Fireplace at Sundown

It's hard to complete projects when you spend a week teaching in town.  I'm so impressed with Alan's abilities.  He's working really hard on the deck and we're getting closer to finishing the whole project.

Alan has almost completed the pergola.  In our excitement we hauled the small fireplace and the deck furniture up on the deck.

 Sipping wine in front of the fire at sundown in January is a wonderful experience.  It was a little chilly, but we are wearing only light jackets in mid-January.

The Flying Loveseat

The loveseat that flew.

Moving from a large home into a tiny home means getting rid of a lot of possessions.  Last year when we moved, we had a huge garage sale and took 3 trips to Goodwill with donations.

But on the day of  closing, we are still moving items into storage.  We finished an hour before closing and had just enough time to shower and head over.

We ended up with 2 storage garages in Tulsa.  The second one was completely unplanned.  Alan has been obsessed with condensing to 1 unit to quit the monthly rent of the second unit.

Today, we finally accomplished it. Having already taken the day off because of the funeral for Alan's dad, we decided to take advantage of the afternoon and clear another task off our list.

We loaded the truck bed with a bookcase and the loveseat which were going to their new home in our "den/bunkhouse/mancave/whatever" building.  Everything else was crammed into the 1 unit.

We headed west.  The girls and I were in my car, and Alan drove the Tacoma.  He headed to the pet resort to pick up Chance, and we headed straight to Oklahoma City.

Let me take a moment to say how much we like Woodland West.  Even though we no longer live in Tulsa, if we have to board Chance, this is the place to do it.

See the red dirt on his nose?  We wonder what he is getting into.

So the girls and I are down the turnpike about 20 miles when I get a call from Alan.

"Sweetheart, the love seat flew out of the back of the truck."

He said it went flying like a helicopter.  Boy, you just never know with Oklahoma winds and driving on the turnpike what will happen.

Unfortunately, an elderly gentleman hit the loveseat and it was destroyed.  The man's car was scratched up but no one was injured.

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.

Rethinking the Garage Door

The look on Stephanie's face told us to rethink the way we were building out the cabin.  The loft idea wasn't going to work.  So instead, we had Joe finish the small garage room with bead board.  It is now the girls' bedroom.  The only trouble is that we can no longer imagine pulling the UTV in over the fuzzy purple rug Stephanie uses at night when she likes to lie down with her book in front of the heater.

Steph likes to drive it, but she doesn't want it in her room.

Even worse than the lack of practicality, heavy rains from the south leak in and run across the floor if we aren't prepared with towels ahead of time.

Joe Terpstra said he could install French Doors back there, but it was going to be several weeks until he could get to it.  I'm crossing my fingers for good January weather when he shows up to do the project.

In the meantime, Joe said to hang plastic sheeting from the door to prevent water from coming in.  While this has been more effective, it still hasn't prevented all of the leaking.

Thanksgiving at The Ranch with The Big Green Egg

The back deck is not finished, and the wind is strong from the south.  We've decided to set up our Thanksgiving dinner on the front porch to get us out of the wind.  Maechelle won't be joining us this year, but Christy and Dilish along with Amanda and Clark will join Alan, Jack, Stephanie, Marissa, and me for dinner around 1:00.

The Big Green Egg is an important part of our dinner plan.  Even though I'm cooking a meal for this many people without a traditional stove, I think my plan will work.

The Big Green Egg will cook the turkey, baked potatoes (while the turkey is cooking) and two pies.  I'll cook the pies ahead.

The Camp Chef will cook the green bean casserole in the dutch oven.

The Microwave will cook the pumpkin cake and the stuffing.

The multicooker will cook the gravy.

The Turkey:
We cooked the turkey like you cook "beer chicken."  We bought a 24 oz can of beer.  Alan had to work to get it into the holder, but he did.   Working together, we coated the outside of the turkey with beer can chicken seasonings (you can buy this pre-mixed or make your own).

We put a lot of charcoal with soaked apple smoking chips in the BGE and preheated it to 375.  I wanted to cook the turkey low and slow.  Once the charcoal was started and the fire was going,  we set the plate setter in the egg with the legs up, and set the grill rack on top.  When the BGE was at 375, we set the turkey on the rack.  I planned to cook the 14lb bird for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  After two hours, I put the baked potatoes on in a circle around the turkey.  The turkey was done at 3 1/2 hours.   I checked by piercing the thigh the way the chef on the BGE DVD demonstrates.

The Apple Pie:
We actually baked the pie on the BGE the night before Thanksgiving.  I used an oil pastry the way I would do it if I was baking in a regular oven.  Steph and Marissa helped.  I use Granny Smith apples in my pies and add Turbinado sugar (about 1/8 to 1/4 c), a little flour (2 T), and a little cinnamon to the sliced apples.

This is not a "true" lattice because we use oil pastry.  We just  placed stripes of dough on each other without weaving.

I set the plate setter with legs down and put the pizza stone on top.  I also used a baking rack to prevent the pan from touching the hot stone.  I cooked the pie at 400 as suggested on the livefire blog.  Just as the blog suggests, I watched the pie and at about 45 mins it looked done (bubbling center, brown crust).

Broccoli salad and jellied cranberries (I cooked ahead on the Camp Chef)

 This was a wonderful tasting pumpkin cake I cooked in the Microwave.  With whipped cream on top it looks better.

Here's the link to the pumpkin cake recipe.