It's Christmas, and Still No Deck

We spent the better part of the Christmas weekend (while the kids were with their other parents) working on the deck and garage.

Alan's carpentry skills are paying off.  Poor man is trying to finish this massive project mostly on his own.  I have my hands full with the domestic tasks out here.  I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, though.

Even though it was warm, I was very, very glad for my new Carhartt socks .  They are comfortable and warm.  I love these things!





At the end of the day, we cooked crab and lobster on the Camp Chef out front and toasted each other with a glass of champagne.  Merry Christmas!

The Bunkhouse/Den/Garage/Mancave

I'm not sure what we're going to call it yet, but the garage that we originally bought to store the tractor is going to become a workout facility and guest room.  It's already my laundry room, but I've been waiting for Alan to finish a more permanent hook up.  

Permanent means a drain that stays in place so I don't have to use the swimming pool hose out the door.  I'm still using garden hose hookup to the outside of the building.  I'm sure we will do something more permanent in the long run, but in the meantime, this works great!

Even in December, clothes dry quickly in the Oklahoma wind.

I love hanging my laundry outside.  I can do 3 extra large loads in half a day here, but it takes me a full day at the condo because of the drying time.

Alan has insulated about half of the building and hung bead board.  I am going to try to finish varnishing it by January 1st so that we can use the building before Mae has to go back to Charleston.

We hope to get an exercise bike from Alan's mom and dad for Christmas.  We just don't think Alan should go running here.  He'd have to run with the gun!

Some folks were pretty skeptical when I said I saw mountain lion tracks down by our creek last year, but they believe me now after the multiple sightings in Oklahoma. Here's a story about a mountain lion found on the highway near Minco.

Honey, We're Going to Need a Barn

We're using the garage for laundry and wood working.  Now with the UTV (which can't be stored in the girls' room) we are out of space.

As I have said before, if we come up with an idea, it's only moments until we are acting on it. The minute after Alan said maybe we should get a barn, I'm on Ernest's website looking at the horse barn he sells.

A couple of weeks later, we had complete the purchase and were waiting for a call from Eagle Carports.

Again, Kenny Sexton came to our rescue.  He graded a flat location for the barn behind the power pole.

This image is distorted for some reason.  The door in the center is 10'.

I'm going to give Eagle Carports a mixed review.  Granted, we changed our minds and wanted to add another roll-up door, but that was 10 days before the construction was scheduled to begin AND they agreed to do it.

But when the contractors, who drove up from Texas, arrived, they didn't have the door and didn't know anything about it.  When they called the company, they were told to reschedule and had to drive home at their own expense.  It didn't seem right to me.

Finally, they returned and started work the week before Christmas.  Alan hadn't noticed that Kenny had moved the markers, so when the men started building, they were building the barn at an angle to where we located it.  Although they weren't happy about being told to pull up the materials they had installed, they did start over in the right location.

He gave the workers a small gratuity for making the modification which was a smart thing to do.  The last thing you want to have is a bunch of disgruntled workers who have already been penalized by the company.

In the end, I am happy with the barn and irritated with the process and communication.