Feb 29th - Lindale, TX

We drove partway down after church yesterday. We stayed at a nice motel in McAlester, Oklahoma last night; not plush, but nice. Kathy made the reservation and got us a $58 rate, on her phone, while I was driving.
We looked the truck & trailer over this PM. Took the truck for a 15-20 mile test drive. Everything looked good. We had our bank wire the money & hopefully it will show up in Dave's account in Alaska first think tomorrow AM.
We are staying at the hotel at the Youth With a Mission base here in Lindale.The building we worked on while we were here in Dec 2011 looks great. We ate supper there with Ron & Shiela Coombs. I worked in Ron's crew when I was here. We had Christmas dinner with them here in 2011.
Ron has a 2003 GMC Duramax with 324,000 miles on it. It has pulled their 5th wheel trailer back and forth from Alberta, Canada to Lindale, TX many times. I got to pick his brain a little.
Just got an email from Dave saying that the money is in his account. He is putting the titles in the mail tomorrow. Kathy may head back to MO after we pick them up. I'm going to stay at the YWAM base another night and head back to MO Wed AM.

Feb 25th - Bought Truck & Travel Trailer

We are back in the RV'ing family. I finally got a truck and travel trailer bought. I first saw the ad almost 2 months ago and have been discussing it with the guy selling in and the guy in Alaska since then. Sometimes it was 2 weeks between our emails.

The truck is a loaded 2005 GMC 2500HD Duramax with 108,000 miles. Sticker price new was $44,480. It would probably sticker for $57-60,000 today. It has seen very little, if any, snow & salt. I'm not crazy about a white truck but there sure are a lot of them out there.

The trailer is a 2012 Crossroads Zinger. It is 27-28' long and has a single slide.

The guy who owns the truck and trailer lives/works in Alaska. He bought the setup used from an RV'er whose health was to bad to continue traveling. He goes to Texas for rest and relaxation. He has only found time take a couple of trips with the truck and trailer and decided he wasn't using them enough to justify the expense. He kept then under cover. Kirk, his neighbor in TX, is acting as the salesman. I've read Kirk's post on RV websites for many years. He seems like a great guy. I look forward to meeting him. He lives only a few miles from the Youth With a Mission base where we volunteering in Dec 2011. He volunteers at a couple of other local ministries we toured when we were down there.

Tom and I went into town and picked up our last kitchen cabinet today. I have all the cabinets, except the sink base, temporarily set in place. Doesn't seem like I did much today but I sure am tired this evening. Kathy is already down to Tom & Mary Lou's and I'm going down for supper in awhile.

We are both driving back to MO tomorrow, taking both our vehicles back to MO. I want to sell my Dodge truck in MO, rather than trying to sell it while I am in TN. The plan is to drive to TX next Monday. On Tuesday we will make a final inspection of the truck and trailer, wire the money to AK and head back to MO with them. Later that week, or over the weekend, I plan on coming back to TN.

God is good.

Feb 24th - Floor Scrubbing

Yesterday PM I borrowed one of Tom's trailers and picked up a floor scrubber that I had reserved when I was in town in the AM (I was in town early enough to have breakfast at Sisters). The rental price gives you the half day rental price if you rent it overnight.

I had scraped off as much of the drywall mud as possible and swept the floor but there was still quite a bit of it stuck to the floor. I spent several hours running the scrubber around the floor, over and over. It did a pretty good job. It weighs around 300#. I was glad Tom's trailer had a tilt feature.

I took it back early this morning and then had breakfast at Sisters. <grin> After I got home I mopped the floors just to make sure they were as clean as I could get them. I want to seal the concrete again but I'm going to wait until I come back to TN the next time.

Kathy spent most of the day down with her Dad. Tom and Mary Lou had things they needed to do in town. She has to be back down there at 7:30 AM so that they can do some other things they have scheduled. It gives the a break and she gets to spend some time with her Dad, although he sleeps almost the entire time she is there.

It started snowing here this afternoon. It is very light. The forecast is that we might get an inch or two by tomorrow AM.

I hope you all had, or are having, a great day. God is good.

Feb 22nd - Not Much Progress to Report

I went to Cumberland Fellowship Sunday morning. Kathy stayed with her Dad so that Tom & Mary Lou could go to church together. Wendy had stayed overnight and was also there to help with Merv, if necessary. I took the afternoon off.

This morning we went to Crossville. We had breakfast at Sister's Café, I love that place. I had 2 eggs, country ham, biscuits & gravy & coffee. Kathy had 2 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, toast & water. With tax the bill was $10.98. We stopped by Habitat's Re-Store to see if they had a light bar for above our medicine cabinet but struck out. Kathy hit "Ugo", the discount grocery store & Krogers. I went to Cash Home and ordered our last kitchen cabinet. It is the one I wasn't sure would fit. I'm not going to do the countertop cutouts for the sink & drop in range until I have the cabinet in place. Things are just to tight. I want to be know exactly how things will be positioned before doing the cutouts.

I ran another tank full of gas through the chainsaw, opening up our "view". I thought it would be good after cutting down maybe 5 more small trees. I probably cut down 30 of them ranging in size from 1" diameter to 3" diameter and still don't have enough cut down. I have to go further down the slope out away from the cabin. I also need to "man up" and cut down 3 larger trees (2 maybe 4" in diameter and 1 about 10" in diameter) that are midway down the slope. I hate cutting down the larger, non-pine trees. They are large enough for firewood but I'm not sure how to get a tractor down there to get the wood out. I could get down there with my Kubota but I think Tom's Allis might be to big. I need to measure the out/out of his tires to make sure it will fit between all the trees.

The spiders were out running around in the leaves. I didn't spray myself with Deet before going out and was concerned that I might have gotten into some ticks but apparently not. After cutting the trees I took a shower, had a late lunch and took a wonderful nap.

This evening we went to Tom & Mary Lou's for supper. I think Kathy cooked (I was napping <grin>). We had a good visit again.

It is drizzling rain this evening and supposed to rain tomorrow. Its supposed to rain tomorrow & Wednesday and then there is a 40% chance of light snow on Thursday. Temperatures are warm. Mid 50's for highs and mid 40's for lows.

All in all it was a good day. God is good.

Feb 20th - Work Progresses

Saturday was cloudy and misted rain a few times. I wasn't out much. Activities included: burning some cardboard boxes and some limbs that had fallen out of trees, scraping the spilled/dropped drywall mud off the floor, replacing the air filters for the 2 cold air intakes in the area that was mudded, reinstalling the cold air return grilles, installing (for the first time, progress, yah) grilles on the 2 heating/cooling ducts in the finished area, reinstalling the face plates on the switches and outlets, installing the trim on the LR side of the bathroom door, moving kitchen base cabinets into their "permanent" location & temporarily setting up the large section of countertop.

In addition to assisting me where needed Kathy finished painting the corners & edges, as well as going to Tom & Mary Lou's several times to spend some time with her Dad.

This is generally the final kitchen layout. The sink base couldn't be pushed back against the wall because the temporary drain piping is still in place (not willing to "burn that bridge" yet), There will be a 24" drawer unit, at the end of the cabinet that faces into the LR. It will face back into the kitchen. It is currently temporarily located on the far side of the range. I still need to buy another 30" cabinet for that location. (I didn't buy it earlier because I wasn't positive it would fit.  The countertop is shimmed so that it spans over the top of the range. I put it up to do a trial "fit", and get an better perspective on the counter cut outs for the drop in sink and drop in range. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to build the base for the $75 range we bought at the Habitat Re-Store.

We went to Tom & Mary Lou's for supper. Wendy, their daughter, was there. It was good to see her, we had not seen her for quite some time. Supper was great chicken & noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, cole slaw and great company.

I think Sunday will be a day of rest. I was tired at the end of Saturday. Came home for Tom & Mary Lou's, took a shower and was in been by 8 PM. Slept for 5.5 hours and got up for awhile. I'm sure a nap will be in order this afternoon, maybe during the NASCAR race.

God is good!

Feb 19th = More Progress

We finish painted the ceiling and walls today and trimmed the ceiling. We still need to trim the walls. I'm sure I missed some areas on the ceiling. It was late in the afternoon when I finished and getting dark enough that it was difficult to see how well I was getting the primer covered.

The trim painter.

The future bedroom is currently my "shop".

I need to get a storage building built so I have a place to move all my stuff. Another good day.

Feb 18th - Walls Primed

It was nice here today. Sunny with a high in the mid 50's. I only managed to get the wall primed today. The finish coat on the ceiling will have to wait until tomorrow. Kathy and I went into town. I bought a scraper to scrap the junk off the floor and she bought some groceries. We had a nice lunch a the Chinese buffet.

Looking  towards the road at the kitchen, bath and door into the bedroom.

Looking at the Living Room. (I borrowed the stainless steel sink from Tom & Mary Lou's campground a few months ago so that I could have a functional temporary kitchen.)

I was asked what the "cabin" floor plan looked like. The image below is old and doesn't show the most of the windows nor the 2nd door.

Below is a Google satellite image with our property lines superimposed in red. The cabin is to small to see. it is tucked in the top left corner, at the beginning of the curve in Allen Burgess Road. The long property line is a little over 4000 feet. You may be able to make out Tom & Mary Lou's lake along the left side of the image. Their home is on the shore of their lake.

Feb 17th - Ceiling Primed!

No rain today. Nor ice. Hooray. Monday morning we had some ice. This is our little (at least 6' tall now) volunteer white pine in the front yard. It survived the big ice storm last year. We didn't have nearly as much ice this time but it sure did stress this little pine. 

Kathy arrived last night. The most important thing she brought with her was a Valentine Lydia made for me.

Tim did the final sanding this morning. The outfit has a rotary sanding head in a vacuum pickup to minimize dust. It worked well. He dumped the dust from the vacuum into a cardboard box. There was quite a bit of it. I told him I would burn the cardboard boxes so that he didn't have to haul them home. Later, when I picked up the box with the dust, I picked it up by the tab on it. The tab tore and I dropped the box. It didn't tip over but I sure had a lot of drywall dust on me and the floor.

Kathy sat with Merv this morning so that Tom & Mary Lou could get a break. After  finished cleaning up the drywall dust I spilled I took down the "dust curtain". In the afternoon we primed the ceiling.

The plan for tomorrow is to prime the wall and maybe finish paint the ceiling. It will depend on how my neck and shoulders handled todays painting.

 

In case you don't see photos Kelsey posts on Facebook. Nolan is getting ready to head across the floor, but maybe not for a few more days.

 After sending Lydia the photo of me with her Valentine she gave me a thumbs up. She had been working with a red marker.

God is good.

Feb 13 - Still in TN

Two drywall guys came Friday and made another pass mudding. Tim said he will do another 2 passes mudding and then do the sanding to ensure the surface is ready for a "slick" finish, which is paint. Hopefully by Wednesday I can start prime painting the drywall.

Todays tasks consisted of doing a load of laundry and then clearing some brush. I ran a tank of gas through my brush cutting weed eater and a tank of gas through the chain saw. My goal is to get a view of the hills south of us.

As you can see in the photos our recent 4.5-5" of snow has almost all melted, or evaporated. The highest temperature I saw today was 28. In the woods wasn't bad but standing out at the end of the driveway, in the wind, and visiting with Delmar Burgess, a neighbor, was quite brisk.

I took the photos looking through our picture window. It is difficult to even see any difference in the photos.

This is the before photo. You can see the hills in the background, the dark area. I'm not sure how far away they are. I need to get out a topographic map and check.

The photo below was taken about 5 PM. You can see some color from the sun going down, even though the photo is taken looking southwest. Note the arrow pointing down. The "aisle" I'm clearing is between these 2 trees. Sadly I ran out of gas when I think cutting down about 5 more trees would have made a world of difference. (All I'm cutting down is scrub. I think the largest non-pine tree that I cut down was maybe 2.5" in diameter. I did cut down some Virginia Pine that was larger. The Area Forester told me I needed to cut all of it down because it is a nuisance.) I was tired enough, and it was late enough, that walking back to the cabin, filling the saw with gas, then walking back and cutting the remaining trees wasn't going to happen. Depending on the weather I may get back down there tomorrow afternoon.

In the future I may also widen the aisle for a better view, but that won't happen for awhile.

It was a great day in the neighborhood. PTL.

Feb 10th Progress Photos

I put up "dust curtains this morning to minimize the amount of dust getting into the bedroom areas once the sanding starts.

Tim Barnes, the guy who is taping the drywall for us, came this afternoon. He mudded all the seams and corners. He is coming back tomorrow evening to make the 2nd pass. Not sure if he will be back Friday to make the 3rd pass.

The total snowfall was 4-5" at our place. Overnight low was 15. The highest temp I saw today was 18, WeatherBug app says the high was 20..

Feb 9th - Brrh!! Cold in TN

I'm back in TN. Drove back Sunday. Kathy and I had been here for several days last week, drove here Mon, Feb 1st and back to MO on Fri, Feb 5th.

Our TN "cabinet", as Lydia, our great-granddaughter calls it.

 

Our view. Our property line is nearly 4,000' from the window. I plan on thinning out some of the trees so that we can see the "mountains" in the distance.



Things are a little more of a mess, and certainly more disorganized than usual. In preparation for having a guy tape the drywall in the kitchen and living room I've moved most stuff into the bedroom areas. I unhooked the temporary sink, just moved it away from the wall. I also left the refrigerator in the kitchen, just moved it away from the wall. Both the walls and ceiling are to be taped. I will put plastic up, over the door opening to the bedroom, before he starts sanding.

 I will also put plastic up across the opening to the future bedroom. No need to "wall it off" before he is ready to start sanding.

Once the taping is finished I will put a coat of primer on the drywall and maybe a finish coat of paint behind the area where the kitchen cabinets will go. Probably should put a finish coat on all of it before moving stuff back. After things are moved back I can proceed with putting up the remaining drywall, as I feel like it, and eventually get the guy back to tape the remainder. I'm considering building/buying a storage building (12'x16'?) so that I can move some tools & materials into it before installing the remaining drywall. It would be nice not to have to work around a push lawn mower, weed eater, gas can, 2 cycle gas can, shovel, rakes, extra plumbing fixtures, extra electrical supplies, left over shingles, left over siding, etc. I'm getting tired of moving them from one area to another as I work.

It started snowing about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. The snowfall is light and sporadic but we probably have 2.5" this morning. Forecast is to have another inch or two by tomorrow morning.

 

 

It is 20 degrees here now with the high forecast to be 26 today and 21 tomorrow. Overnight low is supposed to be 13 tonight and 11 tomorrow night. That is COLD for TN.

 

Even with the disorganization, furniture moving and snow I'm not "roughing it." Breakfast yesterday was eggs, side pork, hash browns, "hootch" ( homemade V8, but MUCH better), toast & coffee.