Present and Future Kingdom

A week on the road visiting family in three states, delivering merchandise from folks back home. Finally, we reach our destination in mid May. And what do we hope to see? Our dome under construction; workers with their sleeves rolled up, happily going about their jobs in the warm breeze; the sun shining just right to properly cure the concrete, birds singing, flowers about to bloom, asparagus sticking its shoots up...you know, mid-May, spring time...

So, what was our welcoming party? Snow falling from a cloudy, dreary sky; cold wind blowing in from the western plain; workers bundled up like hunters in December; and our consultant ready to head back south! But, the project continues and I can see that there is a dome taking shape on the side of the hill.

Pictures will be posted as I get them.

Finally, our dome!  

Hmmm. Doesn't look right!

Maybe you should take a prezi stroll to see what's really happening. (It was very windy today, and so we have a lot of construction debris floating all over.)

Enjoy, but don't look for a cupola, it will be built this week, weather permitting.

Finished!

Finished-and I won't get to see it until next summer *sigh*



Steve smoothened the floor on the inside and the aprons on the outside, and then took these pictures. The first is looking out the east, overhead door; the other is looking through the building from the west (notice the big sliding door)...

Finally, a picture of the east wall with the overhead door still open.

Now that I have a big, new machine shed, I should have a new machine or so to put in it. Right?

Day 9

Day 9

All the steel is on; all that's left is some trim, two pieces of the ridge vent, and the two big doors. Unfortunately, I need to leave-I have just enough time to get home, hug my wife, and head off to CMI/A 2010 in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Days 7 and 8

Day 7

The windows and walk-in door are installed and the building is now ready for steel.

Somehow, even with a steel door and high-security lock, I don't believe it's time to store anything of value in the here.

Day 8

The roof is covered and the north wall is almost finished.

Days 5 and 6

Day 5:

More framing, though progress is not too noticeable; overhang is almost finished. All posts are in and some of the door and window work is done.

Day 6:

Time for steel. The soffit steel is fastened on under the overhang on the ends and under the eaves.

Storms

An ominous-looking sky above the western horizon. Minnesota had more tornadoes touch down that day than in any other day in recorded history. The high school in Wadena, (a town in central Minnesota) took a direct hit. Fortunately, it came after school let out for the summer and before the school reunion activities had begun. I don't believe anyone was hurt.

The gas station/convience store in Mentor, a town along US Highway 2 in the north-west part of the state, was also hit and totally destroyed. The owner threw himself on top of his daughter and and an employee, protecting them from the freezer that was knocked over. The daughter suffered minor cuts; the employee was taken to the hospital in serious condition; the owner, unfortunately, died from his injuries. The Dairy Queen across the street received no damage, not even a scratch.

Days 3 and 4

Day 3, Wednesday. With the rafters in place, the posts for the east wall are now dug in.
The ruts got deeper and the rain that night filled them again.




Day 4, Thursday. All the main posts are in position and most of the wall girts are fastened on. Also, the purlins are on the roof, extending beyond the building to allow for the overhang that is to come.
The water-filled ruts became deeper and that night, even more rain fell, filling them once again. To allow for the site to dry out, no further work was done until the following Monday.

Days 1 and 2

With limited internet access on the farm this year, these pictures were not posted at the end of each day-as a matter of fact, they didn't get posted until after my return to Maryland, a week at the Curriculum Mapping Academies and Institute, and a couple days rest.

Day 1, Monday.
Posts are cemented in place for the side walls. One post hole required digging out a big rock before the hole could be dug deep enough.

It rained that evening.




Day 2, Tuesday. Wall girts are in place on two of the walls. Posts are placed on the west wall and are positioned to make room for the big door. Ruts are left from the skidsteer working on the wet ground.

More night-time rain filled the ruts.

The Poles are in.

The poles for three sides are in. I told him that he can leave his skid steer there when he is finished. I promised to give it a good home-the very building he is constructing.

No deal.

I will see if I can get some pictures uploaded.

Why live in small-town USA?

So, I go into the FSA office to check on CRP for the family farm. Everyone is out to lunch except one very young lady whom I have never met before. So, I sit down at her desk and we start talking about the upcoming CRP bidding and about the possibility of putting some of our acres into the program. She immediately says, "That's for So and So Properties, right?"

To this point I had neither mentioned my name nor the name of the farm. Responding to the puzzled look on my face, she simply said, "It's your eyes. They look just like your sister's" "And that must mean that you are..." First and last name-pronounced correctly! Never met the lass before today. My sister last talked with her over a year ago.

Rafters arrived yesterday; electricity this afternoon, and I believe the sheetmetal this evening-I need to check on that. Builders are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning.

New Power-line Posts

The red flag does mean a new post is on its way-actually two new posts. The electrician told the power company that I need power on Tuesday. It might have happened were it not for the storm. I haven't heard of downed lines, but if there are any, they will naturally have priority over the needs of a new customer.

More news as it develops.

This isn't Kansas

Thirty nine is the official count-that's a record number of tornados in one day in Minnesota. We watched the weatherman, using a live camera shot, show where in a cloud a tornado would appear and right on que, one formed, touched down, and dissappeared back into the cloud in less than five minutes. The storms would pop up, dump lots of rain and sometimes hail, then seem to be past when the tornados reached out to give a parting shot.

One town, Wadena, was preparing for their high school reunion. The school took a direct hit: In a couple weeks it would have been filled with alumni.

A lot of damage to towns, and a number of farmsteads. Unfortunately, three people were killed.

The good news is that the first load of material for the shed arrived on Friday-four days early.

I didn't step on it!

Steve was by so I showed him where the house will go. To get there we walked past another of Grandma's flowerbeds, now overgrown with weeds. On the way back, we stopped so I could see how much work it will be to clear the weeds and restore the flowers. It was curled up in a ball just the other side of the bed. I'm sure mama had told it to not move if people walked by, but when we stopped only two feed away, the spotted, knee-high fawn jumped up and headed for mamma leaving two very startled male humans behind!

I'm here; where's the shed?

There are lots of birds around. They are loud enough to keep one awake at night with their constant, joyful singing.

The materials will be delivered next Tuesday and the workers might start then, or the next day. Not a problem. That will give me time to get power to the site for the builders, and for me once the building is complete.

Well, the electrician looks at the line coming in and says it is too old, he cannot in good conscience connect anything to it (I think I like our electrician). He calls the power company who immediately sends out an inspecter; the inspecter had some trees cut that were touching the lines, then s/he put red ribbons on two poles. One pole holds the meter, the other the transformer-the teeny, tiny, low-montly-cost transformer that will need to be replaced with a bigger, higher-minimum-monthly cost one as we build the house.

Flashback: I remember seeing bird nests on the support for the yard light that is on the pole where the meter is.

The pessimist in me thinks the red ribbon is a signal to replace the poles. And if the transformer pole is to be replaced, why would any intellegent business put up a transformer that will need to be replaced within five years. What that means is that my minimum monthly fee is about to go up-so thinks the pessimist.

Of all the trees and branches that needed to be cut down, there were no bird nests disturbed.

One purpose for a shed is to store tractors and other machinery so they don't deteriorate when not being used. Another is to have a place out of the weather to work on the machines. I have a tractor that needs a little work, then would be moved into the shed. Not a problem, I'll do the repair work and use the tractor while the construction is going on, then drive the tractor in and store it for next year.

Taking the hood off is a simple process, except when one is out of practice. I squished my thumb, drawing blood; I hurt my arm-pop, pain, swelling, getting better-but I've been waiting all year for this and I'm not about to let a little pain keep me from fixing and starting this tractor! I'm on the farm, and farmers are tough-they don't let anything stop them from driving their tractors. And then I lift up the hood...Mamma Robin can be very vocal, and not so musical, when a creature invades her personal space! *Sigh* I'll fix the tractor later; can't use it today anyway-it might rain.

The site is ready...

The site is now ready for the construction crew and materials...Thanks Steve!

The camera in the first picture is looking west, the other, east.

Before you get to the house, you can see that Grandma's lilacs are in bloom. They, and her beautiful flower bed (flowers not yet blooming this year), were just outside her kitchen window and are a curl-your-toes childhood memory.

Preparations continue

After leveling the hill and removing the oak tree, Steve suggested we move the building slightly to the west and north. This will allow parking in front of the building without blocking the driveway. Good call.






Picture provided by Steve.

Ground breaking.

The site prep has begun.

Click on the shovel to see the progress.
Pictures are provided by Steve.

It has begun

The site has been chosen; the contracts signed; the preparation begun.
This was the chicken coop; to the north (the camera is facing NNW) was the barn. The knoll to the east will be lowered and the new shed built there with its north-west corner near where the north-east corner of the chicken coop is now.

The old house is just to the right, along the woodline; the new house will be a littler further to the east, and up the hill.

Sticker Shock

Did some research on expenses today:

-Electricity-around $25 per month, minimum;

-Phone, Internet, cell phone, and cable come in a variety of packages and prices like everywhere else. The phone company offers all the services. There are other cell businesses around, too.

-Insurance for the building-around $163 per year

Not to bad, but then I got the bid for the site prep for the new building...slightly more than I had budgeted for; twice what I had expected.

It's a good thing that I have an awesome banker at home :-)

My neighbor's new tractor is under warrantee and was fixed without cost. Get this-$50,000, or so spent on a tractor and a $.25 electrical connector (for one of the many safety switches) that was dislodged from normal use, completely disabled the machine!

The order is in.

I signed the order for the machine shed. The first site-prep folks that I talked to will be working in the area in mid May so they want to do mine then, too. The builders, Foltz Buildings, say that they will try to build during the first week that I'm home after school lets out for the summer.

Wouldn't you know it: Of all my years of school experience, both as a student and as a teacher, this is the first time in my memory that the school year has been extended because of snow!

Today, I took down the building that needed to go to make room for the new one-I used my neighbor's new tractor.
New tractors have a lot of safety switches and rules.
A good operator shuts off the tractor before dismounting to clear debris-I'm a good operator.
Did I mention that new tractors have a lot of safety switches. You can't start the tractor if even one lever, or switch, or guard, (or even the operators hat, I believe) is not in the proper position.
Did I also mention that this is my neighbor's new tractor, and she's working, and I must have slept through the safety lecture because my neighbor's new tractor is now sitting amongst a mostly demolished building, and I don't know how to start it. I BROKE MY NEIGHBOR'S NEW TRACTOR! And it was such a nice shade of blue.

Northern Lights

So why do I want to move to the wilds of rural upper midwest?

It could be having breakfast with 'the guys' and saving the receipt for the most kind-hearted man in town. He'll come by, shake hands, chat a bit, then collect the receipts as part of a fund-raising program for his church.

Maybe it's having contractors come out to spend a few minutes surveying the building site so they can prepare a bid, and then spending an hour or so chatting about family, the weather, and anything else that comes to mind: Chatting as if we've all known each other for a lifetime, even though we just met.

Maybe its the wild animals:
-the loons call as they fly overhead
-the deer watching as I drive by
-the pair of geese nesting a hundred yards from my sister's house
-the many white spots on the lakes that turn out to be swans, so I'm told
-a pair of what appears to be endangered whooping cranes living in a beaver pond on the farm. (If they are whooping cranes, the DNR wants to know so they can monitor the bird's increasing numbers).

Maybe it's that I counted all the cars that passed by today...on one hand...and had three fingers left over.

Or maybe it's the Northern Lights! They were out last night. A new requirement has been added to the house location. My first is to have the morning sun come into my bedroom upstairs, and breakfast area downstairs. Now, I will also add an unobstructed view of the northern sky-maybe even run the deck around...

The site (shed)

Where to put the shed? The hill in the pigpen (former pigpen) looks good. Not too much work to get it ready for the building. BUT! Awefully close to the road. Awefully far from the house. And right out the back door is a low swampy area where I could get my equipment stuck everytime I take it out to...um work.

Where the barn was turns out to be a much better place. Higher elevation, good drainage; further from the road and closer, but not too close, to the house. But, I have a four-foot difference in elevation from one corner to the opposite one; and, the saddest part, I will need to remove a big oak tree that I remember being a rather small oak tree back when we were both a bit younger.

Then I remembered our family history. It was about 92 years ago that my grandfather was making the same decisions as I am now-where to put the barn; where to put the house; etc., etc., etc. These thoughts came to me as I was planning on setting up a small living area in the shed where I can stay while I work on the house: Grandpa had set up a living area in the new barn for the family to stay while their house was being build. I hope that I can finish in time...

More to come...