The boys at work...

A few updated pics of Ian, Ryan, and Jason at work. Jason went out to the farm on Friday evening and saw 3 deer as well right outside the living room, apparently they are unphased by our construction!

Moving right along!

Things are really getting going now. Ian and his brother in law Ryan came out yesterday to work on the barn siding AGAIN, I believe this is the barn that WILL NEVER END! I am thankful that Ryan was able to come out and free Jason up to finish getting the prep work done for today. There will be two carpenters that J knows from work and Ian, Jason and Ryan working today to get the basement wall and first floor framed and subfloor on for the first level. We are working against the clock now to get the concrete for the floors on the first floor poured and sealed before it gets too cold and temps are freezing. Praying it all goes well today and they get this accomplished so we can pour the floors.
I am excited that Jason said we need to meet with the window company to order windows and go to the plumbing supply to look at fixtures! It's getting VERY exciting!

Set in concrete! - A site visit by Emma

Jason was able to be there Friday for the concrete pour. Emma got to stop by because she had a half day and Noni came and got her from school. It definately smells of concrete out there right now. :)

Saturday and Sunday Jason and Ian and Johnathan worked on the barn getting the roof finished up and siding on.

The forms have arrived...

The forms have arrived and Jim, the concrete contractor, started setting forms for the walls today. Ian and Jason did the footings for the walls last week. The weather is FABULOUS for pouring concrete and the forecast for the next week is just as good. If all goes well Jim will be done and outta there and we will have WALLS by Monday. Next will be the framing.

Thursday the siding for the barn is supposed to be in at McElroy in Valley Park, so I am going to make a quick road trip down with Wendy to pick it up Friday morning. Hopefully Ian and Jason will be able to get the siding on on Saturday and that will pretty much wrap up the barn except for putting in the remaining fill of screenings/minus around the building and wall. I still have not figured out what I am going to plant in the GIANT retaining wall. Part of me thinks strawberries maybe? I have read that retaining walls are a GREAT place for strawberry plants to climb but we need water before I can plant anything in it for sure.

Things are FINALLY starting to come together and take shape. So excited for everything falling into place.

View from the front porch...

And so we begin...

On Friday Sept 16 the hole was dug for the foundation. Sterling came back out to re-survey before they dug and marked the easement and also marked the corners for the foundation. Loving the view from my "kitchen" and "bedroom".

The digger has arrived!!!!

The digger has arrived and tommorrow is the big day! Sterling came and marked the foundation walls and where to dig, and Jason is on his way to get the dump truck to haul off all the dirt that comes from the big dig. The building is coming along as well, the roof is nearly on and if the weather cooperates we will have some siding soon too.

Won't be long til we have a roof and some siding!

Progress!

Jason worked VERY hard this weekend getting the rest of the columns up on the storage barn and even started putting up the rafters. :) It's so awesome the see the building taking shape. I can't believe how much storage space we will have in this monster when its all done, but I am sure I will still be going crazy looking at all the decoys and duck hunting supplies that are stored in the building... Maybe I can convince him to hide them all in one of the shipping container bays???

Still waiting on the bank to redo the loan on the construction of the house, hopefully the feds don't change the rules again between now and when we get approval!

Barn Raising!

The first column is up on the shed and its finally starting to look like something. There will be storage space on top of the containers in the shed too. The "great wall" is nearly complete (still needs the top row). The house is being delayed because of new federal rules for loans, but hopefully we will still be on schedule to get the foundation in this August. we were lucky enough to get Robbie to come down and place the containers on the concrete piers and move all the rock around with the Bobcat. Logan was so excited about Robbie being there with the Bobcat that we had to go home and find his miniature Bobcat so he could be the digger too! I need to figure out what kind of "foliage" or greenery is going to go in all those cells on the wall. Thinking about filling them all with dirt and plants makes me tired already. I think we will need to wait until we have water to keep them all alive though anyway. How exciting that things are starting to come together!

Wheat is cut!

The wheat is cut and harvested as of July 1, 2011, now we can begin building the house. It's been so wet that we are behind on the machine shed, but the last few days have been dry. Hopefully we will begin digging the foundation SOON!

Permitted to build!

We are official, the permitting process for the house is complete and we have our permit...
Step one complete.

One House Sold... One House to Build!

Thanks to Gretchen we closed on our old house on 5/20/11. This gave us an open door for starting on the new house. :) The first thing to go in will still be the storage shed building/shipping container barn.... This is because the house spot is in wheat right now so we will be waiting until the crop is out before we dig the basement, this should be Julyish.
We had a big wind storm that week that took out a few trees, so as landbarons we have that mess to clean up now too.

Groundbreaking News!

Today we began digging the footings for the retaining wall that will be a part of the machine shed/storage barn that will be constructed. Thankfully it was finally dry enough!

First of many permits...

After a bunch of GIANT hurdles, St. Charles County granted our permit to build the first barn and the retaining wall! Now if it will stop raining so we can begin work...
Hopefully they will not be such a PITA about permitting the house construction. :)

In the trenches!

Dug 40 feet of trenches this evening and planted 20 asparagus crowns (plants). They won't make asparagus this year, but they are 2 year old crowns and should be ready for asparagus in the spring. Yummy!

Blossoms and Buds!

The peach trees have blossoms and little wildflowers are starting to show in the woods. The raspberry, blackberry and blueberry plants have buds, so I am crossing my fingers and hoping they make it...

Packing up!

We got an offer we accepted on our house yesterday so we have a CONTRACT! Excited and nervous all at the same time, but I dont think that the thought has really settled in yet. Closing is 6 weeks away but the countdown has already begun and it will be here before we know it!

Berries, Peaches and Dogwoods, Oh My!

Had a busy day at the pop-tee today, planted two peach trees, half a dozen dogwoods, some lilac bushes, and raspberries, blueberries and blackberry bushes! Kiddos came out this evening with Jason to help me water in all that was planted. Wendy too!