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Rolling the Rails
As summer dwindled and fall was nearly upon us, we were rushing to complete outside work in between splitting firewood. One of the last projects was the handrailing around our deck, most of which is more for decoration. We had already installed railing where it was required for occupancy the year before. Initially, we thought this railing would be temporary but as we began to price railing that usually went with engineered decking, we found the cost was ridiculously high. Tha
stacey946
Feb 172 min read
Mean Machine
The hits keep coming but this one has a happy ending. Before we even began to build our house, we purchased all of our appliances on a Mother’s Day weekend sale. Of course, I thought we could build the house ourselves in one year. Silly me. The next season came and I thought surely, we can finish it this year. Think again. The same was true for the third year. The fourth year we finally were able to set up all our appliances. I have already told you about having to replace o
stacey946
Feb 122 min read
Upsetting the Cart
While trying to get our special generator for solar systems working, the generator battery would die. Then we’d recharged. It would run for about seven hours but not recharge itself in the process. At first, we thought it was a faulty battery. We borrowed from our neighbor Nick but his did the same. Eventually we bought a new battery all together. Still without success. Jer did what he always does, lots and lots of research. What we found out was that this particular generato
stacey946
Feb 102 min read
Chop Chop
The summer was winding down, and we knew that every weekend we were at the property we needed to spend one day chopping and stacking wood. A couple neighbors were a little less than encouraging with statements like, “Kind of late to get started.” Jer and I were not deterred. There were two and three year old downed trees waiting to be cut, split, and stacked. Jer’s friends at Home Depot, literally friends because he’s spent so much time with them over years, gave him a great
stacey946
Feb 52 min read
When Your Off Grid is Off
Oh, the joys of being off grid. While there is some joy in this, there has been equally struggle and frustration. All summer Jer kept saying we need to work on our generator that charges the batteries but there were so many other pressing things. The sun was giving us great power but even without the batteries, our invertor was giving us issues. Every once in a while, the power would just shut down. We’d stand around for about two minutes before it booted back up. It really d
stacey946
Feb 22 min read
All Hands on Deck
The day had finally come. We’d been walking on piece of plywood, some that overlapped all over our deck, for three years. The upstairs deck was no exception. It was time to purchase our engineered decking, which would keep us from having to re-stain it each year. In case you didn’t see or maybe I didn’t mention it, but we have a lot of decking, an almost three-quarter wraparound deck plus the upstairs. Most of this is covered but there is a decent portion that’s not. The shee
stacey946
Jan 292 min read
Fire! Fire!
A Couple Miles from the Opposite Side of Where We Live We were settling into our home and spending a little more time in our home, now that we had it mostly furnished. I searched for ways to decorate each room, but we were still spending our weekends building. It needed to be done before winter weather began. Jer and I were busy at work when Jer got an alert on his phone. This is a great app that alerts you to fires throughout the state, any state really, but it focuses on wh
stacey946
Jan 242 min read
Backsplash Crash
Our kitchen was nearly finished but we still had not put in our back splash. Jer wanted it to reach the bottom of the cabinets. I wasn’t opposed but we had never had this in the past. The tile needed to be white but not blank white. With our busy granite countertop, it required a more subtle off coloring. Jer and I decided on tile that came in groups and had a sticky backing. I was concerned after realizing it was the same sticky backing we use on our vinyl in the bathroom, w
stacey946
Jan 222 min read
The BIG Move
With all the shifting and changing of our living arrangements, we needed to get things settled into the house. To make room the carpet layers, the one bedroom dedicated as our ‘tool room’ had to be moved, but where too? At first, we moved every tool back to the living area for the carpet installation. The only way to make room to get our tools out of the house was to move furniture in from our Dry Box storage that was already jam packed. and the way to do that was to get our
stacey946
Jan 152 min read
Trailer Transitions
Camping Trailer Big Live in Trailer Remember during COVID when trailers were a hot commodity? Everyone wanted to get out of the house. We kind of bought our two trailers around that time. The first was a camping trailer used up at the property for building. Then about a year later a really nice big trailer with three pullouts to live in and save money to build. Near the beginning of October of 2024 we took our camping trailer back to town earlier
stacey946
Jan 132 min read
Our Depot Friends
Jer became good friends with the Pro Desk managers at Home Depot. He was in almost every morning around 6 am when we were in town and many afternoons picking up orders. These nice and knowledgeable people made Jer only want to go when the two he knew well were there. We’ve been good Home Depot customers too. Most of our home was built using their supplies. Now it was time to work on flooring and counter tops. Jer did a beautiful job laying the ceramic tiles for the entry and
stacey946
Jan 92 min read
Dishwasher Dilemma
I can hardly believe it, but Jer and I moved all our appliances onto a small trailer by ourselves! After arriving at our property, we had to figure out how to move them onto our plywood deck maneuvering over uneven ground. A couple of appliances were light enough for us to carry but others were put on a hand-truck for Jer to pull up a couple feet to the deck. The frig was even harder. It wasn’t easy to move them into the house. It’s probably why we let them sit on the deck fo
stacey946
Jan 72 min read
The Trimmings
What a shock to see the change in our home that trim work makes. I think we had just gotten so use to it being unfinished, we couldn’t imagine it any other way. Early spring the weather can be a little off and on, making it a good time to focus on inside projects. Jer purchased knotted alder trim in a couple sizes and lengths. My job was to stain then clear coat them with lacquer using a brush, a good brush, that I could make last for about two weeks. The wind was not my frie
stacey946
Jan 12 min read
Skin in the Game
We had purchased white cabinets without door and found out to purchase and cover them in wood and wood doors was crazy high, two to three times the cost of the cabinets themselves. Thankfully, I have brother who is a skilled woodworker with his own home shop. He was willing to work with us to help us build what we needed. Our regular doors are solid knotted alder, so our hope was to continue that theme. My brother was able to purchase what we needed for a mere fraction of the
stacey946
Dec 30, 20252 min read
Light, Action, Oh No
After years of work and still more work to be done, It was time to begin packing and taking things up to our house. This first official...
stacey946
Mar 23, 20252 min read
Here We Go Again
A new season…a building season is upon us. While I’ve been pretty quiet over the last few months, Jer and I are working to gather items...
stacey946
Mar 16, 20252 min read
Bits and Pieces
For those of you who have been following our story of “That crazy thing we are doing,” it’s been a while since an update. Honestly, this...
stacey946
Dec 1, 20242 min read
Major Milestones
Three years ago this month, we were preparing to cut in an access road into our new forest land property we purchased. Something we had...
stacey946
Oct 14, 20242 min read
Climbing to New Heights
They said it couldn’t be done by rookies. We didn’t think we could do it. We were told in sarcastic tones, “Good luck.” This journey,...
stacey946
Sep 30, 20242 min read
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