Hey everyone!! I apologize it's been a while since my last post! Last time we were in town, we checked out how we were doing on our budget.... and, well, we went over a bit! We have a monthly budget of $600 for all our food, 'extras' (like cat food and litter), and our gas too. I don't remember exactly how much we went over by (I think about $300), but it was enough that we have to rein it in!!
So this last week or 2, we've been VERY careful. We've been eating a lot of what we have on hand, majorly limiting our driving and trips to town, and we have not eaten out but maybe once. It's hard! There is so much to do around here, so many amazing places to eat, and so much to see within a few hours drive, that it would be easy to scrap the budget completely and say 'Screw it... we're having fun!' -- but that's not us! We have a plan, an end goal in mind: no debt, no mortgage (after we sell our OH house), and live within our means!
That is why I haven't been into town lately to update our blog!
Foundation COMPLETED!!
We couldn't be more excited!!! We have several things that are half finished - electric in place but not hooked up, septic in the hole but not hooked up, well dug and capped but not hooked up..... but now we can say that we have something completed entirely!! The foundation is 100% completed and we are going to start building this week!
The first pour we did, our neighbor Gordy offered to come help (we are so thankful for it too!!). The second pour (Thursday, 6/19/14) came at about 9am and it was just Scott and I. I think Scott was impressed with me. I did everything he did - leveled out the concrete, filled in the low spots, leveled off the high spots and I even ran the screed board too! The first part of the pour was a little dry and boy did I have to use everything I had to run the screed board. We were about 2/3rds the way done on that part of the pour when one of the truck drivers, 'Tiny', stepped in and helped me out so I could catch my breath (and not puke!!). But the second truck added about 5-6 gallons of water to the concrete and that was no problem at all to work with and I was able to screed with no issues. This is what Scott did for the last few years as a job, so he didn't have any issues.
It was funny though - at one time, Scott took a breather and both concrete truck drivers were standing near him while I was using the come-along to push around the concreted. They all smiled and joked that I was the only one working! But don't let this fool you - Scott worked his tail off! I'm so proud of him and have such a huge respect for how hard he works.
Here are the pictures from our second concrete pour:
A shout out to my awesome sister-in-law Jenna!!! Thank you for the idea to use a penny in the concrete! Although I have to explain - I looked everywhere for a 2014 penny and even went to the bank for one but couldn't find one! So I did find a 2012 penny, which is the year that this crazy journey began: the year that we first bought our land. Thank you Jenna!!
And to Jenna and Charlotte - I included a picture of me just for you guys!! I don't find I'm very photogenic (especially out here with no makeup and always in a hat) but I had to just for you guys!
After we poured concrete and Scott had it finished off, we went into Cody to return our rentals (bull float and fresno - $20.80) then we headed just across the boarder of WY/MT to Kapor Lumber. We've been debating on who to use for our building materials - Home Depot/Lowes (Billings - 70 miles one way), Rock Creek Lumber (Red Lodge - about 35 miles over very hilly land), or Kapor Lumber (Bridger, MT - 32 miles over flat land). Here is what we discovered. At Home Depot/Lowes Scott gets a 10% discount for being a veteran. MT has no sales tax either!! However, it is a 70 mile drive, one way to Billings (and Scott's tuck gets about 8 mpg out here, less if there is a full load!). They said that if they deliver ($150-175/load x ~5 loads of materials) that since it is delivered in WY, where Park County does have a 4% sales tax, that they would charge us both sales tax and delivery charge, plus the only way to get the veterans discount is to drive all the way there to order the materials. Next option is Rock Creek - their prices are a bit higher, no veterans discount but delivery charge is only $20 regardless of what is being delivered. The third and best option - Kapor Lumber! Their prices were comparable to HD/Lowes, they said they would honor the 10% discount (we pay in cash/check), no sales tax because it is purchased in MT and, the kicker, they will deliver for FREE!! Plus what I like the best is that it is a family owned business where Darren (who we met with) talked us through everything. They even sell windows/doors, roofing materials, the board/batten for our siding, and even trusses too! They are our one stop shop!
We are waiting for our quote on the cost of all materials (including the doors/windows and the trusses) - but we expect it to be ~$20k for everything. The bulk of the cost will be in the insulation. When we get our bill for everything, I'll let you all know what we got and what the cost was - for both our future reference and for anyone else that may be thinking of doing what we are doing.
At first we were planning on building our own trusses, but just because, we got a quote from Diamond Trusses in Powell. For 19 trusses it would be about $1650 - and they would be rated for 130+ mph wind and heavy snow load too. After talking with Kapor Lumber, they use another company out of Billings that they have had better experiences with, and they will deliver the trusses for free! (can you tell I like that word, FREE!) We expect the cost to make the trusses will be similar, but are waiting to hear a quote for them.
Right now, we have our basic framing materials ordered and hopefully they will be delivered today or tomorrow. So we will be building this week! Let the work begin!
Clark Days Rodeo
On Friday, we helped our neighbors (Lori and Gordy) prepare the food for the concessions at the rodeo. They have a smoker and put 4 pork butts in there to smoke all day! Scott and I helped by pulling the pork while Lori made homemade tuna pasta salad, baked beans, and cinnamon rolls! We joked that if a company could only bottle the smell of the smoked pork as a 'perfume' that guys would be all over that!
That evening we took a drive with them and went to see their new yearling filly! She is so sweet. I'm excited for them to get her home so I can go love on her!
Clark Days was on Saturday, June 21st. They had FREE donuts and coffee at the Clark Rec Center at 8am, then a parade! The parade was full of kids on their dirt bikes and 4-wheelers, there were old, vintage cars, lots and lots of folks riding their horses including a local couple that I met who carried the flags - US and WY, fire trucks and emergency vehicles and even a few 'floats' where they would decorate a flat bed trailer or the flat bed part of their trucks. Scott and I said that next year we will ride our scooters in the parade!
Here are some pictures from the parade - we were not really close, but this will give you an idea.
Concession Stand pictures!!
Gordy, above, getting the buns ready for their amazing pulled pork BBQ sandwiches! All the pork was smoked and was so good!
We have some of the best neighbors!! This is Joe and Helen who live right next to us. They also built their log cabin all by themselves about 8 years ago!
We had so much fun helping in the concessions! I tried ribs for the first time (they were amazing!) and we were paid in hot dogs and soda! For those of you that know me, I have an addition to diet pop, specifically fountain pop. Well, being out here with no refrigerator means that I had to give up my drinking habit. But Pepsi donated their soda station for the Rodeo (and no one was drinking the diet) so I was in heaven!! Lori even joked that I could fill up the empty extra large pickle jars to take with me! (I didn't do that :)
It's Rodeo time!!
Below they are setting up and running the Mounted Shooting classes.
Above - this is how you Rodeo!! Back your truck up to the arena for a prime spot!!
Below - One of the craziest classes they had, was one where a 'rider' would lay down and hold on tight to a cowhide and the 'driver' would dally (tie the rope that attached to the cowhide around the horn of his saddle) the rope. Then hold on tight!! They would race as fast as they could down, around the barrel and back across the finish line.
Here are a few short videos from the rodeo. The first is of the Mounted Shooting - they have to run a pattern while shooting the balloons. I believe it's the fastest time with the most popped balloons wins. The last two are of two different pairs doing the cowhide drag race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxe7z_oMjwQ&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Vsre1d9WU&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdbHbb6oMOo&feature=youtu.be
The last link above - pay close attention to the 'riders' dismount from the cowhide:)
Some side stories:
The Friday night before the rodeo, we left Gordy's late and it was dark out. Scott turned on his bright lights in his truck for the first time at night and the blue bulb in his truck lit up so bright he looked like a smurf!! When I tried to get a picture of it, this is how it turned out:
Our 'Great Escape'!
Of our four cats, we have one 'problem' child - Tuffy - our long haired orange cat. Well one night this past week, we were reading our new books from the library and realized at 11pm that we still hadn't taken out the screen doors in the trailer for the night. It was pitch black out and when we went to pull out the back screen, Tuffy took off!! He darted from us all around the trailer and around the car. We were so afraid that he would get lost in the sage brush or worse get stuck in a rabbit hole! After some quick thinking, I turned on all the lights for the car hoping he would be attracted to it. It worked!! He darted under the car but still didn't want to be caught. Scott walked around to one side of the car and Tuffy ran to the other side. I creeped up and grabbed him by the hair on his back and pulled him out. He was shaking and clinging to me because he was so scared! When I opened the trailer door, he darted back inside and hid under the bed. I coaxed him out, once all the doors were in place for the night, and picked out 4-5 cacti needles from his fur. He is ok!! He didn't manage to get hurt, but did scare the crap out of us!!
Since then, he has been extra loving to us!!
Let the Building Begin!!
It may be a week or so before I get to update you with more pictures/news. We are getting our materials this week and will be starting our build!! But I will be taking lots of pictures of our progress and keep you all posted every chance I get.
Thank you all for caring so much about us, for following our blog, and for the continued support!
