Ed Soehnel

Sue is out all day at meeting for her dog trainers network. I am home taking care of the rug rats.  We have an additional guest with us this week and next, Berin, an Entlenrucker, which is a shorter version of a Greater Swiss.  I’ll post an image later.

Lightening seems to find us at home more than we like. We were hit twice last year and so far, twice this year (that we know of…could be more, if we are not around when a storm rolls through). I think it is because we have a huge copper top on our chimney that is built all the way up with stone rocks (there is metal in rocks). It attracts lightening. In addition, we have a large number of very tall evergrees around us in a valley that is traditionally void of tall trees.

This last strike definitely hit our lightening rod on the house, but must have also split off (we think) and hit the big maple tree we have in front. Both Sue and I were home. The tree has a little split in the main trunk and bark was blown off. The lightening must have traveled in the ground from the tree to electrical conduit under the garage, went up and fried our garage door opener, but continued in the ground to somehow find the well pump electrical. It fried the well pump and the associated electrical box for it. We replaced the well pump and electrical (some video and pictures below), will replace the garage door opener and hopefully the tree was not too badly hit so we can leave it (assuming it lives…we have a tree expert coming next week).

From 2010_Misc

From 2010_Misc

From 2010_Misc

First weekend with great weather, but very windy. We weed-whacked with a new 4-stroke machine that performed great (gift from my Dad…thanks, Dad) and mowed the south meadow. Here is some quick video of Sue doing the mowing.

We’ll finish the additional meadows around the house next weekend.

We also planted 10 Colorado Spruce Trees that we got in the mail earlier in the week…see photos. We will use the chicken coop as the nursery, since its a nice enclosure from the deer and other critters running around that can destroy plants. Unfortunately, we have not had time yet to fix the roof…see photos. We were planning on having contractors do that earlier this year when we did the guest room remodel, but since that went over-budget, we scrapped this activity. We plan to fix it later this year by putting in new 2 by 8’s (which I already have).

The dumpster is also full…finished loading it full of junk; see photos. That is dumpster number 12 since we moved in a year ago, and many more to go.

As you can see from one of the photos in the album, the grass we planted in the front is coming along nicely.

Also, a photo of the damage the wind has recently done to the upper barn room. I will work on that next weekend.

With warm weather approaching, here’s recent outdoor projects we’ve been working on.

Seeding

We seeded half of the back yard (fenced it off to keep the dogs off of it) and once growth is established, we will seed the other half. We also seeded the front off of the south side of the house. It is part of the driveway, but we are eliminating its use as a driveway and will seed it instead so that it looks nicer in front. We used a blend of high mountain grasses that grow naturally in our area. We should start seeing growth in a few weeks. Images below.

From 2010_05_House_Projects

From 2010_05_House_Projects

Dumpster Work

We brought in another 30 foot dumpster and loaded it with junk from the recent remodel of the guest bedroom (pile below). We also tore down the old dog house that was on the east side of the backyard by using the reciprocating saw and the tractor to knock it down. The chicken coup is also finally cleaned out from all the wood that was piled in it.

From 2010_05_House_Projects

From 2010_05_House_Projects

From 2010_05_House_Projects

From 2010_05_House_Projects

Clean-up in the mid-valley

Clean-up in the front yard (west side of house)

Yanking out planter boxes

Video of me plowing the driveway.

2009_10_29_October_Snowstorm from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Video of the dogs playing.

2009_10_29_October_Snowstorm_Dogs_Playing from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Pictures below.

There are 2 pieces to this video. The first one was taken in August before I had started working on the driveway. The second piece was taken this weekend following completion of phase 1 work on the driveway, which was to channel water off of it to stop erosion.

2009_10_24_Driveway_Work from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Pictures below of driveway work as it was getting completed.

Pictures from recent snow storm. We received about 6 inches.

Pictures from the NACS show in Las Vegas October 21 2009. I flew in day before to setup booth and worked the first day and flew home in the evening.

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This past summer was not quite all about working on the new house and property.  I did take some time in outdoor activities.

Biathlon

Since the property did come with a little shooting range on it complete with timbers as a backstop, no doubt I take advantage of that little gem.  I try to get out once per week and usually take my .22 biathlon rifle and do some running and shooting.  Some targets below I scanned for safe-keeping.

From 2009_Misc

From 2009_Misc

From 2009_Misc

Rock Climbing

From 2009_Misc

I’ve owned a pair of rock climbing shows for 20 years. They have never gotten much use. I don’t own other safety equipment, so my rock climbing has always been staying very close to the ground and going horizontal versus vertical (called Bouldering). I really enjoy it and I now do it at least once per week on our big rock chimney. Maybe after I get our main barn repaired, I can build a climbing wall on it.

From 2009_Misc

Local Area

We have not checked out our local area too much for hiking and biking activities. I am slowly building a map of stuff I find via online research. In the future, we’ll start to do more of these activities.



View Local_Points_to_Checkout in a larger map

Weather

I am a weather nut and love Wunderground for all the weather data and maps it puts at our fingertips. We’ve had a very active summer thunderstorm and monsoon season, so its been pretty wild watching storms come rolling through. The house was hit by lightening twice (minor damage the first strike, but after that, we installed lightening rods), we were hit with 1 inch hail in one storm and I saw a tornado funnel cloud. It did not touch down, but was my first tornado experience. I took two images of local area thunderstorm activity from Wunderground. The little black squares represent lightening strikes. The second image shows a storm that was bearing down on our house and the purple triangle represented a tornado signature. The storm veered north and ended up missing us and also weakened.

From 2009_Misc

From 2009_Misc

Here’s a summary of house projects over the past month.

Contractors Done

Below are images of the the interior of the A-frame section of the house following completion of work by the contractors. We are mostly moved in and unpacked. Work was completed in early July

July 4th Holiday Weekend Project

The main project over the July 4th weekend was digging up all the plastic that was embedded underneath lose rock. The plastic was used to help channel water runoff from the roof away from the house. Since we replaced the roof and added gutters, there was no need for this plastic. Below is some video of the work.

2009_07_04_Yard_Work from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Retaining Wall

Another project this month included removing more plastic and building a small retaining wall. Video below.

2009_06_18_Home_Retainer_Wall from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

There are lots of other small projects and work we did, including painting and work on the driveway to control water runoff. Video and pictures on all that to come, as we are not finished.

I had a quick 2 day trip to Vegas for the GNC Franchise Convention at the Wynn Hotel and stayed at the new Encore wing. Swanky hotel, but expensive. Images below.

I returned Tuesday night and left Wednesday morning for a very quick trip to California for mom’s retirement party. My sister, Lisa, and I surprised both my parents with our arrival, as they were not expecting us. Images below that I took, although I will add more in the near future when I receive more pictures from the retirement party. I returned Thursday morning.

Weekend projects around the house included moving into the recently remodeled A-frame section of the house, lots of cleaning (dust, dirt, etc) and digging a 30 foot trench for an additional gas line we plan to run for gas fireplaces that will be installed. That trench took me more than 3 hours, with a few breaks, and was much harder than I thought. Picture below.

From 2009_06_04_Perry_Park_Fixup

Weekend excitement also included a few cows from the 1000 acre ranch to the north and east of us who managed to bust through an area along the north fence. They did some roaming around our property before ending up on the south meadow. Ron from the ranch came in with his horse and herding dogs, an Australian Shepherd and a Border Collie, to get them back across. I could not catch much video at all of the herding. Instead of coming back into our property, the cattle were herded east from the property south of us and back onto the ranch.

2009_06_21_Home_Loose_Cows_Herding_Dogs from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

A few final pictures below from the weekend.

From 2009_Spring_Summer_Views_at_Home

From 2009_Spring_Summer_Views_at_Home

From 2009_Spring_Summer_Views_at_Home

Videos below from around the house, including the almost completed fence, Sue driving tractor when we were cleaning up trash around the property, a frog we came across and a few deer.

2009_06_13_Home_Fence from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

2009_06_13_Sue_Tractor from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

2009_06_13_Home_Frog from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

2009_06_08_Home_Deer from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Included below are pictures of the latest progress with the house. We should be pretty much done this week. We had hoped to start moving in this weekend, but Sue was tied up all weekend with dog training and I was working on the outside fence. Since we have a new puppy arriving very soon, we need an outdoor area that is fenced in and secure for the dogs to run around.

Also below are a collection of pictures we have taken of all the flowers in bloom around the property.

We shot a bunch of video for those who have not seen our new home and property.  The video also shows the current state of construction and cleanup.

Outside Tour

2009_05_25_Home_Tour_Outside from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Inside Tour

2009_05_25_Home_Tour_Inside from Ed Soehnel on Vimeo.

Lightening Strike

The A-frame chimney (photo below) was struck by lightening over the weekend. We were both in the house when it happened. Fortunately, only minor damage. It knocked out a few electrical switches and fried the phone, modem and answering machine. We had planned to install a lightening rod, but this happened before we could get it in place.

From 2009_02_Perry_Park_Property

Over the last 2 weeks, we’ve made progress on the work to the house and property.

Interior

The frame out of the master bedroom and the upstairs loft is completed and we now have the drywall and finishers doing their work.  The tilers have also started in the kitchen and the master bathroom.  Photos below in the slideshow.

Property

We have cleaned out junk from 2 of the 4 utility barns on the property.  There is a tractor barn, as I call it, which is a perfect size for keeping the tractor, and the main barn attached to it.  We cleaned out both and have been putting materials we want to keep from around the property into the main barn.

These materials include fence posts (4 x 4 and at least 8 feet in length and in good condition), fencing, bricks and other usable cinder blocks, and miscellaneous wood items that are in good condition.  There is stuff strewn throughout the 13.5 acres of the property, so we have been using the tractor to get the stuff and take down to the main barn for storage.

We’ve also collected 30-40 old tires and 30-40 gallons of motor oil (much of it used) that the previous owners left and are slowly getting rid of by taking it in trips to the Big O Tires auto repair store near my office.

With the fencing materials we have found, we are building a new fence that extends off the east side of the house. There is no fenced in area at present where we can let the dogs lose to run around. This new fence will allow us to let them out from the kitchen door. I rented an auger and was able to dig 25 post holes, 2 feet down, in under 30 minutes. Our soil is soft and sandy, so it made for easy digging. However, it is tough work handling the auger.

Lastly, we collected lots of old hose laying around the property, much of it which is in decent shape. We kept the good pieces and fixed the leaks and spliced together to create very long hoses so that we can now water throughout the lower section of the property around the house where all the trees and bushes are.

There are photos of our exterior work below in the slide show.

A few crazy-busy months, with a slew of travel for work, closing on a new house, selling our old house and making the move.

Travel

I did not track my travel as completely as I would have liked, but have posted what I have below:

• March 18-19, travel to Minneapolis, MN: View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth.
• March 26-27, travel to Boston, MA:  View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth. View images.
• March 30-April 1, Travel to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA:  View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth. View images.
• April 10-13, travel to Alta Loma, CA:  No GPS tracks. View images.  This was a personal trip with Sue to visit my parents.  My mom came down the 24-hour flu, then Sue, then me.  Both Sue and I recovered pretty fast, but my mom took longer.
• April 28, travel to Dallas, TX: No GPS tracks and no images.  This was a 1-day trip in and out.
• April 30, travel to Pittsburgh, PA.  NO GPS tracks and no images.  This was a 1-day trip in and out.

Buying and Selling Property and Moving

We closed April 6 on our new house and property (13.5 acres) located in Sedalia, CO.  We closed April 24 on our old house in Aurora, CO.  Within that span of time, we had quite a bit of work to do with contractors to get the new house live-in ready before we had to be out of our old house.  The new house is a foreclosure and is pretty rough around the edges.  The structure is in good shape, but heating does not work, there are electrical, plumbing and other issues. We got the contractors working on the new house pretty quickly after we closed.  The new house is a large A-frame with 3 levels and an extension to the south with a great room, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  Here is a list of things we are having done on the new house and the property:

Interior

1. A-frame loft:  remove the bathroom, remove the closet, replace the door to the balcony, frame-in and finish open walls where the bathroom was removed; install new carpeting.
2. A-frame main floor: gut the 1/2 bathroom and install all new fixtures and flooring; redo the kitchen with new floor, new appliances, new counter top and kitchen sink and paint existing cabinets; install new carpeting; repair the doors to both the east and west balconies and seal up the west balcony from leaks into the house.
3. A-frame basement: gut the bathroom and install all new fixtures and flooring; gut the main living area and frame-in a walk-in closet; fix cracked windows; its a walk-out basement, so replace the doors to the outside.
4. South-side extension:  clean-out the attic; blow in new insulation; perform minor plumbing and electrical repairs.
5. Heating system, both sides of house:  repair, which is extensive in the A-frame section of the house.
6. Other:  electrical repairs and re-wiring as needed; new water heater in A-frame section; install laundry tub, washer and dryer in basement mechanical room of the A-frame (same floor as the master bedroom).

Exterior

1. Replace the roof and gutters on the house and the garage.
2. Make electrical repairs to the well pump house and install a new heating system.
3. Some minor electrical work and installation of outside lighting.
4. Install a new gas tank and gas line to supply the appliances in the house.
5. Clean up the junk strewn throughout the property.

This is the contractor list.  There is a list of things Sue and I can do in the coming months so that we save money by not paying contractors.  They include:  new fenced-in area off the east side of the house to let the dogs run around; general interior and exterior painting; re-grading of areas around the house for erosion and water control; and, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

Later this year, or maybe next year, depending on how fast we move on other top priority items, we will do some re-grading of the driveways to control water run-off and some re-grading of areas of the property to help return it back to a more natural state.  Next year, for sure, we will have to address some dry rot going on in the main barn by fixing some of the structure and controlling water run-off around the barn.

The contractors were able to complete required items on the south-side extension of the house in time before we moved in on April 23.  We also had our new refrigerator and the microwave hooked up so we can at least do some cooking and eating at home. The roof was also done.  Since then, the kitchen has been completed and we have unpacked all our kitchen items, but the remaining contractor items are still in progress.

Move-in Week

The week of the move went smooth, but was extremely busy.  I took the week off from work.  Here is how it went:

• Saturday, April 18:  Packed up things at the old house; made 1 trip down to the property with stuff. We got a decent sized snow storm that rolled in earlier in the day, so had the challenge of a foot of very slushy snow to contend with at the new house on a dirt driveway.
• Sunday, April 19:  Packed and made 2 trips to the new house with stuff.
• Monday, April 20:  Packed and made 2 trips to the new house with stuff.
• Tuesday:  Main moving day with the movers and the majority of our stuff.
• Wednesday:  Still living in the old house - made 2 trips with stuff that the movers would not take (electronics, plants, food); met the satellite-TV installation crew in the afternoon at the property.
• Thursday:  Made final 2 trips with stuff and cleaned the old house…we were officially out; met the new appliance delivery crew.
• Friday:  Sue went to the closing on our old house while I stayed at our new house to take delivery of our new Kubota L2800 tractor.
  

Images of the move-in week and shots of the construction work below: