Echoes of the Southwest

 One of the things I wanted when we decided to live off grid was an art studio. I needed my own space to create, paint, and do DIY projects. After we got here in January, we started looking for a building for my studio. We found a repo 10x20 shed home. The inside is 10x16 with a 4' porch. Since it was a repo, the price was perfect. Here is a video of the progression of the studio from when it was delivered until now.

The paneling and walls are done in the interior of our home. We also hired someone to finish the roof of the bath house. Gary did lots of organizing as well on his last visit. We are talking to a contractor on building our perimeter fence. That, along with the bath house door and window, pony wall and house's bathroom/closet wall are Gary's next items to get finished. I am excited to get the perimeter fence up to feel more secure and safe against predators.  Gary can do lots of work on our homestead, but what he can't do we are hiring out to locals for help. He is getting a quote on the fence along with help to put in the back door and wood burning stove. I will be going up with him soon to put in the kitchen. I am excited to have the kitchen put in. It will feel more like a home. I will definitely take pictures of that.

 It has been a while since I updated you on what is happening at Arroyo Ranch. We haven't started any projects, but my husband has brought up lots of materials, tools and furniture since my last post. I was hoping to add to my YouTube channel with up dated information, but since we have not officially started, I felt there was nothing to report. The weather has been the biggest factor on why we have not started on updating the homestead. It has either been very hot, cold or lots of rain. He is hoping to get up there soon, maybe next week, to begin working on our house. We want our house to be ready first so we can move up there and work on what we need to make it a self-sustaining homestead. We realize that the back and forth is not working and we need to be physically up there to get it done.  What needs to happen for us to move there? We need water and solar electricity in place. That is going to happen soon. We need to finish the main bathroom and add a half bath in the mai...

I am a few months late to post these videos. My laptop decided to break down and not start up for me. I had to send it out for repairs. After I got it back, I had to find a video program that I could create videos for YouTube.  I also had to find time to figure out the program which wasn't easy. I am happy to say I figured it out enough to do simple videos. I am hoping to get better at making more elaborate videos. The first video I created was on our guest house and workshop being delivered. I decided not to add music and let the sounds of the wind, our voices, and the delivery truck be what you hear. It ended up turning out just fine. My second video was a tour of the property. I photographed everything around the ranch to give everyone an update. These videos were made in March and things have changed since then. Gary has brought up lots of stuff that we wanted up there and we organized a bit.  The boys had intended to work on the bathroom a week ago, but one of them got si...

The wash from the road.  

Yay, our house has arrived on our property. We ordered our 12x40 foot shed house in June of this year. The builder had trouble getting the metal roofing materials, so that is why the build took longer than usual. A couple of weeks ago we scheduled a delivery. My husband and friend went up there so they could be on the property for delivery.  As bad luck would have it, Mother Nature decided to let it snow on that day. The driver could not safely deliver the house, so we had to reschedule. We scheduled the delivery for December 2nd (yesterday), and the weather was on our side.  The only thing we stressed over was could that long truck get through the deep wash. The driver lifted his truck and drove right through it. After that, he drove down the street to the place where the house was to be set. Because they graded the property, the driver was able to get to the location we picked out for the house.  The house faces southeast. The southern view is beautiful, and you can see...

In about a month, our house will be delivered on our land. The boys are planning a trip before then to grade the land where the house is going and the driveway to that location. They are also planning on burying the septic tank and finishing the bathroom. Meanwhile, Gary and I have been doing lots of DIY projects of items we are bring up there and antique shopping as well. This is what we have so far: The antique sewing machine cabinet we turned into a bathroom sink. I did a post about it. The vanity I redid. I did a post about it. We picked up 6 used solar panels. We hope they work well for us. paneling for our walls paneling and two butcher block counter tops I found this small farmhouse table at the antique mall. It is the perfect size for our ranch house. My addition to our picnic table. I got this chair at an antique mall. I was wabbly and the seat was not safe to sit on. The wood had some gross sticky stuff on it. We added foam and a board to the bottom, tightened the screws and ...