Sand Sand Sand

Don't look like much but this is six yards of sand laid over a compacted base of small gravel. Lots of work and plenty of raking but it will pay off.....Next trip.

“Republicans believe every day is 4th of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15″

Home again

Coming up the hi-way from Alpine the mountains look extra green denoting lots of rain this summer. The temperature was around 100 at this point and by the time the XO and I get to the bunker it should be 92 max with a good breeze. (It was).

The project for this trip is to get the patio ready to lay the pavers. I have 6 yds of coarse sand coming up Friday afternoon and a Bobcat plus compactor set for morning. Ha, it worked out just that way and by dark the XO had to be moved by brute force into the bunker and I was so shot I couldn't even have the usual steak and red wine. We were in bed before 20:00 and just for the sleep. Morning came with the aching muscles and 4 or 5 hours left to finish so we got busy and Viola we finished early and called the rental outfit to come get the tools. Early afternoon nap and the steak in the evening. nice weekend.

Pulled the plug

The XO checked it to them yesterday. The firm had a little going away party and then ---out the door. After 50 years she may have some trouble being out of harness. She has the rest of this month planned and written into her planner. I am 11:00 lunch and 2:40 doctors appointment. It may take a few more months to relax.

The Dr. said I was nearly back to 100% and we can start planning on the other shoulder. I think Oct. will be soon enough. Meanwhile we can get back to work on the patio. All I have to do is tamp the sub-base down and add sand for the tiles to bed in. Once the tiles are down we can begin to enjoy it.

I'm going to talk to the guy that has taken my place for the past two months and see if he needs me to show him how to do all the things he has been doing. Gee what for. Anyhow I was planning to retire the end of July so maybe I'll go a little early. That way we can slow down together (if we don't kill each other first).

On The Road Again

The XO and I finally made the trip all the way to the bunker. Two weeks ago we tried and my new shoulder hurt so bad we had to turn back. I had to promise not to do any work and I kept that promise except that the wind (yes it blows) had rearranged the dish on the roof. Had to fix it. I had a lot of trouble one handed so I cheated a little. Paid for it today. Now I have to sweat the pt lady tomorrow, she will probably rip my arm off and beat me over the head with it.
We took the car for this trip (so I wouldn't be tempted to work) and for the first time I was stopped for speeding. We chatted some and he let me off with a warning. That strip of hi way is notorious for catching speeders because it just invites speeding. Should have known better.
The bunker looked really good driving up the mountain. All one color and the West side cleaned up, some. We really enjoyed doing nothing. I was sitting on the porch about midnight letting the breeze blow between my toes. Barbara (the XO) had gone to bed and I had an urge to do something right out of the Man Book. Everyone should have the pleasure of peeing off his own porch. Ahhh, it was good and I didn't cause any global warming or any of that stuff.
Barbara is going to retire effective the end of June and I will follow in July. We will spend more and more time at the bunker so things will begin to be finished. Oh, happy day.

Here we go again

We've been to the bunker several times year but haven't done much. We did dig and level the courtyard getting ready to lay the pavers. I am going into the hospital on Wednesday for a shoulder replacement. Bit by bit I am becoming a new man. They will do the other shoulder in a few months, the irony is that the other one is the worst. While I am under they are also going to try to repair the thumbs so I am going to be a basket case for a few weeks. If they can stop the pain I'll figure it's all worth it.
I've revised the amount of work I am going to do around the place because of the surgeries I am facing. Oh, by the way another knee is coming soon. Already I can't even walk through an airport without setting off every alarm TSA has. We went to Tampa last month and they have one of those full body X-ray gadgets. Because of the weather up on the East coast we spent all day running between SWA and Continental trying to get home. They really got to know me at the X-ray machine and would call in all their friends to watch and point. Finally got the last SWA flight into Houston then rented a car and drove home. Maybe we will spend some more quiet time at the bunker. You know, sit on the roof with the telescope and a margarita and map the night sky.

January Trip

Finally got some color on the gate beam. I also had to replace one of the doors that make up the gate. Just happened to have one left over when I decided to make the side gate out of iron. Killed two birds with that move. Got the door out of the way in the bunker and took the sag out of the gate. The door that was replaced just dried up and sagged. It was so bad that it nearly fell off.
Talked to one of the neighbors about some sand for the courtyard. I need to make a compacted bed for the pavers I will lay. For some reason the cement plant down in Alpine had only the kind of sand that still had gold in it. Must have at the price they were asking. Geeze, $65 dollars a yard plus delivery, I could almost haul it from Austin in bags for the same price. I was so flustered that I forgot to ask about concrete.

Thanksgiving

First picture first. A real two-holer. If you are lonesome or just nervous about your toilet habits this is the place for you. I ran across this in Ozona, Texas years ago but just now got around to taking a picture. This is the mens(?) room at a convenience store on the East bound side of I10. Cozy, huh. I wonder what the ladies side looks like.
The work this long weekend was to stucco the beam across the gates. It was very cold and windy so I didn't get the paint on but once finished it will match the bunker. We did get some trees cut down and the long grass cut down along the driveway. All in all it was a great trip and we will paint next trip.
I have figured out a neat fixture for the gate post. I wanted to hang a bell in the opening but haven't been able to find one that fits. I thought I would find a fire extinguisher, you know the old steel co2 kind and cut the bottom out and maybe cut one or two vertical cuts in the sides and tune it by cutting more off and using an old ball peen hammer for the clapper. I may even use a large oxy tank because I can have it 3 feet long and still fit. Should ring like a bell.

Gates are swung

It was one of those perfect days in West Texas. 27 degrees to awaken to and 75 degrees by early afternoon. I was able to hang the gates and tackle a couple of other jobs that needed doing. All in all a great weekend.
The gates are a cobble of scrap and purchased iron and some scroll work rescued from a dumpster. Most of it has been in the scrap pile for a long time. Long enough for G'maw and the neighbors to be asking about it. So, cut-cut weld-weld and cover it all with paint and viola, gates for the stucco arch. Next trip the beam across the front gates will be finished with the aid of some more foam and stucco.

A little paint

Made another trip this weekend. Put on the brown coat Friday and followed up with color coat on Saturday. The courtyard really looks good now but there has been so much rain this year that I need to get rid of the weeds before I can put down the pavers. The picture of the mountains show how green everything is. It really has been a wet year. Speaking of wet, we have been talking about taking some bottled water "just in case", well this would have been a good time to do it. Well went bad (lost its prime or spun the impeller on the motor shaft) the motor was running so. Mr Prude, the well service guy, was on his way but we had to leave so won't know if it got fixed today or not. Next trip we will carry some water to leave, "just in case".
The first picture shows the glass block climbing up the arch. I have thought that it would really look good and besides I have 500 glass blocks just waiting to be used. The blocks would climb each side and if there is any space at the top I will use a cut concrete block to close the gap and hide it with a star or something. We shall see.

Made it

Finally made it this weekend. My arch looks pretty good and next trip I will add some color to it and the fence. The frame is made over a skeleton of wire and styrofoam and anchored with rebar at the posts. I was supposed to melt a channel into the foam with a torch in order to run re-bar around both sides of the arch. Forgot the torch, so I just threaded wire through the arch and mounted it on the surface. Time will tell if I did the right thing but it seems solid. Not counting the labor and the drive the whole shebang only cost $50.00 so if I have to rebuild I can do it on the cheap and nothing lost.

Curses, foiled again!

Plans for a trip to the bunker over the holiday went down in flames. Problems at the Austin homestead overcame the wanderlust. I had built the frame for the arch here in the backyard and all that remained to be done was to put it up and flesh it out with some stucco. The frame is made out of Styrofoam and wire and will be easy to install next trip. Some people look at me as if I were nuts for doing it this way. Little they know how many buildings are done in the same way.
I had planned to go on a trip to the Black Hills this week. Fly into Denver, then drive to Custer and spend a few days running around the area (Mt Rushmore, et al). This too, had to be canceled. I may be able to run out to the bunker this weekend. We shall see.

Quick Trip this weekend

It's been a while so we need to get something done. I will load up thirty or so blocks to build the other fence post and get prepared to do the arch between them. Sounds like a good days work. The arch will be a combination of glass blocks and ferro-cement. I will try to incorporate some broken wine bottles in the cement just for the heck of it. That will be my attempt at art and if it don't come out too well I can always cover it with the cement. The fun will come while I collect bottles. I have never been a wine snob but now I will have to buy it by the color of the bottle instead of whether it has a cork or screw cap.

The fence comes together

Memorial day '08. The fence is far enough along to show. Lots of work. The fence is cinder block with a top of glass blocks. I scored a thousand glass blocks from the remodel of a high school. They were painted green on one side and Barbara had to clean them up. The fence meets the gate post with a rubble of glass block and small chunks of concrete left from the windows. The blocks will get a parge of stucco and then the same paint as the gate, that's why I didn't do a pretty job with the blocks. It took both days to git-er-done, the footings had been done on the last trip and one post was already up too so this time it was just...clean the glass blocks, lay the concrete blocks and sit back and admire.

Back to work

The storm blew in about 5:oo AM Sunday morning. The door on the work trailer was banging and sleep was slipping away so I went out to shut it. The thermometer on the wall said 66 degrees but as I ran across the yard I could tell it was coming down (I had slipped on only my shoes). By the time I was back in bed the temp had dropped to 60. Sleep was out of the question so Barbara made coffee and warmed up pizza for breakfast. I like cold pizza for breakfast myself but it goes better with stale beer, so I settled for warm. Meanwhile we tried to find a weather report on TV.
By 7:00 the wind was blowing 45/60 and the temp was down to 40 degrees. What's going on, it is almost May. I spent some time trying to finish up a few things left from Saturday but the wind chill was a real factor. I had laid about 40 concrete blocks and tools were everywhere. The best I could do was to pick up and put away. Trying to close the gates was interesting.
The blocks were hard to work with until I was able to stand up to lay them. Once I was able to run strings and the base was level I walked right along. Next trip I will bring the blocks up to 32" high and then run 24" inches of glass blocks on top, neat. I measured the gate post for a bell but then this morning with all the wind I thought that even a brass bell would just end up like a wind-chime and drive us crazy so more thought on the subject. Hmmm... We got on the road early and fought the wind and fog all the way back to Austin.

Don't Pay the Ransom

I haven't posted much this winter 'cause I've had a lot going on. I try to make it to the bunker once a month or more, and I have, but I didn't do much work so there isn't too much to talk about.
The gates are finished and I have been planning the courtyard walls. As soon as it gets warm enough to work I'll have some sand (20 tons) delivered and begin laying the courtyard blocks. I'm wondering how to do that with my bum knee but I have a plan. I've got an old steel post hole digger that I can modify to pick up a block by the edge and then place it within an eight of an inch of the last block. A slight kick will seat it and make ready for the next one. All of this can be done standing up and will probably save my back too. We'll see.
On the first of March Sul Ross down in Alpine is hosting the Cowboy Poetry Gathering again. If you have never been to one of these gatherings you are missing one of the best times you will ever have. Cowboys (and girls) from all over the country come to tell their lives in verse. It's like strolling through an antique shop when every turn brings back memories you thought were lost. See you there.

Last look at the gates

This is a shot from down the driveway. The gateposts are stuccoed and if you look hard enough you can see the railing on top of the spiral stairs. The railing was made from a bike rack that I picked up at Habitat for Humanity re-store, like the stairs themselves and the doors for the gates. A little cutting and welding and a lot of grinding and it fits and looks good.
It really comes together now and we can move to the inside for the winter. I still need to finish out the skylight and paint the bathroom, two small jobs I've been putting off too long.

Did I Say Homey?

Here's a shot from the inside which makes it look more like home. The bunker has been livable for more than a year but it seems like all of the pictures are of the outside. This is the kitchen/dinning room/living room/entry/hallway to the bedroom, etc. In a small cabin like this you don't have room to dance (unless it's one of those huggyup styles). We will live mostly outside when I get the courtyard finished anyway, " small is good".
I am looking for a telescope for the roof although I know that it is cold up there even in the summer. It's a shame to let those high altitude, dark nights go to waste. We have been up there at night and you can read a newspaper by starlight. If there is a moon you could get a bad case of moon-burn.

Lookin' good

The bunker is beginning to look like like a finished project (from the front anyway) and with a little grass cutting it should be done. We went out last week and painted the gates and did a few other fix up projects. Barb painted the spiral stairs and learned that you have no room to turn without getting into the paint. Her right arm looked like a raccoon tail. It was Wednesday before it all came off. The crane is in the back and for the first time in a long time the front looks homey. Next trip I will stucco the gate posts.
We tried a new restaurant Saturday down in Marfa. It came highly recommended but it was a minor disappointment for us because we are more steak and potatoes types.

Time for Some Photoshop

The gate posts and beam will be done in the same color as the bunker. The gates get painted next trip and I will probably remove the front door and paint it too just to keep the colors the same. Time for the crane, seen on the right side of the picture, to move to the rear of the bunker to get ready to build a carport or something. That will open up the parking area in front of the gates and keep things looking trim.

West Texas views

A friend sent me this link with some really neat web cam shots of Fort Davis and Guadalupe peak. There are a lot of shots of El Paso but I'm sure you'll like them all. They are updated 4 times and hour and run 24 hrs a day which makes for some night shots of El Paso which are spectacular.