Cold and wet.
I started the day at the Shoney’s breakfast buffet. I have spent the rest of the day regretting that decision. Back at the farm I unloaded the glass that I picked up yesterday. It will go under the wood burning stove. I also unloaded a bunch of tile that had been in my car for a while. Then I hit the road. My first stop was Cedar Direct, where I chatted a while and got a good suggestion for deck railing material. It was actually what are called goat panels, and they had them across the street at the Co-op. I checked them out and the price was right, so I will come back with my trailer next week. Next I went to the tractor dealer in Murfreesboro and exchanged the keys I got last week for two that will hopefully work. Then I went to the Habitat ReStore looking for a sink, but they didn’t have one that I liked. I filled up on cheap gas before leaving town.
I mostly took the highway to the Manchester Wal-Mart. I wanted an oil change, but they said it would be two and a half hours, so I passed. The drive up the mountain was uneventful. As the title of the post suggests, it is cold and wet up here. I spent the afternoon reading and making materials lists for the remainder of the back deck and front porch, as well as everything else. I went to Piggly Wiggly a couple of times, but that was the extent of my outings. It’s supposed to be rainy again tomorrow, but I will at least try to go see the goats.
Decked out.
Got an early start putting on deck boards, and kept at it all day long. Didn’t quite finish before running out of daylight. Also have a whole lot of screws to put in.
More deck.
It was horribly cold when we got up this morning, but working on the deck helped warm things up. We installed posts, the outer band, and most of the joists. It took two trips to the lumber yard to get everything. Hopefully tomorrow will be another productive day.
More holes, more trim, more cold.
It was a bit below freezing when I got going this morning. I combated that by digging some more footings for the deck posts. My dad arrived and helped, then I went and got a load of concrete. Unfortunately the new tractor keys that I bought don’t work, so we had to mix it in the wheelbarrow. That went okay and we finished fairly quickly. Next we hung doors, and my dad worked on trim while I went to get some deck lumber and other materials. Back at the house I drilled holes in the deck band for bolts and installed joist hangers. All in all it was a good day. After dark we went out for dinner and just returned to the house. Also I got news that the glass that our wood burning stove will sit on has arrived.
A day closer.
It was a pretty good day. I finished the flooring this morning. I also bought trim that we will install tomorrow. I tried to straighten and organize a bit so that we will be able to maneuver well tomorrow. Lastly, I warmed myself by starting to dig footings for the deck posts. Fortunately the dirt is solid so I shouldn’t have to dig too deep. It is another cold night.
Hellfire and lamination.
Last night I couldn’t fall asleep until after two. So I read and watched some Magnum PI. Today I worked on flooring pretty much all day, and came close, but didn’t quite finish. It is looking pretty good though. After dark I went by Big Box to return some underlayment. Then I went to Spring Hill Home Depot to pick up some tile that I ordered and ended up buying a mitre saw stand as well. It was on super closeout. I had dinner at Moe’s and then returned to the farm. It is pretty cold now, and will be for the rest of the week.
Mountain time, eight months.
I slept okay last night, and wasn’t in any rush to get out of bed this morning. Eventually I did though, and drove around campus for a bit. I stopped at Green’s View before going to see the goats, but they were in the barn. I returned to the cottage, read, napped, ate, read some more, then went back to see the goats again. This time they were out, and accompanied by the farm director. I chatted with her for a long while. She said that the dwarf goats were for therapy.
I went back to the cottage and chilled some more before finally deciding to leave a little before six. I took the back way home, on curvy back roads. Here at the house it isn’t too cold now, but will be later this week.
Luke turns eight months old today. Liz says he is doing very well in Michigan.
Work, drive, relax.
We got started feeling early this morning. I worked on flooring and my dad on trim. After a couple of hours I hit the road. My first stop was the cedar store, where I chatted with Will, the owner, for a while. Next I went by Big Box’s new Murfreesboro location to check out their stuff and speak with Zach. Finally I went by the Kioti dealer and got a new tractor key.
And then, the Mountain beckoned. I just took the interstate all the way up, and arrived early afternoon. It was rainy and cold, but I was still very happy to be there. I spent most of the afternoon just reading and being lazy. Before dark I went over to see the goats. They have some new pygmies, although only one came very close. I’ll return tomorrow for a better look. After that I parked near the library so I could use the internet on my laptop for a few minutes. I drove back through Monteagle to see what was going on (not much), got a little food at Piggly Wiggly, then returned to the cottage to chill out. I have just been reading and kind of following the Alabama game. They won, of course.
Connected!
I tried to sleep in this morning, but couldn’t, despite staying up very late as I finished reading a book. So I started the day by returning the rental trailer. But I stopped for breakfast on the way. It was at a little gas station that serves Mexican food and I had tamales. Delicious! After dropping off the trailer I went into Columbia to check out an estate sale and also visited Big Box. They had a nice bed that I took a picture of and texted it to Liz. She liked it and we will probably buy it, since the price was good. I returned to the house and the AT&T installation guy arrived as I was going inside. He stayed for several hours but eventually got our internet set up. So that is pretty awesome.
I installed more flooring and my dad worked on trim. Then we started installing doors together. I feel like they look pretty good. We probably got half of them done. The rest can’t be done until I finish the floors. After it got too dark to see we went into town for dinner. Back at the house I watched a couple of episodes of Hawaii Five-0 on my phone. It was warm today but rained pretty much all day long. They are calling for thunderstorms tomorrow.
Liz said that they made it up to Michigan without problems. Hopefully it won’t be too cold up there.
Officially homeless.
I slept pretty well last night and allowed myself to stay in bed until almost eight. Then I spent an hour putting down flooring before going and picking up the rental trailer. I drove up to the condo where my dad was waiting and we started loading up. Unfortunately there was two trips worth of stuff. We hauled most of the big furniture then came back for boxes and smaller stuff. There was some rain but never a downpour. We got everything loaded and trash thrown away. Liz, Luke, and her mother headed to Michigan. My dad went home and I stopped at the little Walmart parking lot and read for a couple of hours while waiting for rush hour traffic to clear. I finally got going and was able to unload everything at the storage unit. It was a long and tiring day. I had dinner at McDonald’s and then came back to the farm. I will read for a while before sleeping.