What a better way to start a week than with the purchase of a home. Our home to be exact. These two one trip conex boxes are now ours. They are not actually at our property yet but they have been purchased and are being stored in Big City #2 until September or so. It is just too damned hot to work on footings for box placement. Not that September is brisk or anything, it is just not full on Texas summer heat.
The Planner spent the mornings this week installing and welding in the inner beam. Really it was one 8"x1/4"x10' flat stock and one 8"x1/4"x20' flat stock. Some crafty tools had to be developed since there was no assistance in lifting this. Once the flat stock was in place, the process was simple. Tack, move, tack, move. Weld, move, weld, move. Simple, tiring, hot.
Once the inner beam was welding into place, the side beams were completed too. First, the two boxes were sealed together with caulk. Yes, the same caulk that just had to be replaced on the rainstream last week. Not that is has been replaced or anything. What I should have said was "determined to be replaced on the rainstream last week". After the caulk dried, a flat stock was welded adjoining the two separate into one.
In between rain showers, the driveway was given some tweaking. This time around, more dirt was removed and placed for use elsewhere. Something about moving dirt around makes boys go crazy.
The Kid with his hot wheels, the Planner and the Worrier with the tractors, and all those professionals with industrial sized machinery who move mountains for a living.
On Thursday it rained, yet again. I understand and know South Texas is experiencing its rainy season and I am not complaining, really. It is just the amount of rain is making progress slow. At least the grass is still green in June. Like I said, I am not complaining. Just making an observation.
See how quickly the water recedes? This is not even 24 hours after the previous picture. Guess moving dirt is working. Way to go Planner.
Sunday was spent doing general around the yard clean up. With all the rain, the pokey grass (yes that is the correct name if you live at Plan473) has grown close to 2" tall. The path to the little peepers is knee high. Since we don't own, nor do we wish to own a lawnmower, the weeds were cut down with a weed eater. It really is all the tooling needed.
And I love to use the weed eater. It is the best. Ok, maybe the backpack blower. That is a great tool too. Oh, and for the love of everything holy, let's not forget the chainsaw. I really, really love my chainsaw. Chainsaws. I own three. No! The Planner does not own a chainsaw. I own them. Get that straight. The chainsaws are mine, mine, mine. You can blame my daddy. He was given a girl and raised a boy. Oh well, works for me. Nothing like the smell of two-stroke. Ahh....
I digress. To finish trimming, new line was needed. Before new line could be installed it had to be untangled. It moved from Ashville, NC to the truck tool box to the conex box for storage and somewhere along the way was broken from its wheel. Once unrolled it was rerolled onto a repurposed electrical wheel. This was not an easy task as the trim line has a natural coil to it and it kept twisting on itself. It took all three of us to complete this job.
Having just purchased this trimmer I have never had to refill the trim head. Let me tell you, this new redesigned, fandancy head is the cat's meow. No more removing the head and twisting 20' of line. No more holding in place while attempting to feed through the line hole. No more twisted mess as the head is dropped and the line unravels in cartoon fashion. Nope. None of that anymore. The genius who invented this new trim head should receive the Noble Peace Prize. With this new head, the line is pushed through to the middle and twisted into place. Ta-da! That's it. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. FREAKING FANTASTIC. UTTERLY UNBELIEVABLE.
After this epic moment of wonderness, I continued on with the weeds and the Planner continued on with his dirt movement. Just look at this dirt too. Don't forget we live in the coastal bend where the salt and the sand blow in the wind.
This dirt is as black as black can be. There is not a trace of sand or clay. Make me wonder what was here in this 1.5 acres before man can remember. Farmed fields? Forests? Something other than sand that' for sure.
This dirt is the dirt of many moons before. When man walked and large cats roamed. Or maybe this dirt was brought in many years ago for a project and was forgotten about. Whatever the case, it is mine now and we are going to use it wisely. Such a find should not be wasted.
In places where the sun does not shine directly, water still stands. For example under the shop. The wet mud draws hot dogs. The dog will do as dogs do and dig a hole. The Kid will find the hole and dig some more. The hole will then fill with water the next time it rains giving a home to blood sucking, biting vampires. So the Kid was told to fill the holes. Guess the use of a 12x12 timber was needed. Whatever, the job was done with only the minimal use of complaints.
After all the dirt that could be moved was moved, the Planner relocated the remaining rocks from the footing project. They used to be located at the end of the shop making entrance rocky. Now they are located in front of the trailers making quick access when the footing project begins in a few months.
The Planner was "working" on the tractor and I was working on matching the color of my shirt. I almost succeeded too. Hole-E-Crap. It was a hot, hot day. Uh huh, I know, you don't have to tell me. It is June in Texas. What you don't seem to understand is the weather has been crazy this year. Ice in January. 90degree days in February. Easter freezers. 35mph spring winds. The list goes on and on.....
Today wasn't really that hot as it was humid. 89 degrees at 3:27 pm in June in nothing. But add in the humidity and the lack of wind and good grief get me a pool. Conex pool. Am loving the sound more and more.
What is even more hard to accept is just last week it was down right chilly. So yeah, that is how the week went. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.
Oh, and in case you were coming to get the rooster you are too late. After weeks and weeks of trying to get him to leave, I have officially adopted him. Of course, he got the bottom of the feed bag powder, but I adopted him all the same. Now if I could just get him to move his night perch from the tree behind my window to one of the other 75 trees would be even better.
In closing to this wacky week, I leave you with this. The Kid's freaky toes. Whoever said humans were kin to monkeys was right. It kinda explains a lot about his personality too!