Mid-July Update

Welcome to the mid-July update to the Ozark Dream story. Since the last update we have had a week of extreme heat and humidity (Houston style), a week of rain, approximately 6 inches (Houston style again) and now another week of heat and humidity. Makes you wonder why we left Houston. However, we do have a lot of progress to share.

After pouring the footings the team moved to framing the basement walls. It is truly a work of art to watch the foundation crew do their job. I never imagined how much work is involved in framing walls for a basement. I can only imagine the efforts still remaining to complete the house.

The Ozark Dream is really starting to take shape. Since the last update we have completed footings, filled with base material, and set the forms for the walls.

This view is from ground level looking down to the basement. The walls will be thick and steel reinforced. I know where I'm hiding if a tornado comes through the neighborhood.

Sunset at the Ozark Dream. We can't wait to enjoy the completed project.

Lumber jack update - Well we needed to move the wood pile so that the geothermal well drillers could do their thing.

We are getting ready for a cold winter. If you're in need of some good exercise, try cutting up 17 trees in July. We should have enough firewood for at least 2 winters.  It's hard to appreciate how big and heavy these logs are, but we've sweat our hearts out cutting and moving these into one central area.

Well, here we are with completed walls (notice the lake view). Next step is to stub some plumbing lines and power grid before pouring basement floor.

Here's the latest 'toy' for the ranch. We can use the Mule to haul firewood, drive around the neighborhood, go to the dock, and soon be able to launch the jet ski next to the boat dock. Stay tuned for future updates.

Lots of progress has been made this past week. After the land was cleared, the survey man came back out and staked out the house again.

Here are some pictures of the digging and the completed basement. One worry we had about digging out a basement was that we would hit a bunch of big rocks and have to do a lot of extra work to get them out. Luckily, we only came across 5 basketball size rocks which we will use for landscaping purposes. The worker guys said this was one of the easiest basement digs they have had in several years.

The basement ceilings will be 9 ft tall.




As the man dug out the basement, he moved the dirt around to make a 'road' completely around the whole house so that the concrete trucks had firm ground to fill up the concrete footings.


Then the guys started building the wood form for the concrete footings.


They added rebar and some pvc pipe in a few places to run water, electrical, and septic lines.


Once the forms were made, 4 concrete trucks showed up to start pouring. Steph even helped smooth out the concrete.






The concrete dried out overnight and they showed up the next day to remove the wood forms. Next week they will start building the wood forms for the basement walls.

Here's an updated picture of the wood pile. Lindley cuts the trees apart with his new chainsaw and Stephanie picks up the logs and stacks them up. No wonder they have been so worn out!!

It's been REALLY hot here! The guys show up early to work - between 7 and 8 and then leave around 2 in the afternoon.

Making Progress...

Our basement is being dug out right now! YEA... a lot of progress is being made! We are excited to see the changes happening on our house and picturing what the finished product is going to look like. Luckily they only hit a few rocks, so the digging out part was quite easy...if only the rest of the building will go as smoothly...fingers crossed! Hope you enjoy the update!

Oilman turned Lumberjack

Well retired life has found me being a lumberjack in the Ozark Mountains! We will have plenty of firewood for those chilly nights in the winter! So come see us!

Day 2

Day 1

Ground Breaking...Yes the house is on it's way! Only about 9 months to go! Our "baby" is slowly going to grow to be the dream we have pictured! Picturesque views of Bull Shoals Lake will great us each morning and before each sunset! We can't wait to sip coffee, well Lindley that is, and maybe some tea for Stephanie and sit on the deck or in the sewing room and take in the breathtaking views of the lake and maybe a few deer here and there! Can you picture it yet? It's absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Our dream house is finally going to start! It's been quite the process finding a plan, thinking we have the BEST plan possible, only to find out the cost, to finding a new plan, to signing paper work, to GROUND breaking day! This blog will follow the progress of our home! I can't wait to write about move in day...well maybe the day once everything is placed in each room and living in the house! HA! Moving day will be exciting but a lot of work! Wow I got a little carried away there...we are just so excited for the process to begin and elated for the process to be finished! Here are some pictures from DAY 1