Today I drove the Truck from Houston to the log home. I was glad to find it in good shape, no bent pine second floor and perfectly dry inside. It does look a little bit like a lumberyard ;

Most of the wood is the siding; what will be on the gable end and extension walls. 

I pitched the tent again, not against the rain but to keep any bugs out whilst sleeping;

This time it’s more comfortable, with my Coleman cot and sleeping bag. 

I picked up some 2×6 treated pine to start work on the side decks tomorrow 

It’s weekend and I’m a Warrior, so what could be more appropriate than this;

Arrived but still waiting for my suitcase to make it here, which was taken off the plane as I was late due to understaffed check-in counters at United Airlines. So I might as well enjoy a beer. 

The home cooked meal was delicious;

Ever since I bought the lot, Texas weather seems to have more extremes, like 16″ downpours in a single day. So it’s good to have a roof. The good news is that I now do; the metal roof was put on last week.

Windows 6, doors 2. That’s the latest score on Ozuye Lodge. All windows and doors have now been cut. This makes it look so much more like a home. 

Although I’m no longer there, work continues. Today the first window was cut:

  
It’s a bit larger than it will be eventually, as two jambs on the side will support the cut logs. The rough opening will be 36×48″

Sitting down on the upper deck this will be the view. 

Floors are not usually made from 2×6 solid boards. But I never said I was building a usual house ?

As the cedar floor joists are some distance apart, a standard floorboard would not be strong enough. So I ordered pine 2×6 boards and picked them up 

 
Although I couldn’t finish the floor, this is what it will look like; 

 
On this floor there will be 2 windows looking out to the east

In a log cabin, doors and windows are cut out from the walls after they’ve been put up. This envolves careful planning, some 2×4’s to support the logs cut, and one 2×4 thats acts as a guide for the chainsaw. Here’s Dave working on the door from cabin to add on. 

Ok, this is embarrassing. Wasn’t even going to post as I have no pictures, but going to anyway, so you can all have a laugh. 

Remeber that big Ford F150 truck I bought? I found it odd that even after 300 miles, it still showed 50% full on the dash gauge for my battery. 

The day before yesterday I pulled into my Subdivision Stallion Springs and just before I arrived my radio and AC switched off. I turned off the AC and could switch the radio back on, so thought it was a fluke. 

The next morning, the battery was dead; no starter engine, nothing. Dave, the guy doing work on the log construction suggested I’d back up, so he could park next to me so he could use jumper cables to get the truck started. So I backed my longer than my Dutch home is wide long truck up. Only a bit too far, tilting me half into the ditch next to my driveway culvert pipe. 

I thought I’d still be able to pull out, and measured that the alternator (that charges the battery) was dead. So the next day Dave had arranged his mechanic buddy Mike to swing by and recharge my battery using the AC outlet on my power pole on the driveway. ( having a power outlet at the entrance of a 200 ft driveway can be useful)

We let it charge and indeed the engine started fine and kept running. Next step was to obviously get out of the ditch. 

This proved not so easy; pulling with my neighbor Milla’s car did not work. It is a 6350 LBS ( 3000 kg) truck. Luckily both Mike, Dave and Milla’s son are all muscles. So with them 3 pushing the car up, I could finally pull out.

Today the alternator was replaced and I am once again mobile. 

Funny way to meet your neighbors but now known Milla, Tim and Ulla wich are all very friendly people. Everyone waves as they see eachother pass in the Stallion Springs subdivision. 

Sometimes you just want to get higher up. With the final 3 joists in place, this can now be; on these joist will be the three quarters floor of 2×8 tongue and groove white pine.