Smoky River Tales

We Did It

2009-07-14T19:14:00.009-06:00

Wow, what a huge week we had TWO WEEKS AGO! I just haven't had any time to sit down and get this done.

Day #1 Saturday, when I was at work 6 hours away, Stuart, Matthew, and Doug put the I-beam and the floor on the basement. Stuart's Dad and I left Hiawatha when I got off and we arrived at the Bed and Breakfast in town a little after midnight. We had the BEST breakfast at 0-700 Sunday morning and went to work.

This was our blank canvas on Day #2.

The exterior walls came in 8ft. sections and were pretty heavy, but as you can see we had LOTS of help. Anyone that knows Western Kansas is aware of our wind issue but our prayers were answered that day and we barely had a breeze. I was nervous about our ho-hum bracing system but it worked, not one wall fell over.

The interior walls were much easier, just like putting a puzzle together.

By the end of day #2 we were lifting trusses up. Due to our steep roof pitch the tractor didn't even get close so we had to man power (8 men, 1 woman) lift 27 trusses. I can't believe Stuart, Jeff, or Matthew didn't fall off their 6 inch ledge during this process and we were even done before dark. In all we had 11 family and friends using their muscles for us and it was definately our most productive day.

Day #3 we were down to a crew of six with Kriss coming out after noon to help. It took us the majority of the day to stand up and brace the trusses. That night I had to get up and take a Dramamine because I had the feeling I was falling every time I closed my eyes. I was so tired and sore and I couldn't go to sleep and there was my lovely husband sawing logs right next to me. I think I had a vision of quietly placing a pillow over his face but that was a fleeting thought, I needed him too much the next day; )

Day #4 This was probably one of the most challenging days. Our house is designed to look like a barn so it has an 8/12 roof pitch and "look-outs" on the ends, well the last two trusses had to be finished by hand so we could incorporate the look-outs. Lee and Matthew worked on one side and Stuart and I on the other. I had to stop about 5 feet from the top and let them finish, there wasn't much to hang on to and the ladder was such a tight squeeze between the trusses I had to be a contortionist just to get off. I ended up getting a bucket truck for the outside finishing so no one had to risk their life there. Lee left at 10am that day so we were down to 5 when it came time to work on the roof, which really meant we were down to 3. Steve and I kept our feet planted firmly on the ground. It didn't take long to realize the roof was a much bigger project than we anticipated, so when a gust of wind came up and took a sheet of plywood with it over Stuart's head I started calling roofing companies. The roof didn't get finished until 5 days later because of the July 4th weekend but it's done. All of the windows are in and the back door, the front door is still on back-order. We are ready to start electrical and plumbing whenever Doug can get here again to tell us what to do.

Basement is finally DONE!

2009-06-24T16:41:00.003-06:00

Well it's finally finished. I have to give credit to Stuart for 90% of the work. My 10% contribution was shoveling sand for two hours and I thought I was going to die. The crazy thing was how bad my wrists hurt the next day instead of my back. Stuart finished leveling the floor with sand, laid down the insultarp, cut the wire to fit, and laid out the pex tubing in two days..........my hero! I call him my "little tractor", I think he's starting to like it :)

This is a small town story for everyone. The basement floor was poured in two days. The first half was on Saturday, the second half on Sunday (Father's Day). Can you believe they delivered cement and we had enough help on Father's Day? It had to be done because the house will arrive on Thursday and we're starting construction on Sunday the 28th. The first day it rained on and off all day so that was pretty stressful, but the cement set up fine and everything looks great.

We had a big Father's Day Picnic at the North Park so the boys came in for a feast and had a great time with all of the family.

Starting Saturday we rented out the first floor of the bed & breakfast in town and the building crew will arive. Stuart's Dad and brother are coming, one of his friends from Hiawatha, Stuart, Doug, and I will be the main "barn raisers" but I'm sure my Dad, Jeff, Jerry, Dewey, and Kriss will be stopping by frequently. Oh, I can't forget the supervisor, Grandpa Von. More to come next week!

Tanna

Airforce Boys Rock!

2009-06-11T18:51:00.004-06:00

Well I just read my cousin's blog and it made me cry. She has an awesome pic of her husband and 3 year old daughter the morning he left for Iraq. It just makes me appreciate all of the military and the sacrifices they make so I can go to the store and talk on my phone whenever I want. Such insignificant things that I take for granted everyday. My kids sure are proud that Beau and Jason are "solzers".

On a lighter note we had over an inch of rain yesterday so we were stuck in the house all day. After supper the sky cleared up and it warmed up 10 degrees so we put the mud boots on and went to splash in some water holes. The kids got a little "exergy" and it was beautiful out, plus it smelled great.

Just found out today that our house will be delivered on the 18th. I guess it comes in on 3 semi trailers so we should have some more homestead pics coming up. Since it is only framing, floor joists, and trusses it will probably just look like a lot of lumbar. I can't wait, everyone is coming on the 28th for a "barn raising party". Hopefully it will be up and dried in by the fifth day.

Mom is going with me to Denver tomorrow to pick out all of the bathroom supplies & fixtures. We will look at lighting and kitchen cabinets too.

The kids sang their VBS songs at Church on Sunday. It was really great, they even did all of the actions. The last time they went up Stuart told Andrew he wanted to hear him sing loud, he was half-way down the aisle and he turned around and said "super loud Daddy?" It was so cute and he did sing loud AND on key. They are still walking around the house singing the songs they learned. It was fun but I'm glad it's over, 20 pre-schoolers was intense.

Great Western Kansas sky!

Tanna

2009-06-01T22:32:00.004-06:00

Oh, what a long week we have had. We stayed in Hiawatha Memorial weekend and I worked a couple shifts. The kids loved seeing Grandma and Papa, and it was great to see Grandma Good also. Ty Ty came down from K.C. to play with the cousins. Another year of decorating graves at the Highland cemetary, the flags are always awesome and it was a beautiful day this year. As always I got a few stories out of F.B. and Carol always has some great history to share. I think in the 8 years we have been married I have only missed one Memorial day at the Highland Cemetary, it is a great tradition.

Our next stop was the Lone Star State (it always amazes me how many Texas flags we see), the Texas Smith's put us up for two nights- thank you! The kids didn't care that the pool was cold so I made Stuart get in with them, plus I was busy holding the baby! Ryder and I also had a couple bonding moments, two great kids!

Stuart's cousin Adam (aka Alabama Jam & One Legged Buzz Saw) came to visit with his s00n-to-be-bride, Lydia. Adam is great entertainment for the kids, he makes the rest of us look boring.

And for some crazy reason Andrew ended up with the hose, so he had a blast spraying the boys. I don't think they thought it was near as funny as he did.

Our next stop was Abilene TX to see the Gardner's. My cousin Aften is married to an Airforce Firefighter and they have a little girl Zoey, she's the baby of all of the Western Kansas cousins. Stuart and I laughed at her the whole time we were there, she has the BIGGEST personality. I especially like her walk with her hands held out and the high heels on, sorry Aften you're going to have your hands full. Beau showed us around the fire house on base, of course the boys loved admiring the sparkling fire trucks. Grandma Suzan would have been pround of the cement, I don't know how they got it to shine like that.

Just as we were leaving I got this next pic, it was really neat.

We got home Friday night and Saturday Stuart and I dug a 16" wide, 16" deep trench around the basement foundation for our drain. It was 92 degrees and a lot of fun.....ha, ha.

This week is VBS at our Church. (By the end of the week I will be ready for another vacation) I am teaching the 2, 3, & 4 year olds and there are 22 of them. I do have 3 highschool girls helping me, but it was definately organized chaos. I think all of the kids had a blast today, tomorrow is supposed to be cold and rainy so we will be stuck inside all day, ugghhh.

Well that's all for now. We are working on the radient floor heat and pouring the basement floor this weekend. More photos to come.....

A Little History

2009-05-19T09:55:00.006-06:00

Well, the picture behind my title pretty much says it all. We recently moved to a very small town in Western Kansas and bought 10 acres of what I consider "Paradise" from my Grandpa on the Smoky River. This might be a good place to mention the River hasn't ran in years, the only time I remember any water growing up was after Colorado received a couple 5" rains. My Mom was raised 2 miles up the river and we spent a lot of our summers "out at Grandma's" exploring and riding horses.

We decided to move from rural America to waaayyy rural America so I could stay at home with the kids for the next couple years and they could go to a smaller school. When I say small school I mean it, this is a 1A school/ eight-man football/ one teacher per grade/ 10 - 20 kids per class. I love it!

Soooo, our biggest project right now is building our house. Neither of us have any construction experience other than small things around the house but we're learning fast. We have already put up a 30 x 40 shed and planted 100 trees for a windbreak.

This last weekend our big project was setting forms for the basement and last night they poured the concrete, it was 100% a family affair. I don't think Stuart and Doug (the guy helping us build the house) could have done it without all of the help. Everything went great, the trucks didn't get there until after 6pm so it had cooled off considerably. I stay out of the way when they are doing the big stuff, that's when I become cook and photographer.

That's all for now, we're headed to Eastern Kansas for Memorial weekend. Then Stuart and I will lay out the insulation tarp and tubing for the radiant floor heat in the basement.

Tanna