Chapter 165...Finishing Shelves And Building A Counter

Hello and welcome to chapter 165 of our long story of projects:)  Back at the store Mike and I are trying to get the inside done but first:


Mike using the post hole driver to pound in the ground rod for the store:

Next he drills a hole to bring the wire into the building by our electrical box:

And now to the inside:)

Mike installing the trim that I painted:

Nailing the bathroom door kit in place:

Mike installing our lights:

And back to our shelves.  Putting them together on the floor and screwing the bases to the legs:

The front legs going on:

And we have the second shelf standing.  Mike making sure it is all screwed together:

The third shelf almost screwed together:

After we get the shelves up we decided they don't look good enough.  Mike uses spackle to fill in any holes and splits in the wood:

Once the spackle is dry I sand the shelves to make a smooth surface then I repaint them:

Mike working on the last of the ceiling lights:

Time to  build the counter.  We checked online and in our local stores to see about buying one but they were just too expensive.  For this simple counter we are using 2x4's, plywood and a sheet of siding that has been cut done to size:

We measure the 2x4's and cut them to be part of the base and the top of our new counter:

Niki making sure we do things right:)

Mike nailing the cut piece of plywood to the top of the 2x4 base:

Once the plywood is nailed onto both the top and the bottom section we cut a square out each corner on the bottom of the base and nail in the 2x4's:

Almost done:

Mike nailing in the front of the counter using siding:

After we get that together on the driveway, we load it onto the trailer and take it to the store.  Mike nails the end of the counter on:

Ahh....me painting more trim:

It's starting to come together:

The counter has been trimmed and painted:

Mike's daughter gave us some old shelves that we decided to put down the middle of the store:

As you can see we have been slowly bringing some things down to the store.  We have decided to open next year as we really don't have a lot to sell.  Over the winter we will look for some bargains:)

That's all for now and I will write again soon.

Chapter 164....The First Shelf Unit and Electrical At The Store

Chapter 164...Shelves and Electrical For The Store

I know it has been a long time but life has taken a change for the good and Mike and I are excited about our new upcoming project.  But back to the store for now.  We are in no rush to "finish" the store as this was really just something for us to do while increasing the value of our land.

Let me tell you about us getting the first shelves built and installed in the store.  We built the boxes and painted them at the house.  Today we are taking them to the store:

We laid out the "boxes" and attached the legs.  Mike is screwing the legs on:

A little awkward but Mike is almost done with our first shelf unit:

After we get them screwed together, Mike and I stand it up together and put it against the wall:

A little spackle, some more paint and they will look great:)



Next it's time for Mike to work on the electrical outlets.  We had to wait until after the sheetrock was done before Mike could do this.  Mike pulls out the wires to start wiring:

He strips off the extra wire casing so he can work with the actual wire:

Stripping tool for taking off the outer wire coating:

Wires are now stripped and ready to be installed into an outlet:

Mike uses the easy outlets which lets you plug in the wires:

One outlet is almost wired up.  Only about 20 more to go:

Putting the copper ground wire on:

More shelving ready to be put together:

Mike working on our overhead lights.  We did have a problem with the shop lights and we thought they were defective.  They were not.  Here is an FYI about fluorescent lights.  We were testing the lights and plugged them into a ground fault receptacle which kept tripping the line and the lights would go out.  We thought it was the light but it turned out to be the receptacle.  There is something about ground fault receptacles and fluorescent lights that don't mix.  Plugged into a regular receptacle and the light works fine.  We also had no trouble using compressors and all other tools on that same ground fault receptacle.  Just the fluorescent lights had a problem.

And the electrical box getting organized:

While Mike works on all the electrical I work on painting the floor trim:

And more:

The inside of the store is really coming together.  It won't be much longer before we are done.  Then we will have to finish the outside.


Sorry this on is short and sweet.  That's all for now and I will keep you posted on our progress everywhere:)

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings...Don't Knock It Til You Try It:)

Apple Dumplings...So Easy

One of my friends made apple dumplings for a party and they were delicious.  I have never made them before so I asked for her recipe.  I combined her recipe with a Mountain Dew recipe that got rave reviews.

Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled and cut into eight pieces each
1 cup butter
1 Tbl vanilla, optional
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
12 oz. Mountain Dew(water can be used)
2 cans Homestyle Biscuits
lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Peel and slice the apples into eight pieces.  Add a little lemon juice so they don't turn brown:

Open the can of biscuits.  Roll one biscuit out and put one apple piece in:

Roll the dough over the apple and pinch together.  Do this to make all 16 dumplings.  Place them in a greased baking pan:

In a saucepan melt the butter and add the sugar, cinnamon and Mountain Dew and simmer until the sugar dissolves.  Pour over the apples:

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until browned:

Serve warm.  Add ice cream if desired.



I hope you enjoy:)

We are back!!!

I am sorry for the lapse in posting.  Mike and I have had a crazy few weeks.  We bought a house in FL which will be our winter project...and also another long story.

Today we also got back from NY visiting our family.  We had a great time.

I will get back to posting this week.

Have a great day!!!