Going Off Grid in East Tennessee (Seymour: average, too hot, how to get)

[younglisa7]

Good morning everyone. What a wet time we are having in TN. Where is the sun, lol? It's hard to get motivated to work with all of this rain. Ok time for the next installment.


7-26
It looks like rain for the rest of the week. We lost our chance for finishing the painting on the front of the house.

Mike and I don't like the way the trim around the doors look on the front of the house. Yesterday Mike got a chance to scrape down the side trim on the front doors.


That night it poured.



7-27
It is threatening to rain again so today Mike and I concentrate on some other matters that have to be taken care of.


7-28
Woo hoo. It looks like we might get a break in the weather today. Our 2nd paving man shows up to give us an estimate. He seems like a very nice man. Hopefully he can give us good references and he will come in with a better estimate.

After he leaves Mike and I get the painting equipment back out. We start painting the second coat on the front of the house. Mike is being very careful on the ladder. Great now we both don't like the ladders right now.



Here I am painting.



And Mike is still painting the top part.



Uh oh, we are just about done and it looks like rain again. I hope the paint dries before it rains. On a good note we got a delivery. Our 2 awnings came. They came in 2 boxes and Mike says to me "they must have the metal in one box and the fabric in the other box." No, they should be exactly the same. Sure enough we open up the 2 boxes and one is completely empty. I don't know if it is just us but it seems like everything we touch lately something goes wrong. Anyway, one of the empty box had already been opened and taped. It looks like the awning was taken. I called the company and they said ":this has happened before". Well don't you think you should fix the problem? They will send out a replacement awning.

Later that night it pours. Hopefully the paint is dry enough.


7-29 and 7-30
It rained both days. We met Jim(our concrete man) and his wife Kelly at our other property to show. It's funny how small the world is. They saw our ad, didn't know it was us, and called about the property.


7-31
It rained all day. The sun finally came out about 5:30. We saw a couple of small bubbles on the house. We will keep an eye on them.


8-1
Finally, it isn't raining this morning. It is very humid out which means nothing is drying out so we can't fix the bubbles yet. Thankfully there isn't many bubbles. We also can't install the gutters until everything dries more. We picked the perfect time to have the gutters off the house, lol. Since we took the gutters off the house it has rained every day.


Mike and I added another extension pipe to the drains on the front of the house. We started out with 2 10 foot drains on each side of the house then we added another 10 foot section to each one. Now we are adding one more 10 foot section. This will make our drain pipes run 30 feet away from the house and down the front hill.

We start out by getting the buckets so we can shovel the dirt into them. This will keep the job clean. We have to dig out 2 trenches to fit the pipes in, cover them up and then seed.


Mike is digging the trench.



The pipe is in the ground.



Covering it up and then seeding it.



Mike moves on to the second trench while I go up top and mow the lawn.


8-2
We got the front lawn mowed and then it rained.


8-3
This morning I had a Doctor's appointment and when I got home the new paver called. They are going to bring over some of their equipment this week. Woo hoo. Time to get this place clean. I can't wait. We are only doing a partial job this year. We will have them pave along side of our house, the back parking area, and down the steepest part of our driveway. They will also be adding curbs for us to keep the water on the road and not wash out the sides.


Later on we went to the other property. While I mowed Mike called the towing company to pull him out of the grass. Remember when he got stuck in the wet grass? They got the motor home back up on the pad. It will stay there until this land dries out.

Here is the mess Mike made with the motor home.



We got back home and Mike started to work on our "one" awning. First we figure out exactly where it will go and Mike puts the clips on the house.



Next we slide the awning onto the bar and attach the bar to the clips.


Then Mike screws in the side brackets.



The awning is up. The wrinkles will work themselves out.



Now we are just waiting for the company to send out the second awning.


8-3
We tried to go over to the other property to mow but we got rained out.


8-5
This afternoon Mike and I are meeting his daughter at a house she wants to see. It looked nice from the outside but it is a major disaster. The house is only about 5 years old and it has foundation problems, warped floors, cut structural beams, beams coming through the floors, and so many more really major problems. It isn't even safe to live in. It makes me feel so much safer in our house. I don't think a bank will ever approve a mortgage for that house with so many problems.


After that Nicole came over for dinner. We had a really nice and "quiet" time with her. It's nice to see her without the kids sometimes. Then we can have real conversations, lol.


8-6
The paving company brought over some of their equipment. He pulled off the side of the road into a field to unload. Sure enough he got stuck. Mike called Jimmy for him but he isn't working locally. The man ended up calling someone he knew to get him out. Mike left him at the road after being down there with him for about an hour. They are supposed to start paving on Monday.


8-7
We finally got over to the other property to do a knock down mow. It is just so wet that there isn't much we can do.


That is all for this installment. Sorry about all of the rain comments but it has been a really rough summer. Next week if all goes well we should get a lot done.

Have a great week and I will write again by next Monday.

Lisa

[piperspal]

Great update again, Lisa! Just wondering if you have ever tried using scaffolding instead of ladders. I mean I know you can't use them on the hill sides of the house, but I use one along the front of my house. I actually didn't think I'd get a lot of use out of mine when I bought it, but I even use it as an extra work horse/table in a pinch. I got mine at Lowes and it's the runt of the group, but I still feel like I have more secure footing than the ladder. Just my experience.

[younglisa7]

LOL, piperspal. Have you seen me on a scaffold? I tried it when we did the sheet rock work and I was petrified, lol. You are a better woman than me. Maybe I had some weird accident in a past life or something but I cannot be on a scaffold even if it is only 3 feet off the ground.

[piperspal]

LOL- I'm that way about my multi-position ladder - I just can't feel safe on it up too high.

BTW, the new profile pic is a keeper for sure! What time of day did you snap that?

[CA Sweet Pea]

Lisa - thanks for the update! I know it can be frustrating when you are trying to complete so many projects outside and it just keeps raining! But....

I have a couple of questions. I didn't realize that your awning would actually be just a porch-type awning for protection right over the doors. I guess that I missed that description. For some reason, I was thinking it was going to be more like a covered patio type awning. Do you have any plans at all to have a cover over the patio area?

Also, in looking at the picture of the awning, I noticed the mini-blinds on the door. Are they the type of blinds that are "in" the door (i.e. between the two panels of glass)? If so, do you like them? You may have discussed this in the past and I didn't catch it. Maybe I should go back and read the whole thread over again - I'm sure I probably have missed several things.

Again.... thanks for all your efforts to keep us in the loop!

[Tinman313]

You need a ' Horse Shoe" above that door..... Again great pix's......

[younglisa7]

piperspal- The picture was taken at 9:15 in the morning on September 19. We are still waiting for that rainbow picture.

CA Sweet Pea- No reason to go back and read the story again. Mike and I thought we would try the small awnings first. We didn't want to block too much light. With all this rain it doesn't seem to matter lately, lol. If these awnings don't work out the way we hope the will we might do an entire covered roof over the patio and then add some solar tubes for inside the house. We'll see how it all goes but that will be a next year project. My stepdaughter was just telling us that we are in for a bad winter.

Yes the blinds are inside the door. So far so good. I like not having to dust them, lol.


Tinman- We got a neat decorative piece for the front of the house. You will all see it soon.

[TerriC]

Lisa, Thank you for the great up dates. I'm so glad it wasn't me trying to make that umbrella fit. LOL Sorry but when I read that I died laughing. lol You two are the most patient people. I would have ended up bending the umbrealla and beating the table to pieces out of frustration. But really, I hadn't been online for several days and looking at the pictures from the back of your home you two have to be so proud and pleased at the way things have turned out. Your trees you planted, the solar panels on the building and the new location of ther batteries tucked neatly inside it. I've been talking about you two to alot of my friends (all good). I have loved reading about all of your accomplishments and also the pictures are so great. I think also by adding the extra 20 feet I thinkk you said off the back for drainage is going to be a good thing with all the rain you've been having. I hope the paving is going great. I know when we do some tight jobs or in your case on top of a mountain it might present a problem for trucks backing up to the paver. In that case we always take a Cat Loader onto the job sight and dump in the bucket and transfer it to the paver. That might be a good solution for your drive up top. Anyway, I know you'll love having it paved and will also be a good thing in the winter. Well, after I saw all that rock you had delivered my back is already starting to hurt. Once again your doing a fantastic job. Since reading all your post I've been doing alot of reserch in the Elizabethton, Mountain City area and Boone, NC I always thought I'd like Johnson City but now I'm expanding the area. I can't wait to see pics of the color from your patio. (hint hint I look forward to it. Thanks Lisa............have a fantastic week!

[sassykat&joe]

Lisa, since it started raining last spring as soon as we ordered our septic to be dug, you'll be happy to know that we finally got it all filled in and complete last week. So it can stop raining any day. Unless it wants to wait until we have our gutters and cistern finished, in which case it will rain well into October. Since we decided to do the collection cistern rather than a well right now, I figure it will rain until we are ready to start collecting the rain water.

[Suzanne1945]

Lisa, great update as always. And, I agree, blinds inside the door windows are wonderful--very easy maintenance!