Homestead Update – Concrete and Timber at the Big Muddy Rock

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Hello, dear readers! I figured I’d take a break from all the diaper talk to give you an update on the property (which Anthony has named Big Muddy Rock). We’re continuing to use the winter months to save up our pennies for the big build in the spring and summer. Not that we haven’t gotten out to the property, of course. You just can’t depend on our fickle weather to make up its mind during the winter to reliably pour concrete.

In between snow squalls we’ve had some pretty decent, sunny, warmish days. We used one of them to have our go-to guy, Bill, come out and cut down this ridiculous dead tree that would otherwise fall on where our house is going to be sitting. Check this bad boy out:

Now don’t get me wrong, we’ve been cutting down our fair share of trees — maybe 20+ at this point — in an effort to get enough cordwood for our walls. But those are cedars that are maybe 1/4 the size of this giant murder tree. I mean, look at it! We wanted to call in someone who knows what to do with trees this size and soups up his chainsaws to do it. Bill was definitely the man for the job. I wish the video truly captured how loud and awesome it was to see it come down.  Here’s the video to delight your inner child!

 

Anthony liked standing on top of the stump.  It’s huge!  I keep forgetting to count the rings, but it’s approximately “really freakin’ old”.

 

So that was around New Year’s Day.  Fast forward a bit through a few snows and melts. We met up with the guys who are going to be doing our concrete work to see what needs to be done in order to pour the piers and slab.  Got the quote back from that just yesterday and their cost is very reasonable considering what most people pay for the same, but it did drive home the point that we really need to be on top of our budget game. Thank goodness for the sharing and collaborative abilities of Google Sheets! WHEN we can get started on the concrete depends on the weather and getting the ground to dry out enough to drive a concrete truck on it, so it’ll still be some time later in the spring heading towards summer before it gets started (unless El Nino has other plans to dry out the land!)

We’ve also taken some good hikes on the property! Anthony found some “train” tracks (aka deer tracks)…

 

Pretended to be airplanes going up the driveway…

 

And after a long hike, it’s always fun to play with the LED lights in the shed.  Mark bought a little kit on Amazon for the MicroSolar Li Battery with 2 LED lights and USB charger for a whopping $70 with Prime shipping. The lights are seriously bright, the pull strings are toddler resistant, and the USB charger works to quickly charge a phone or two. Super helpful when we’re out late working or playing!

 

So that’s what’s been going on out at Big Muddy Rock!  Thanks for checking in on our progress!