We Have a Ranch Again - New Ranch - Follow Along

[cehorn]

Thanks, it has been a lot of work but rewarding. Especially once it is finished and we have a nice comfortable cabin!!

glad to see those boys putting in work.

One weekend my son, wife and I dug ditches, glued pipe and worked like that. At the end my kid was whooped and looked at me like I was nuts. I told him....work like this, or go to college

Yep. I told my kids I wanted them to be exposed to this work. They will either like it or use it as motivation to do something else. And along the way they will learn life skills that will save them money down the road. There is a lot to be said for not having to call a plumber or electrician to do stuff around the house.

[Quackerbox]

Thanks, it has been a lot of work but rewarding. Especially once it is finished and we have a nice comfortable cabin!!




Yep. I told my kids I wanted them to be exposed to this work. They will either like it or use it as motivation to do something else. And along the way they will learn life skills that will save them money down the road. There is a lot to be said for not having to call a plumber or electrician to do stuff around the house.

Agreed. I did electrical work for a few years and probably should have kept at it. Its saved me quite a bit of money over the years

[cehorn]

I haven't posted an update in a couple of months but we have made a lot of progress. The last post I made we had the electricians out and got over 3/4 of the electric done. Since then the ac guy came out and got us hooked up, the plumbers came out and set up both showers, both toilets, refrigerator (water and ice) and 4 sinks (literally everything plumbing but the kitchen sink) and my cabinet guy is about 3/4 done (should finish this weekend). Additionally, the kids and I have been hard at it as well finishing the plywood on the last few bedrooms, shelves in closets, all doors except a couple of closets and more. I would say right now we are 90% done and extremely comfortable.

The electricians are hoping to make it out again this week which will hopefully put them 100% done with my side and get some outdoor lighting. As I mentioned the cabinet guy is hoping to finish this weekend. The plumbers should be out in the next week or 2 to finish the kitchen sink, the extra bathroom in the common area, washer and dryer, everything set up to get propane and finish my sisters side.

Not much happening on the hunting front as it has been super slow. We did get a few food plots finished and in last week. If we get some rain they should turn out nice.

Anyway, on to the pics.

[cehorn]

End of Sept Pics

Here are the pics from about a month ago.

Kitchen before cabinet guy got started outside of the island he built for us.


One of the sinks the plumbers got up an running


Before picture of 1 of the kid's bedrooms


After picture of 1 of the kid's bedrooms


I forgot to mention but we got at least 1 bed set up in each bedroom as well. No pics but we could now sleep up to 9 with 2 in a queen and a bunk bed. the plan is 2 bunk beds in each bedroom and have capacity to sleep 18 if needed.

[cehorn]

November 5 pics

Here are the latest pics from last weekend.

This is 1 of the food plots. Altogether we did 4.


Here is the updated dining room. You can see we decorated a little and the cabinets are coming along.


Here is the updated kitchen. The brick turned out amazing! We are very close on the kitchen.


Here is an updated picture of the living room. Last Friday we also got internet installed so I can now "work from home" at the ranch and we can stream on the tv.


And another angle of the living room. We added some more decorating with the deer heads and cow hide. Domino table also made it so we are ready to play some bones as well.

[cehorn]

As much as we have done, I'm excited about this week coming up. It will be huge to have the stove, oven and microwave hooked up and hopefully have the cabinets done. The cabinet guy is a good friend of mine that has never shot a deer or pig so priority number 1 for Saturday morning is to get him a doe and/or pig. I love sitting with people shooting their first animal and honestly that is what I'm most excited about for next weekend.

[TKRanch]

Continuing to come along. Enjoying watching the progress!!

[cehorn]

Taking this back to the top. I'm not sure how live I'll go but we are hunting this weekend. As I mentioned earlier priority number one will get my friend who is doing the cabinets his first kill(s). Hoping for a doe and pig but either will be great. With the temps I'm hoping the bucks get up and move around although I think we will still be battling the moon and acorns. Once I get the doe checked off the list I hope to get some me hunting time in since there will be no kids there. With that said, if a big boy walks out the doe hunt may get postponed until the evening hunt... I will try to do a little rattling and see if they are starting to look for the ladies.

Also, the electricians made a ton of progress this week and hopefully the cabinets get wrapped up as well. I'll try to get some pics up next week of that and the food plot progress.

[cehorn]

Here is a sneak peak the electrician sent of the stove working and microwave mounted. Exciting times to have a stove and oven.

[cehorn]

We got it done this weekend. I got my buddy his first deer. He was a wreck in the stand which made it very entertaining and rewarding. His youngest daughter watched me clean the deer with tons of questions. I taught her all about anatomy (windpipe, heart, lungs, liver, guts, etc.). She was so interested she wanted to go sit Sunday morning. What a trooper as it was pretty cold. She woke up early, got a lot of clothes on and made it to about 745 until she was ready to go in. We saw a few deer including a little buck chasing does so she was happy...and I was even more happy. That is what it is all about!!

First Deer!


Father Daughter in the cold


Did I mention it was cold? Pretty good frost on the trail camera Sunday morning...


After my wife and I left, my buddy stayed behind to get some work done on the cabinets. Before he left, he sent this pic. He isn't done but VERY close. He is truly a craftsman!! And now a hunter....

[TeamAmerica]

You got a blind heater? Need a little buddy to keep your little buddy warm!

Kitchen looks great. Like those colors.

[81cjones]

Great Pictures! Looks like you will enjoy it.

[cehorn]

You got a blind heater? Need a little buddy to keep your little buddy warm!

Kitchen looks great. Like those colors.

We do have one but it is still in storage. I need to break it out...

Thanks, the wife did the colors but it turned out great. All of the colors "come together".

Great Pictures! Looks like you will enjoy it.

Thanks, we definitely will. We already have. It is a million times better than being in the trailer we were in last year. The trailer was great but with no slide out, etc. it was cramped. Now we have more room in the bathrooms than we had altogether in the trailer.

[cehorn]

Well with the exception of Wed afternoon thru Thursday evening, we were at the ranch all week hunting and working. A lot of ups and downs.

Workwise we got a lot done. The plumbers showed up on Wednesday and adjusted 1 of our showers, hooked up the kitchen sink & disposal and the dishwasher. They also finished the common area and my sister's side. We are 100% plumbed for the whole building. We just need to get the propane tank delivered but we are working off smaller tanks for now. Since propane is hooked up, we finally put together the blackstone. I seasoned it Friday night and dad cooked breakfast on it Sat morning and my wife cooked fajitas on it Sat evening. My cabinet guy came over on Saturday as well. He finished everything in the kitchen (trim, drawer pulls, touch up paint and grout, etc.) so that is done. He is also doing the interior doors but didn't get to the boys closet doors. My oldest son and I did the last set of shelves in the common area so we are done with cabin construction. So I would say we are now 99% done. Pics below of plumbing, the rest looks better but isn't a noticeable change in a picture of what I posted before.

The remaining to do list includes the following. We need to get the electricians back out a couple more times for outdoor lights, a ceiling fan in the common area and the well house but none of that is critical. We need to get the well house built. I'm hoping that guy will be out Thursday thru Sunday and can get it done as well as a couple of other odds and ends the building erector didn't finish. With larger freezes coming, we really need to get some protection for our well. Thursday we are supposed to get a couple loads of 1" granite delivered to put around the building for parking, walking on and after this past week, not picking up mud on dog's paws and shoes. My sons and I also need to build bunk beds for their rooms but every room has a bed in it so we are good for our family. We just need to get it ready for guests.

It rained almost 2.5" over the week. So the food plots are happy and the tanks went up a couple of feet. They still aren't completely full but MUCH better than before.

Since I was there all week, I finally got to do a little more exploring. I walked the tops of a couple of our mountains. Gorgeous views!! The leaves also started changing with all of the red oaks we have. I added some scenery pics below as well.

The hunting was up and down. We still aren't seeing much moving. I think most of the week they were in lock down but we started seeing a little more activity over the weekend. I'm hoping with the rut winding down, acorns souring with the rain and a good weekend of freezing temps knocking the vegetation back they will start coming out more. My wife was able to connect on a cull buck on Tuesday, pic below. So far everything written was part of the "ups category". Everything else will be part of the "down category". I'll start with my wife's buck. Something had happened to his back ham a while ago. He had an open wound with ****, etc. I'm not sure if he got hit by a car, hooked in the *** while fighting or what. I was iffy on the meat but wanted the processor to decide. The processor said with that amount of infection in the blood they wouldn't eat it. So, while the deer is out of its misery the meat wasn't edible.

Friday morning the big 8 everyone has been hunting came out for me and my oldest son in the pouring rain. My son shot and said he felt good about it. The video showed otherwise as he shot just below it. I hate that feeling in your gut but at least it was a clean miss and it is part of hunting. Then Saturday evening I sat with my youngest son and the cull we were hoping for came out. He shot high and as far as I can tell from cell phone video, he was above the spine. We found a little blood and Tracker ran 4 miles searching for the deer. I'm 99% positive that deer is alive and well. Another gut punch though. It is all part of hunting and I explained and talked my sons through it. In short anybody that has ever hunted has missed. It doesn't make it any easier at the time and I now believe it is more of a gut punch to have your kid miss than to miss one on your own. BUT, it was a blast tracking deer with my sons and dog even if we weren't successful. It was still quality time together in the woods with memories made.

[cehorn]

This may not be exciting for y'all but it is a huge deal to have a kitchen sink. Here are a couple pics of the install, etc.