Goals for the next year

My boss sent an e-mail meeting request to talk about goals for the next fiscal year, which begins in July. That made me smile. My Goal for 2011 is to sell my home, leave Charlotte, NC, and move back to the ranch, possibly in a small RV style trailer. I don't think that is what he wants to hear.

Continue the ranch update story

Now it was time to buy some concrete blocks. I went to the manufacture in Pueblo to price the 8x8x16 blocks. Now we had to make a decision. Do we lay the block just as far as the finished grade, or go farther up. I would need to go four rows to get above the frost line. It would take 105 blocks for each course. Also; in the back, it would have to go several courses more to get to finished grade level. This would require me to stagger the side, if we were planning on a stick build first level. It seemed easier to plan on just building the entire first floor from cement blocks.
I ordered 2000 whole and 100 half blocks. I thought that would get me started. At 108 blocks per course, that would give me 18 courses, not including the openings. That‘s 4 courses below the grade on the west end and 14 courses above grade. It was time to get back to work.

I cut a piece of 8” PVC and poured concrete around it to make a hole in the west end for a drain pipe to go through later. When I completed the 4 courses that would get me up to grade, it was time to do the backfilling. Taking the tractor to the creek bed, I had a free supply of gravel. It would take over 120 yards of gravel to fill it to grade. I was having fun and sleeping well.