July 17, 2008 Update from the Ranch

Today the exterior painters finished caulking and painting the exterior trim. Jose and his electrician team drug a 4 gauge copper wire 100+ feet through the attic to carry electricity from our garage circuit breaker panel to our circuit breaker panel in the electronics closet which will feed the north end of the house (jacuzzi, tankless water heater, north side AC/heating compressor). Yes, 4 gauge wire! The copper alone is 1.5 inch diameter. Did I mention this is a Fixed Price contract. The more I see of Donny Mack's Beaver Builders crews, the more I am impressed.

Peg and I brought up a little radio and told Jose to tune it to what ever he wanted. Next time I looked, he had supplemented the radio antenna with a two foot strand of copper creating a directional antenna! Cool. Why use a coat hanger when you've got load of copper strands around.

Speaking of Donny and Ricky Mack. Ricky showed up on Tuesday (against Drs orders for recovery) and starting lifting things like the new windows into position. I tried to help as best I could. Peggy followed us, sweeping away and bagging all debris in her path. We finally nagged him off the site and headed north to OK.

Wednesday, Ricky showed up again and said Donny and the AC/Heating guy were meeting at the ranch. So we postponed our weekly laundry trip, raced down to Honey Grove, bought cookies from the bakery and donuts from the Hello Grocery store (yes, they actually answer their phone: "Hello, Hello" and seriously expect folks to answer back. Hello Grocery used to be Smith's Grocery. The Smith Brothers also own and operate the Smith's Honey Grove Hardware and Feed store in Honey Grove. It's the kind of hardware store that has many hallways, rooms, overhanging decks which used to be a second floor, but now have been opened up all the way to the tin ceiling. Did I mention the hallways and rooms have floors which are all sloped differently? Really. The only thing which seems to be level in Honey Grove are the people. The streets, sidewalks, and drives gently fluctuate with the ebbs and flows of our black clay, while the good folks keep their slow course steady through it all. And, changing things is not very much appreciated, Thankyouverymuch! Especially in 100 degree summer.

But, one of the Smith brothers took ill and they sold both the grocery and the Dairy Queen, which is now named Hello Burger, Yes ma'm. Hello Burger indeed. Right up the road from Fred's Peanut and Grain. Fred, and his wife Elaine, are great people and have had us over to their house for supper. All this in Honey Grove, Texas. The Sweetest Town in Texas. Which itself is right up the road from Bugtussle, Texas. (You can look it up on Google if you don't believe me.) Bugtussle has a recurring problem with their town sign which always seems to get carried off by thieves (probably from Dallas) and must be replaced.

Anyway back at the Ranch...the contractor meeting went off well. I met the AC guy briefly, then Donny stepped away with him saying, "Let's take a walk...". Fixed Price contract. Ricky and I got busy doing something and after a while Donny comes back muttering how he doesn't like being "messed with." Turns out the AC guy was telling him he could not get a dual compressor, two fuel unit (electricity and propane). Only problem was the AC guy was quoting this from a Dallas supplier which Donny has frequently used in the past. I guess the AC guy thought Donny was a local construction man. Donny normally builds Dallas homes in a very high price range. And he is the current International Builders Association Builder of the Year. Peg and I have visited his homes as we did our due diligence on Beaver Builders. Wow! Our little ranch house doesn't come close to his level. He seems excited about our unique house plan and we are grateful to have him.

Donny, Ricky and I installed the remainder of the exterior doors. Not the Front Door. That goes in last. The insulation guys were here while all this was going on. You can see their work from the pictures. We are thoroughly caulked, foamed, and insulated (except for the ceiling which will be blown in after the drywall...hopefully this week). But first some more framing has to be done.

Peggy got an email from the cabinet designer with his preliminary sketch. Holding back her tears, she walked with me over to Donny and Ricky. Donny consoled her saying, "That's why we do this using a drafting program. We expect to change this four times or more". Peggy then cheerfully discussed changes and Donny marked up the drawing and took it away.

Now the pictures:

First,

the view as you drive up the road to the ranch house:

Next, the view from the front

The view from the front door

The Great Room

Next, Peggy’s kitchen

Peggy, checking out her studio from her window.
Shot taken from the pantry door in the kitchen.

Skip’s closet…about which so much has already been inferred, disabused, or otherwise slung about:

And, Peggy’s closet. Which leads into the utility room through a pocket door (to be framed later).

The Garage and Shop

The evening view from the front porch

The evening view from Peggy’s kitchen window:

We moved our old Adirondack chairs to the back porch

And, this is what we see each evening during Happy Hour: (you have to imagine there are no piles of tile, shingles, or brick)

Peggy and Recon Posing by the trailer prison:

Peggy and Recon casually strolling away from the prison, trying to not arouse any attention

And, finally, the moon rising over the Honey Grove Cowboy Church and Rodeo Clubhouse, our Ranch, our Prison Cell, and suspicious looking barrels.

I know it's Tuesday and I haven't updated in days - let me just say - it's been a busy five days!

On Friday, it was like ants were crawling all over everything! We would no sooner walk back to the trailer when ANOTHER truck/vehicle would travel along our gravel road ( with a lot of hoopla from the dogs) and we would dash up to the house to meet new subcontractors.

On Friday, the following occurred:

- our builder was at the hospital getting his heart scoped for potential heart surgery
- the brick was delivered!
- the termite man "did his thing" around the house to protect us from future pests
- the plumbers showed up and started all the plumbing jobs
- the electricians arrived and we did a two-hour walk through with the head electrician to position all outlets and "drops"
- the outside doors were delivered


Update:
- Our builder, Ricky passed his test with flying colors (big sigh of relief from us who realllllly like him)
- the electricians are on their third day of positioning all outlets and we are able to change a few and make better decisions with their expertise
- plumbers finished everything they could until the fireplace box is installed
- painters showed up - nice crew! Two men and a wife who rocks! They have spent two days caulking the outside soffets on our big porches and are known to be "meticulous" - we are pleased! Meticulous we like!

The bottom line is - everything is moving verrry fast now - and our decisions are going to be locked in soon. The dry walling will take place next week so Skip and I are very busy putting in the wiring for internet and speakers for sound. Could make for stress, but every morning we bound out of bed and make lists for the day.

Our garden is producing lovely produce for our busy days. More tomatoes than we can eat, delicious cucumbers, succulent cantaloupes, green beans, and brussel sprouts that are almost ready. Good fresh produce and by the way, fresh eggs is the BEST! They make suppertime a lot of fun! I made a Tortilla Soup last night with our own tomatoes and chicken I had roasted on the grill the night before. Delish!

I spent the afternoon ordering some of the last of the fixtures off the internet. We are going to keep UPS and the USPS very busy in the next few weeks. The trick is getting up to the gate to take delivery - what an adventure!

Love to all - and we do mean LOVE

What a Fourth of July!!

At the end of this entry is a little photobucket of yesterday. We mowed all morning - and did a little food prep for our incoming guests. About two o'clock in the afternoon, the Fettkes arrived and we hugged all around and headed up to the house site to give the first "tour", even though we are still in the rough. We have framing, cedar posts along the porches, the roof and the green shingles and that's about it until Monday.

(The reason not more was accomplished this week is because the contractors blew out our transformer up at the house site and the electric company had to come shut it down until Monday, when they can get in here to replace it.)

We walked the Fettkes through the house a pointed out where various rooms would be, etc. But all they wanted to do is use the "nail picker-upper, rolled wheel thing" ( a magnetic device) and pick up stray nails - Lane. And all Luke wanted to do is ride his new birthday bike we gave him through the new house.

The next thing we know, the weather kicks up out of nowhere and we are in the middle of a very gusty, rainy storm. We all honkered down in the pantry - it was the most protected place in the shell of our house. Remember, we have no windows on yet and/or garage doors, so the wind and rain was everywhere. It was very exciting! After about 15 minutes, it had passed. And up drove the Thompsons! They had had to drive through it to get to Honey Grove. Things settled down and we had some cold beer and some cheese hors d'heuvres and I started to do some serious cooking. I had rubbed down a pork roast earlier and put it in the grill to slow cook about four hours. Unfortunately, during the storm, it knocked the propane off so I was behind schedule. Well, every once in a while, I have to ask our little stove in the trailer to work a miracle - and it did. About an hour later, we had a perfect pork roast, snap peas, grilled onions and a salad. Not bad! Then it was, off to the Rodeo.

Which is only a walk across the street! It just doesn't get much better than this. We all settled in to our little box seat (so the boys were right up front) and it was less than five minutes later when the procession of grandsons started to check out the restroom and the concession stand. There was the opening prayer, the national anthem and the "parade" of contestants through the arena. Then the excitement started. The first event was "Bronc Riding" and the first time a horse came out of the chute with a cowboy on its back, three little boys got big-eyed and serious about what was going on. The arena was very muddy from the downpour we had had earlier, so lots of mud would fly up on us when a cowboy would ride by. But little boys do not mind the mud! After broncs was cow roping and then mini steer riding - where boys under 12 ride miniature bulls. One little guy was stepped on and down for a bit but then jumped up (where they use the term "cowboy up") dusted himself off and was applauded by all.

The event the boys were waiting for was finally here. The Critter Scramble - where small animals including goats, rabbits and chickens are released in the arena and if a kid can catch one, it's his. Well, we lifted Lane over the rail from the box seats and he was off in the mud. Zach was just getting back from another visit to the facilities and we barely got him lowered in before the event started. Luke also went into the arena to try his hand. When the animals were released Lane was able to wrestle a baby rabbit and get it captured - only to have it wriggle away and get caught by another boy. Needless to say, the three grandsons are already plotting for a good catch next year! Our newest grandchild, little Lauren, our Rodeo Princess was charming to all and very interested in all the people watching. What a cutie!

During the Critter Scramble, Skip was called over to the Rodeo Clubhouse. It seems the little boy stepped on by the bull was not doing so well. They had the paramedics check him out and it was quickly decided to call in the CareFlight helicopter. They called Skip because they wanted to to open our gate so they could land in our pasture. As we crossed the street back to the ranch, they had stopped all traffic both ways on FM 100 to accomodate the chopper. We walked well inside the ranch to observe because there are many power lines overhead and it was a dangerous situation. Far off on the western horizon we could see the helicopter approaching, and soon it made a large circle right over our heads and made an incredible, careful, precision landing right on the highway outside our gate. Our grandkids were amazed, and so were we. It's good to know there are such incredible folks to help out here in the country.

After that excitement, we went back to the trailer porch for some homemade peach pie and some much anticipated fireworks. Because our property is so high and we have such a great view of the surrounding countryside, we were treated to no less than 10-15 different displays far off on the horizon. It was a great backdrop for sparklers and firecrackers provided by Uncle Brian.

At about10 pm, little sleepy ones crawled into family cars and rode home to Dallas. We can't wait until they can stay overnight. It was a great Fourth of July. God Bless the troops, the President and our great America! And special prayers for the little bull rider for a fast recovery.

Photobucket Album