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Post by don on Jan 22, 2023 0:23:04 GMT -5
 Looking good, you have to bait the Fox, did the same, gonna confess, he looked so pretty I couldn’t shoot him, that’s when I realized I was a decrypt old man.😢 I'm finding myself in the same position more and more these days. Hate to kill anything anymore. I guess I'm all grown up. I am the same. You see enough death, lose enough family, friends, canine companions. It changes you. Life is funny.
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Post by dervis on Jan 24, 2023 9:53:20 GMT -5
For the most part the house is done. It is funny , at the end of the day Saturday when most of the things were off the list , Girlfriend and Dad where staring at the house teary eyed. I was looking at the ground next to it planning the shop/ home office. I understand it is an accomplishment, and I understand it is something to feel a degree of pride in, I don't though. Now the memories I have made with my father building this house are something I will treasure forever. The long nights in the house alone working with my thoughts I appreciate. The physical hardening of my muscles and mind are obvious benefits. The learning of each step to use in future goals are wonderful. But, the actual completion of the task, just another Saturday where I didn't get enough done. I am in no way sad , or depressed, or mad. Just a general feeling of what's next? Tilting at new projects in replace of windmills is my default setting. Completion of things means a moment of inactiveness that I don't find comfort in. While the house has all working facilities I still walk over to my trailer when the need arises. Its like its not a real thing, just something I checked off a list. Wanted to build a house so I did. If not for my dad does not have another one in him to build I would be just as fine with selling it I think. If it wasn't on my property. I have spent a few days trying to define why I feel like this, or why the lack of feeling. Best answer I can come up with is it does not feel like home. It is for sure a house, a house I am complimented on by everyone who sees it. Its not home though. Maybe when I move in it will but I am in no hurry weirdly. I apologize for the 10 pictures to follow but I think some of you guys/gals would like to see them . Each is the room completed basically. Just some touch up paint, cabinet knobs and cleaning to be done . I own no furniture presently that I would move over there. It will come in time. I don't see a reason to spend money on a couch when I can spend money on building something next. I have a few camp chairs that work fine for me.          
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 24, 2023 10:05:55 GMT -5
 I was like you, needed to fix, or build, fine house, love the kitchen, open so a lot of friends or relatives cab congrate, you done good!
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Post by trailboss on Jan 24, 2023 11:15:49 GMT -5
A fine job, Travis! And it is great indeed that you were able to work alongside your dad to get it all accomplished.
If and when you decide to furnish it, I would suggest looking at consignment shops occasionally. My wife sells a lot of small stuff in the stores around here, but I am always amazed at how much furniture goes in and out of the stores in fantastic condition for a fraction of what people originally spent. The main store that my wife sells at is picky about what they accept.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 24, 2023 11:32:16 GMT -5
Great job!
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Post by Silver on Jan 24, 2023 16:42:00 GMT -5
Beautiful! I hope, in time, it feels like home to you.
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Post by urbino on Jan 24, 2023 19:34:17 GMT -5
Give it a little time. You'll come to appreciate what an accomplishment this is. Your mind just needs a little time to see it as finished.
Congrats!
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Post by bonanzadriver on Feb 6, 2023 0:52:52 GMT -5
Holy Cow Derv!
I haven't been on this thread in a while.
When's the house warming party?
Lookin awesome. Quite the Barndominium!
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Post by dervis on Feb 7, 2023 9:00:40 GMT -5
Thanks! Probably no house warming party. I still cant figure out when I want to even move in. In a few weeks I should have some furniture, to busy right now to go look at anything. April starts planting and stuff, so hopefully before then. Everything in the house is technically ready and works, I just don't use any of it. We cooked pizzas in the oven one night, that was nice. I haven't had an oven in a few years. It sounds funny but I think I am going to MAKE myself take a shower over there. Just hopefully if I start using it it will feel like something that is supposed to be used?
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Post by Plainsman on Feb 7, 2023 13:19:55 GMT -5
A house is not a home until it has dog hair on the sofa and a few muddy paw prints on those nice floors. Maybe a big rough hewn table in that great kitchen with a tray in the middle full of hot sauces. It’ll get there. Give it a chance.
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Post by urbino on Feb 7, 2023 16:55:02 GMT -5
Yup, it’ll feel like home pretty quickly, after you start living in it.
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Post by dervis on Apr 13, 2023 10:32:00 GMT -5
In another fantastic example of answered prayers, the bank people realized I had a trailer on the property. Now Ive been living in this trailer for 5-6 years, and it has been on every appraisal, of which there has been 3. But all of a sudden they realize and gave me 10 days to have it removed, which was impossible. So then they settled on power removed, water removed, and cleaned out. So I had a week or so to get everything out and moved. I had been dragging my feet but they got me moving. The only half problem is my office had to be moved into the guest bedroom of the new house. I had wanted to leave it in the trailer for the year or so. The plan being to save some money and then build an office. We bought some furniture I like. Living room is basically set up. You can see the coffee table which we had, but then I built the side tables to try and match. The cow skin rug is real and Ive always wanted one.   (girlfriend had texted she had a ruff day, so I showed her I had tea, blanket, and book she was reading ready and waiting but it does show off the table I built )  Photos of the cabinets we bought, and a headboard I built to try and match. Have to do some nightstands now but might have to pause to do garden prep, I am very behind on everything as usual.     Have to take a step back from the house and try and get gardens and such going. Yards and gardens are a mess. Got new rabbits but have not handled them enough they are still pretty skittish. Quail started passing away, due to age. And I let all the males pass without hatching anymore, so I have to get more somewhere. Still getting 15 plus eggs a day from the chickens , giving away all of them currently, the ducks keep me in enough eggs for personal use. People show up every few days and take whatever I have extra. Have to dig new water lines to the barn and greenhouse, set up for chicks that are coming now. I am still blessed beyond anything I deserve. I wish everyone happiness and best wishes.
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Post by Silver on Apr 13, 2023 10:43:41 GMT -5
Looks great!
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Post by oldcajun123 on Apr 13, 2023 10:49:53 GMT -5
 Nothing wrong with what I’ve seen, you done better than good!
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Post by Ronv69 on Apr 13, 2023 23:07:54 GMT -5
In another fantastic example of answered prayers, the bank people realized I had a trailer on the property. Now Ive been living in this trailer for 5-6 years, and it has been on every appraisal, of which there has been 3. But all of a sudden they realize and gave me 10 days to have it removed, which was impossible. So then they settled on power removed, water removed, and cleaned out. So I had a week or so to get everything out and moved. I had been dragging my feet but they got me moving. The only half problem is my office had to be moved into the guest bedroom of the new house. I had wanted to leave it in the trailer for the year or so. The plan being to save some money and then build an office. We bought some furniture I like. Living room is basically set up. You can see the coffee table which we had, but then I built the side tables to try and match. The cow skin rug is real and Ive always wanted one.   (girlfriend had texted she had a ruff day, so I showed her I had tea, blanket, and book she was reading ready and waiting but it does show off the table I built )  Photos of the cabinets we bought, and a headboard I built to try and match. Have to do some nightstands now but might have to pause to do garden prep, I am very behind on everything as usual.     Have to take a step back from the house and try and get gardens and such going. Yards and gardens are a mess. Got new rabbits but have not handled them enough they are still pretty skittish. Quail started passing away, due to age. And I let all the males pass without hatching anymore, so I have to get more somewhere. Still getting 15 plus eggs a day from the chickens , giving away all of them currently, the ducks keep me in enough eggs for personal use. People show up every few days and take whatever I have extra. Have to dig new water lines to the barn and greenhouse, set up for chicks that are coming now. I am still blessed beyond anything I deserve. I wish everyone happiness and best wishes. That's so strange to me that the bank would care about the trailer. I've had all kinds of stuff on my lots over the years and built buildings and add-ons with electricity electricity. Anyway glad that everything is going well for you overall. We're all blessed more than we deserve.
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Post by Goldbrick on Apr 14, 2023 7:22:52 GMT -5
A fine job, Travis! And it is great indeed that you were able to work alongside your dad to get it all accomplished. If and when you decide to furnish it, I would suggest looking at consignment shops occasionally. My wife sells a lot of small stuff in the stores around here, but I am always amazed at how much furniture goes in and out of the stores in fantastic condition for a fraction of what people originally spent. The main store that my wife sells at is picky about what they accept. Indeed, wonderful job, if I had your skills I'd build my own furniture, but I see you thought of that too...Trailboss is right on target about consignment shops. we got a new sofa, two weeks ago, and the sticker price blew my mind, two grand for a sofa!!!  and they wanted half that for a recliner...we came away with the sofa, and found a recliner that matched, for thirty-five bucks at Goodwill, and it's like new... Later, at a consignment shop nearby, I found an oriental rug in new condition for $175.00, a hand knotted 10 by 12. I was told that sometimes real-estate agents stage homes with things like this and donate them when the house sells. sorry you had to deal with the bank's red tape, but that's life in 2023.
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Post by dervis on Sept 15, 2023 9:11:43 GMT -5
More than a few months have passed since last posting. I think the biggest thing I have accomplished since is moving in the house has been gaining weight. Moved in the house been living here since April. Sitting still to allow bank accounts and body recover. Not sure which is actually recovering, but everything in its own time. House is fine, still settling as one will . I have mental lists of everywhere that needs more paint, and drywall seams need redone, and more grout needed. No real issues yet. I still go up in the attic after every rain to make sure no leaks, even though I know there is not. It is a sometimes funny sometimes not continuation that the house cant be done, something has to be wrong. It just has to be. The porch lights/fans did stop working. Found that when putting up the porch ceiling I had nicked one of the wires with the nail gun. Easy fix so at least that was something to do. The side and back door are allowing water to seep in if the deadbolt is not locked. Has darkened the wood floor some, Ill fix over time but for now just keeping them locked. Gardens came and went. Plenty of food in my freezer and handed out. Most of the garden did fine. Mishap on labeling my tomato plants so ended up with more of the small variety's I grow than the larger ones. Still plenty to eat , just not as good a harvest as I am used to. Feels like I did not spend as much time in the garden as years past, but still had truck loads of produce, so probably just in my head. The field currently is green with spots of orange/white from the pumpkins. Grew a bigger crop this year, will have family and anyone else come pick up some for the kiddos to carve. People charge way to much for pumpkins around here at least. It is easy to grow, and kids get a kick out of going to pick out the one they want. Anything they dont want , chickens end up eating so it gets turned into eggs. All the animals are doing ok , had another round of rabbits, but whatever disease I have on the place is still taking them out in larger numbers than I prefer. I kept breeding stock out of the ones that survived, I am going to try one more round, hoping that they are resilient to whatever the issue is. Combined two flocks of chickens, which currently is causing problems at night. They dont like going in the coop together, and try and fly to the nearest trees. Going to cut down the brushy tree line a few feet back this weekend hoping that helps. Ducks are still just doing whatever it is ducks do all day. I am the only person who really eats their eggs so not in a hurry to get more. I am letting two sit on some eggs but I doubt they will actually hatch. I have lost count of how many quail I have in the freezer with another 30 plus to butcher this weekend. Ill hold off on them for a bit, winter is a hard time for them to grow and it shortens the chore list every morning if they aren't around. I do have 30 chicks I can hear cheeping as I type. in 6 or so weeks they will be butchered and will be the majority of my food for next year. Project wise is basically nothing, built some flower beds for cut flowers next year. My girlfriends daughter is getting married in a little over a year. I figure on growing the flowers for the wedding. Its ridiculous what flower places charge. Flowers for the most part are even easier to grow than vegetables. Plus always happy to feed the bees/birds. Will be running water lines to the barn next month hopefully . Then just saving for gravel for the driveways, carport. than the actual carport and office. Still working out of the spare bedroom currently . The setup is working fine , but I would rather it be out of the house. I have to go in the office about once a month now to train people on things and listen to all the gossip apparently . I never get past how groups of people seem to sound like my chickens, clucking but saying basically nothing. Just who is the loudest and who has the most to complain/brag about. The idea seems lost that we are all humanity , so their wins are also my wins, and their loses are also my loses. There is nothing to gain over another person, we all rise together or fall together. If you go up the metaphorical ladder one step , but push someone down one step, humanity still just broke even. Was gifted some cigars so have been smoking on those more. Have not liked them in the past but something about it now has been nice. Certainly not a hobby I can afford , but I always have the best of the rest pipe tobacco handy, and maybe will throw in a cigar on occasion. I am still blessed beyond anything I deserve. There is a season to things for sure, the dog days of summer moving into the coolness of fall here. Has a fire in me to get more things moving and done. I feel like I have gotten less done this year. I generally feel behind, but I dont know something about this year I just feel as I have been lazy. I jokingly blame it on a nice house and AC now. But I do feel it has taken an edge off. Leaving a tool outside will weather and dull it , but maybe leaving a person inside does the same. Dads health has taken a turn. I go and visit him often, but he is physically not the man he was a year ago, and wont be again. I knew I was lucky , but now it is really sinking in how lucky I was that he and I got to build this house. And now when he is able to visit we sit on the porch and talk about every nail , screw, board, lightbulb, the works that we did with our hands. I had played with the idea of selling the whole place, and starting over somewhere new, but I think if that does happen it will certainly wait until the last of his and I conversations. I hope you are all doing well , I do read the posts more than I post. Seems several folks are going through some things. I make sure to include the hardships in my prayers and hope things turn out fthe best they can for all . Below are a few pictures of some of the crop from this year. the truck one, we drove around on the 4th of july and handed it out to families we saw out doing things. Met loads of good people. The truck was twice as full , this was a photo I grabbed while stopping to get gas. The picnic table is on the porch of the house, its for the folks that know they can just come get what they want whenever they want. That photo was probably 2 days of picking. Currently it is full of Spaghetti squash, and butternut squash not much else though. People take all the summer stuff as fast as I can put it up some weeks, but the end of summer/fall squash no one really takes. I think they need help on how to cook it . I might build a little stand down at the road, with a free sign, and leave some index cards with recipes on how to cool some things.  
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Post by Goldbrick on Sept 15, 2023 13:42:27 GMT -5
Great stuff Pal...it's so very nice to see a post from you. Stay well!
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Post by urbino on Sept 15, 2023 15:54:33 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your dad's health. Enjoy him while you have him, which it sounds like is exactly what you're doing.
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Post by Plainsman on Sept 15, 2023 16:59:36 GMT -5
Travis, a post from you is always a treat. We are blessed to have you with us. I wish you and your dad the very best.
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Post by trailboss on Sept 15, 2023 21:31:02 GMT -5
I think that “playing farmer”, is a misnomer. While you may not operate a commercial farming operation, you are certainly a legitimate farmer, and obviously a blessing to the community you serve.
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Post by Yohanan on Sept 16, 2023 20:34:05 GMT -5
All I can say is God Bless you Travis!!! but You already know He has.
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Post by oldcajun123 on Sept 17, 2023 7:07:08 GMT -5
 Yep, you ain’t playing Son, you’re the real deal!
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