Saturday, December 7, 2019

A Week of Firsts!

Last week of course was our first Thanksgiving at the J-B, now this week we had several more firsts. Our most surprising was our first Christmas card received at our South Dakota address! We have not received a Christmas card in years so when we got the mail this past Tuesday we were thrilled to have gotten a Christmas card from our good friends and neighbors Jim and Brenda who are wintering in Florida this winter. Thanks guys!
Rather than go into detail about our next first I will just post this picture…..
Our first fire! Actually, we had our 2nd, 3rd and 4th fires as well but the first fire was a very special moment. 

After having it set in place late last week we were anxious to actually get it operational. The biggest challenge to accomplishing this goal was punching the 10” pipe through the roof. Scary! But fear not, we have Kevin here! We started it late one afternoon. We put the firerock in place, stacked the pipe from the fireplace up and punched a hole through the vapor barrier and insulation. This is where we received our first stroke of good luck. The pipe went directly between two trusses so there was no need for an offset or any other adjustments. The next step was to install the insulation shield which is quite a bit bigger than the actual pipe and offers air space between the pipe and the insulation or anything else that might come close to the pipe. Once that was done, Barb lifted Kevin up to the roof with the basket on the skidsteer. Good news/bad news up there. The bad news was that the roof was covered with about 2"'s of ice and snow. The good news was that the penetration point was only about 3’ up the edge of the roof. So for that day we just cleared off as much snow and ice as we could and called it a day. The next afternoon we went back up there and as we had hoped the sun had cleared off any remnants of ice on the area we had cleared. Kevin laid down a section of rubber-backed carpet, jumped up on roof and started cutting. An hour later we had the pipe through the roof and we were ready for our first fire!
Next step, build the frame up to the ceiling
Another first was the first time (and hopefully the last) I was in our cistern. For the past year or two our cistern pump was temporarily hooked up to an outlet out by the RV parking area. But over the past couple weeks I had been building the parts around the pressure tank showing our neighbor Doug (who is a licensed plumber) how I was building it. 
Ready for water!
Once that was done it was time for me to jump down into the cistern and hook the well pump into the pipe going underground into the house and eventually into the pressure tank. I had been waiting until the cistern was almost empty as I did not feel like jumping in a 2500 gallon tank that was half full!

I wrapped the legs of our ladder in clean plastic, put on my waders and scrubbed them with a water/bleach solution and was ready to head down into the depths of the cistern! One problem. I did not fit! Between the ladder and me donned in waders there was not enough room to get my fat @ss down the hole. After thinking about it for a few minutes I came up with the perfect solution and pulled the ranger up as close to the hole as I could, made a loop with the winch rope stuck my foot, through it and had Barb lower me down into the cistern Batman style! It worked like a charm. The only problem is that Barb was thinking of putting the lid back on and having me "take a timeout". Luckily she could not lift the concrete lid and the only thing I had to worry about is whether she was going to lift me back up. She must love me as she brought be back up and a few minutes later we had water in the house! We had a few drips on some of the connections around the pressure tank. It started out with about 8 areas that were dripping, but one by one I eliminated each one. 
Down I go!

Help me!

Barb thinking of putting the cover back on!
Speaking of Doug our neighbor, he has spent two days over here running water lines and sewer pipes. He has the entire upstairs bathroom plumbing done and just need the waterlines tied off up there and we will have an operational bathroom! No sheetrock on the walls, but it will be operational. It is called an open concept bathroom.

With less than two weeks left we have a checklist of things we would like to get done before we leave. Most of it is around finishing off walls as we hope to have a sheetrocker come in while we are down south. I needed to do the ½ wall in the bathroom...….
1/2 Wall in the downstairs bathroom
The ½ wall for the dog wash. This wall also serves as the water supply and drain area for the washing machine as well. 
Before

Still need add a stud and run waterlines 
 Soffits around the boiler venting and plumbing pipes.
Soffited and ready for sheetrock


And last but not least finish the closet in the upstairs bedroom.
Bedroom closet, done!
We just need to finish the rest of the waterlines and we will be ready for sheetrock!

The turkeys and deer visit us daily. In fact it has gotten so the turkeys don't leave at all spending most of their day under the birdfeeder waiting for the other birds to drop seeds down to them. 


In the meantime we have also been busy getting ready to leave. High on our list is emptying as much as we can out of the 5th wheel so it is ready to sell once we get down to Arizona. Here is a link to our ad if you know anyone who might be interested.

We have not picked a departure date yet, it depends on when we get everything done here and are all packed up. We are thinking by the 16th at the latest. Looking forward to the warmer weather and happy hours with our Quartzsite friends!

34 comments:

  1. Did you lock out the electrical box and take the key with you into the cistern? Barb knows there’s more than one way to fry a turkey!

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    1. Did not think of the whole electrical thing, luckily neither did she!

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  2. Great job getting so much done. Good thing you are not claustrophobic going into that hole. Another good "red-neck" DIY solution. Looking forward to seeing you both in Q at the end of December.

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  3. Congrats on ticking off that list, but more important is the good job you did staying on Barb's good side! Enjoy Q and we'll just have to see you when we see you!

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    1. It is going to be weird not seeing you guys for so long. As a matter of fact, it has already been too long. Hopefully Washington works out in the spring and we will see you there!

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  4. Can't imagine going into that hole, glad Barb saw fit to bring you back out. I get worn out every time I read your posts, you guys are making such great progress. I imagine you're ready for a break.

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    1. We are worn out but it is also invigorating making progress, but you are right, we are ready for a break.

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  5. Wow...that’s a tight fit but a great solution to your problem! So nice having all that wildlife around...they’re going to starve when you leave. Looking forward to sharing a few happy hours in Q!

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    1. I know, we already talked about that. We wake up every morning to the mule deer staring in the windows looking for breakfast.

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  6. If you want a really open concept bathroom, put in two toilets. Maybe we can meet you in Q sometime.

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    1. Gee, we never thought of that! Worry not, we will be in Q before you know it. The real question is whether there will be any beer left in the county!

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  7. Your home is really coming together! Bet it's going to be hard to leave it in a few weeks! Love, Love the fireplace!! Watching you in that hole gives me the heebee jeeebees!!

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    1. I am not a fan of tight enclosed spaces but this one was not too bad.

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  8. It all takes time but your house is slowly coming together. Don't rush or you might have to cut a wall open to fix a mistake.
    Good Luck selling your Fifth Wheel. We are already missing not being in Quartzsite.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. Don't even say that! Actually, we have gone back a couple times and tweaked things we did not like with the electrical. It is a pain but better to do it now!

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  9. You are a brave man. She might have left you down there for a few days! She's a good woman to haul you back up.
    Glad you're getting things finished up before heading south. It will be nice to come home and have the sheetrock up and ready to move forward. Things will go quickly from that point.
    That is a lot of turkeys!

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    1. I really hope it works out that we can come back to the sheetrock being all done. We would just move right into the bedroom and have a functioning bathroom. Does it get any better than that!?!?

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  10. Coming right along! Too claustrophobic for me in that cistern! Your brave. Love the wildlife. I hope all you fun kids will still be there when we get there!

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    1. I am claustrophobic too but this was not too bad. I can do caves but really do not like tight places.

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  11. You two are amazing! I really enjoy watching the progress. That drop into the cistern really gave me the creeps. My claustrophobia really had my heart in my throat looking at those photos. John said he loved Barb's sinister grin as she looked down at you. Awesome wildlife!!

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    1. She was laughing and joking that she should just leave me down there but then said she probably could not drink the water after a couple of days!

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  12. If the sheetrock were already up you might not even want to leave. You got a great looking house even now, but I bet you are both ready to head to Q for some fun and then get anxious to head home to continue on the house. Wishing you success in selling your rig. It looks really nice and there must be someone wanting it.

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    1. Thanks, we hope it sells down there but if it doesn't we will just bring it back and see what we can do up here.

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  13. Yikes, no way I could go into that cistern. Good for you. It obviously worked out for you. Good job on the plumbing.
    Hope the weather holds for your trip south.

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    1. We have been watching the extended forecast for our travel route, so far so good!

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  14. I like "Barb's" deer on the wall with the Santa hat on top of its head...

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    1. Oh yeah, she decorates them every year with hats and sometime bulbs hanging from their antlers!

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  15. Your first fire would be an exciting event! And I get sick just looking at that picture of you in the cistern … there is not way you would get me in that tight space, but sure glad Barb didn’t put the lid on you, I can see how that might be tempting ☺

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    1. It was a big milestone, one we did not anticipate hitting this year but are sure glad we did!

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  16. What a great week of firsts ! So good getting the fireplace in and making heat. You really are giving it holy um heck....
    Unbelievable that you can feed those deer like that, they are usually so skittish. After 30+ years in the oil patch and doing vessel entries your entry into the cistern gave me goosebumps. Good thing you had a safety watch up top lol.

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    1. Some safety watch, I am lucky that I am not still down there!

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  17. Wow, that cistern looks tight. I am not sure if I could do that. Your progress looks outstanding!

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