February Thaw

Our sun showers have been a thing of the past since October, so getting dirty means staying dirty at the RPR. This weekend saw temperatures in the 60s under sunny skies -- perfect chance to push forward on the bathroom work.

We started by putting on the soffit around the roofline to finish the outside skin. Still need to caulk and add trim, but this pretty much completes the exterior.

Then it was on to the interior, and running the plumbing and electrical lines through the studs. We also put the shower pan in place and made some plumbing "adjustments" underneath the floor.

Next, we built the ribs of a wall that will separate the shower from the sink vanity, and began putting the sink together out of various materials we've been saving -- the sink from my own bathroom remodel at home, an unused top from an Ikea desk set, and a piece of countertop leftover from the kitchen.

So that part of the bathroom is starting to come together.

We also spent some time surveying the far corner of the ranch to mark some property line stakes, and found a few interesting things, like this 6-foot tall solitary yucca plant...

...and this old barbed-wire enclosure, probably for a feeder, now only keeping out the tumble weeds.

Texas blue skies, far and wide.

Back on the Ladder Again

This past weekend was the first anniversary of the Rockin' P Ranch, and we celebrated by...working on the bathroom addition. This was the first real work weekend since early November, so we wanted to make some real progress to start the new year. Recent cold, middle-of-the-night forays into the woods to take care of business also reignited our drive to make our throne room functional.

We'd had the framing for the addition up for a couple of months, and focused on finishing roof and walls. First up was completing the roof structure.

We followed it up with the roof decking, and then the white shingles to better reflect the sun .

That took us most of the day, and after a hike around the property to check the feeders and cameras, we fired up the grill for some jalapeno and cheese Axis deer sausage that Brother Scott had made from the deer he got here in the fall.

That was some fine eatin'.

Sunday was spent adding the final panels of exterior siding, and installing the door and window.

It is not quite weather-tight just yet, but now allows us to start focusing on the inside electrical and plumbing work.

Until then, we'll keep our TP stick handy...

Happy New Year from the Rockin' P

Happy 2015 y'all. Just noticed it has been awhile since our last update, and really not much has happened since mid-November. The holidays and end of the year activities took over, but we did make it up the day after Christmas for a short outing.

It was a nice day out, so we took the opportunity to unleash a little lead and relieve some holiday stress...

...and followed up by a little happy hour relaxation.

We hope to be doing a lot more of this in 2015!

If These Walls Could Talk...

...You'd hear a lot of cussing and yelling. More on that to come.

After a bit of a hiatus with busy fall activities, including trips to Chicago and Big Bend National Park, we were ready to make some progress towards making the bathroom addition weather-tight.

We started with additional work on finishing framing the walls and adding the roof rafters.

Much of our day was spent trying build a small trapezoidal wall above where the addition meets the storage container.This proved tricky, mostly because we are finding out that the building is not quite square, with a bit of looseness in our angles. The result was much angst and consternation expressed through four-letter words strung together in creative sequences.

So things don't always line up right. Hey, we're not professionals, and a lot can be done with shims and roof tar. In some cases, we just needed to pull on a wall to bring it into true. Easier said than done with just two guys. That's where a little redneck engineering comes into play. Just pull on the wall with a rope tied to a truck. What could go wrong?

Luckily in this case, everything worked out just the way we wanted, and we didn't create any regrettable YouTube moments. So in a day-and-a-half we weren't able to get all the wall and roof panels on, but made some good progress.

We also checked on our feeders and game cameras to see what has been happening with the wildlife over the last six weeks. Things are starting to get interesting...

Of Mice and Men

Just two weeks since our last trip to the Rockin' P, and with the Fall getting busy with events and visitors, this was the last chance to get some work done for awhile.

It started with a little work securing the cabin. Apparently, lots of critters would like a peek at the hip design work we've done with the interior of the cabin, and some enough to chew through water pipe caulking to gain access for a private tour. No real damage was done, just a few calling cards left by a mouse. The lesson here is that steel container is only secure from pests until you start cutting holes in it. Some extra Liquid Nails around the pipe seal and a few glue traps should deter any future intrusions.

Saturday was spent re-starting our bathroom addition which has lain dormant for a couple of months. We started by framing and skinning a wall to attach to the container.

Next, we built out the rest of the framing, including openings for the window and door.

The view from future roof provides a bird's eye view of the ranch.

Speaking of birds, it was the middle of dove season, and with our work done Saturday evening, I took the opportunity to take a few pot shots and see if I could harvest some appetizers. I won't reveal my shot-to-kill ratio, but I came home with a few birds in the bag.

Making our Mark

Its been five weeks since we were at the Rockin' P, and this past Friday was the opening of the 2014 dove hunting season, so it was time for a three-day weekend to hunt, eat, and relax (not necessarily in that order).

On Friday afternoon, after driving through a rain storm that created a deluge on the highway and made the air miserably muggy, but somehow managed to miss actually raining at the ranch, I fired up the smoker for some baby-back ribs. Always good to start the hunt on a full stomach.

Late Friday night we hunkered down into one of the ground blinds to watch a feeder for any activity from deer or hogs. We heard the Axis deer bleating through the dark, but only saw a Whitetail deer at the feeder, and since Whitetail season doesn't start until November (and you can't hunt them at night anyway), we were left empty handed. Still, it was good to see deer on the property.

On Saturday we did a few chores during the day removing some cedar brush that was cut last time, then suited up for some dove hunting. This does include an actual suit, of sorts.

There were a few birds flying, but we only notched a couple -- luckily, brother Scott had brought some frozen birds from a previous hunting trip, and whipped up some real man food for an appetizer Saturday night: dove breasts in jalapenos wrapped in bacon.

Sunday morning was spent doing a little more dove hunting, and with a little luck, adding a few more birds to the freezer. Then we did a few ranch chores, including filling feeders with corn and setting up a water tank for wildlife, which we hope will attract more animals to the property since there is no permanent natural water source in the area.

We also set up another trail camera at a second feeder. If you look closely, you can see a hunting blind in camouflage up the hill.

Even though we don't usually see any wildlife during the day, the evidence that they have been active on the property is sometimes very clear. The bark on this small oak has been worn away from deer rubbing their antlers on it.

And this grassy area shows extensive damage done by feral hogs that roam the area. They are on our hit list for future hunting.

Overall, it was a great weekend to be outside (and inside) and enjoying the ranch. 

A Lull in the Action

Just a quick update from a couple of weeks ago. As summer winds down, we've been focused on continuing to make minor improvements. The weekend of August 16 was our last trip to the ranch, and the biggest accomplishment was moving the stove and fridge in.

So the kitchen is fully functional now, and we were even able to make a temporary water hook-up to the kitchen sink -- its almost like home.

We also moved the second set of bunk beds into the cabin, so we now have full sleeping for four.

The rest of the weekend was spent running into town (Junction, TX, about 25 miles away) to hit the hardware store for various plumbing and electrical supplies and to grab some barbecue, setting up a new feeder and re-positioning a hunting blind, and taking a few more practice shots on the clay birds to get ready for dove season. We won't be back up until mid-September, when hopefully the weather will start to cool off a bit and we can enjoy some early-season hunting.

Big Work and Small Game

This past weekend had a little bit of everything: finishing work on the container cabin, starting work on the bathroom addition, brush clearing, and even some actual shooting.

The weather was great, with temperatures in the low 90s and a cooling breeze. Friday was spent installing trim around the ceiling and floor, hanging window treatments, fixing a few electrical glitches, and bringing in some furniture. The results are starting to come together.

The addition of a few appliances and hooking up the water will just about make the interior complete. And in order to hook up the water...we have to build the bathroom addition that will house the sink, toilet, shower, and hot water heater. This will be an 8' x 10' addition on the east end of the container.

Our buddy Alex was up on Saturday to help lay out the foundation and start the decking.

We got the drain plumbing in place that runs underneath, allowing us to complete the decking and be set up for framing.

A ton of work was done and a lot of progress was made on our way to a functioning throne room. But it wasn't all work. We had time for some clay shooting off the truck powered trap machine...

...and brother Scott even bagged his first kill on the ranch, of which he was quite proud.

All in all, a satisfying trip. Until next time.