Rock Around the Clock

We have had 130 tons of red rock delivered so far for our retaining wall behind the garage. Ordered another 50 tons today. That may be all we need, maybe. This wall is huge!

 Ordering rocks this big you don't get many in a semi truck but it takes a lot of weight to hold back the amount of dirt and water we will have pushing against the retaining wall. Luckily they take up a lot of space in the wall.

It's a good thing we own a rock yard so we get the best price ever on our rock.

No Parking

We don't plan on parking in the third bedroom forever. The dirt is starting to be moved for the garage. When the guys moved the storm shelter they also cut into the hill for us to have a place to back the cars out of the garage.Planning for the future, the dirt guys said how much turn around was code and we added 15 feet just in case in our old age we can't make the turn.

Lots & lots of red sandstone. Or so we thought. Phooey, it was just compressed red sandy dirt. We felt really strong since we could break it into pieces ourselves.

They just kept cutting farther and farther back into the hill. Look really close to the middle of the wall and you can see Wilson from the Tom Hanks movie. I thought I had a close up of it but can't find the picture.

We'll Keep the Lights On

As long as the rain stays away, the concrete for the garage should be poured the end of this week.  So we need to finish preparing the site for this. The storm shelter has been moved, the drive and turn around has been cut into the back hill, the retaining wall should be finished by Wednesday. All that was left was to turn off the power to the house, take the outside power connection make it super water proof and get it buried underground. Why it was done the way it was done who knows, but it worked just fine.

So we go to the breaker box located on the electric meter post. We flip the breaker marked "House" to the off position. Bill tests it at the breaker and there is no power. Now to spend 30-45 minutes and get one more thing off the check list. He goes into the not as of yet built house to start splicing wire and just before he touches the 200 amp electric wire it hits him. He is still seeing this:

All the lights are still on in the building. Now the power is off at the box, the breaker tested no power, so how are the lights still on? So glad he was doing this on a gloomy day and the lights were on or this would no longer be a post about another quirk I could easily be posting his obituary. 

Bill looked at the circuit breaker and scratched his head, I looked at the circuit breaker and scratched my head. Finally figured out the the breaker wasn't connected to anything. It and it's wires were just there. It appeared to us that they had wired the house directly into the meter, and that we can't touch. 

So we called Hamilton Electric and they came out on their way home in the dark and looked it over with the aid of the pick up's headlights. They scratched their heads and agreed with us that the house was hardwired to the meter. Legal and safe just unusual and it means you can't turn off the power. OG&E has been called to come unlock the meter so we can get the electric lines taken care of.

Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend

Every woman loves a big rock, some like the ones on their fingers and sparkle and some are like me and like the kind that go in the ground. Off the apartment is a wonderful covered patio. The only problem was that the step down was about 12 inches. Too far to just step down and way too far for me to step up.

We were taking the mower and fire pit out  to the property so we figured we should go ahead and load a stone step on the truck also. We wanted a natural boulder look not one of our sawn steps. Bill said "Don't worry I have seen the perfect rock." I said, "But I have seen the rock that should work." Okay let's get on Artie (our electric golf cart we were letting the rock yard use) and go see these rocks. Lo and Behold as Bill pulled up to his perfect rock it was my perfect rock. Great minds sometimes work alike.

It is perfect; higher in the front for where the ground falls away and the step is level without any dirt work needing to be done.. Divides that big step into ones even the grand kids have no trouble with.

You Can't Fight Gravity

This is part of the heating and air system. It is in the attic and is laying on its side. We all have one of these (if you are not electric heat). We all know that it has a pan to catch condensation and a pipe to remove it from the pan. This system was invented so you do not have floods in your house. You just have to remember one thing. Water runs downhill, it will not run up hill. The drain pipe was run at an upward slant so all the condensation was sitting in the pan and believe me it was super gross water. We got the pipe fixed by cutting a large hole in the side of the building while thanking the powers that be that it is a metal building and not brick or rock and slanted the pipe downhill. We then find that another  vent pipe that is suppose to be at a gentle curve is at a 90 degree angle and so the furnace will not work efficiently. How can you live in a place for 7 years and not notice these things?

We are so glad that our dear friend Chuck who is Season Control and jumps right on our questions.

Furnace works well now, water flows downhill and all is right in the HVAC world once again.

Laundromat Smith Style

The laundry in the apartment was set up for a stackable washer and dryer. We have a perfectly good set of non stackables and just couldn't bring myself to buy something I would only use for maybe a year and then go back to using what we already have. Once again my husband does everything he can to make me happy and his wallet even happier.

He cut a hole in the wall to get the dryer into another spot so the washer and dryer are 90 degree angled to each other. The dryer vent runs up and at a diagonal to vent out. And he had to splice the power cord to reach an outlet.The previous owner had it set up so you use an extension cord for the washer through a hole in the wall to the outlet behind the fridge. It is a gerry rigged laundry room but it works, it works well, and I saved a whole bunch of money.

Buffalo Hill That's Where We Live

Bill is a big game hunter and it has taken us to some incredible places around the world. One of my favorite hunts was in northern Colorado and was for American Bison. We went the weekend of Thanksgiving 13 years ago. I told the outfitter that I wanted to hunt like the Indians did. On foot stalking with a dusting of snow on the backs of the buffalo. They told me that Thanksgiving was a few weeks early for snow so not to hold my breath. We woke up the morning of our hunt and it had snowed overnight. It was a glorious day and Bill got an old guy who was probably in his last winter and everyone we know enjoyed his meat for a year. The next week my friend, Pat, told me that Statuary World had big silver buffalo on their yard. Called them and bought one for Bill's Christmas. Took it to an Auto Paint Shop they painted it car primer color which just happens to be the right color and I took black auto paint and painted all the highlights to have look as natural as possible. Bill had one of the best Christmas gifts ever. We love our Bison.

We had the movers just drop the Bison when they moved him to the property. We wanted to find just the right spot. First thought was down in the meadow and decided that the teenagers around might think buffalo tipping would be great sport. We decided to put him on the top of the pond dam overlooking everything. We'll see if he survives hunting season with no one taking a pot shot at him.

But first we had to get him there. He doesn't weigh much but he is a full size American Bison.

 Bill's new Bad Boy lawn mower got its first non mowing job. Hooked our little trailer up to it, laid a couple of blankets down to protect our Bison. And took him to his new home.

Isn't he incredible!!!!