Building a mother in laws quarter part 1

Since we bought a piece of land last spring in eastern Texas, Mike and I (I use the term I loosely, since he's doing most of the word) have been working on the land to prepare for a cabin.  But first, we needed a small garage/mother in law quarters in order to house our materials, and a place to stay in while we (he) builds the cabin.  The building of the cabin, I predict, will take years.  MANY years. 

You can read about the start of our journey here and here .

Back in December we enjoyed New Years at the property.  Mike also took a huge log in which the electricity is hooked up to, and between Mike, Katie & I, we managed to place it in a hole.  Let me tell you, this job is not meant to be done between a married couple.  I repeat.. if you want to preserve your marriage, do NOT place an electric pole in a hole.  Let's say that it is very VERY heavy.  It took us FOREVER to get the stinking pole to go in the hole! We backed the trailer up, moved it around, tried everything.  I was also praying very very hard that I wouldn't have to drive Mike to the ER.  I had no clue where the hospital was.  But, all ended well, and Mike ended up with huge bruises on his shoulder from where the log crashed down on him -- but, happy to say the electricity is hooked up now!

Last week Mike & Katie took a 3-4 day trip back to the property, and worked some more.  Mike went previously without us, and set up pillars (I am sure I am not even saying it right, but there's concrete pillars in the ground, or above the ground b/c the ground is so sandy, it has to be built that way).  So, he went to start the plumbing so it was ready, and to start building the frame.  {{this is where Mike would come in really handy in describing the journey, but since he doesn't blog, I will have to narrate what I think is happening in the pictures, whether it's correct or not!}}

Katie did a great job in capturing the events that transpired. 

See Mike dig.

Dig Mike dig!!

and we pause for a second to admire the beautiful self portrait Katie took of herself. 

and this is what it looked like when Mike & Katie left to come home.  He needs to finish going around....

The next time Mike goes up, he is going to place plywood down, stain it (paint it?  varnish it?) so the wood won't rot, and then start working on getting the little garage/mother in laws quarters framed.  The goal is to get it done by the end of this year.  Then, we will have a small kitchenette, place to sleep and bathroom with storage space!