City Girl On a Tractor

GOOD news, we closed on our loan on Thursday.  After closing (gulp) in Siloam Springs we headed to the land for more "dirty" work that needed to be done.

After the "basement" guy knocked down all the trees where the basement is to be dug,  it is now our responsibility to remove all the "ginormous" trees.   How does one do such a task and not spend a lot of money?   According to the "contractor" (Terry) you buy a tractor and do it yourself.   And of course, call on your friends and family.

Upon arriving at our land for the first time since these gorgeous trees have been pushed down, there it was,  a 2013 beautiful orange Kabota tractor.   It has a front loader on front and a back hoe on the back.  Ah, I'm in love.  Terry gave me a quick 1-2 minute "tractor lesson" and off I went.  Terry would wrap a very heavy chain around a HUGH log and then I would pridefully pull it up the drive.  Timid at first, but within 10 minutes I was pulling those logs like any country girl would.  I'm not sure which gave me the best feeling, knowing I could be helpful by doing it or just being part of the birthing process of our dream coming true.   I look forward to having a grandson on my lap and taking a ride!

Another activity I love to do is using my chain saw.  A few years back after  buying the land we would go and cut down dead trees on our property.    Once again Terry gave me a quick lesson on how to run a chain saw.  So now I have one of my own.  Of course it is a smaller version of the bigger ones he uses.

Terry continues to call upon his family and friends to help clear the area for the basement.  We are ready for the basement guy but guess what, they can't come until a week from Monday.  Patience, patience and more patience will be an ongoing learning lesson for me.   I am very thankful for the contractor and all of his hard work thus far.   I am very thankful to have family and friends, (Dan and Mike) who are willing to help in the dirty work.    Watch out, we may be calling you.

Build it and They will come!

Exciting week for the Armstrongs.   Our first real sign our dream home might really come to fruition. Ground has been broken!  Ok warning, this is the female side of this joint effort so it will probably be a little more informational than what has previously been posted.
     The dream of owning a log cabin has been a part of our marriage for over 20 years.  When Terry and I would get away, we always searched for a log cabin to stay in.   ANY Cabin TV show would be recorded or bought and many trips to log home shows were made.   We bought cabin magazines and coffee table log cabin  books to dream  over and made a list of what we liked and didn't like.  Terry, being brought up in the country, had a natural infinity but we are not sure where my love came from --always being a city girl.  
     "Build it and they will come" is what got the ball rolling.  Last summer my sibs and spouses visited my brother and his wife in Atlanta.  In conversation they asked what was the latest on the cabin dream.   I challenged my brother and his wife asking, "if the cabin was built by Christmas would they come?"   To my delight the answer was yes.   I would LOVE to have my entire family 4 sibs, their spouses, their kids and their families all to come to the cabin for Christmas, THIS year.  The total number would include 31 adults and 13 kids.  Ages would be 5 months to 93 years old.  Christmas is my most favorite holiday so this would be a gift in itself.
     Little did we know however the planning process would take so long.  Check list, yes we have the land, yes we have the plans, electrician, plumber, septic guy, heating and air, basement company, provider of the logs,  the "log stacker" guy (at least he said he would help) and the contractor, my husband.   Oh, we need money??  Who would of thought the hold up on this project, which was to begin in April, would be the bank.  Did you know  a log cabin is not a "typical home" so it is a risk to build, or just because it will have a basement  another red flag starts waving??  We STILL do not have the loan secured but should close in a week.   Moving  forward any way,  we called the basement guy out, the clearing of the land  has begun, ground has been broken.  Ahhhh, tears come to my eyes!

The backhoe pushing down our trees.

To our surprise our electric service was installed the same day.