Phase... Let's call this 15

I have been working on this house for four months now. Here is the latest:

I even have the sink resting in place (sans plumbing, that is today's project). Honestly I am quite excited about it. It is really good learning and knowing that I can do more than just take things apart. Now I know that I can put them back together again, to some degree at least.

Lately I have been working on the house and schoolwork. I have to get the school work done this week. So that is primary focus for now. A few weeks ago, I did do my first big job on the sawmill. I was able to log and cut up a big cedar that had fallen/broken down. A bit of a project and a learning experience at that. But it went very well. I loved it.

I am so looking forward to getting this house done, so that I can mill more often.

Latest Happenings - My how time flies

I am really noticing lately how time flies when you stay busy. I feel like I have finally hit some kind of groove, which is a good thing. I am learning how to work well on my own for once. It still usually takes some kind of pressure, or deadline, or motivation, but I am gaining some confidence in my abilities.

Take the house for instance. I hired out the leveling of it, because I did not want to mess with it. I thought they would be faster, etc. Well, turns out I was having to supervise the crew 50% of the time anyway, so I could have hired my own guys and did it myself. It made me start to think how I want stuff done, and then just do it. Figure stuff out on my own. So this past week I have been doing that.

The house now has a partial bathroom floor, toilet installed, and hopefully a kitchen floor by the end of today. I sidetracked and replaced the landmark mailbox of 2808. Yes, the sunflower mailbox is gone. And in its place a new sleek mailbox mounted on a custom cut, cedar post. The first practical use off the sawmill. I was excited.


Much better.

I took a mini-vacation over Memorial day with friends to Austin, and came away with a portrait, forever etched into a tree. Forever at least until some guy with a sawmill comes and cuts it down for lumber.

Thanks, Pedro. Pleasant surprise finding out about your talents.

Speaking of trees, I found one of my own for the mill. Just drove past a crew cutting this one down, so I pulled out the chainsaw, asked for the big stuff, and with Brent's help got it loaded. Even made $30 in the process. (Of course trailer and expenses were more than that, but I got the wood.)


Seven big pieces, and two trailer loads I figured to be about 11,000 lbs. of wood. 2800 board feet. Now I just have to figure out how to get them on the mill!

Well, things coming up - finishing the house, bathroom and kitchen immediately then exterior siding, finishing/catching up on schoolwork, finding a job, milling wood. There is also a group of us getting together to avoid debt. Whether that is eliminating current debt, or saving up to pay for school or house. It should be very exciting. I know I am. The potential is staggering.

Anyway, got to get to work. 50% chance of rain today.

The Latest Addition - Ethan Tyler

My brother Preston and Christie had their first baby, on our dad's birthday. Pretty cool. Here are some pics...


He was such a good baby. No crying just after being born. Apparently he has a single dimple, just like me. I am the only one that has one until now.

Phase... Ten I suppose.

It has been a busy month plus... I was able to finish my student teaching/observation at Bryan High. It went very well. I was pleased with the teacher I got to work under, and thoroughly enjoyed working with the kids. It was mostly seniors I worked with, and also did some substitute teaching. Now I just have to get caught up on all the paperwork.

This week I have been back focusing on the house. Here is the latest...

Here is my newest experiment, my sawmill. I was able to pick it up, but have had limited time put into it so far. I am so looking forward to getting the house done and finding a job, so I can put more time into it. So far I have gotten new blades for it, and have run it through a couple of logs. So far so good. I cannot wait to go through a big mesquite and cedar log.

Here is the kitchen floor I opened up a couple of weeks ago.
So I lived with it like this for a little while. Got a little more motivated to work and did this to it...
NO MORE KITCHEN!

I am getting a little tired of that. Hopefully I will be able to get it finished before too long. I have been working on the addon the last couple of days...

Yes. Lovely. (said with a tired, what do I get myself into, sarcastic tone) A picture is worth a thousand words. And to get it built back I donned...
a bee suit. A lovely nest of bees took up residence in the addon's ceiling which we could not get to, so I get to frame a wall of a house in a bee suit. It was totally worth the $100, because I have yet to get stung.
So here the wall is framed.

... And done. The wall went very well. I just wish the small finish work inside could go so well. I guess there is always tomorrow.

I am Back!

Back in town. NOT driving back and forth to Louisiana anymore. The big news is that I have quit my job in order to pursue teaching. So now I will be able to focus on getting my teaching certification, finish my house, and finally become a true citizen of Bryan/College Station. I am so excited.

First order of business is passing my content exam for High School History this coming Monday. Second on that front is my student teaching for 4 weeks in April and May. Third is finding a job for the fall after finishing my online work. Becoming a student again after 9 years may be interesting as well.

The house has started being torn apart, (obviously, from previous posts). I need to remove my floors next, and then start leveling. It will be a project. But it must be done.

The fun thing I hope to have as an income hobby is my newest purchase of a sawmill. I have been cutting some mesquite and cedar in the last few months, and cannot wait to see how they mill up into lumber.

Phase Three

I am going to call Phase Three complete. Thanks to Josh, I was able to get the rest of the siding off from the back and around the house.

I even got a look at the attic, which is another project I have been putting off because of being afraid of what I would find. It was not as bad as I was thinking it would be. That is good, since I keep running into things to fix and replace.

We did work on what I am calling Phase Two A - cementing in two posts for the fence.

And things were going better than I was expecting in the few hours we worked, so I started Phase Four - opening up floors in my house. I was not planning on doing this just yet, as it is cold tonight, and I didn't want further ventilation in my house while I was trying to sleep here. But I could seal off that room, so it was a good start to the nitty gritty of leveling a house, gaining access.

Phase Two - Almost Done

So I started Phase Two yesterday, and almost completed it. That was moving all my stuff from the house to the shed. I got some help this evening with the big stuff, so I am going to call it nearly complete. I still have several computers, (meaning 11), to go through, make sure there is not anything I need from them, and then throw them out.

So here is the beginning of Phase Three:


That is the rear of my house that I am pulling siding off of. Thanks to Josh, Tristan, Bashard, and David, almost all that siding is off now, as well as the bad fencing on the side torn down.

Unfortunately this is the only part of the job I am good at - tearing stuff down. It is the building back up that is the hard part.

One interesting thing that I have been learning through this process of downsizing, packing, moving, and storing stuff is a simple lesson on maintenance. I read a couple of weeks ago about library archiving - how digital archiving just doesn't last as long as we think it should. I have had it in my mind that once I get all my old photos copied on to the computer, make a couple of backup CD's, and put them in different areas of the country I would be safe. The house could burn down, and I would still have them.

But this handout said that in the BEST of conditions digital media would only survive about 50 years. Between media decaying and the progression of software, that digital information would have to be maintained and migrated from software to software throughout the years in order to maintain its quality.

That hit me hard for some reason, because I love the idea of doing something all out for a short period of time, and then having that skill, ability, money, or income come in with very little to no effort after that. Kind of like writing a book, or fixing up a piece of real estate for rental.

But it appears that important things always need to be maintained. It is fact of our fallen world. Sin entered into the world, and we now have to follow the law of entropy - everything wears down.

So I have been noticing different things that must be maintained...
my house - obviously.
relationships.
money & investments.
even spiritually we need to be maintaining and growing. I have been noticing in the Bible lately how many times it mentions the present and continuing tense when I am expecting a one time past tense. Such things as sanctification, justification, hope, grace, action.

And I guess I should qualify the term maintenance for me. I see it as more than just keeping to the status quo, but improving and growing what is being maintained.

Anyway, that has gone through my head quite a bit as I go through the pack ratted stuff I have collected and carried through several houses over the past many years, and asked the question "Do I REALLY need this?" And along with those: "Why the heck did I carry those books all the way here?" "How much gas and energy have I wasted doing this?" "This is ridiculous."

Thank goodness our hope is not in this world. This world is falling apart in so many more ways than one. Our hope is in its creator, and redeemer of our fallen world, Jesus Christ.

Phase One... Done!

Thanks to Justin, I was able to complete Phase One. Phase One was getting my dilapidated shed turned into a storage unit.

Just to show you how optimistic I am, I was started the day expecting to start on the shed by myself at 1:00, and finish it by 5:30, after packing up all my stuff inside the house.

Thank goodness, Justin showed up early, and we just focused on the shed all day. I know without a doubt it would have taken me three days to do what we did in one.

So now, I have a place to take all my boxes of stuff, my tools, and furniture. That is on the docket for tomorrow, along with starting on my house. There are several places I can start, and am unsure just where the best place would be.

So here are a few pictures showing progress...

Here we have raised the walls and roof, put in the 4X4's, and set them down on blocks. The original builder of the shed had the walls on the ground, with a flooring base of pallets and thin wafer board stuff. Great place for mice and roaches. (I fogged it a couple of days ago.)


Here we have the floor joists in, and half the plywood.

The finished floor.

And I couldn't stop smiling. It is so nice when you see something in your head and it actually comes together.

And Back Again...

So an update on the "addition." I have gone full circle with the addition. First I did not want to live in the house while leveling it, so I thought I would build another dwelling here on the back of my property.

Well, the city didn't like that idea, so I had to get a little creative and attach it to the house somehow.

Taking a look at the finances, both Bill's, (older, wiser men than myself) thought I overestimated my cost for the addition I was hoping to build, and offered words of caution.

So I cautioned into planning just one room on to the house.

Then as I thought about it more, and having less money to work with than I thought I did, having not been to work in almost two months, I decided against the addition altogether. There were several factors, not just the money. Time is also a factor, and the fact that the small addition really would not add that much value to the house, aesthetically, or monetarily.

So I put in the application for the leveling permit yesterday, and received it today. So now the real work begins. And I get to live right in the midst of it for at least the third time in my life. Let's hope this project goes quicker than the first two.

So for anyone wanting to get some house leveling experience, just drop me a line. Nail guns will be used, jacks, and lots of climbing under the house. This will be fun. Then once the house is (semi) level, indoor sheet rock, some plumbing, and exterior siding will be the focus. Come join the fun!

I plan on working all this week on it and will greatly appreciate any help.

Love Letters from the Past

This week has been slow. Or I have been slow. One or the other. I have not gotten much done, but I have read a lot, worked on my yard, and worked on my genealogy. Yesterday, I went through a stack of letters I had. I thought I knew they what they were, but had no idea at the pleasant surprise I found. Being something of a romantic, (and I emphasize the word "something") I was quite excited to find two different sets of love letters from two different generations. Here is some of what I found:

The oldest was from my great-great grandfather Jim Lane to my soon-to-be great-great grandmother Olough Means.

The first scan is hard to read so I will transcribe it:

June 15, 1893
Mifs Olough Means Ollie, Mifs Ella Brown gives a party to-night at the residence of (I forgot) and I would like to escort you there if you can to go. Sincerely, JHL
Tell Florence to break that engagement and go too. I don't think she has an engagement do you?

Yes, that is his "I forgot." I thought that was hilarious.

The next one is from Jim on a trip to Minnesota. He is writing from Chicago, Sept. 10, 1893.

Here are some excerpts:

Mifs Olough Means Jonesboro, Ark Dearest Ollie: I will now try and write a few lines, so that you may know we are still alive and kicking.
... some details about the trip, including a boat ride that "made a lot of girls sea sick. They were heaving up Jonah all over the deck, it looked real funny."
How many beaus have you had since I left. I have seen a thousand pretty girls, but none of them can compare in ???? with my girl. (don't tell her though)
Please answer this right away and divert to Coldwater, Mich. so that I will get it on my arrival there. Now write soon and relieve suffering humanity.
Lovingly, James Lane
P.S. I will write more next time. Will is over the other side of the office waiting for me to smoke with him before we go to bed. Good night, JHL

This just trips me out. How he can go from writing such romantic things to such common things as throwing up and smoking, and back again. This is so fascinating in that I now have an idea of his sense of humor, that I can put with those old black and white photos.


The last letter I came across from him was in Feb of the following year, 1894. Just a short note:


Dear Olough
Are you mad at me yet? I will never write another card to Florence or any one else if it is going to cause trouble! I got two seats at the Opera for tonight. If you are still mad I will send another fellow in my place.
Lovingly, Jim

I believe the Florence he sent the card to, and mentioned in his first invitation, was Olough's sister, one year older. I can only imagine the family dynamics there.
It is a nice reminder to know that these people had the same relationship issues we have. I guess some things don't change through time.
They obviously worked things out, since they got married a couple months later in May of 1894, and I am now here. Working in Arkansas, I got the opportunity to visit Jonesboro, and look up there marriage license. Very cool to actually touch the same paper they signed 115 years ago.

So this is what I have been doing for the last couple of days. I did work on my taxes in the morning, but was encouraged by Josh's end table project to pursue my own woodworking project. This is a cedar out at Barney's that I have been working on milling. I still haven't finished it yet, but it is coming along.

This is Josh's table, made from mesquite. It has turned out very good. The picture does not do it justice.

And this is my small project I was working on while being a sounding board for Josh. It is not from the cedar tree I have been milling, but it was from a scrap piece of cedar I recycled. It was the lid to an old cedar chests toy box. It has turned out very well. I was very pleased. I am making two of them. There were a few details I did not think through while building the first. But this is not half bad for my first wood working project. Not half bad at all.

Many, many thanks to Barney, his expertise, patience, and tools.

Back and forth

So, as many know, I have been planning an addition to my house. Well... I do believe things will not quite work out as I was hoping. The original plan was to build my "Barnhouse" in the back section of my 56' X 400' lot. (No, that is not a typo.) Well, the city likes single dwelling lots to stay single dwelling, so it would take a lot to get an exception. So I figured a way to make it an addition.

A little more planning, cost estimates, and the very valuable financial mentor's input, and at present time I will be scaling down the addition from the two-story, double the squarefootage, Barnhouse, to a single bedroom.

All in all, I tend to be very optimistic about what I alone can accomplish, and how far I can get money to stretch even when I haven't done this much before. And in fact, have made similar mistakes in the past. (I can have a very selective memory.) I am a little disappointed, but know that this will leave more options open for the future.

In other news... paperwork is proceeding for the teaching certification. I am getting small things done and out of the way on these days off.

I did get a planer and broke it out the other day. I am extremely pleased at how well it works. The mesquite looks incredible planed down. I cannot wait to put some polyurethene on it, and make something useful. And I think I have a new favorite wood - cedar. Barney has a cedar tree I get to mill for him, and I just started it, but am so excited on how it is going to turn out. I ran a small piece of cedar through my planer, and it turned out great. The smell is incredible. I wonder if you can become addicted to sniffing cedar? Hopefully not.

I don't know what it is, but there is something so satisfying taking a tree and cutting it down to useable lumber. Especially trees that would just be burnt anyway. I love it.

Some of what I do on my days off...

So here is a brief description of what I have been doing on my days off. Some of these are from over the Christmas break. I finally downloaded the pictures off my phone.


This is Christmas day, a typical holiday for the Burton's. I am helping dad install his Christmas gift for mom, none other than a new window. It got dark before we finished. I will have to get back up there and get a picture of the finished project.

There's dad in the house.

I went out several times to cut mesquite out at the property. I love the rich, dark brown of mesquite, and have grandiose plans of installing it as a hardwood floor. In the meantime, the smaller stuff gets cut up for summertime grilling. It should be good grilling summer!

Cutting mesquite requires good equipment, so I was forced to buy a Stihl chainsaw. :)

And here is some of the milled mesquite planks. And since these are only rough cut, I was forced to buy a good planer as well. Darn all these new power toys, er tools.

And finally what I have been working on today. It was colder outside, so I stayed in and worked on my new addition to the house. Planning for it that is. One of the drawbacks of living in the city, you have to go and get permits for everything you do. So I am putting together what all needs to be done to build an addition to the house, and then start the renovation of the house. That is the big project for the spring, besides working on my teaching certification.

All in all it has been a very good week.

So Far So Good

So far so good. I have given up sugar for at least the next 6 months, possibly a year, in order to lose a little weight and get back in shape. I really wasn't sure if I would do it. But I started the day after my family's Christmas (Dec. 28), and come to find out I do not HAVE to have sugar. I know that I can do it for an extended time, because I did give up sugar for a year, some time ago.

As for getting in shape, the two games of football yesterday and today are a great reminder of just how out of shape I am. My legs are complaining quite a bit tonight.

I am back in Bryan, and enjoying it. This week I need to get my paperwork in for BISD substituting, TAMU teaching certification program, and for permits to build my barnhouse out back. If I can just do that, it will be a successful week. Other than that, I just plan on breaking out the chainsaw and cutting some wood.

I have it in my head to get a planer and plane down some mesquite that I have cut. I know that I want to install mesquite hardwood floors in my barnhouse. So maybe I will start that project tomorrow. Sounds like fun to me.

Happy New Years!

Nothing like New Years. I was fortunate enough to get the Christmas holidays off, but I got called back to Arkansas this week. So I have plenty of time to contemplate the new year from my slow, night job.

And contemplate I do... I cannot think where I have my resolutions from last year, so I cannot see if I completed any of them or not. I should find those. I think I do have my diary from the past year. I will check that right quick...I do have it, but there is not a whole lot there. I guess I could go back and check my blog... Nope not anything there. It looks like I was in a similar position. Still have the house to fix, but now have the money to do it. Still have to exercise somehow and get into shape.

So enough of what I should have done this last year to current plans for this year...

I made a list up the other night of 13 thing that would be ideal to complete this year. Included in that list: (it is not inclusive)

Bible studies on various topics – to be essayed and reviewed by friends/mentors.
Exercise and diet – goal is to be in shape and 180 lbs.
Get teaching certification this year if possible.
Be able to be home to be involved in leading Bryan youth group.
Finish renovating my house by May.
Finish my “barn house” by mid-Feb if possible.
Take a mission trip overseas or out of country.
Pay off my house.
Renovate the 18 acres my family owns, by building fence, clearing, etc.
Buy a portable sawmill.
Start restoring my 1953 Jeep Willys truck.

That is an extensive list, especially for me. This time of year has me contemplating goals and accomplishments, and I often bounce back and forth from frustration to optimism. From knowing that I can do these things to doubting my ability to do anything. Such is my life. But I know the blessing on my life, and look forward to this coming year. As always, optimism wins out.

This will be a good year. Once again.