Why nothing has gotten done yet.

A few months ago I posted how our shipping container was broken into. The (enter expletive here) used bolt cutters to slice off the regular keyed locks we had. So, we scoured the internet and found a special lock for shipping containers that wasn't too ridiculously priced.

We got the new lock, drove up and installed it and haven't had a problem with breaking in yet.

Actually, it's such a good lock even we can't get into it.

So, Rob called the company that makes it, gave them the serial number off the lock and wouldn't you know it, the retailer that we bought it from sold us a defective lock. One the manufacturing company has listed as returned for defect.

So, Rob had to go buy an angle grinder to get the lock off. But wait, the angle grinder is electric and we don't have service yet. Well, we'll just use the generator...oh, wait. The generator is inside the shipping container.

Yes, just another day here in our world.


While we've been trying to figure out how we're going to get power to the grinder to get the lock off so we can have access to the flooring for the cabin that's inside and everything else we've stored up there (tools and whatnots), we haven't done really anything else. The electric papers need to be notarized, something they didn't tell us beforehand and since Rob doesn't live in Tampa anymore so we have to do it on the weekend when he's back but it's in the works. The electrician set up to do the pole is on standby until we get our papers in order.

Rob asked around and the same wonderful people he's staying with have an uncle with a generator that let us borrow it for a couple hours last night to get the lock off.  He had to pick up gloves and a face shield so he didn't get maimed while cutting through the thick metal.

Now we have to send this back to the company to get a working replacement lock.  It's all these little things no one tells you about that tend to come up. The broken lock has prevented us from getting into the container which means we couldn't get tools out or flooring, we couldn't store materials or bring much up to the land that couldn't afford to get stolen if someone had the idea to break into the cabin. We've literally wasted weeks just because of this minor set back. And this is why nothing has gotten done yet.

Be prepared, folks. When setting out on your adventures, realize things will come up that you would in no way be able to fathom beforehand.

Our Latest Visit

Yesterday, we packed up the van and the trailer and headed over to the land to drop off some materials we have into the shipping container. Initially, we were going to spend the night over, trying to get some work done on the shabin but it didn't work out.

The drive up got delayed a lot mainly because the things getting packed up were so builky and Rob was doing all the work himself while I was inside getting all the kids ready. Then, we had to drop Leeloo off at the dog-hotel. She needed a bath and we wern't going to be home until really late. She's not puppy trained enough to be home by herself and the van was just too ful and the ride too long to take a puppy along. Soon, she'll be going up with us. She needs to learn better manners first though.

When we finally pulled up to the land and were greated with a vibrant sea of green almost taller than the car.

July and August are the wettest months of the year here and the land responds accordingly. We drove through the soft fronds up to the doors of the shabin and container. Rob jumped out to unlock it and found someone had cut the locks we put on it. Both of them. I just don't understand people. Thankfully, at that point we didn't have anything in it at all. But it still saddens my heart that someone would do that. They had to have come once, saw the locks and then come back with the bolt cutters. It makes me leery to put anything up there that we couldn't afford to loose. Makes me nervous about staying overnight. I don't want to be afraid to be on my own land. I don't want to be scared to be out of the city and blanketed in the darkness of rurual life.

I tried to push it out of my mind and enjoy the little bit of time we had. My land soothes me. Makes me want to slow down and just be. I need that. The kids loved it even with the grass double their height.

They played in the shabin and stayed out of trouble. Granted if they had run through the fronds we'd have probably lost them for a bit, but I thnk even Max understood that out the rustic-but-still-civilized door there was wildness. With the locks cut we had to run to Lowes to pick up some more resistant ones. Even though there's not much where we are, their are still shops within about a half hour drive.

We came back with batteries for the LED lanterns and the locks and set about finishing up the last of what we wanted to do, which wasn't really much. The kids had a picnic on some blankets while they waited.

When we were getting ready to go, I spied a hawk perched on the top most branch of a tree in our bit of forest. He was watching, standing sentinel, while the wind gusted around him.

A few moments later two of his brothers glided by as if on patrol. It was so amazing to see these birds of prey living on our bit of Earth. To know that we are stewards of their home and they rely on us to protect them, even if they don't know it.

The sun was setting on our trip to the land. Even with the sky washed in the gray of storm clouds from the East, the West still glowed with the remnants of the day. To spend that time there, even when we couldn't do anything, was special.

As we packed up Amelia, our three year old, said "I want to live here forever." Me too, Emmy, me too.

Shabin and More

The Shed got delivered today. Rob waited up there by himself for pretty much the whole day.

Then the shipping container guy dropped off this. The shed is set back sixty feet from the road. The container is another twenty.

It's barebones in the Shabin right now.

Here is one of the lofts. Initially, the salesman said they would be two ten foot sections but they're actually more like twelve and fifteen feet.

It's going to be a lot of work getting them ready for more than a nights stay. We need to build stairs, insulate and figure out cooling and heating.

Here they are together waiting for us.

 We're hoping we're going up either this weekend or next at the latest. We have to have the materials ready and a solid plan of attack so we're not stuck at bedtime with no way to get up to the loft or inadequate bathrooms. But until then, Good bye for now.

P.S. Rob did some recon in the forest and pond areas and came back with some killer photos. I'll be getting those up later this week.

A few things have happened

I posted more indepth on my sister blog http://www.solidityofrainbows.blogspot.com/ and I apologize for those following that I didn't do it here. I forget that some things are actually farm/homestead related more than my general BS I put on the other site. I'll try and sumarize best I can and add more than what I posted there.

We've been contemplating going off grid, if it's do-able and the benefits/cons on it all. I think I definately want some solar power, possibly convert some appliances to propane and definately have a wood burning source of heat. We're just not sure if that's all we'll have. Remember, we're in FL. It's hot, AC is a must.

I bought a Kill A Watt meter yesterday off Amazon so we can go around and figure out what is being a major energy drain both on and off. We can then decide about keeping the item, limiting the use or replacing with something more efficient. If we find things that have high drains during standby there's a nifty little thing called Bye Bye Standby which is a remote "switch" that you plug in and it'll turn off/on your stuff. Brilliant. And cheap.

In other news we bought our house plans! http://www.countryplans.com/ has very nice, practical, inexpensive plans that have actually been built by actual people. Not contractors or builders. On weekends. With no mortgage. Seeing the progress of the homes done sometimes by people that have no building skill at all is amazingly inspiring. We chose the 20x34 Universal and will lengthen it to 38' with a living attic. We're still working on the floor plans right now. I have a 3D home design software coming too so we can work out the interior layout more specifically.

We're also planning on the shipping container delivered and land to be cleared later this month. What's holding us back is figuring out how we're going to get up there to do this. It's a three hour drive one way. It will most likely be a 2 day project. Do we rent a hotel and then one of us just hang out with the kids there or do we possibly buy a used RV trailer and bring that up with us. Problem with the RV trailer is that anything large enough to sleep all of us is too large to be pulled by either of our vehicles. Going with a self propelled model gives us another motor to worry about. We were going to go with converting a used school bus but the cheap buses you could find years ago have apparently disappeared, finding anything in the 40' range below or around $2k is almost impossible. Then there's the work on converting it. Something that won't happen by the time we want to get the container delivered.

But we've come this far and something will fall into our laps that will be the perfect solution to what we need to get this done. If it takes a few extra weeks, that should be okay but we have materials that are sitting that we'd like to get moved over that way.

Cross your fingers for us and if anyone is in Florida and has a trailer, shipping container or school bus for sale send us a shout!

Actual progress...I hope

Next month we'll actually get some progress done on our five acres. Income Tax time has come and while most get a little nauesous over it, we get a little giddy. One of the perks for having 5 kids is a nice sized credit, add to that Rob's untaxable income from being in Iraq and we've got a nice little nest egg for the land.

We'll be setting up a hotel room for late February. The first day we'll meet with someone to clear the land with a tractor and bush hog. The next we'll have an eight by twenty shipping container delivered. We already have a few things to put in it for later. We've decided to go with a wood frame house, using recycled materials throughout, and using the shipping container for one side of a pole barn.

It's not a lot of progress but it's something! Stay tuned for more information on the land clearing and shipping container delivery.

Container Housing

http://www.isbu-info.org/

We are looking at using recycled shipping containers for a self-build home on the site. I've been seeing these every day in Iraq and have wondered how feasible this would be. I have CAD templates of 20' and 40' ISO containers and have been learning AutoCAD. My goal is to be able to create plans that would pass any building department scrutiny. I also completed the US Army CSC container inspection course and am qualified to verify the seaworthiness of used containers.

In addition to AutoCAD, we are doing our preliminary floorplans in Visio. I want to use Better Homes and Gardens home design software for doing 3D walkthroughs. The more we can plan out in advance, the better.

We are considering using reclaimed grey water for irrigation, flushing toilets, etc. and using solar to pre-heat the hot water supply for the house.

More to come!