The HANDFUL

We are back in the North. Started the week with the girls and then headed on to the continuing bathroom remodel project. Progress IS being made, woohoo, albeit slow, there is progress. Heading back to the Meadow and preparing for Thanksgiving If all continues to go well we will be gathering in our usual locale with all the family. Hopeful anticipation for that to work out.

While there is plenty of work happening don't even think that is is ALL work and no play...because that just would NOT be true. There is plenty of play and downtime taking place no matter what the others are saying! We've had several breaks and tea parties!

The work happening is not as evident with just a looksy into the space. But trust me there is A LOT of work taking place inthe walls and ceiling and floor. There are working lights and fans in both spaces and the plumbing and sanitary are well on their way to being complete in the hall bath space. There is a bunch of progress going on even if it is not seen. 

And lest you think all the work happened indoors you would be quite wrong. Leaves were raked before our arrival but we were in on the loading and haul away. New LED Christmas lights were also put up (though they will remain unplugged until after Thanksgiving; because in our world that is how it works)!

 

We head back South tomorrow and hoping for a plus one or two then for sure we will all be together for the Big Feast. Hope your day of thankfulness is good

The HANDFUL

What a week, we were up North, returned to the Meadow for a mere 36ish hours and returned to the North. More bathroom work to accomplish so our work clothes are staying pretty dirty...yet I'm certinly not the one in the thick of this job. It's all MiRV.  Running new sanitary and water lines, hanging drywall and putting in fans and lights, it's all getting done this week!

The HANDFUL

We had a little houseguest this week and while it was just a short visit we had lots of fun. We are already back North with her where lots of bathroom remodel work is happening. We did a bit of visiting and had lots of visitors while she was here. Always fun to have her stay. I think the highlight of her visit if she were telling it would be having a weinee roast and smore night in the backyard!

She is growing up...

Having the cousins visit was also lots of fun...

Putting up the ceiling drywall is just one of the several task on the todo list for this weekend!

Total bathroom remodel of not one but two bathrooms iswhat Stumble and Bumble are currently knee deep involved in. It's not a quick paced job but progress is being made. Stay tuned.

The HANDFUL

We are back in Nebraska after a quick return to the Meadow. And I do mean quick...we were bascially home long enough to snuggle a couple little girls and pack up ROADA before hitting the road again to return to duaghter's bathroom reno. We will leave in just a couple days to head out on a fall getaway.

Progress was made once again with electrical and plumbing. And with lots of hopes and prayers even more progress will be made in the next 48 hours.

Stay tuned!

The HANDFUL

We have been visiting daughter and family this week. Lots of work clothes getting dirty as the guys tackle replacing the SunRoom subfloor. The carpet was ripped up before they moved in then the subfloor was removed today. Before replacing that they braced the floor and shored it up a bit before moving on to new insulation. Tomorrow they will be the subfloor back down after a run to the dump. Then it will be all ready for new flooring once their choice is made as to what that will be. Oh what fun! PROGRESS... and maybe a few sore bones.

Oh and someone got a new life jacket so she can go on the SUP with BeBe and LaLa!

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

Oh, my, Man vs Bird continues...but we have a new weapon in our corner. Bird spikes. Hoping for less bird activity under the patio cover. If you missed the original posting on this, it is HERE. We like birds, really we do! We just DO NOT want them nesting under the patio cover. We have tried several things from a rubber snake to an owl to shiny hanging things. Nothing seems to work and we were forever cleaning up nest making attempts. It was time to get serious. This is our final hope...well, maybe not but I hate to think of what we will need to try next.

In other news we are staying safe and staying home...within reason. Hope you are doing well. Of course, we are missing those up North.

Stay safe, stay well, stay home when you can!

No more Wild & Three Thursday!

Oh, goodness, it's ANOTHER new year and as the saying goes it sure flew by. Unbelievable in many ways that this year will mark 7 years since military retirement began and the Daughter graduated from college and married. It will also beTrigger's FOURTH birthday next month. Sadly, it has also been 5 years since we lost MiRVs brother. 

It's hard to believe it's really 2020. When I was younger that seemed like a date that was sooooo far away into a future that was hard to imagine I would ever see and yet here we are. I am not a big resolutions advocate as I think fresh starts can be made at any time but hey go for it if you need extra motivation to jump into something because it is after all a new year! Clean slate so to speak. 

It will be interesting to see what this year brings. We are certainly, according to MiRV, planning to get in more traveling in as we have completed many of our house projects. Of course as is the way with homeownership, "there is always something". Our yard is still a work in progress but I fear that will be the case as long as we own this place! Otherwise it's pretty much minor tweaks and keeping the place up. I have always said home ownership is NOT for the faint of heart and I stand by that. Last year we put on the patio cover and it cost waaaaaay more then we planned. ROHO is still being finished when the mood strikes. Since we have it enclosed and have the electricity hooked up we have slowed our work pace.

Many blessings to you and yours as you begin another year. While I will miss our weekly connections on Wild and Three Thursday I will still try to make semi regular postings until I figure out what is next for regular blogging motivation!

Wild & Three Thursday!

On the road again...stay turned as we off to the great state of Texas. Wedding bells are ringing for a longtime family friend's oldest son and we plan to be there. Then it's a few days in the Sooner state catching up before heading north to Nebraska. The Bee needs some new BOOMER gear so shopping will be in order! It's gonna be a fast and furious trip without ROADA but we will survive. She so spoils us on traveling and when we do it without her it puts a whole new spin on our trips; especially packing!

In other news there was insulation being hung in the new garage the past few days.

 The West wall is still a work in progress.

But the North wall is complete.

We may not be fast but it is getting done a little at a time.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Tuesday, it was Tuesday before we had water again. That whole we will be here hopefully tomorrow thing didn't work out. And, well, you know Monday WAS a holiday, so they showed up around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. We managed being waterless just fine, with grabbing showers at families houses and then wagging some jugs for water to do the necessary things.

You would think the excitement was in having water service restored AND it was but the other excitement was the THREE lines that were cut during the repair. The backhoe had been on sight less then 30 minutes when it was sparks flying and work stoppage. The line locater guy showed back up as well as a lineman for KCPL as well as the owner of the company doing the repair work for us. Yeah, it was exciting. Then KCPL spent their afternoon with us in the hole repairing the cut lines. But hey we DID have water again!

Can't even wait until the repair bill shows up...seriously, should there even have been repairs needed when the house is just 2 years old? I am somewhat happy that we did not go ahead and DIY this fix as the utility lines in the area are ALL OVER the place. It's a mine field literally, hence the THREE cut lines!

But, thankfully, we have water again! 

Wild & Three Thursday!

PROGRESS...that is the word of the week! We are so excited to the see work on our back patio begin. Materials were delivered yesterday and bright and early this morning there was a crew on sight to start the job! Seriously, this is so EXCITING! 

The other progress that is such a relief is the clearing of the culvert...now to commence on the fix whatever that may be. We are exploring several different thoughts and options. But it is now clear of the crushed/mangled/broken black corrugated plastic and that is the progress we are extremely relieved to have. While not completely fixed it's a BIG relief to have this part done. Let's just say redneck ingenuity and patience played a HUGE roll. Putting that  grinder on a a pipe as I mentioned last week was the biggest help of all and we finished it off by pulling a log through with SMARTie! Of course we tried a few other methods that didn't pan out before resorting to the old log trick. 

That's daylight in that cleared culvert which is a beautiful sight!!!

Wild & Three Thursday!

Dirt work finally got underway! After weeks and weeks (read that months, really!) of waiting for dirt to be delivered we actually have real dirt in our backyard. Sadly, it has A LOT of debris in it...very disappointing. I guess when you get dirt you get trash and rocks along with it. I was super surprised at all the non dirt items. Canvas, broken glass, bricks, wood, metal, logs, cans, lots and lots of BIG rocks. Not what I expected at all. But there is quite a bit of dirt so I guess that is something!

Some of the debris in the foreground of the pic.

With the forecast calling for rain over the weekend we are trying to get as much of the dirt in place as we can. We will leave a large pile to file the trench that will hold our underground electrical cable. Man, that's a lot of dirt!!

Garage Doors and MORE siding

It's been an exciting time as the progress on our garage continues. We have had lots of sore muscles and bruises but we are thrilled with the results. Our garage doors were installed shortly after the New Year and with such unseasonably warm weather we made a lot of head way on getting more siding up. There was also a little inside activity going on.

 After and Before Garage Doors!

South, East and West Walls

We had a supply run yesterday along with rain that turned to snow overnight so it is a down day for now. Weather forecast calls for 40s later in the week so we will be back at it. Wind slowed us down a bit with siding as well as the need for some additional supplies. We have what we think we need now so as soon as it warms a bit we will be back at it!

Garage Build Update

It does seem our progress has slowed down to the untrained eye. However, we are still plugging away. Our garage door openings have been readied for the install of their doors, which ohbytheway are on order and our walk-thru door was installed last weekend. In addition the soffits are up! It's the little things! Oh, and we have also put up a few of our firebreaks, along with the initial mapping out our electrical. Another update is that our siding has been secured. Shhhh it is not an exact match to our house but we don't think the neighbors will even notice so don't tell!  Now if the weather holds out we hope to be putting said siding up just after the holidays! That will really be exciting and another big change in the overall look. But first there is fascia to get up to finish the roofline.

It's a wrap!

Our new garage is ALL wrapped up! We are glad to have that much done and looking forward to getting the siding up. We just beat the darkness getting the west side done as the sun set this evening. We did hit a snag with our siding though. Our hometown store which DID carry it told us they can no longer get the brand/color we have. We are now trying to source it from others outside the area. Certainly wouldn't want it to be too easy. Glad we did order a box when we first bought the house so we do have some extra pieces should we need them for the house itself. Next route would be to find a close enough match and hope for the best it is a detached garage. We shall see. 

One Year!

In many ways it doesn't seem as though it's been a full year then in other ways it seems it has been longer. We have been back in a sticks and bricks now for a whole year. It's been nice to have our own space and provide space for the Daughter and family. It' also been fun to host others. We are still not completely sure it was our best idea but we are making the most of it and learning some new things along the way. Fun fact we are still without real living room furniture. We often joke that we are living like college students again with mismatched, second hand, cast offs. That is starting to wear on me. I think I am ready for a couch. Just not certain what kind, how big or what color. So many decisions. We have been extremely mindful of furnishing this little abode, which seems on some days not so little and once in a great while too little but trust me that's not often. Funny how that is. Anyway we don't want stuff. We want practical, functional and preferably even multi-functional in our furnishings. We are winning on some fronts and nostsomuch on others! Definitely a process. But I'm seriously ready for a couch!!

In other news our Friday was quite productive! We now have trusses. Saturday we even got a little OSB in place on three sides along the bottom. It is coming along. Sheeting goes on the roof Monday and shingles will hopefully go up too. Then the completion of the OSB will follow. 

All walled up!

A week after we started and a day of rain delay with a day off to the City for an appointment and we have ALL the outer walls in place!

Friday afternoon we had an extra set of hands help us get three more walls in place and on Saturday we placed the final wall on our own. WooHoo! Still have to add the header in the opening on the  north door and the remaining cripple studs but we are calling this good for today! The last two days have been very long and physically demanding but we are savoring the progress. Trusses should be here next week!