Keep Moving Forward

This was an eventful trip!  There are lots of things moving forward.  I feel like changes are happening daily now. 🙂 You know that light at the end of the tunnel?  It’s getting brighter!

With Valentine’s Day approaching, Al and I had planned ahead so that we could spend some time together at the farm.  Al had been at the farm for about a week prior to us both going up.  While he was there the crew arrived to build/erect our outbuilding.  This building is about 2400 square feet.  It’s HUGE.  It will be used as a garage for both vehicles, my tractor, storage for holiday decorations, etc. and the back part will be Al’s workshop.  We also plan to build a small room complete with a doggie door on the side for Honey and Bun.  You know it will be a very fancy dog room. 🙂 It rained a good bit while Al was there.  I mean what is up with all this rain!!!  The outbuilding crew came after the down pours but, the ground was still very soft.  At one point the telehandler slid down a hill and practically got buried.  Thankfully the excavator was able to pull it out!  That could have been a disaster.  This crew didn’t waste any time.  They started on Thursday and were done by Sunday afternoon!    You can’t see the roof in these pictures but it is red just like the cabin. The cabin will eventually (if the rain will stop for more than a day) be stained a dark brown like the outbuilding so they will match.

Al drove home on Wednesday the 12th and we spent one night together.  He had to take Hercules and Athena to the kennel.  His truck is way bigger than my Jeep so, that task is pretty much his. I headed up to the farm on Thursday morning and he came up on Friday.

We got up on Saturday and spent a good portion of the day cleaning the basement.  We hauled out a ton of scrap wood and cardboard boxes for burning, organized a few wood piles and tools and bagged up items that would not burn.  I vacuumed the stairs and all the window sills and wiped down the kitchen cabinets, too. It is amazing how much sawdust gets on everything.  I couldn’t stand looking at it any longer!  I wish I had taken a before and after picture.  It made a such a difference.

We took a quick lunch break and I got to use my new Charcuterie board that Al got me for V day.    I had to get creative and use items we already had in the fridge. Al did manage to sneak in some cheese blocks without me noticing.  It was delish and went well with a glass of wine.  I plan on serving these a lot in the future.  I don’t know why but, I’m just really into them right now.

On a side note:  I have also rediscovered my love of cross-stitching.  I picked out a bunch of supplies and Al bought those for me as well for V day. I can’t believe all the new and different gadgets they’ve come up with since I last sewed!  I mean it’s been nearly 30 years!  I had given most of what I had from my early twenties away. So, I had to start from scratch.  I ain’t gonna lie.  I had to research how do to a few things as I had seriously forgotten.  But, I’ve already started on my first project.   And, I must admit, I do prefer to use a lighted magnifier. Yeah, I’m that person.

Sunday we worked outside.  Thankfully the sun was shining.  We again organized wood piles, tin for both roofs got stacked and we bagged up additional trash and non-burnable items. Al took a trip to the dump later in the day.  The trailer was full!  There were at least 18 to 20 bags of trash!  It looks so much better now! Y’all, these dogs.  Bun always wants to stay near us.  She is seriously like velcro.  Here she made a nice little nest to lay in while we worked around the cabin. Honey just preferred to lay in the hay by the RV and soak up a little sunshine. 

Al had brought the trailer home with him and he filled it with bins, mostly Christmas decorations, to be stored in the outbuilding.  It is so exciting to finally be moving some things up to the farm! We will slowly be emptying out the house with each trip. We have to build shelves for the bins and that is currently at the top of our to do list.

Right now within the cabin, the floors are complete, the tile floors and shower tile has been completed in all the bathrooms and all walls have been stained.  The basement is all that is left at this point.  We plan on finishing most of that area ourselves with the exception of the laundry room and bathroom.  Al’s office, my craft room and a den area, complete with wood stove, will also be in the basement.

Oh, and we FINALLY have our fireplace design complete.  This thing gave me the fits!  I never knew that the fireplace would be the one thing that would drive me insane. But, it’s going to be beautiful and pretty much the main focal point in the great room. 

So, all in all, we accomplished a lot.  And, progress makes me one happy girl.

I sit here writing this in the wee hours of Thursday morning.  Al left for the farm around 2am with yet another load of bins.  He’ll be there for about a week.  Then, I will probably head up.  It is getting to the point where I think we are both going to need to be there together more and more.  I want to help with the shelving in the closets, pantry and outbuilding and honestly, there is not much I can do when I am there alone.  I can only bake cookies for the framers so many times. <insert eyeroll>

Hopefully this week, if the weather holds out, the fireplace will get cut through the roof and the pipes inserted and built. They are working on additional trim work throughout the cabin as well.  We are having a few issues with our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. There are some missing fillers and a busted vent hood.  We are still waiting on our interior doors to arrive as well.  Next up will be the granite, sinks and faucets. Also, shower doors and toilets. One of the main things to get accomplished by Al is the fenced in yard.  He needs some good weather though to grade.  It looks promising on this trip.

Keep moving forward……my mantra right now.

Thanks for reading!

Elisa

P.S. Hopefully I can get Al to add to the blog this week with any changes, updates and pics. 🙂