Ready for some shocking Country home photos?

I cant believe it was almost three years ago that I purchased this acreage with all the trash and the burn out mobile on it, and then later bought an old mobile home in cash to put on it. I got moved in and busy! Here are some before, and so far pictures. So far instead of after since we don't have the new roof on the house yet. When we do the before and after pictures should be quite remarkable. Even the satellite photos look so good with all that mess cleaned up!

Before: the old well house, barely standing shack in the background

Before: burn out mobile home


Today so far pictures:

And the best thing is I use cash for this so I don't owe anyone a dime so far. I hope to have the roof on this summer sometime.

Coupon deal at homeland serves my pantry well!

All this couponing I have been doing has helped me build a substantial stockpile. My refrigerators are full my deep freeze is full and my pantry is overflowing. I found a picture online about how to use 12 pack boxes to help organize your pantry canned soups and other canned products.

This week at homeland 12 packs of Pepsi Next is $2.99! I have a coupon for that! $1.00 off a 12 pack of Pepsi next, after the coupon doubles the pop is only $0.99! So far this week I have two of them. I plan on going to homeland and getting more of them over the weekend. I have 8 more coupons

Here it is, and it is awesome So far I have really started to make more room in my pantry, who couldn't use a little more room?????

This is such an awesome deal $0.99 cents for 12 cans of pop and a pantry organizing tool!

Thanks Homeland!

Pool is UP!

Thank goodness the pool is up. There is nothing like working in your garden part of the day and taking a break to cool off in the pool. I often garden in my swimsuit, much to the dismay of my teenage children..

My last property had beautiful plants around the pool. It looked like we were floating in a flower garden. I doubt that will happen this year as we are starting the remodel of our home in a few weeks.

This new pool has potential I just don't have the creative juices or the cash flowing this year for the project... It still serves it's purpose this year and for the beautification of it... well...there is always next year! Meanwhile my tan is ON!

Tornado/root cellar

Tornado season is about here. My tax return was supposed to be underground shelter money. NO WAY, my return sucked and so did my tires!  So I decided to look around and see what I could do to make my own! I did an internet search for root cellars. I found some interesting looking root cellars. So I got to thinking, why not put a root cellar n the old gully and use it as a storm shelter too.  So I am in the process of planning such a project. 

First I plan on making my own sand bags. I am going to buy contractor bags and duct tape, then  I will go down to the river and fill them up.

Using scrap and other needed materials I am going to build the frame and use the sandbags to keep water out of the structure.

Then I plan on covering the structure with dirt and planting shade grass on top to hide it and make it part of the land. 

I do not have a pulmonary picture/drawing as of yet, just making initial discoveries and plans

is there anyone out there that has done this before has tips or critique?

Tell All, catch up June- December!

So Much to tell!

The well house is almost completely finished and it is functioning! We build a well house that I believe would appraise at $3,000 without considering the $2,000 worth of equipment that lives there! It is beautiful! Green with grey trim was the colors I ended up going with. Outside it also has two small windows, two window flower boxes, a cupola with a rooster wind vane installed, a composition roof, and exterior walls are hardy board (cement board) a great fire proof weather durable option (after all this is Oklahoma!)!.  Inside it now has the pump sunk the pressure tank installed, the water opener installed, a wireless temperature monitoring system, electricity (of course) and had enough room left for a refrigerator and a deep freeze! There are a few things that I would like to be completed. Not all the walls were insulated with the interior walls put in. We just ran out of time and money. As time has gone on I have purchased these things and slowly being put together. We did hit a snag. We had bought a used pump and pressure tank. While the pressure tank worked great the pump did not. I had to buy a brand new one. The waterlines that were previously in use with the burn out trailer were no longer viable. We had to lay all new lines. We had them dug at the same time we had the new septic lines and the electric lines dug. We also had a frost free yard spout installed at the same time. By far the well house has been the most work out of all of the projects we have had for the new place!

The Well house to date

Waterline dig

Finding the house for the property was also a difficult task. Originally I had wanted to buy a used mobile home for the property. One that I could pay cash for. I stopped by a sale lot and was talked into a new one. Well in the end it did not work out. But that is ok. The day I got my down payment back a post on Stillwater Craig’s list led me to the mobile home I ended up purchasing in cash! It was smaller than what I needed by two bedrooms and closets. So additions are in the near future. I had it moved onto the property in August and was living here full time by late September. The work we did on it before we moved in was mostly cosmetic. I painted the ceilings and walls. The hot water tank needed to be converted for the all electric needs we have out here in the sticks. The main hold up was getting electric lines dug and installed, as well as the water difficulties we were having. I would like to paint the outside of the home however I am conflicted about waiting till the additions are done and the new siding is installed or just doing it right now so it’s prettier.

Moving took two whole months! Why? Well the mobile home is smaller than the Piedmont house in bedroom size only so my outbuildings had to be moved. And that takes big money! In August my Piedmont property was hit by a microburst and we had a lot of damage, including the destruction of one of my outbuildings, my garden shed! As you can imagine I was devastated! Not to mention all the patio bricks and ect that were moved in what seems like a million loads! Over 500 1x1’s alone! Everything was moved by Halloween!

The Piedmont "microburst" that hit my old house

yes it looks like a tornado, felt like one too!

final load!

Fall Foliage pics of the property! Simply beautiful out here!

a small clearing in the woodlot

From the Canadian Valley to the Cimarron Valley

Ever wanted to live outside of city limits have little or NO neighbors? Well I had my chance and I took it! I found a steal of a property near Stillwater. Yes the property needed lots of work, hard work, but so far it has been worth it! I found this property by accident, I had been looking in Western Oklahoma for acreage and found one that was a bit pricy but it was in the area I was wanting. But someone bought it as I was a week or two from putting in an offer. I was so sad I went to look at another property this time in Logan County and it was way too pricy for any of the tracks they were selling but the same people had one property that was a stand-alone not split up like the pricy ones. I looked at it WOW was it a mess. A well house that was falling down a barn that had fell down trash everywhere and even worse a half burned down mobile home. All the cross fencing was in disrepair but the well was good even though there was no pump and tank and there is a septic system, also to my surprise a small pond that was  running dry that closer resembled a puddle. I called the sellers and worked out a deal, I got the property cheap in February.  Here are a few pictures of the mess we bought. We spent spring break cleaning up and we paid someone to take the burn out.

 Here is a warning sign we made in true redneck fashion warning people to keep out!

 This is a good example of trash we found here and there around the place, as of now all cleaned up!

 This picture does not do it justice there is stuff all over the outside of the mobile like tv's...

 Here is a pictue of a trash pile near the old well house, you can see the well house in the background it is the grey shack of a building standing...

Here is an overall view of the propety from google maps taken before clean up!

We were cutting down about 7 ceader trees a weekend till it got warm enough for critters to be out. Ceader trees are prarie bombs, if there is a fire ceader trees explode and the drink tons of water, so they have to go!  We have stopped ceader detail and started the well house.  It has taken a lot of work to build. The ground is so uneven where the well house needs to be so we had to do dirt work and rebuild a nice structure built to last.  It is built like a pole barn the siding is made of cement board, cement floor (from blocks), and hopefully there is going to be a cupola on the roof as well. I can’t wait to paint and trim it. Some future projects include french drains and other proper drainage controls.  I also can’t wait to actually put a home out there and move there one day….. someday………..

The roof has been framed on the well house as soon as it is done I will share more pictures!