Month: May 2014

Wow. A lot of work was done last week on The Lot.

I had taken vacation time Thursday and Friday; Thursday I had 28 tons of gravel scheduled to be delivered and our 10 x 12 foot storage shed was to be delivered on Friday. Like most projects, nothing went just as expected but there is always Plan B.

Here’s how it went in photos.

Gravel trucks, two of them, arrive with our 28 tons of gravel

First truck starts dumping at the top of the circular drive

First truck finishes unloading. Note how uneven the gravel is spread

Second truck dumps load “down” driveway

Trouble…note large piles of gravel not spread evenly

I had hoped to have to do very little hand spreading of gravel. Instead I was left with an impassible driveway. My plan had been to start working on leveling the area for the shed, scheduled to arrive the next day. Instead I had to spend hours working out the ‘riffles’ left by the gravel trucks so the shed truck could actually make it up the drive and get close to the work area. (This had repercussions, as you will see in the next segment.)  Thus endeth Thursday.

On to Friday.  A late call from Sunset Buildings informed me our shed would be built on-site instead of being delivered as a pre-built unit. OK with me; all I want is a finished shed.  Here is how that went down.

Two guys and my shed components on a trailer arrive at the top of the drive. Note how much gravel I have spread

Floor done and back wall in place

Sides up and front wall going into place

Front cap going up

Rafters going in

Roof sheeting in place

Shingles going on

Shed done at end of drive

My lack of time to prep the shed area and dig out the shed’s pad resulted in the shed being about knee-height above the drive. Quite high.  A ramp will need to be built to get stuff in and out easier.

Moving the gravel around will be a major bit of hand labor. It will take us many hours of shoveling and hauling to get the gravel where we want it – in the thickness we want.  But, as Pam pointed out, there is the rest of the Summer to get this done. The gravel spreading  just means a lot more work than I had counted on, and grunt labor at that.  At 9,000+  feet.  Bummer.

The only other two tasks on this year’s high country  agenda are putting in a dog run and continuing to clear out dead and downed wood. While I would prefer to have The Box (RV trailer) at the top of the drive, it can sit for some time where we had it all of last year.

I am happy to have the shed in place. I’ve already left the generator, 2-wheel cart, shovels, water jugs, solar panel, and a few other items in the shed, items I would normally have to haul back and forth. I know we’ll get a lot of use out of the on-site storage.

Eventually I’ll be glad I ordered the gravel as well. It’s just hard to appreciate it at the moment.

For the record, the shed guys get started at about 9:30 AM and finished just before 6:00 PM. In addition to lunch there was a pause to let a late afternoon shower pass through.

So Thursday was Gravel Day, Friday was Shed Day (although I spread gravel while the shed was being built), and Saturday was Burn Pit Day.

Getting a start on the first load destined for the burn pit

I managed to get 4 large loads to the pit before calling it a day. I was very tired and my shoulders ached . The three days of labor had taken their toll. It was getting hard to bend over, pick something up, and straighten up again. Originally I thought I would take off Sunday morning on an ATV ride but instead, and partly because of bad weather in the forecast (snow on Hoosier Pass), I shut down The Box, loaded the ATV on our aluminum trailer, and headed home.

Much project work was done those 3 days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but every project seems to generate spin-off  projects  — in this case building a ramp for the shed and spreading gravel. Progress is progress, though, and the delivery of the gravel and shed mark the completion of our major projects for 2014. Next up: putting in a dog run.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The weather doesn’t actually look that bad in the photos, but I’m told there was both rain and a rain/snow mix during the festivities.

Murphy’s Law appears to be in full effect for mountain projects this year.

Happy Trails.

Last week was one of those Colorado often sees in transitional seasons. Monday and Tuesday nights were at or below freezing; Pam covered our delicate plants in hopes of saving the developing blossoms. (They seem to have come through OK.)  The high country received more snow. Yesterday (Saturday) the temp was 84 degrees and low to mid 80s are forecast for the next week. The Lot had below freezing temps all week and only over the weekend did the night time temps remain above 32 degrees. It’s still Winter weather in the high country and we can still see snow on Grand Mesa. Such is Spring in Colorado.

From an event perspective the week was pretty quiet. Next week will be way more active as I plan to take a couple days off during the work week and head up to Sanderling. We have contracted for some gravel for the driveway extension – 28 tons – and it will be delivered on Thursday the 22nd. I need to make sure gravel is spread OK and prep the spot for the storage shed, scheduled to be delivered on Friday the 23rd. This will entail quite a bit of shoveling and leveling and getting a layer of gravel down on the 14 ft by 14 ft spot where the shed will sit. I also need to position some large pavers to use as corner and middle supports for the shed. The shed should have 1 – 2 feet around both sides and back of it for drainage and clearance, so even though it is 10 x 12 the pad needs to be a few feet larger. Saturday morning I will begin hauling brush over to the burn pit. It’s going to be a very physical few days and I hope I’m up to it at that elevation.

Around the house, the lilacs are nearly done but the irises have just begun to bloom. I fixed a small leak that had developed around the furnace vent on the roof; the old silicon sealer  had come loose so I removed it and re-sealed the spot with some rubberized stay-on goop I found at the hardware store. I hope that takes care of it. Yard work and shopping takes up a lot of a weekend day and today I need to change oil and filter in the Honda. Pretty mundane stuff!

I am going to close by putting in a few more photos of building the driveway extension.

Drive takes up part of the old “wilderness road”

Mid-way up extension

Part of the drive done at this point.

(Note: I did make another pass to made the road more level.)

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Transitions.  Space heater in the bedroom early in the week, fan going in the window last night.  Flannel pajamas part of the week, cotton pajamas the rest of the week.

Transitions.  Our oldest cat, Mira, has begun the slow decline toward death — actually expected any time these past years as she wasn’t predicted to live until six years old and she ‘s now almost twelve.  As Mira loses body weight and tries to control her elimination functions, my hope is she curls up and crosses the Rainbow Bridge in her sleep sometime in the next weeks or months.  Taking Mira to the vet to be euthanized  is so much more traumatic for everyone (vet included).

Transitions.  The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is a time for remembering transitions.  A bittersweet holiday at best.

Happy Trails.

Temperature in the teens and snow in the air. On Sunday, April 27, I headed up to The Lot. I needed to open up the trailer and get ready for the backhoe to arrive the next morning. Opening the trailer meant hand-pumping water, starting the furnace and refrigerator, and  seeing if all systems still worked. I had the generator going to charge the batteries and give me some electrical power for lights.

Mice had gotten into the trailer, causing quite a mess. (Pam will have more on that situation later.) I cleaned as well as I could for the moment and called Pam and let her know to bring up disinfectant when she came up on Monday, then called it a night. Note: I drive down the road about 5 – 6 miles to get into a good cell phone coverage spot to call Pam. Rarely is there cell coverage at The Lot, although once in a while that does happen (not often enough to be reliable).

Monday morning it was even colder and the snow was heavier, enough to put a white coating on Sanderling Court. I made a quick trip to Fairplay to pick up a few items, including hardware to seal the gap where the mouse had gained entry. (A plastic panel under the trailer had broken and fallen away. I was able to re-attach the panel and eliminate the gap.) Then I headed up to to Hwy 285 to wait for the United Rental truck to show up with the backhoe.

The rig arrived around 11:30 on the back of a large flatbed trailer.

Backhoe arrives

Quite the machine

With no instruction, the truck driver unloaded the tractor and left. I got right to work.

The next set of photos was taken by Pam on Tuesday —  she had arrived with the dogs late Monday and had been cleaning mouse poop and bagging laundry the previous day. By Tuesday I was working on the most difficult part of the driveway extension –  the rock wall and crushed granite area.

Getting started on the extension

Digging out rocks

Note the rocks I am digging out of the roadway – those babies were huge and almost a job-stopper. Temperature was in the low 20’s; I have on my stocking cap and heavy winter coat. At times we had snow showers.

Using the bucket to move material

Along the way we had a couple of lighter moments. One morning we wanted pancakes but had no mixing bowl so we made one out of an empty water jug:

Water jug turned mixing bowl

The fresh snow on the mountains made a striking site as this telephoto shot shows.

The Mosquito Range from our lot

We changed plans a bit – never did use the culvert I bought – and made a circular driveway near the top of the gulch (creating a cul-de-sac). The original plan had been to continue going uphill into what we call the saddle area, but the circular drive plan made more sense as it would allow me to pull the trailer to the “top” of the drive and out again without having to back the trailer at all.

Here is a shot I took shortly before I left. At this point I still had some hand shoveling to do.

RV at the top of the circular drive

I did not get all the photos of the drive I should have, but I was getting very tired by the end of the week and here I still had hand shoveling to do. I unhitched the truck, finished some hand work, then went through the process of re-winterizing the trailer. Pam had headed home with the dogs on Saturday; I left for home Monday morning, May 5th.

You can see, just behind the hood of the truck, the space I excavated for the storage shed. It will be delivered May 23rd. Before then I need to get some gravel down on the driveway and am working with a local gravel pit to get that done. 3/4 inch washed rock goes for about $12.00 per ton plus a $100.00 round trip charge for a truck capable of handling 14 tons. One of the gravel pit guys is going out to Sanderling this Monday to get some idea of how many tons of rock we will need (and can afford).

Overall I was satisfied with the work I did. The circular drive will work out well and is just big enough to park the RV and still be able to get the truck unhitched and down the driveway. Another advantage of the circle drive is proximity to the areas needing clean-out of dead and downed wood; getting the aluminum trailer closer to the work area will speed up the process.  Eventually, the circle drive will also allow (big) truck access to the spots where I think the well and septic will need to be installed.

By the end of May gravel will be down and the shed will be in place. That will complete several of our major projects for the year — completion of the driveway extension, pad for the RV, pad for the storage shed, delivery of the shed. Other than lot clean up, we’ve reluctantly concluded there will likely be no other major projects in the works for this year. It would be nice to get a well drilled but the nearly $9k price tag means we’ll have to save for a year to be able to afford it. That’s why we have a 5-year plan. 🙂

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth (or maybe Ten Cents Worth):

How cold was it?  Too cold for Blondie to come out from under her blanket until mid-week.  She had to wear her doggie coat [again] to go outside in 18 degree weather, not her favorite piece of apparel. Blondie was not amused.

Blondie under her blanket

How cold was it?  The batteries would only power the RV furnace until the wee hours of the morning, Jer had to go into the cold and start the generator to recharge the batteries early each a.m.  Br-r-r-r.

How cold was it?  Too cold to leave the “slide” out all night, cold air circulates under those extensions and there’s no insulation under there.  B-r-r-r.

How cold was it?  Too cold to open the windows and air out the RV after I started spraying bleach on all the mouse turds that had to be cleaned and disposed of.  Hanta Virus is carried in the West by mouse droppings, so I had to use bleach, rubber gloves and facial covering while working under the cupboards and on surfaces.  The mice seemed to enjoy the bathroom the most, although we had nothing stored under the sink in there.  Mice even chewed on the hand soap.  I hope someone had a stomach ache (“I’m forever blowing bubbles…”).  I can now easily distinguish mouse turds from regular dirt and seeds.  Not a skill I hope to use frequently.

A comment on Big Boy Toy operation:  There’s a reason heavy machine operators are paid the big bucks.  Backhoes are dinosaurs to operate and they are dangerous.  As the spotter and designated “911” caller, I alternated between worrying if Jer would survive when the backhoe flipped over the embankment, if we could pay for the damage to the backhoe after it flipped over, and finally both.  My thoughts were, “Fields, what did you  get us into?”  The driveway transitioned from a lovely crushed granite base to plain old dirt; the dirt-based length of the driveway extension is what prompted the need to order rock from the gravel pit.  And the soft dirt was a major problem in trying to negotiate with a heavy backhoe — no footings, big ruts and lots of tipping.

When the storage shed is delivered – presumably on  a flatbed – then we’ll know if the driveway is wide enough and firm enough.  We already know it’s expensive enough.

If there is another major expense this summer, it will likely be investing in a battery farm to store power from the solar panels and keep the furnace running all night.  Maybe even enough power to run the microwave.  There’s a thought.

Happy Trails.