Jus' Truss Me

I'm currently working on a huge and daunting project:

the sorting and digitizing of endless albums and boxes

of photographs

of our family since 1981, the year Mr & Me met.

Oi.

And I'm behind in this week's journaling.

I've got to work on both those things this evening.

And probably make a meal.

Mr'd sure appreciate that.

So, this post will be short on words.

And if you know me at all,

you know that ain't exactly one of my natural inclinations.

This intro is proof.

Like you even need proof.

Okay,

let's go already...

At the end of last post

(actually, the post before last)

I wrote about and posted photos of the finished 

framed walls of the workshop.

Well,

next came putting the housewrap on,

then installing the windows, and then

getting it sheeted with 

Smartside's 4'x9' 7/16 non-groove panels. 

And then...

came the trusses.

Which we put up 'a mono'.

Why?

Because

1. Putting a 70,000 lb crane with outriggers on our driveway

would have been a disaster, cracking and crushing the concrete.

2. Saved us somewhere in the ballpark of $500 and $700.

3. We're just crazy like that.

4. My pacin' and prayin' is a force to be reckoned with.

5. It makes a pretty awesome story.

And truss me...

there are stories.

The end gables were the hardest and scariest, 

being fully sheeted, 38 feet long, 9 feet high

at the top of the rake, 

and weighing in at 450 to 500 pounds.

But Mr is a genius.

And confident.

And determined.

And that always adds up to success.

But still I pray.

And pace.

Unless I'm supporting a truss on a 2x6x12, 

waiting for that truss 

to be hoisted into position. 

"Honey, when we lift, you run. Okay?"

"Yep. Got it."

Pacin' just ain't practical when 

you're holding a truss up on a long 2x6.

We had some great help here and there from a couple of our children,

a couple of our sons-in-law,

our daughter, Aubrey's, boyfriend, Shad,

and even a wonderful neighbor, friend and fellow ward (congregation) member, 

Jay Mackley.

It took us 2 weeks of off and on work to get the job completed.

And boy, let me tell you...

we're GLAD it's completed.

Mr worked on the diagonal and lateral bracing 

and the strong backs and kickers all of last week.

He and I got the east and west facia (not shown) up last Tuesday evening.

Tomorrow we hope to get the barge rafters up after he gets home from work

and before dark.

The days are growing shorter, summer is waning.

Next comes the sheeting of the roof.

Another adventure awaits.

Thank you for stoppin' by

Our Retro Bungalow.

Puttin' Up Walls

Puttin' Up Walls.

I'll be the first to admit that over the course of my life

I've put up a few walls here and there.

But let's not dwell on the past.
Besides,

the walls that have been goin' up around here lately

are not of the of the metaphorical variety -

they're bona fide barriers between inside and out.

Dean has always wanted a workshop.
Due to spending his prime providing for and raising half a dozen children,
he's just now getting around to making his dream happen
 three plus decades later.

Most folks that have observed what's been 

going on aound here recently have stated that 

the man of the house is building himself a

"man cave".

Well, call it what you want,

but really...

 my husband is a natural-born gear-head.

Ever since he was just a wee lad

he's loved working on anything that's 

greasy and runs on gasoline.

My very favorite story about him bein' a young boy

took place when he was 12 years old.

 He'd traded his saved-up allowance on the purchase of an old

lawn mower motor from a neighbor. 

Although the old motor hadn't worked for quite some time,

he was confident in his investment.

After dissecting, analyzing, cleaning, reassembling

and refueling the deceased conglomeration of metals and hoses and grease

he was thrilled to discover that he'd fixed it!

It ran!

And for months after he'd mosey out to the garage every now and then

and fire it up just to hear and watch it run.

Really?

Really.

Personally,

I can't think of anything more dull than that.

But then, I can't think of anything more winsome either.

Clear as day I readily picture him
standing over his Franken-motor

as it puffs out hot, gray exhaust while simultaneously potential is
being cultivated inside that boy.

It's no surprise he grew up and earned a degree in
mechanical engineering and over the course of his career
has worked in the aerospace, automotive and medical industries.
He even earned an MBA in his 30's and did several years in management,
but decided he wanted back into the science of industry.
He missed the nuts and bolts of engineering.
The walls of his workshop have been slowly going up
and before y'all know it
he'll have vehicles atop the hydraulic life and
engines dangling from a cherry picker.

So, here we go...

He dug trenches for the footings with his trusty ornage tractor.
We had a hard time keeping the grandchildren and the dawg outta
those trenches...

 
Really, we didn't even try keeping them out.
There was fun to be had and cool, damp earth
to lie on in those long, deep furrows!
The fun didn't last nearly long enough, though,
because there were forms for footings that needed to be built.

Then the footings were poured.

 

After the footings had cured,
we had a crew come in to form and pour the foundation walls.

Then there was lots and LOTS of tractor work to be done
to get ready for the concrete slab.

Next came all the rock that goes under the slab that needed to be distributed.
And screeded.
Jus' so ya know...
"screeding" is a cuss word in my book.
Not that I mind helping, but screeding...
I hope I don't ever have the opportunity to help screed
a gravel base again in my life time.
That is all.
Except that I was a very good sport about it.
Honest, I was.

Moving right along...
It was finally time to call in our favorite concrete crew.
Craig Robinson is the best concrete contractor you'll find in these parts
and he's in high demand,
but I believe he always fits us in in a timely fashion whenever we call for his
crew because he thinks highly of my husband and everything we've
accomplished here on Fruitland Drive.
I'm pretty sure it helps, too, that we pay him promptly.

Then we took a break.
But not really.
After the shop floor and approach were done
we went to work on tearing out and replacing the
old flagstone retaining wall that runs across the front
of Retro Bungalow.
The original retaining wall had been there since the 1950's.
Scott Randall, whose father, Percy, built the original house,
told us of his recollection when, as a small boy,
 he made the trip with his dad all the way to Arizona
in one of the old family farm trucks to go
pick up the flagstone that the old wall was built out of.

I'll spare y'all the blow by blow details,
but boy-howdy, let me tell you this...
Dean was surprised to find a very large footing
beneath that old flagstone wall and it was a
booger to get out and haul away in hefty size chunks.

I don't recall how many trips we made to
Recycled Earth,
but I do remember that for some reason they were having a
"special" and we were able to unload ALL of that old concrete
footing for FREE!
We sure do appreciate those folks and the purpose of their worthy enterprise.
Saving us a hefty chunk of cash was a very nice bonus.

After what seemed like endless cleanup and prep work...

we finally got busy setting the first (bottom) course
of the new retaining wall.
The first course was difficult and time consuming,
but once we got to setting the next six courses,
it was easy-peasy.
Except that I discovered I have triceps and obliques
and other muscles I'd never been acutely aware of before.
All that hard work was worth it.
We are very pleased with how our new retaining wall turned out...

It wasn't long before our lumber order for framing the workshop
showed up from from Wheelwright.
Other than getting some help from moi and our sons to lift the
unwieldy frame walls he'd built
up and onto the foundation walls,
Dean framed his workshop himself in about one week
including a few days of working his regular 9 to 5.
The man amazes me, I tell ya.
BUT...
 sometimes he just gets me so undone with
worry because he will not wait for or ask for help
and all I have to resort to is pacin' an' prayin' hard.
For example:
he installed the 40 foot double header that weighs between
4 to 5 hundred pounds
and sits
ABOVE THE GARAGE DOORS
BY.HIM.SELF.
(with some help from his trusty orange tractor)
Oh, my WORD
he
MAKES.ME.CRAZY.
And I'll just tell ya right now that I was irritated.
And I may have even mumbled under my breath something like
"the man's a stubborn, crazy-fool"
because I was scared outta my head that beam would fall on him.
But it didn't.
Because praying works.
And because the man's as strong as he is stubborn.

That's all for now.
Won't be long til the trusses go up.
Which means, of course,  there'll be more pacin' and prayin'.
And I'll do my best not to mumble any scolding words under my breath.

Thanks for stoppin' by
and
have a fabulous day, y'all.

Full House, Happy Hearts

Our niece, Sarah, sent me a Facebook message on Feb 4th.

I didn't see it until a couple of days later.

Honestly,

I'm not a very good Facebook friend.

I post, mostly from Instagram, but don't check in and 

actually scroll the 'news feed' regularly.

I panicked a little when I read what she'd sent.

I panicked because I was afraid they'd made other plans

because I hadn't responded quickly. 

She was asking to stay here with us while she and her family were here in Utah.

They live in Rhonert Park, California, 

and were traveling out here to drop their daughter, Phoenix,

off at the Provo MTC on Wednesday the 10th.

She was a little shy and nervous about asking because

there would be SIX of them:

her, her husband Aaron, and their 4 children.

They hadn't visited us at Our Retro Bungalow before,

but had read about it and seen pictures of it here on our blog

and she assumed it was a teeny, tiny little nest for two.

Not so.

Well, it is true that we're not huge or big or spacious by any means,

but we have a couple of sweet guest rooms. 

My reply to her...

"YES YES YES! ABSOLUTELY! PLEASE COME AND STAY!"

And so...

when Phoenix had been set apart after their church meetings on Sunday,

they hit the road, drove straight through and arrived at

our back door about 1:30 Monday morning.

We put them right to bed -

Sarah and Aaron in the "Louisa Room",

Phoenix and Olivia in the "______ Room",

Hunter on the queen-size blow-up bed and

Orion on the big red sectional 

that  I'd made up with sheets, blankets and pillows.

See...

PLENTY OF ROOM.

  All I can tell you is that for the few short days they were here

this was a happy and happenin' little house.

And you know that heavy quietness that prevails 

when company that you love leaves?

Yeah.

Retro Bungalow was a bit melancholy when they left 

and it took a day or two to readjust.

But they'll be back again.

They promised.

And Uncle Dean and I have talked about having their kids

come out and stay a week or so during the Summer to hang out with us.

Oh, I do hope so!

Sister Piombo will be serving in the St Louis, Missouri mission -
the same mission our son-in-law, Joe, served in. She's gonna be GREAT!
It's WONDERFUL to have a missionary in the family again.

Missionary dad, Aaron, is a Policeman and member of their Bishopric.
Missionary mom, Sarah, is the owner/operator of a large salon where they do it all -
hair, nails, tanning and whatever else you need to get all gussied up and purdy.

These young peeps.
We LOVE 'em!
Left to right in front are Phoenix, Hunter and Olivia.
Orion, their brother, is in the back.

They had a lot of fun running one of our old sleds all over the back 40.
That Hunter! I could just eat her up, she's SO SWEET.
And Orion - WATCH OUT, girls!
He's quite the tall, dark and handsome young fellow with an incredible
smile to go with his charming personality.

Olivia is a lovely, lovely young lady and the  quiet one of the family and I adore her.
She and Orion are twins.

On Tuesday night I ordered a stack of pizzas from Papa Murphey's,
whipped up a batch of  Uncle Richard's Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip cookies,
brought out all the soda we had on hand and all the Mossi kids came over
for an evening of  talk-talk-talking, eating, hugging, reminiscing, and just an
all around good visit with their cousins and their cousins kids.
With the grandchildren running around playing and all the conversation going on,
it was quite the delightful ruckus.

Aaron shared a message Sister Piombo sent shortly after arriving 

and getting settled in at the MTC:

Hi everyone! So the MTC really is almost magical. The spirit is everywhere and i cannot even explain to you how incredible this experience has already been. I have been blessed with a wonderful companion and an amazing district. We are learning so much and growing together...building our testimonies off of one another and it's so wonderful. I don't know what i would do without my district or my companion. Honestly it's not easy, even on day 1!!! but they have been my support through this. Them and of course my Heavenly Father. I cannot begin to explain how close I have grown to Him being here, my testimony has just exploded! I cannot believe that it can get any bigger than it already has, but i have 10 days left here so i will let you know how that goes! We only have a short amount of time for an update tonight, but I will be sure to write more and often. One thing i want to share and to leave with you is my testimony of Prayer. It really is step one towards happiness and I know that if you open that communication with Him your Heavenly Father he will be waiting there to bless you! I love you all and I cannot wait to hear back from you! If you truly want to find happiness and peace in your life ask your Heavenly Father and if you have any more questions talk to a missionary! It saves us from knocking on so many doors haha
Love Sister Piombo

You GO girl!

Wanescote In the Privys

"Privy" really means "outhouse".

The privys here at Our Retro Bungalow are far from 

the old notion of wooden planks with a hole,
concealed behind a swinging wood door 

with an open crescent shape cut out.

But that's what Mr & Me call our half-bath and the private little room

with the commode in our master bathroom.

In addition to this little prelude...

I've mentioned on several occasions how, as a little girl, I loved traveling

to and spending long, humid, blissful summer days at 

my great-grandparents farm back in Waldo, Arkansas.

I, however, may have never mentioned that the only running water

in that little farmhouse was at the kitchen sink.

And that didn't come along until maybe a decade

before my birth in 1963.

Granny and Papaw Burke bathed every night standing in front of 

the kitchen sink in the dim light of the low-turned wick of a kerosene lantern, 

taking what folks from the south call a 'spit bath'.

Us children (my sister and I and our cousins) were bathed in 

a large galvanized tub on the kitchen floor.

Granny heated water in a kettle on the propane stove and mixed it into

cool water from the well just outside the back door because

drawing water from the well was quicker than filling the bucket at the kitchen sink,

which was pumped from the well.

No bathroom.

No indoor toilet.

And when Granny Burke passed away on that old farm 

in 1987 there were still no such modern convenience,

with the exception of my Granny's (her daughter) double-wide trailer

that had been planted just yards to the east a few years previous.

When a person (or persons) would arrive to stay for an overnight visit 

or longer, Granny would always remind them

"your suitcase is under the bed".

This was Granny Burke's polite way of saying,

"There's a chamber pot under your bed. Use it if need be."

Yep. 

Because nobody...NOBODY...better think once about 

using the "privy" in the night for fear of meeting up 

with a snake or skunk or some other not-so-friendly 

creature of the dark whilst on the trail outback

that leads to the wooden plank with the hole cut-out

concealed behind the swinging wooden door.

And, no, their outhouse door did not have a crescent cut-out.

Now,

with that little bit family history behind us,

shall we get on with today's subject?

Before we even had the sill plates down, I knew I wanted a

wanescote in the little half bath in the back hall way and I envisioned 

board and batten.

When it finally - finally - came time for me to order our

finish materials from Wheelwright, I ordered enough length 

of an appropriate baseboard 

(different from the baseboard for the rest of the house)

for that board and batten.

And then, of course, I changed my mind.

I decided I'd rather have a v-groove wanescote.

No worries.

That length of baseboard meant for the board and batt

got used to trim out another of my ideas -

an idea that I actually followed through on.

When it comes to following through on my ideas I average about 50/50.

How else is my good husband supposed to learn patience?

We got that wanecote complete the first part of this month

and it turned out 

FABULOUS!

We hadn't originally planned to do the master privy too,

but it got thrown into the mix and boy are we glad.

And jus' so ya know...

(cuz some folks don't)

This is v-groove

This is beadbaord.

V-groove and beadboard are not the same.

The guest privy (or half bath) before:

Actually, these are 'during' photos.
I forgot to take 'before' photos.

The guest privy after:

That's just like Miss Em - always in the middle of everything.

The master privy before:

The master privy after:

We're just about out of indoor projects!
There are a couple more on the burner and
we'll get those finished and/or started soon,
but we've still got plenty on the horizon.
And Spring is just around the corner,
so there'll be landscaping to work on.
No rest for the wicked...
or the daft.

Thanks for comin' to visit.
We're glad when you do.
No 'suitcase under the bed' here,
but your welcome to use our
charming little guest privy if need be.