What a trying two days this has been! We bought a ROCK not land! As you can see from the pictures, there is so much rock instead of dirt. But finally after many hours of labor Mr Joiner broke through and was able to complete the septic system. In one of the pictures you have to look close but you can see he has all but one wheel off the ground, I was biting nails into...Man what a relief its over! Started out by digging about 8 foot deep and 8 Ft wide. I believe the length was 188 foot on one and who knows on the other two drain lines. Was a lot there is all I know. The concrete tank is 1000 gallons 5x5x9 and has 3 lines flowing from it. Wow at the plants I lost! But it was all worth it because it was a needed deal. Mr Joiner and his crew worked so hard and worked around all kind of obstacles in my yard. They took such care as to try to NOT tear up anything. As you can see its all down hill also so they had a task at hand that wasn't very easy, but they did a great job! And...They worked in the rain! His crew seemed to know his next move at just about every step, so things went along pretty smooth except for the finding rock stage if you look closely you can see in some of the pictures it was raining. Wyatt and Blake worked really hard helping them, and had a blast doing it, and sure got muddy! I watched for this part of the job, and did the cooking...LOL...In the first picture you can see the finished look, for now that is. I have lots of yard work to do now, found some of my bulbs so I shall get busy replanting. Chinking should start Monday if nothing else comes up (crossing fingers).... Joiner Septic Service 334-863-0050 or 334-863-4345

We have doors! Finally! Randy designed them and boys and I helped him build them. Then I stained and added weatherproof clear seal. Doors are very heavy! But look great. Pictures were taken before stain was put on....Those pics will come next blog. Stained same as gable ends, golden pecan. All other logs will be stained soon as the chinking is completed....which I hope is soon! Outer and inter facings of the doors are different for strength. Anyone bored is welcome to help, just bring your energy!

Aaron leaving for the Army NG. He'll be gone 6 months. Hopefully the house will be done when he gets back! Notice the window.....looks good huh....well i installed it sideways...what a goof....so I had to use the sawsall to break the nails then reinstall it...grrrrrrrr
Blake sanding the window so we can kilts it and then paint to match the roof. After it was installed right....lol

Gable ends almost finished being stained,and a few more boards need to be added.

Woooohooooo we have moved on to windows and doors downstairs. Randy cut out while Blake guided the logs to the ground. Then Randy framed the window and door frames. Clint cut the other gable end out and with Blakes help framed it and we all helped put the window up. Clint cut out the gable end vent area and after making the frame for me, I made the vent with 1 x 1 wood from the trees we had milled and the strip's from Cummings-Griffin Int'l in Etheisville, Al 205-658-2445. Its an awesome place check out their website ProcessingWood.com They were very kind to us and gave us a tour of their work area. The wood I used for the stripes on the gable end vents, was from some of their work and the wood is over 100 years old. I also added screen, and then chicken wire behind that so the squirrels wouldn't move in. These people do awesome work, need something for a log home or hardwood floors, floor beams, walls, doors, stairs, etc., you need to check ProcessingWood.com out first!I would like to thank them VERY much! Gable ends are finished except for the clear coat, so now we shall work down stairs, the logs will be stained as soon as their chinked. I'm going to start chinking soon. ( Chinking is a flexible mortar-textured sealant specifically designed for log homes. This goes between the logs for insulation, used with backer rod or a similar product. ) Also want to Thank Cypress Logs of Heflin cypressloghomes.com they gave us some really great advice and even gave us a tour of one of the owners homes. Wow what a nice job he did on his house! And gave me great ideas for ours!

Now we have the first gable end finished, then we added a window , second end will be finished and get window soon. Wyatt tries his hand at staining/treating the logs with bug juice and wood guard. This stuff really stinks and is very potent...Killing all bugs and worms, and helps with post bees. Stain color is warm pecan, gable ends will be pecan also but a tad bit lighter. Window in the pic is white but will be painted a lil different color to match roof, which is pebble beige. Thanks to Clint gable end 2x6's finally on and braced well, He did a fabulous job here!. Here you can see the pitch a bit better...Very steep! Metal roof took quite a bit of work, but was well worth it. We did all of one side today and tomorrow shall hopefully finish other side. Clint and Dusty helped us so much at this stage, we really appreciate all the both of you did to get this side of the roof on. Was a hot day and we worked yall hard again.....Have to take a trip so will not work on this for about another week or two after tomorrow....I NEED a break!....LOL

July is here and we are getting a lot done. Its still slow going but it's going. In this first pic you can see Blake walking across the rafters without any support and help carrying a ladder. All the boys did this all the time....Was scary to me, but you how kids don't listen. I never could do this I woulda been on the ground! We have all the plywood up, steps for floor two are up, and logs have been stripped of oils and road dirt, and power washed, so they can be treated, and stained. Gable end is almost finished this is the one side only, made out of rough cut lumber from the trees we had cut 2 yrs ago. Brought them to the saw mill and had them made. Ladder Aaron is on is an 18 Ft ladder, as you can tell it wasn't long enough. Heather helped power wash, twice....And that is her in RARE form....LOL....Thanks babes!