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| Front of the place |
The White Wolf Mine is pushing forward toward completion, and we’re moving toward the time when the place will be completely ‘weathered in’. Once that happens, the finishing work can begin in earnest.
And when the hovel is complete, I’ll burrow in like an Arizona tick on an elk’s back and that will be that.
It seems like I’ve been on this project forever and because I have never built a custom shack before, every detail is somewhat new to me. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s still a thing.
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| Rear garage door and side of the house. |
People have asked me if I’ve downsized because I’m ancient and heading toward my dotage. The answer is that, fortunately or not, I’ve up-sized just a little, while reducing the number of bedrooms and doubling the size of the garage in the house-near-the-mosque, which I sold to a Mohammedan, when I moved.
I went by the old neighborhood the other day and there were a lot of aloha snackbar types hanging out in what once was a really nice neighborhood.
The only sermonette value that I can suggest here is that patience is a virtue (that I lack). It is a LONG GRIND to build a place from the ground up.
It is a process. Be glad you aren't the contractor putting up with the bitching owner.
The owner is a PRINCE of a man – his daughters call him "Mr. Moneybags".
After witnessing and taking a small part in the building of my brother's first house when I was 17, the desire to ever build a house was forever wiped from the slate of my existence. Your strength amazes me, LL.
Yeah, well this is it for me. I may do some out buildings but the expense, he time and the hassle is enough to last me the next 50 years until I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Your home and your castle. Burrow in, indeed.
I have also heard that patience is a virtue. I think I've even managed it once or twice. I am more in favor of persistence. Outlast the bastards. I suspect you may be familiar with this concept. I think at some point in our lives, we learn to recognize when a situation is just out of our hands. No sense in getting wrapped around the axle. If that is considered patience, so be it.
I actually enjoy doing rough carpentry. When in junior college, I took a couple of elective courses. Later, during my Army hitch, I submitted my transcripts and was awarded a secondary MOS, 51B.
Embrace the suck and grind it out…yes, I know. It's my motto for life, but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate something with a bit less grind to it.
My breaking point was the trip to Nob Hill in Minneapolis with my ex SIL to help pick out knobs for the kitchen cabinets. Being a visual person and hating to be confronted with too many choices, I about had a nervous breakdown. It was at that moment I said to myself, "I will never, ever build a house."
Yeah, but the long tough slog to the end makes the end more rewarding and enjoyable.
Or as my Dad said many (many!) times, "A Job Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Well. Otherwise Don't Do It At All".
The compound/complex will be stunning when it's done.
What are you doing for flooring? Tile, laminate, wood, or carpet?
Now that drjim mentions it, there's something to be said for wood AND polished concrete (kitchen).
Good to see the WWM progress!
Patience??!!?? What is thing you speak of? I have a t shirt with a buzzard sitting on a cactus with the caption… "Patience My Ass… I'm Going To Kill Something." Sounds about right to me.
Screw patience! Go to the range and take some Zen time!!! 🙂
I'm in that mode this very moment.
It's a high end tile that looks like wood upstairs. Downstairs is polished epoxy concrete floor.
Yes — the range!
Gonna be loud in there. Plan on getting lots of throw rugs or "area rugs". All the houses we looked at that had the flooring replaced with laminate were LOUD inside. Our sun room, kitchen, and entry way are all done in the same tile, and until we put down a buncha rugs, it reminded me of a bowling alley….
That's part of the plan. It's easier to change up/move around rugs in a home in a mountain environment than swapping out carpet. The new quality tile also is more resilient than wood, and that's important too.
Larry, you are NOT ancient. That place is looking proper nice and this is a good test for building patience. I don't have any either so I feel that pain. But, you will look back at this build one day and remember it as a great adventure.
And the finish and trim work will take as long or longer than all the rough work.
Looking good Boss.
THAT is the problem. You put the proverbial hammer smack down on the nail.
One nail at a time.
Every day I wake up and I'm not up on the mountain at the White Wolf Mine and say – DRAT!
By the way, Happy Birthday, Jules!
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