Creating a "Porchouse"

C and I were discussing the status of the structures left on the property.

 

1. Porch

2.  Shed

 

The porch is all in all a sound structure. It was built by the Amish and has a lot of life left, it just didn't look the greatest.

I know you are thinking "that doesn't look structurally sound at all".

 

The shed, on the other hand, looks rustic and charming, but basically sucks as a structure. It was built right on the ground, so the bottom is all rotted. Animals have burrowed under and made nests in the dirt on the floor. And most importantly, the doors seriously do not shut. I'm not sure that they ever have.

 

See, it really does have some rustic charm.

Not to mention, we heard from a neighbor that the previous owners actually used rough cut hemlock right off of the property to build this shed. How cool is that?? So even though the structure is not so good, we want to use all of this wood on something.

C got to thinking, and photo shopping...and this is what he came up with:

 

A few things to note:

 

1. This is the porch, without the mobile home attached obviously

2. The porch has been wrapped up in the rough cut wood from the shed

3. Windows have been added to the side facing the street.

4. Flagpole has been placed to display our colors.

5. The porch is lifted off of the ground, leaving plenty of room to store wood for the fire while keeping it dry.

6. C should clearly be a designer, using only photo shop.

You can envision this I'm sure. Either way, we immediately discussed this idea with Mr. Sleeveless and RobSr. to get some comments and concerns.

In general, we received the go-ahead with this project, as well as helping hands to get things started. Unfortunately, we weren't able to just tear down the shed and nail the wood to the porch. We had to buy some plywood. Looking at it now, this was the right way to go.

Some of the plywood remnants

Plywood collection and some of the boards that were torn from the shed. The Greek was helping us take out some nails.

At the end of the day on Sunday, we already had the porch enclosed. Thus, it becomes: Porchouse!

Only one side up so far

View from the street

After the third side was added

View from the woods-all three sides up


While C, Mr. Sleeveless and RobSr. were doing this, Featherweight and I were trying to pull scrap from the burn pile.

Leave it to Macgyver himself to create this handy contraption:

A stick, with magnets attached to it.

Clearly it works like a charm.

And last but not least, I got my first tree to plant! I call it the Shrubbery, even though it's actually a tree. Right now, it looks more like a Shrub. I hope to get a million more and make a wall of them behind the split-rail fencing.

 

Next weekend's gameplan is as follows:

Cut some holes where the windows are gonna go on the Porchouse
Begin removing the wood from the shed
Remove the roof from the shed (this wood is still in great shape and not worn at all, we are thinking it will become our hardwood flooring)


It was a long weekend that ended with a Steakweek! Unfortunately, I forgot to take some photos of this month's steak gathering. We went over to dine with Mr. Sleeveless and EJ on their new dining room table. Mr. Sleeveless grilled up the steaks we grabbed from T-Bones on the way home (as well as some Chicken). We had some potatoes and green beans, and a yummy peanut butter dessert as well. The weather was just right for grilling out and got us excited for future summer Steakweeks!

 



Trees, Fish, and a Visitor

I should preface this post by saying, cutting down a tree will NEVER be as easy as you think it will be initially.

 

It will never go smooth, you will have to cut it again, you will probably have to use a comealong :)

 

Still not gonna fall.

Frustration led Mr. Sleeveless to jump on the tree.

The Greek showing us how to operate these vintage comealongs.

Yet another cut in the trunk.

 

 

This sucker did eventually fall.

 

In other news: C has never been to a fish fry. That being said, it is the Lenten Season, and what better time to take part in this tradition. Like brother like sister, Mr. Sleeveless and I decided to take C to a fish fry at P-Town. We enjoyed a wonderful fish sandwhich with fries on the side. And what do you know??

 

 

HE LIKED IT!

This fish fry was awarded a thumbs up!


C and I had a wonderful visitor not too long ago. Pappy from SC came to visit. Being that he doesn't venture to the cold very often, we took him for lunch with the Greek and his wife and visited our property.

Do you see the resemblance? If you put C's dad in the middle it's extra obvious :)