Outside Wall of Our House

[Edwin]

East Side at an Angle

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This is a picture of the entire East side of the house at an angle with Scooby in the picture! He just loves to have his picture taken, and when he sees the camera, here he comes! The camera is not much of a wide angle camera, so to get the entire East side of the house without going out of the yard I had to take it at an angle. While building this section of the wall I had to bring Scooby in the house, and he loves being in the house. He sat by Carol where ever she happened to be, letting her know that he really loves her! Both our dogs are very loving, and really nice doggies!

[Edwin]

North Side of our House

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This is the North Side of our house taken at an angle. This is the first side that I laid blocks on. I was amazed that it took me as long as it did to do that. I had been collecting extra blocks for a while knowing that I was going to be doing this project, bringing 30 blocks up the hill every time I was in town for any reason. In that way it did not cost me much to bring them home since I was already going for other reasons. If I was just driving to get the block it would have been cheaper to hire their truck to bring them up the hill, and that is what I did for 450 blocks that I used to build the cellar walls. When I did this side I had enough blocks ahead so that I did this side all in one day, and it was a longer day than I thought it would be. But it was a very good start. I opened up this wall about 3 times because I have lumber stored under there, and I needed some of it to build my cellar roof. I took the wall down in one place, took lumber out, let it get rained and snowed on, then cleaned the snow off, and put it back under! Such is life!!

[Edwin]

South End of our House

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This is the South side of our house. This was the last of the wall that I worked on. I did the wall in Scooby's yard to the corner and then to his fense. Then I started from the cellar roof closest to the South side, and worked to the fense. I also rebuilt the steps because Carol liked the ones I built in the front, or West side much better than what was there before because the steps go down more gradually with shallower steps, making it much easier to go in and out of the house. Carol Banti chicken house/coupe is there at this side as well. I was very pleased when I finally closed in this end because that meant that I was finished with this wall, and the entire house was walled around the first 4 feet high, and that safe guards the under side of our house from cold, freezing wind. I have a few junk blocks on top the wall, but they are doing the job, and will do just fine until spring!

[Edwin]

This picture shows the cellar roof a little closer up as well as showing my block wall that I laid a little closer as well. We built that cellar roof after dark, late in the evening, and we were very tired, as well as being very cold! It is built so that it can be lifted off, but you can't beleive how heavy it is, so I am planning just to leave it on as a roof, and if the need ever arises It can be lifted off, but I have other plans how to get into that cellar other than going down through the roof. What I am thinking now is that I will go down through the kitchen floor with a trap door and a ladder to the bottom of the cellar, because I don't want to open it up outside in the winter. I am planning to dig from the other side of the house a gradual dirt ramp and put a door through the cellar, but I am not going to start on that project until at least next summer, and in the mean time, the ladder will work!

Cellar Roof Close up

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[Chas]

Just looking at those photos makes me feel cold. What an amazing amount of work you have done on your house. Thanks for sharing.

[Edwin]

Front Entrance to our House

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This is the front entrance to our house. This house originally had only two entrances/exits. We put a slidding glass door where one of the windows was, so now we have 3 doors going outside our house, and that is nice. We can go out into Scooby's yard through the slidding glass door, or out the house back where Carol's chickens are, or out the front, and we use them all. This also shows the front or West side of our house all cleaned up after the end of the cellar and wall projects. The cellar projected I have been working towards for about 3 years, but the wall was a sudden brain storm that I had. I was trying to figure out what I could use for a wind break, and yet be able to easily take it apart anywhere, and I got the idea to use heavy duty contractor garbage liners. I over lap them, and they work perfectly, keeping the cold wind from coming through!

[Edwin]

Just looking at those photos makes me feel cold. What an amazing amount of work you have done on your house. Thanks for sharing.

You are very welcome, and you have shared in the past as well, and I have enjoyed very much what you have posted on the forum, writings and pictures of your trips!

Yes, and believe me you, it is cold also! We have had freezing temperatures with the wind blowing. The first really cold night even though I had a makeshift room built over my water system, it froze, but didn't damage any of the equipment for which I was very thankful. I bought a tarp and a number of propane bottles, borrowed my son-in-law's space heater, and we continued to work on it in the cold under this tarp/tent, with the space heater going, and it saved the day, only it was expensive, but it was necessary. We had a warming trend since, then snow, then colder, now warmer and more snow, wind, drifting snow about 3 or 4 feet deep in place, so that I couldn't drive in to the house this morning until some snow was removed, and by then I had the chains on the car.

Yes, I have done a lot of work, and I also have had a lot of help from my kids for which I am thankful. I still have more work that needs to be done, but nothing is pressing or hurting at this point. Nothing will get damaged if I don't get something done in a hurry, and that was the case not long ago. I will take a little break, and then get busy again. More always needs to be done, but I am thankful for what is done now, and that the Lord protected me and gave me the strength to do this work! It feels really good at this point.

[Edwin]

Scooby and His House

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Here is Scooby and his house! I had to move his house out away from our house to lay the block wall, and I have not moved it back yet. I have one block on end 16 inches and the other on their sides, 8 inches, and that is because he dug a hole, and I didn't get it all filled in. He dug it in self preservation as he can't take the heat, so he dug himself a basement in which to keep cool. For a couple of years he had not heat in his house, and then last winter I got to feeling sorry for him when it was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard, so our daughter helped me put a heat lamp in his house. He is a cold weather dog, and really doesn't need the heat, but I need him to have heat so that I won't worry about him. I have a ceramic heat lamp with a 75 watt bulb in it. It will take a 300 watt bulb, but 75 watts keeps his blankets dry, and gives him just a little heat, and then he can read a good book all night, and it is no wonder that his eyes are blood shot! I will need to move his house back against our house, and I may even block up around his house as well sometime during the next year. I think it would look nice to match what I have done around our house with his house. He is a wonderful doggie!

[Edwin]

Another Angle of the South Side

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Here is another angle of the South side of our house. Scooby is almost taller than the fense that keeps him in, but he respects it and will not try to escape. But while we were gone yesterday the snow drifted across the fence, and it was level walking just as if the fence were not even there, so he thought it was an invitation for him to walk out of the yard which he did, right over the fence as if it were not even there! Our daughter came and he followed her in the house, went in all the rooms once, which is his custom, and then he followed her out through the sliding glass door in his yard. He is a very good doggie. She shoveled the snow away from the fence so that he would know that he did not have an invitation to leave his yard, and then she fed him as well. We were not able to come home as we had planned because of the snow storm, snowing heavily, and wind drifting the snow, and I was talked out of trying to go home, which was wise, as it was too dangerous to try to go, and I didn't want to take a chance because it could be deadly, and Carol informed me that if anything happened she would not be able to walk, so we spent the night and came home the next morning when it was safer!

[Edwin]

Back Steps of our house

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These are the back steps that I built like the front steps. The way I build them it takes 32 blocks, and is very gradual, so that makes it easy to go in and out of the house. Then I have 2 pallets in front of those steps both in the front and back. Carol wants me to do the same going out the sliding glass door into Scooby's yard, and I will when I can get more blocks. I have a few extras, but not enough. If I can haul one more load of 30 blocks up the hill I will have enough, but I'm not sure when I can count on good enough roads to haul them over. Snow on the road is not problem as long as it has been plowed, and sanded makes it better, but warm and slick spells trouble trying to pull the hills loaded with blocks. You can also see some blocks on the pallet that are all ready for use, when I can get a few more.