Modern Art

This is our version of art work. Bill could be a Picasso.

You mark each piece of flagstone and the adjacent one with a matching  mark so that when you are laying them in the mortar they go in the right place. No matter how careful you are when you pick the stone up and set aside then pick it back up it isn't facing the right direction. These marks get everything back in place. And everything is lined up so that when we go to do the next portion the spacing is correct.

Porch Getting Closer

When Bill has a minute he gets a little more work done on the porch.

 It is looking so good.

 Wyatt, Sutton and I spent a few minutes sweeping up all the rock shards that have accumulated to start getting the front of the house looking neat and tidy again.

 Of course, Wyatt has to get into spreading the mortar for the rocks.

Bill working on the mortar lines. You need to let the mortar set up a bit and then go back and start cleaning them. We are still needing to do a portion and then wait at least 24 hours to put in the next portion. Everything has to be cured enough for us to step on. Even then you step lightly and use a board to spread your weight evenly over the flagston.

Onto the office

Edmond Rock has sold so we have to get a move on getting the office at the house built.

 First thing to do was to reorganize the Trophy Room. We need to lay out materials and stage what we need in the office.

Wyatt up the ladder to figure out what we need to move out. The office ceiling will be raised two feet so it will be a nine foot ceiling.

 

Wyatt handing down all the metal that the Previous Owner had stored in the upper area.
 This is the ladder I fell off of and landed on my back.

Bill checking out the breaker box and what wires go where.

Living In a Construction World

We brought home the stone we will need to do the stone work on the exterior of the building; if we ever get to that part. So there is now six pallets of rock sitting in front of the West Wing. Plus one in front of the Residence. There are two big projects that need to be done before this work can get started. Sometimes we just get anxious.

 I still think this is the most beautifully unique rock there is.

Cleaning Up the Woods

There was a very large pile of concrete laying in the trees. We thought there were two large pieces and a couple of smaller ones. Oh No! There was an entire truck load of large ones once we started unearthing these babies.
 
 We started moving the top ones and just kept uncovering more and more. Can't tell what they were used for. The bottom appears to be a square with rounded edges. There are strange pipes, holes cut out, and post supports in some of  them.

Off to the concrete recycling plant with this load. We  have one more load to get rid of. Those pieces haven't benn lifted out of the ground yet.

Sad News

I make fun of the Previous Owner a lot because he didn't do things how we would have done them. Of course, ours is the only right way to do things.

I will have to stop making fun of him now. We found out that the guy who built this place has died. He was only 64. He was living in Mexico and came back to Oklahoma to visit his kids. While here he had a massive heart attack and did not survive.. George was a nice guy. We enjoyed all our encounters with him.

We heard through the grapevine that the land he didn't include in our sale was up for sale. He had told us that he wanted to keep a couple of acres in case his kids ever wanted to build on the family land. The kids had told him none of them were interested , but he thought they might change their minds. This explains the sale, the kids aren't interested in building out here.

Long Awaited Day

One stone down, 10-12 more to go. 

We put the first stone down for the front porch. It took an entire cement mixer of mortar to fill under the one rock. It is a very large slab and we are having to build up the front to level the elevation from the door to the front of the porch. A slab is flagstone on steroids. They are bigger in area and usually thicker. We have split the rocks because we need them thin alongside the house. Thin; but as big as we can handle for the look we want. Once they are all put in you won't be able to tell they are thinner than normal. The front ones are nice and thick.

 Pouring more out so we (rather Bill can) push mortar under the stone. A chalk outline of the rock was made first so Bill would know where to pour the mortar..


You can see how thick the mortar is under the stone in this picture. Under the door the mortar is probably 1/3 inch thick and around 3 inches thick at the front.

Working the mortar to get it to stay under the rock.

 Used some small pieces to hold the mortar in place.

To begin with we need to do one stone at a time because they are so large. We can't step on this one until the mortar has cured. The mortar is so thick the curing will take several days. Then we can step on it to lay the rocks on either side. Once the ones against the house are laid the others can be done all at once.

 The black circle you see is the clean out for the septic. Doesn't everyone want that at their front door? We didn't put it there the previous owner did. It will be covered with rock that will be removable.