One Hot Counter Top

July 4th With A Little Texas Added

Houston, We Have a Problem

We left on a Saturday at about 5:00 pm and had fully intended staying one more day.  But I was beat and we felt good about our task so the decision was made to go home early.  The words were "this is the best our place ever looked" left our lips and at 6:00 pm on Sunday the Tornado hit.  

The pictures were taken on Monday at 6:30 pm and it is really hard to tell all of the tree damage done as the leaves are still green.  The storm dumped 8.75" of rain and the tornado center went right over the barn.  Looking at the damage, it must have been about 15' off the ground.  None of our buildings were damaged, but the trees got hammered.

The Container Has Landed

We finally got a container or conex which ever you prefer.  We bought a 20 footer to get the tools locked up and to keep us from having to shlep them in and out of the cabin which would waist an hour of our time each trip.  We found 2 places to get them locally and ending up going with steelcontainers.net .  

They delivered it to us for $200 and we purchased a "one tripper" (only used once).  There was hardly a scratch on it.  The driver got it close to the barn but it was still at and angle so I laid down some steel c-perlin a had the driver set it down on the steel so I could move it by hand.  

Using a hi-lift jack and some chain, I tied to a tree and swung the in of the container over to get it parallel with the entry to the barn.  To get it in the barn so we would be protected from the rain, we tied up to the tractor and gave it some quick jerks.  Then using the hi-lift, I jacked it up and pulled the steel out and leveled it.  Now we have a ridiculous amount of storage space.

Pay Dirt, or Paid for Dirt.

We started and finished a project that needed to be done.  The dog barn as we call it needed some attention around the down hill side and we decided to fill in some other areas as well.  Three loads of 12 yard for 36 yards total is what it took to do what we wanted.  We used yellow crushed road base limestone on the down hill side of the barn where it had been wasted out after years of rain and cleaning out the dog kennels.  After I ran over it with my truck, it packed in so hard you couldn't get a shovel in to it.  

Pickets Continued

We spent Friday and Saturday night at the cabin. Saturday and Sunday we worked towards trying to get the lower half of the cabin clad in pickets.  The electrical outlets, windows, and door were easier to work around than we first assumed.  The biggest challenge to this project is making sure that you are moving the material in an efficient manor.  Having Alaina on the chop saw outside was a huge time saver.  It has its gaps and flaws, but that is what old wood does.  Regardless, it sure is easy to attach stuff to the walls.