Well, we have had a long, but fun and exciting weekend!! First, I'm having difficulties getting the pictures to load on my blog today - the internet here is pretty slow. So, I'm going to try to load them all on Facebook but I'll get them out here as soon as I can.
Friday morning, while Scott was running an errand up in Billings to get some of the remaining materials needed for the foundation, our septic guy came!! He dug the hole for it the night before, and brought our 1,000 gallon concrete septic tank last Friday morning. Now it's not hooked up yet (we don't have our house ready for that yet) and he is still going to come and connect the piping for the leach field, but it's neat to see that we have our septic in!!
We got a Bobcat Tracker (loader) as a rental on Friday afternoon and got it the whole weekend. We didn't do a whole lot on Friday night... just tinkered around with the loader, smoothed out some parts of the driveway, and Scott made a smooth pathway to the shed and around the shed too so it's much easier to load the truck with materials and also to get the scooters out of their corral too.
We got up bright and early Saturday morning and started! First we squared off our area to build on with metal stakes and a string. Then he marked the ground with this neon orange spray paint. And then Scott began using the loader to dig out our foundation!! By the end of Saturday, we had the foundation completely dug out and 95% of the forms set - we left one part open so he could get in and out with the loader to bring in the gravel. We had to fight the rain on and all throughout the day, plus Scott had to tell me everything to do since I've never done this before, so we were a bit slow.
Sunday we got up before 6am to get started! I learned how to use the 'chop saw' (that's what we call it, but I think it's called a circular saw) and a portable battery powered saw too. So Scott had me cutting things - 19" pieces off the 2x4s to hold the bracing and I also had to cut the foam sheets in half. The foam is 2" thick and we are using it to insulate around the concrete (we will also be using it to insulate the outside of our house too). By the end of the day, we had all the foam secured, the gravel inside the forms, and had it tamped down. That was my job - tamping the gravel/dirt. Every time I ran the thing, I looked over and I saw Scott smiling and laughing! We are having too much fun here!! We had most of the gravel leveled off, but not quite all of it. We were both pretty tired by 4pm (especially me since I'm not used to this), and we had used up all the gravel (3 truck loads total - most of it in the foundation and around the outside of the forms, the rest Scott smoothed out to make the start of our new driveway to the house).
We still have a good bit of work to do, but it doesn't require using a loader - that was our main objective this weekend, to finish everything we'd need the loader for because we only had it for the weekend. It was right at $300 to rent it and the tamper for the weekend. I believe that is technically the day rate, but since we got it on Friday it didn't need returned till Monday.
Once Scott was done using the loader, he told me it was my turn!!!! He showed me how to use it and I was off... He thought I'd only be on it for about 5 min then be done, but about an hour later he came and got me because I was having too much fun! I smoothed out some of the humps in the driveway, created a slightly wider drive path around one of the curves in the driveway, and I made a 'guest parking spot' in front of the trailer too! I think I could totally drive one of those for a living... maybe a little more practice is needed, but it was fun!
That's one of the things I love most about my husband! He's not one to work only outside the house while I work only inside the house. He helps me with the inside chores and I help outside too. And he lets me be a part of everything! I get to use the saw, the tamper, the loader, etc. It's very empowering to know that I have learned so much so far and I'm only going to learn more as this summer goes by.
I have some to say a few thank you's!! First, our neighbor Gordy is awesome. He came with us (using his truck) to get the loader on Friday and then to return it this morning. That was very nice of him to offer!
Second, we have received 2 care packages now! First was from my parents. They sent us 2 rain gauges, a weather update walkie talkie, and some sweets too. Funny side note - the day we got the rain gauges, that night it rained! We got all excited to see how much rain we got, but when we both looked at our separate gauges, they were bone dry! So we were a little bummed, but it's still fun to check them and see how much we got. Remember - we don't have a TV or the internet at the trailer, so we usually don't have a clue what the weather is going to be like unless we check in town and keep it saved or write it down.
Our second care package was from our amazing friend Jack!! He sent us Moon Pies, Tang, and a book (that I can't put down right now). That night, for dinner, we made burritos with a side of Moon Pies and Tang:) I have never had Tang before, but my goodness it is good! It's a nice change from just plain bottled water. There is a funny story with the Moon Pies: Scott used to work in TN for a little while, and TN is where Moon Pies are made! There was a little town near him that had an antique store, but in the front of the store there were tables full of every flavor of Moon Pie you could imagine! So one time I went to visit him, for fun, I got one box of every flavor to share with the people I worked with. I told Jack about this and he said he never wants to see another Moon Pie!! When he was in the military and overseas, he said they received pallets of Moon Pies and that's why he never wants to see another one again! So it's sort of a joke between us all as to why he sent them to us!! We are very thankful for them and everything else - we've already eaten a full box of them too:)
Here's a few other funny stories to share!!
First - last week (I believe it was Thursday), Tiger, our all white, nearly 20lb cat, had to go to the vet because he couldn't poop. Well, he is fine and they took really good care of him! But they did have to sedate him in order to shave his rear end. So, since he was already going to be sedated, we had them go ahead and shave ALL of him!! He gets miserable during the summer when it's hot out, and here we don't have electricity meaning no air conditioner, so he needed to be shaved. When I went to pick him up, he looked so funny!! There were several people in the waiting room when I picked him up and they kept looking at him with the biggest eyes and asked what happened to him. My silly side told them that he was bad and this was his punishment:) haha! I will share pictures, but like I mentioned before, the internet is WAY slow so I can't upload them today.... but the only hair left on him is a clump at the end of his tail (about 3" of it), his 'boots' (I think he looks like he's wearing snow boots or Uggs), and around his head. Here's the best part!! When we brought him back to the trailer, the other cats wouldn't go near him! They thought he was a stranger. Tuffy I guess you can say is the most prejudice of them all because for days now, he goes up to Tiger, gives him the evil eye, and hisses at him!! But he's getting better... one day at a time!
Now this is a little gross, but really funny and I have to share it. Last Thursday when we were in Powell to take Tiger to the vet (and this was the same day Scott had his Dr. appointment), we stopped in at a store that is similar to Rural King back in Huber Heights, OH, and we got some stuff to try and kill the gnats we seem to have. We bought two of these 'fly strip' like things (except they were on round tubes, but the same concept) and we also got this container that held liquid to attract them. Well that night, just before we fell asleep, the wind picked up a bit and the 'fly strips' were hanging off the ledge at the top of our trailer. They were moving around in the wind and making a good bit of noise (and driving the cats nuts!) so Scott went out and brought them down, laying them on the table so they wouldn't blow away. Well that night, in the middle of the night, we heard these scurrying sounds and thought it was probably the birds. When we woke up the next day, Scott went outside to investigate and wouldn't you know, we ended up catching 3 MICE on the fly strips!!! And they were stuck good!! We weren't about to try and get them off, so we set them on the ground about 50' from the trailer and they kept wiggling all around to try and get loose. When we came back up to the trailer at lunch, we checked the fly strips and they were gone!! They must have wiggled free!
The more we're out here, the more we fall in love with Wyoming! Our land is like a big playground for us. Every time we'd drive to our build site it was as if we were off-roading.
OH!! I am not sure if I mentioned here last week, but I found this thing on Pinterest about growing a garden within the Miracle Grow bags - you lay it flat, poke drainage holes in the bottom and then cut the top part off, but leaving about 1-2 inches around the outside to hold it in. I did this and planted 4 rows of lettuce (2 different varieties that mature at different times). It worked!!! All 4 rows have sprouted!! I can't wait to have fresh lettuce. I think I'm going to get another bag of Miracle Grow sometime and plant some cilantro too. We eat lots of rice and beans, and the thought of adding fresh cilantro to it is making my mouth water:)
Quick update on Scott's Dr. appointment - it went well! He was supposed to have one both Thursday and Friday, but they got combined into one. He met his new doctor and he has to get blood work done this week as a follow up. And his doctor is putting him in to get further checks on his heart, lungs and kidneys to see if there was any damage from his heat stroke/dehydration/acute kidney failure. But otherwise, Scott is doing great and he's back to normal!
When I can get the pictures uploaded, I'll come back and do so to this blog post, so stay tuned! Otherwise, if you follow me on Facebook, I'm uploading them on there right now.
I think that's about all.... We are going to finish prepping the foundation this week and the plan is to have the concrete brought out on Monday June 9th. It seemed to be the only day within the next week where there is a 0% chance of rain. After that is poured, we will leave it sit for at least 5 days to fully cure/harden before we start building on it. However, we will be busy during those 5 days getting building materials, going to the Pella store to pick out our windows and doors, and we may even pre-build some of the walls too. Let the building begin!!
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