Ridge Haven Building Update

What’s Going on with the building project?

Building the RV Cover

Although we have not finished the cabin, we’ve taken a little break for awhile. Sometimes things progress slowly for various reasons, like a long winter.

We decided to go ahead and build a cover for the RV, since that’s where we live at present, so this will make it more comfortable. This cover will provide more shade in the summer, and shed more rain during all of our frequent showers! It’ll give us a fun place to hang out too! Kind of like a little front porch!

Here’s a picture tour of the process! Tomorrow we set the trusses! I will take more photos for sure! The bucket truck gets to play a major part in that process!

First , they set the footers in concrete. Next came the sawmilled posts. You can see the progress of getting those set. The boys helped with all of this.

This week, they began to cut materials for trusses. They made seventeen, so the boys and Mr Troy had a lot of cutting to do!

I like how they cut all of the pieces one day, then the next day, they ran a Truss Assembly Factory. They really whipped out those trusses quickly! I have a feeling that certain boys got very motivated, hoping for a soccer meet-up if they got done early!

The boys did get their soccer game, and we got all of the 17 trusses made and stacked up! Awesome work, I’ll say!

That gave us a couple days between truss assembly and truss placement (tomorrow). So the boys and I got busy and cleaned up all the wood scraps!

We started a burn pile, then decided to transport the good, burnable scraps up to the top of the ridge where someday we will have our garden. For now, it’s where we have campfires and cook over the Dutch oven.

Wouldn’t you know…the boys needed to use the 4-wheeler to transport all of those square logs! That actually did make things go a lot faster, and for them, a lot more fun!

Little Guy and I used our time while waiting for the log transporting, to weed a small section of our hill. We have so much wildness here, that it’s hard to know what to tackle! But we just worked to clear the grass from around the roses we brought over. They looked much happier once we finished!

Aside from the clean-up and truss project, we just planted our seed balls for the Monarch Butterflies! The balls have milkweed and butterfly weed seeds inside, so I’ll be excited if they grow!

We planted a handful or tiny Air Potatoes just for fun. We got them and and mud balls from Wilderness Wildlife Week last week. They produce edible bumps that look like potatoes. I’m eager to try them, because I didn’t get a chance to last week!

Front row of posts

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Truss setting Day!

Today’s the day!

Seventeen trusses will be placed, skillfully on top of the support beams! Let’s see how it’s happening!

They hook up the trusses to a chain suspended from the bucket truck’s boom. Then They swing the truss around and guide it into place!

Next comes securing the truss to the frame.

This is a pretty easy way to set trusses! All you need is a husband or friend with a bucket truck, and you’ll be in business! ?

We had a rain scare through the night! Worried it might force us to cancel the truss party, but by 8:30, everything cleared up, and the day looked bright and promising!

The boys are all helping! This is a work where they can practice being REAL MEN! Each one helps in what way that he can! ??

I keep going into the RV to take care of little chores, but I can’t stay inside, knowing all of this is happening outside!

Why all this involvement with the kids in the building process? Shouldn’t they be in school, or at least doing what normal kids do?

We are big believers in our boys learning practical skills. We’ve been strongly influenced by the teachings of the late Raymond Moore, the pioneering father of the modern homeschool movement. He has many excellent books, but Home Grown Kids is one that we really enjoy reading. I think any person who likes that book will enjoy all of his writings.

The Moore Formula, a term coined by Dr. Moore, includes a three-fold approach to education. You may read about it here. The three parts are

1). Books

2). Service for others

3). Work

Balance these three, and you will likely come out with a well-rounded education.

Basically he recommends involving children in adult life, rather than just expecting them to act like kids. You may enjoy reading my article on Homeschool Apprenticeship, and Tools Trump Toys, over on my homeschooling blog.

Here’s the final shots from today! Trusses are set and are getting braces. Next week, hopefully, we will get the roof on!

Stay tuned—you’ll be interested to see what interesting twists we are going to do for the roof design! It will not be your typical! ?

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Who else lives in an RV, or has in the past? It’s a wild life, for sure!

Leave me a comment and share your experience!

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