Deer and Framing

Easter weekend 2014 was on the schedule as a long weekend for work on the container cabin with the main goal of framing out the inside structure to prepare for having spray foam insulation installed. Plans were made, time off from work was scheduled, and materials were bought on Thursday night, with a plan to drive out to the ranch late Thursday and be ready to work all day Friday and Saturday.

Unexpectedly, Thursday also turned out to be the day that the first deer of 2014 was killed. But not on the ranch. In Austin. With my pickup. In Brother's neighborhood.

Luckily the deer was small and I wasn't driving very fast, so the damage was minimal. So after a short delay, we headed West and arrived at the Rockin' P safely with no further vehicular carnage.

Friday dawned clear and fairly warm, perfect weather for another day of building our dream. But no work starts on the Rockin' P until a proper ranch breakfast has been prepared -- in this case, Brother's breakfast tacos.

After breakfast we were ready to measure, cut, and nail our way through the day. We had 92 2x4 boards to use in building out the internal framing on the walls and ceiling so that electrical, water, and insulation could be installed before we cover it with paneling.

The framing started a little slow, trying to determine how best to anchor the studs by drilling as few holes in the container's metal walls as possible. Lots of fitting and figuring to see how it should work.

But once we got it figured out, the work went smoothly on. And on. And on, and on, and on. From nine in the morning until midnight pretty much straight through, with a beer and hotdog break around four in the afternoon. But when you've got busy lives and not much time to spend, you've got to make the most of it. In the end, we completed about 95% of what we wanted to do this weekend.

We also had a chance to fit some of the kitchen counters and cabinets, and visualize how the different living spaces would come together.

Overall, we were pleased with the amount of work we got done. In three weeks we'll be ready to complete the electrical wiring and hopefully have the insulation sprayed in. Then we can focus on finishing the interior and building a bathroom building at the end of the container.

But building the container cabin is not the only work to be done around the Rockin' P. Feeders have to be filled and maintained to ensure the wildlife will be attracted to the property and supported through the summer months of drought.

And our feeders have taken a beating so far this year, getting pulled down (and subsequently cleaned out) by wild hogs and local grazing sheep, and having the battery timers knocked off by deer. So we undertook our repairs and re-filled two of the three feeders with dry corn, putting the third feeder in storage until we figure out where the hunting blinds will placed on the property. This is the work we actually look forward to, and hope to be spending a lot more time on once the cabin is completed.

By 7:00pm Saturday we were basically exhausted, so we packed up our tools, closed up the container, and headed East back to Kerrville to meet up with our better halves for the rest of our Easter weekend with Mom and Dad. A shower and a couple of cocktails later, and we felt pretty good. Can't wait to do it all over again in three weeks.