taking down certain out buildings and such so we can get them moved this coming week as well.

So we are extremely busy! I am extremely tired as well. I just keep thinking the hard work will all pay off when I am sitting on the porch stringing beans or quilting and life is a little more QUIET!

Things are going really well with the house. Yesterday we pretty much chilled out at our current home, boxed up yard sale items and disposed of things not needed. I boxed up more electrical items, like that hair dryer, some alarm clocks and things.  I will continue to try to get one box done a day on items we plan to sell and get rid of a bag of unwanted trash at the same time. It is supposed to rain on Saturday, so we are postponing the yard sale for another week.

The guy that was renting the field from Jimmy for his cows actually got them yesterday so YAY…no more cows. Amanda is a little down about it as she had grown quite close to “Angus” the big bull. But this is great news because now I can start moving my plants and altar over. Chris is getting the pieces of the altar moved over today and I will take my box of special stones this evening. I will get all of that set up near the cedar trees and from the list I have, I guess I will start moving over 70 plants and shrubs to the land. Chris and Amanda will start working on the other foundation pillars while I dig holes and plant things. I will be glad to get my favorite plants over there because it will begin feeling more and more like home. Actually, to be honest, it feels more like home than our current residence does.

I have a list of the wood needed for the walls and will be turning that in for delivery the end of the week. Hopefully it will be delivered by Friday and we can start working on putting the walls together. I plan to rent a generator for the nail gun so things will move a bit faster when we start nailing the plywood down for the floors. We are moving out fire pit over today and will be starting on out buildings and statues and things as well. I also have to try to move the goldfish pond that I have in the herb garden.

Whew…just thinking about it all makes me tired. But we will get it done. The place we are building the home gets more beautiful every time we drive over there. As the trees fill in with leaves and things become more and more green, it is just so peaceful and serene and I am looking forward to so many days on that front porch, watching the kids play and making quilts for those I love.

So for this update…all looks great, we are doing fantastic. Life is just so beautiful and we are still hoping to be moved in by June.

Our very first load of wood got delivered. I was a little worried because we were expecting some bad rain storms. If those had arrived before the wood, it would have been almost impossible for that truck to make it over the culverts to the home site. Luckily the weather was on our side and the wood was delivered safely.

We started working right away, as the generator and air compressor was suppose to arrive at about 10am. Jimmy nailed the very first nail into the wood, as it should be. He certainly was a great supervisor throughout the day and there is no way we could have got that floor started without him as we are clueless about building homes. LOL

After that first few nails, I made Jimmy sit down and supervise from a lawn chair. That was more difficult than all the nailing we had to do, because he was just so excited he wanted to be right there hand on with everything we were doing. Needless to say, something HAD to go wrong and it did. The person I was getting the generator and compressor from is your normal non trustworthy individual and we were not even able to reach him by phone until after 2:30pm. By this time we had a lot of the floor nailed by hand. When we realized there was going to be no generator and compressor today, we grabbed our hammers and made the best of it. We worked almost non stop until 8pm. I made Jimmy go take naps and then home to rest as we finished up. We almost have the joists ready for the subfloor. I spent a little extra on it to get the kind that has a 50 year warranty. It will be worth it in the long run. So, after 11 hours of hard work and nailing so many nails we lost count after hundreds….we were able to stand back and look proudly on the job done today! We only like a few more of the stabilizer pieces tomorrow and then Monday I will be RENTING a generator for awhile. We will then be able to nail the plywood with an air gun and maybe our blisters will heal a little. LOL

After all was said and done…. I think it is safe to say we can be proud of what we accomplished today! I think we may indeed have a house by June!

This evening we did absolutely NOTHING! LOL We had dinner with Amanda and then went up to the home site and laid in the hammock for several hours talking about where we want to put the goldfish pond. LOL It was wonderful and then we stopped by Jimmy and Hazel’s talked for an hour.

Hazel told me tonight about her great great grandparents who lived on the land in the 1700’s. They had a cabin in the woods behind where we are building. You can see the last remains of an old wagon road going up into the woods to the area where the cabin once stood. She said the cabin was gone when she was born, but they had an orchard up there and she did remember going up there and picking apples and peaches. She remembers almost where she was told the cabin use to be. We are going to walk up there one day this week and see if we can figure out where it was. It will be a grand adventure, since she only vaguely remembers that you went up the road and the cabin was on the right somewhere on a little knoll in the woods. The cabin was built on some rocks that were taken from around the spring. I would love to find some of those rocks, because I want to add them to a special place in our home around the foundation. Hazel also has some stones that were used in the cabin she was born in. They were hearth stones, about 3 large ones and she has had them under her house for 75 years. She is going to let me have them for stepping stones up to my home. I think that is just perfect!

Well the generator and air compressor will be delivered in the morning around 10-11am. The wood will be delivered in the morning as well from Lowe’s. It was $1,335.00 for all of the wood for the floor. I got more expensive plywood for the subfloor though, because it has a 50 year warranty on it and was worth the extra 7 bucks apiece. I also went to a builders supply in Athens and they wanted me to use them instead of Lowe’s for the rest of the house so….they started me out with a credit limit of $3000.00 and when the floor is done, that $3000.00 will finish up the rest of the home and….they deliver for FREE! I did not want to go into debt but the interest is very low on that $3000.00 and it will allow us to get the home done faster and get moved in so we can save more money. I felt like it was a good thing for the long haul you know? So I accepted the credit and when we get the floor done, we will be able to go straight into the walls and roof as well.

April 25, 2008

This morning Amanda and I went to Lowe’s and made our first big wood purchase. We did this at Lowe’s because we had a card with the exact limit of what was needed, with no interest or payments for a year. So we got 85 2×6x14’s and 30 pieces of 4×8 subflooring plywood. We have all we need for the floor now and it should be delivered either today or first thing in the morning. YAY! We can start building a floor this weekend!!!!! I was able to sweet talk to super nice guy at Lowe’s and got a discount on each board. I saved over $25 on the lumber and got another $25 off for a card I had so the total was $1,335.00 including delivery. Nails bought yesterday were $54. Also, Jimmy has 30 2×4’s he is going to give us for the walls, so I will not have to buy that many. I will still have to buy the plywood for the walls and all but we can handle that. Before you know it, we will be talking about getting the money together for the roof.

On top of all that, I also have all the concrete blocks for the floor of the root cellar and a lot of the ones I need for the walls of the root cellar as well. The guy who has some cows in the field are picking them up in the morning and I will start moving some of my favorite plants tomorrow as well. (*note to self: get plenty of sleep tonight)

AND….Chris is helping someone haul a LOT of cedar boards today that will be used for the closet and doors. We are also being given some walnut to use as needed for whatever we choose to use it for.  The outhouse will be done in the next week, hopefully most of the floor and things are looking great! I cannot wait to get started on the house building. Wish you could all be here to help!!!!!