So Close I Can Almost Pretend It’s Done!
I couldn’t wait to get to the property as I woke up Sunday morning. I got up early and headed out singing the whole way even though I knew there was going to be thunderstorms as there have been every day this past week. Every since the container has been on the ground at the property I have been able to really imagine living on the property at a very REAL level. As I wait for the container to get lifted up on the piers (which starts the beginning of the final stages of the property being livable) I seem to barely contain my excitement.
Last week I went there and continued with some cleaning and some more measuring. As for cleaning I was just trying to get the floors cleaned up enough that I could walk on them in socks LOL. The Tankabox guys has installed insulation and all the electricity and plumbing under the container floors. Then inside they had framed the walls, installed insulation and all the electricity and plumbing wires and pipes in the walls. They also built out the walls between the kitchen and bedroom and between the bedroom and bathroom and installed Hardee board sheet-rock on all the walls. Then they had cut out the sheet-rock for the outlets, etc. In addition they had framed out the ceiling and installed the insulated ceiling insulation and electricity for lights/ceiling fans, etc. and installed the ceiling Hardee boards. They had also installed a tub in the bathroom.
They did a fabulous job. What this left on the original wood floors was quite a mess still, even though I know they cleaned it out.a lot. So I was had swept it out and then I was down on my hands and knees cleaning up the residue from everything. It gave me pleasure. Here I was inside my soon to be home cleaning it up and getting it ready for what was next. In particular I was, for now, getting it where I could just BE in it.
After I got the living room and kitchen area all wiped down I went around and got all the window screens in and secured so I could open the windows without tons of buggies flying in. Then I began measuring again. I measured for all the appliances and furniture, marking everything with white chalk and making notes of each measurement. Afternoon storms came up and I had to head back the hour and forty-five minutes to where I am currently living.
So this Sunday I was determined to handle a few things on the property, finish cleaning the inside floors and just be able to hangout in my new space. The first thing I did when I got there was reinstall the rainwater collection tank. If you have been following along you will know that my 100 gal tank had been full and then was emptied by the concrete guys who also left it collapsed and filled with concrete dust. I had cleaned it all out and it was on the property in a large contractor bag waiting to be reinstalled. I had been waiting to put it back up, thinking I should just keep it down until the storage shipping container was delivered and put on the slab in the garden area. This past week I decided I just couldn’t wait any longer. It has been storming daily for the last week and looks like it will keep doing that for a while so I wanted to catch all that water.
So, I drug the pallet over to an area that seemed out of the way of any possible conflict with the storage shipping container delivery and pulled the clean rainwater collection tank out and began putting it together again. I got it spread out, got the legs installed and got it standing. Then I went around and secured the legs to the pallet with my parachute cors as I had done before. The only part that was really ruined with the circle of poly tubing that held the circle in shape at the top where the zipper was. I managed to get it to hold temporarily with some duct tape and will need to order new tubing to install next week. I am really excited to be able to start collecting the rainwater again for our gardens!
Next I had some solar lights I wanted to place in the home area and near the home shipping container. Last week I had gotten up to the Reolink security camera and re- positioned the solar panel for it so that it would get full sun throughout the day and adjusted the antenna. It had worked. My battery, on my app, showed remotely that it was was now staying at 100% and the images were better. The only problem that I now had was that the property was pitch black at night. So these solar lights were to light up the construction area and the container some so I could see the property at night. I got the lights set up in construction area, by the Adirondack chairs and by the container. Now I should be able to see at night if I decide to just view it by stream.
The final thing I needed to do was let the new Pink Flamingos loose on the land. It had to happen. OK, it IS Florida! NO REAL Florida property should be without Pink Flamingos. So I was doing my duty as a Floridian. And I am BatS%$t crazy. I put them over by the Adirondack chairs and the fire pit so they could hangout with Gracie and I and anyone who comes to visit. Just as I was finishing up and admiring my new pink friends, the rain began.
It was perfect timing for the rain because now Gracie and I could go play in the home shipping container. We got inside and opened all the windows and turned on the fan. Just so I would be done for the day I first finished cleaning the floors in the bedroom and the bathroom. I hadn’t gotten to last week. Then I moved the fan towards the living room and Gracie and I settled in on our rug on the opposite wall from the two sets of French doors. There was an amazing cross breeze throughout the container. i placed my knapsack under my head and laid down listening to the rain come down and the trees blow. The rain went from soft to storm like and Gracie, who gets nervous with thunder, curled up close beside me.
We stayed there for about 45 minutes as the storm picked up and then finally began to calm down. It was so magical being in our new home and listening to all the sounds and watch the woods before us sway with the wind. At one point I needed to close the french doors because the rain was coming in but the breeze continued from the bathroom and bedroom windows through to the living room windows. Even though I still have the blue tape on the French doors I could see everything outside through the long ceiling to floor glass of the doors. Absolutely magical. I treasured every moment of it, taking it all in.
I have been on the property before when it rained but was usually staying dry in the Jeep. I have spent a couple of night camping out on the property in the Jeep bed tent but it was really confining and a little wobbly … not exactly calming LOL. This was the first time I got the real feel for being in my home on the property AND it was storming out. Everything was perfect. I could envision living on the property in a way I had never been able to before. Being able to go inside, in the coziness of my little home, and hear and see everything outside. It could be warm or cool, depending on the season, inside and dry. Gracie and I could be doing whatever we did inside as the land did whatever it did outside.
It was, as the rain died down, time to head back to where we currently live. I grabbed a few extra measurements that I needed and shut all the windows, locked the door, packed the Jeep and away we went. I don’t remember ever being this kind of satisfied on the trip home.
I posted videos of everything – last weeks measuring and this weeks Rainwater Collection Tank install, the new solar lights and of course, our new Pink Flamingo friends, on the Freedom Acres YouTube Channel, and as always my exciting end of the day report with Gracie. Feel free check it all out by clicking HERE. Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂
We are at the end of the third week of July now and I have not changed the game isto be living on the property THIS Summer!! LOL. Jason, from Guardian Fencing, came to the property last week and assessed everything. Jason can lift an empty container with his equipment as those only weigh 8000 – 9000 lbs. This container, because of the added framing, walls, electrical, plumbing, etc. is easily above 12,000 lbs. We also have the added problem to consider of the sandy land and how the deliver truck had such a hard time with it. So. we are going to need a crane.
Jason contacted a Crane service he knew of and trusted (which happened to be the same on that Zach, from Tankabox recommended to me) and he and Mark of the crane company will work together to get the container lifted on the piers. Jason will work on the ground and help chain the container and center it and get it level as Mark works the crane. Now the only problem is getting Mark and Jason available on the same day and scheduling it. We also have these daily storms to contend with. I trust it will happen as soon as possible.
It will happen and then everything else will get figured out from here. Soon it WILL be on those piers and it will have siding on it and the inside will get flushed out and electricity and plumbing will be hooked up …. and … and. Between now and then I have begun to use all my measurements to find the appliances and cabinetry I want. So much to determine … paint and baseboards and a fridge and sinks and cabinets and toilet, etc. This is the fun part that I didn’t let myself dream much about until we got close. WE ARE CLOSE NOW! … STAY TUNED!
As always, I send you FREEDOM and LOVE!
