Six Weeks of Hughes survival and years to go!

Six weeks into Hughes and no…not much change!
The water will be worked on in the next few weeks…ready to go forward with that finally and then the power will be on the first week of May is the plan…we have held off long enough for that but man I have truly enjoyed no power and even realizing how much water we really go through in a day…between three dogs and two adults!
This has been a humbling and enjoyable lesson. Turn the TV off….get out and walk the dogs to the beach and enjoy sitting outside the coffee shop with friends has been really great and even with power I am keeping that TV off until further into completing this project.
Michael and I have been going through each and every single project for Hughes …such as Living room, kitchen….room by room…flooring, windows…deck off the 2nd floor and so forth. Then we have to note all the measurements and materials needed as well as any other tools we need , then price these things out. This in itself is such a task but thankfully it does help that we have such a vision already and that Michael drew up the plans for the house…which I will scan and post soon.
This week we even went over all the lighting we wanted/needed. Much of which we plan to get from the Galveston Nautical Shop…all those really cool nautical lights that we just have to re-wire .
We even went down to how many screws and nails we would need project to project! It certainly ad’s up!
So by the first week of May will go in Power to just the t-pole, water to the outside “bathroom” and shower area as well as a spigot but not yet run through the building which will be done in copper…and so therefore take some time as we don’t want to do it the “cheap” way once and change it later.
Michael is researching at the Galveston Historical Custom House on our building…he was up through the first 30 years and Hughes was built 7 years after the 1900 storm as well as has been a brothel three times in the time already. In fact in the backyard cleanup Michael has been digging up MANY small perfume bottles….so cool! They where just thrown out the windows to the side in between the two buildings of ours and our neighbors.
We have gone through, sorted and counted the doors we will be using for our walls….we actually came up with an abundance so that was awesome and we have some to sell…some really good ones too! Two are brand new solid mahogany doors.
We have figured out what we are doing underneath the doors too…as they will be elevated off the ground to let light through but we wanted to be able to say…keep the dogs out of the pantry and future baby’s rooms….this will be the glass that is used to vent above doors in old fashioned buildings… a new reuse and a flipped usage of them! We will be mostly getting these from the Galveston Historic foundation ‘s “store”.
The back yard has been very cleaned up…and yet is still a mess! Seems never ending! We still have to take four dead tree’s down and one will be used for our eventual 10x4 kitchen table. The other wood we will use for fire wood.
We have our old grill set up and are grilling at home now rather than eating out…HUGE saver of money…Lordy why didn’t we do this sooner?! Well I know why…had to clear the backyard enough to do so! Michaels all about grilling now which has been great and man it’s good to eat good veggies grilled again….you don’t realize how few veggies your get when you eat out, even when you try to be healthy.
The dogs, Wrench, Sobi and Jolt ( Weimaraner, Lab/Newfoundland, Newfoundland) are all truly enjoying their daily one to two walks to the beach and play time in sand and water…we walk straight down 25th 1 mile to Flag Ship so say hi next time you see the one woman with three huge dogs on leash walking by! Jolt won’t be out too much for awhile as he ripped his paw pad….he’s healing though he’s such a big con with the sad eyes holding his paw for attention…then when he thinks you aren’t looking he’s running around just fine! Hope for quick healing so he can get back to the beach though.
Michael was busy in the Heights all last week refinishing door after door ( which is great=) If you need a door refinish or any other door specialist tasks done give him a shout. And Holistic Pet Nutrition is off and running…so if you have dogs/cats let me know and I’ll do a free consultation and get them on a great healthy food which I sell and deliver!
BTW , We are in search of a dog sitter who could handle our large crazy critters for some out of town trips….know of any?
I’ve previously posted a Hughes building NEEDS list for just some of the items we have made a list of…not actually all project to project items however…I may ad those anyways. Some people get rid of the greatest things!
The August/September of Mother Earth News Magazine is doing a feature on living off the grid…debt free!
Since many of these really cool “ how to live like this” articles are of rich people who are high end architects with all the hookups and who where given like a 14 acre plot of land this is really cool for the young average couple who want to live inner city off the grid eventually and do so debt free and don’t have that dead uncle who they never knew about who left them millions or land or something.
We got the pleasure of visiting yet another Eibands loft home of some folks we know and wow…they sure do it well! Such interesting people but nice to see what one can do with a loft.
I have yet to get started on any gardening either…I think I may start with some open bag gardening right now to just get some stuff up quick and transplant later as we grow….now for keeping the dogs out of my plants? Any advice? Wrench wrecked the last garden I tried but then again we would let him out and not supervise so much…now we supervise all the time as Sobi is known to be an escape artist.
We are doing a fun event May 5th…cinco de mayo …at Bud Clayton’s Studio for a get doing something in spring healthy type of event/art mixed up. So Michael will be doing some refinishing right on the spot and with his dye’s you should really come and see it….so cool how he works. And I’ll have a table for my Holistic Pet Nutrition so stop on by for free consultations.

NEEDS list time...

Hughes needs List:
1. 50 gallon metal drum or ½.
2. Copper pipe
3. Aprox 9 foot long vanity or wait high dresser.
4. Fence wood or any wood pieces at all
5. Doors and windows of any kind
6. Any electrical wire to be run
7. Paint of any and all kinds
8. Glass garage doors
9. Car dolley
10. Flat bed trailer or trailer of any kind
11. Spray guns and other paint spray machines
12. Paint brushes or foam brushes
13. Plants, seeds, etc of any kinds as well as planters of any kind
14. Grill of any kind
15. Screen
16. Plastic to cover while painting and power washing
17. Fencing, gates, etc
18. Planting soil/fill dirt good for planting
19. Wine barrels
20. 50 gallon drum barrels of any kind
21. Table saws
22. Wood Planers
23. Sanders
24. Aluminum sheeting
25. Roof raising jack
26. HUGE thick and long beams
27. Nautical items of any kind
28. Nautical lighting working or not of any kind
29. Surf boards even un-usable
30. Screws and nails
31. Nail gun
32. Drills and batteries and chargers
33. Hammers and saws
34. Saw horses
35. Band saw
36. Enclosed gutters…galvanized or copper would be preferable but open to what you have
37. Fans….will need about 40 ! over head
38. Fans of any kind even shop fans
39. Window unit A/C
40. Generator
41. Extension cord
42. Ladders….taller the better
43. Anything to do with gardening except weed eater or lawnmower
44. Mirrors
45. Old slides…especially anything of scenery and Galveston
46. 30’s 40’s or 50’s Chamber stoves but interested in what you have as well
47. Fabrics of any kind , no print preferred but open, in greens, blues, blacks, greys, reds, clays.
48. Picture frames
49. Open Shelving good for brick walls
50. Tea pots and tea set items ( not china like)
51. High “set” chairs for a high set table….need 14…all random and different is great!
52. Old record player, more antique the better with a chance of working if restored.
53. Stains, dyes, etc.
54. Tarps, canvas, drop cloths
55. Movie projector
56. Old projector movies…especially surf and car and equestrian or scenery
57. Slide show machine
58. Projector screens
59. Pictures/slides /video , etc. of old historic Galveston
60. Books of historic Galveston
61. Plumbing materials of all kinds
62. Wood of all kinds
63. Chairs to be recovered.
64. Sewing machine…newer and working
65. Old musical instruments for décor
66. Stair cases or stair case pieces
67. Patio floor making materials ….tile, etc.
68. Tiles of any kinds…especially white subway brick tile
69. LARGE cooking pots
70. Deep fry/crawfish set up
71. Outdoor kitchen items
72. Large glass tea/lemonade pictures
73. Wood stoves of any kind
74. Industrial A/C ducting or pieces
75. Mortar supplies and mortar tools
76. Pea gravel
77. Grating/screen/metal screen/small knit chicken wire type materials
78. Gates
79. Baby gates….metal of some type
80. Door gates
81. PVC….also REALLY wide for outdoor project. But all kinds
82. Any copper plumbing and fittings
83. Stainless steel freezers
84. Dehydrator
85. Meat grinder
86. Pasta maker
87. Bread maker
88. Package sealer machine

Also items you find might be a fit for such a unique project.