Compared to yesterday, today was an easy day. It was just the installation of the RV power pole and the running of the electrical lines. Simple, right? Right, simply taking all day to complete these two simple tasks. Last week while the Planner was in big city #1, he gained some insights on how to easily pull electrical wiring through the conduit. This advice did not come the 35+ year master electrician. No, this advice came from a 35+ year…
The holiday season is upon us. Holidays are a time to visit with family, extended family, and friends who are like family. Holidays are that one time a year when differences are put aside and you are grateful to have family and friends to share in the festivities. In the words of the Doubter, “sheeeet”. Yeah right, holidays are about spending money. Money spent on gifts for them, gifts for you. Money spent on food, travel, clothes, decorations, and all…
* This is a short post. Having completed this post and while preparing videos to place inside, the internet went wonky and the post was lost. As in to quote Buzz Lightyear “GONE! ALL GONE!” It was not be found in the web browser history, cache, or in deleted folders. It was just gone. Poof. Two hours worth of work, GONE. So yeah, this is a crappy post and I apologize * Trench, trench, trench….all day long. Once the finesse…
The first Hole to Nowhere was dug because the Planner and the Kid were simply doing what boys do. The second Hole to Nowhere was dug to contain water being pumped out of the well in efforts to produce better tasting water. The third and final hole to nowhere, well it was dug professionally. Crazy huh, even professionals dig holes to nowhere. Living in a small town does have its benefits, sometimes. Last week, after hearing about the well being…
D-day, again. Today for the second roll-off job, it was just the Planner, the Kid, the neighbor kid, and me today. The Doubter had other commitments this weekend. But don’t worry, he called about a dozen times the few days before and a few dozen times over the weekend. It absolutely killed him the roll-off had to wait till Sunday to be removed from the trailer. He just couldn’t understand why it couldn’t be done earlier. It wasn’t like there…
Ahh, the big box stores. There is a love hate relationship from the word go. Love to go, love to roam around, love to feel the possibilities of improvements. Hate to roam around looking for 32 gallon trash can because who knew they are not found in the lawn and garden section, hate the disappointment when only lidded 32 gallon trash cans are available, hate the fact the purchase total is never less than a $100. Building materials are expensive. …
The goal of Boxes in Fields has always been to build conscientious of the surroundings and the environment. Sustainable, to use a cliche. I read somewhere people can be part of a movement and not be on the extreme fringes. For example, moving from a 3500 square foot house to a 2500 sq ft house might seem not seem like much of a sacrifice to the reduction warrior in his 36 sq ft dumpster home conversion, but reducing is reducing….
The Texas Triangle. When Boxes in Fields needs to visit both big city #2 and big city #1 on the same day, the drive makes a triangle on the map. This trip is strongly avoided for it makes for a very long day. From home base to big city #2 where containers are bought is three hours. Big city #2 to big city #1 where loaner machinery and tools are located is another three hours. Big city #1 to home…
Decided to take a break from Boxes In Fields for a road trip to big city #1. In the next coming week, ditches will be dug in preparation for water and electrical lines and the backhoe attached was being borrowed for the tractor. Digging 300 feet of trench 2 feet deep by hand was not an option and it would take more than a day for a rental usage. Rental fees for a days worth of use for a trencher…
Safety, safety, safety. This is something I cannot stress enough. Machines are mean and are NEVER to be trusted. If you don’t believe me, just scroll through the internet one day. Machines break, cut, disembowel, and kill people. Jesh, that sounds so harsh. But the truth is the truth and hiding from the truth only gets you dumb. There, I stated that nicely. When working with machinery the first and most important safety skill to observe every minute of every…
We eat. All of us. If you don’t eat, then you better get to reading, cause you’re not gonna be here long. And boy do we love to eat. Grab some fast food stats and you will be floored at the amount of crap we shove down our gullets. And here’s the kicker, everything that goes in, sooner or later must come out. The average human poops 128 grams per day or about 4.5 ozs. Now I would speculate in…
It seems as though as it is all work and no play and that is just not true. There has been lots of fun times at Boxes in Fields, too. The Yodeling doggo. If we owned ten thousands acres to roam around, doggo would be found day after day at 10,001 acre mark. To keep her from roaming away while working, she is tied to the tree or left in the car, depending upon the heat and length of stay. …
D-Day. It wasn’t good then and I didn’t anticipate it being good today either. The unloading of the first shipping container has been a source of stress for everyone in various levels. Weeeeeell, that might be a stretch. I was stressing it, the Planner’s dad (the Doubter) is helping and he is slightly stressing, so inadvertently it is stressing the Planner. The box has been sitting on the trailer for the last week taunting me. It’s so much taller and…
Last Friday the Planner and the Kid purchased a power pole from an approved seller. An approved seller, what is that you ask? According to the only local power supplier (the company who owns all the power lines) in this area, the power pole must built using pre-approved components to their exact specifications. To our luck, the poles can be bought from an approved seller and installed yourself. The assembled pole comes with the correct electrical meter box for your…
Last week the turbo malfunctioned leaving the truck running off prime. It would drive itself at regular speeds, but could not, would not haul a load. Parts were ordered to replace the worn out turbo, another trip to big city #1 was made and several hours later with the help from the Doubter and a friend or two, the truck was back in one piece. Taking advantage of the situation by being in the big city #1, and after much…
Once again it was house divided. The Planner went to pick up the first shipping container in big city #2 at dark-thirty, the Kid went to grandmas for the day sometime later while still dark-thirty, and I was up at a later dark thirty. Getting up with the darkness does have it benefits. The world is quiet and sunrises. After completing some chores when the world was still dark, I finally went to work just as the first light began…
Back to square three. In the great debacle of attempting to gain drinkable water at Boxes in Fields, the city was contacted in regards to the cost estimate for having city water brought down. Last year when working through the due diligence before buying the land, a utilities request was completed confirming or denying city water, septic, and gas. City water and gas required an extension and city sewer required engineer. From the numerous other properties looked at over the…
Let me start out right now by warning you this post is long and detailed with no pictures. After ten long days of testing and a nine-page report, it was determined by the independent lab, our water was the worst of all waters. It took them nine pages to tell us what we already knew, our water problems were far from over. It took them nine pages to inform us our water contained 6359 mg/l of total dissolved solids. What…
Ah, the waiting place… In the attempts to remain positive while the well water is being tested at an independent lab, a hole is being dug. Yes, another hole. These boys and their holes. Yesh. Why the hole you ask? Well, it’s for the well. The well water that is. For the third time in as many weeks, we will be attempting to flush the well in hopes for better water. This time instead of allowing the water to drain…
When I was little I read a book where the main character went to a museum to visit the last living tree. This book has haunted my memories. I have looked and looked for this book as an adult but have never found it. This book, written at least 40 years ago, is more prevalent today than ever. If the author is alive, I wonder how he views the current state of affairs on the decline of trees. Sure there…
Just when things starting rolling along at Boxes In Fields, everyday life tends to kick you. Went to visit family over the weekend and all was lovely until we were half way home. Driving along it sounded like a stick was stuck under the truck. The sound was made when driving straight, turning to the left or the right, driving slow, or running down the highway. Tires go round and round, round and round and should not wobble side to side. …
Went to look at a trailer today to haul shipping containers and my first thought was “that’s a big un”. I have been dragging trailers around since forever. Well not forever, but close to it. There have been homemade short box trailers, wide construction trailers, farm trailers, dump trailers, goosenecks, several different travel trailers, and tiny little sailboat trailers. Trailers have been hauled in the pouring down rain during rush hour traffic, cross-country on roads not wide enough for cars,…
It that not the most beautiful bottle of water you have ever seen? Look all you want but you can’t have it. In the book The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was the simple line describing life on a boat, “water, water, everywhere , nor any drop to drink”. Sadly, this line still applies in the modern society of the 21st century where too many people do not have access to safe drinking water. Even more sadly is the simple…
I have heard of New York time, Central Standard time, and beach time. Where we live there is such a thing as local time. Locals have a love-hate relationship with what is referred to as “our city’s name-ian” time. This is a small mom and pop county of 20K people. There is no rush hour traffic, no rush to beat peak hours at the one and only grocery store, and there is surely no rush to get work done. In…
The weather has been hot, hot, hot. For some reason, the last two evenings have been slightly cooler making the evenings nice. Taking advantage of the nice weather, we decided to enjoy the weather from the tailgate of our truck at the property. The solitude was wonderful, well more solitude than at the RV park we currently stay. The peace and quiet were exactly what I wanted. Ahhhh. This lasted all of ten minutes before the boys were off doing…
There are things that come with age. Wisdom, knowledge, and maturity. Poor eyesight, decrease in flexibility and range of motion, and weaker immune system. I don’t consider myself young nor am I old. I’m kinda stuck in the middle. Sometimes, no matter the age, it takes experience for one to learn and appreciate wise old sayings. Take for example “Leaves of three”. This statement has been repeated and repeated, year after year by parents, grandparents, outdoor enthusiasts, and other knowledgeable…
After all that work clearing, it became evident moving the Airstream under the trees would not work well. Yes, trees provide shade, buffer street lights and road traffic, and hinder the breeze. Hindering the breeze is not an option. Just because we are moving from the RV park to the property does not mean we are gonna change our living styles. Natural light and fresh air are important to maintain a healthy RV. Too many people in a small space…
A family divided. The kid has camp again this week, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. With the Kid occupied and me am at work, the Planner borrowed the tractor again to piddle at the property during his family free week. Not me, I’d spend my family free time at home in the AC drawing on the house plans. It may not be the dog days of summer but temperatures will still be in the upper 90’s…
Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. The neighbor is letting us use her driveway until ours is built. There is legal access but it is two blocks down a paper street, a never improved road owned by the county. A road laid out when the subdivision was established in the 50’s. This paper road runs where our grass patch grows into the neighbor’s beautiful coastal field. As a way to say thank you for such neighborly pleasantries, we cut…
Bye kid of mine, have fun at grandma’s and at camp. I will see you in 12 days!!! Woo-hoo, what to do with my free time? Oh, that’s right, work. The first week the Kid was gone was the normal 9-5. The second week was when the fun started. I took a week of vacation from work to work. Yup, sort of like a staycation. Only not as relaxing. Up at daylight, work until it was too hot to think….
Is another man’s trash. So many decisions on where to start. Start here, start there, start anywhere. After countless hours trying to decide where to build, it was decided clearing the trash and the underbrush should be the first step. Of course, clearing is easier said than done. Previous owners and years of neglect have turned this land into a rubbish bin. But don’t worry, good money was paid for that rubbish. Hopefully, some of this material can be reused…
I guess you are wondering how we got here to Blocks In Fields. That is a story 20 years in the making. For as long as I can remember I have wanted chickens and a garden. Growing up in a city of a million people, chickens were not gonna happen. At least in my neighborhood. There was a garden but all it every produced was cucumbers, okra, and tomatoes. The dream never went away, it simply was pushed aside for…
Yay, rain! Where we live, one never complains about the rain. Ever. It does not rain enough and we need all we can get when we can get it. Just know it will rain on the one day when you don’t want it to. You know, the day when there is an outside event planned. The wedding with the big fluffy dress, the birthday with the bounce house, the anniversary with the fancy dishes and crystal. Sure, one can make…
There are so many factors affecting the building of a house. City and county ordinances, FEMA, code, neighborhood restrictions, wind, water, sewer, electricity, and most of all the sun and shade. Throughout the building of this house, I am sure there will be other posts dealing with these factors as they arise. It is inevitable. Living in the coastal region means the land is flat, right? Oh, how wrong you would be. The elevation hub came back today from the…
Driving by the property leads one to think about all kinds of sayings, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, “all it needs is time”, or my favorite “one step at a time”. While this is true, there are times when it is hard to see past the curb through the forest. In this case, there is no curb or forest but you get my drift. At times like this, the best way to tackle the forest is simply…
And it starts. Finally. Hopefully. Maybe… For years and years, we’ve wanted a piece of property big enough to have a small garden and some crazy chickens. Before that could happen there was living here, living there, and living everywhere. We tried to live the “what’s expected” life and it failed us. What is the “what’s expected” life? It is the all American lifestyle. Two college degrees living in a 2000 sf home with a two car garage, two kids,…