What A Couple Of Days!

UGH! 2 different days at the DMV and STILL no license renewal, it's been so stressful.  Yesterday, we just ran out of time waiting for my number to get called. 2 hours of waiting and I had to leave to get back to Greenville to pick up Daniel from school. Today, almost 2 hours and then I couldn't see the first column in the eye test,  I could see the other numbers but the first column was just pure white light. I had to call my optician to get a code from them, but he was with a patient and his following patient was already there, and it takes time to do on the computer anyway, so his receptionist said it would be later afternoon before he could get to it. Again, I couldn't wait as I was supposed to pick up Daniel.

However, we are going to try again tomorrow morning early, and the lady said just to go straight to her and she will finish me off and get me over to the photo person, so that is the plan.

Then, my concrete man still ahd not tidied up and leveled the site around the concrete pad (which he's been "promising" different days over the last 2-3 weeks, and somehow never shown up for). Frustration this morning overcame niceness, and I messaged him and said if he didn't get it done and I had to pay the barn builders extra because of it not being ready for the build, then he'd be in breach of contract and he'd have to refund me whatever they charged me to cover the cost. I hate getting that way but, lo! This afternoon, he was over at the property and picked up teh framing and did a basic levelling around the pad. I didn't actually get to talk to him as I met two of my new neighbours, Steve and Judy, and we just got yapping like long lost friends. Mark was doing stuff with the tractor, but he said Chris just loaded up his stuff afterwards and drve off, without even looking at him. Hey, we still LIKE you as a person, just your work ethic is a bit off some of the time. I'm not mad at ya anymore now that you've done what we'd paid you for!

As of now, unless we get a definite for rain this weekend, the barn building will begin Monday and go through all next week. I so hope our rain chances lessen so that we can get this done because I am so ready to start moving stuff over there to make my visits more comfy rather than just sitting in the car all the while. I have a lounge bed that will allow me to lie down, and the camping potty until we have a loo plumbed in, plus I want to get my modelling stuff over there so's I can start working on my train layout again.

All in all, a busy day that ended much better than it began, so feeling much less stressed and very thankful.

Tomorrow - hopefully get my license renewed without issue and we have millings being delivered at the property to make the dirt track more stable (than muddy and slick).

Then, if all goes well next week, we can begin resting a bit more. It's been a hectic few months, so far.

Busy Weekend

Yesterday started out well but then, as we were getting ready to leave the property, we had a glitch. 

Mark had planted some poppy and wildflower seeds, for me, on a small island in the creek, and then set to digging up some of the cattails that have overgrown a good portion of the marsh. I was sat in my car, in my usual creek-watching spot, when I heard a clatter and suddenly couldn't see him any more, where he had been. I kept trying to see where he might be, and then called out, and he had actually ended up about forty feet farther down, going towards the front of the property. I drove across to be level with where he was at, but still on what is usually hard ground. He started coming out to pack everything up ready for us to come home, and I started driving back up to the main dirt road-y bit that's our driveway. THAT was when everything went wrong. 

I got almost level with the concrete pad for the barn, and my wheels started spinning. I wasn't going anywhere! I didn't want to churn it up more and get stuck even worse, so I turned off the engine and yelled at Mark that I was stuck. He went and got the tractor and we expected to resolve my situation in minutes ... nope, that didn't happen!

Mark went under my car to hook up a tie to tow me with ... and my underside was all plastic, nothing metal he could hook anything to. He pfaffed about, trying this and that (and getting more frustrated by the second) for about 30 minutes. I'd already given up and messaged my grandson, Dylan, who lives a couple of miles from the property. He came out, and then, they pushed me while I had my wheels turned another way, and was in reverse. When the car started to move, I reversed all the way back, around the other side of the barn slab, around the other side of the well, and up to where the sheds are. I was VERY THANKFUL to be out of the mud. Poor Serendipity is a good farm car but that was a surprise I hadn't needed. I expect mud closer to the swamp, so I avoid driving down there, I just had not expected it where it was!

So, today, our first venture was to the car wash, where we got her all spiffy clean. I even remembered to take my good paper towels and white vinegar to do the windows, because the rags there never clean properly and leave smears that are awful when sunlight or headlights hit them. I needed properly clean windows!

Then, after coming home, Mark set to work putting in Serendipity's automatic start, and I started planting seeds and bulbs. 

I've hit on a plan that works for me. I have pots with lids that the round Jiffy pots fit in (3" and 5" ones) so I'm planting in those and then, when ready to transplant, the Jiffy pot comes out and makes that part easy. The lid on the regular pot helps keep them moist and protected from draughts and such as they start out. And those are reusable!

I have so many seeds to start, ready to then transplant into a veggie garden, as we get that prepped over there. I'd like, eventually, to have plenty of fruits and veggies for us and family/friends.

Today I've planted rose seeds, watermelon, cucumber, and tulip bulbs. 

Jel gave me 2 nice bunches of bananas, so I sliced them and popped them in the freezer, and made banana peel tea with the peels for my plants.

So, I'm quite content and it's been a satisfying day.

 

We Have A Well

One more small step forward in the transformation of the property into what will eventually be home. It's going to be a work in progress for a couple of years, methinks, but every "must do" checked off on our list, is one step closer to the ultimate. 

Today's small step was the completion of the well. From the beginning of drilling on Sunday, to trickling water yesterday

to everything finished, today.

Unfortunately, our flow is basic, even after drilling an additional 100 feet, so we had to put in a bigger tank so that we'll have good water pressure for showering and such. It meant that the fake rock cover wouldn't fit over it, so we're going to prob put a little fake shed over it, like a little house. That'll have to wait awhile though until I get our money settled again. The concrete pad cost ran over, this ran over due to needing to dig deeper and the bigger tank, so some other things will have to be put on hold until I get us re-balanced.

We still have plenty of stuff to be getting on with, so we won't be coming to a stop, but - after the barn is erected - just that things that require paid labour will be moving a lot slower.

One of the things I'm excited about is to get back to my train modelling. I can keep the dogs out of one area and set up my table and supplies again, and get back to building and setting up the layout. I had to put things away because Brunel would jump up on the table, and he broke some of my creations and I had to put everything away. I am so looking forward to getting it all set up, and my "Flying Scotsman" chuffing around it. 

My end will be my English High Street

with the picture house

and Station,

and hubby's end will be the American derelict looking industrial area,

roundtable and engine sheds, and then the highway with the gas station,

motel and diner

I just love to look at these pics and imagine how I'm going to be placing them in a 10' x 16' space. I can't wait to see it all come together, after being put away for 3 years!

Tomorrow, I have the school run in the morning, and afternoon, so I won't be heading down to Belton but am thinking of doing some plantings ... I have decided to use some larger Jiffy pots (3" and 5" round pots) to start some seed in that can then just simply be put in the ground once the weather gets nice. I need to take more cuttings off the gardenia and honeysuckle.

The strawberry plants are really doing well. They are leafing out and starting to look like strawberry plants.

I guess today has been another good day.

 

A Smashing Surprise!

 We were over at the property again today, Mark was planting a plum tree and the weeping willow, that we took over from here. 

As we pulled up, I noticed the mama dog and another (her mate, I think) just sunning down near the concrete pad. Neither has a collar, so I am def thinking both stray. The other 2 dogs that we'd seen on the trail cam had collars, so I think they roam from one of the neighbours. We got kind of close but then she got skittish and started loping off and her mate followed her. I didn't even think to take a picture, and I'm kicking myself for that now. Neither was aggressive in any way though.

So, Mark got to planting; the plum went into the orchard on the 2nd row, and the weeping willow, down near the creek. Unfortunately, it looks like our unwelcome visitors, the hogs, have been rooting down there as well. Not good!

I was about ready to leave, and head home, when I see a truck coming up the dirt road. 

Lee, my well man, had called a little while earlier and asked if he could come out and check everything, to be ready for drilling tomorrow. Tomorrow! Whhoooo-eeeee! We'd earlier discussed me calling him this Thursday after watching the weather. So he had been out and talked to us, and now, here he was, alreday bringing his equipment.

Even better, one of his men was following in another truck, and they actually started drilling TODAY! They got it lined up where we needed it and then the noise began.

It was awesome to watch. Lee's been doing this for over 30 years, and I was laughing with him about that and how it was just an everyday thing to him and here it was, pretty exciting to me.

They got it started, and yes, it was just as noisy as they'd warned me.

It was neat seeing the dirt kicking up underneath. Then I got to thinking how somebody had thought up this process and I was like, wow. I'm thankful they did, and it'll be nice to have running water over there.

I'll be heading back over there tomorrow to watch them as the work progresses.

I Am A Proud Strawberry Mama

When the arrived a few days ago, they were just tangled roots and a couple of stalks and - despite lovingly planting them and watering in - I honestly thought they wouldn't survive. Well, look what a bit of loving can do! They are beginning to get leafy. I have them in the multi tower, and since our weather is so changeable right now, they are in the kitchen and under the light. I'm hoping all 25 will flourish but I'm def a proud strawberry mama right now.
 

The Little Things All Add Up

Today has been another day of accomplishments, of little things that are getting us slowly towards our ultimate goal.

Hubby dug up one of our fruit trees over here, a peach, and we took that, and the 2 chestnut trees, over to the new property and he planted them. The peach went into the orchard area, and the 2 chestnuts are down near the swampy bit of the creek

where the deer come to feed. We have tree protectors around them, attached to a fence pole, but apparently they are an amazing source of deer food, so should encourage plenty of visitors once they are grown. It'll be nice to watch them early mornings and at dusk, when we are living over there. Hopefully, they'll come to get to know me like the ones here did.

Unfortunately, overnight we had our 2 unwelcome guests come rooting down there, the hogs. 

A friend is going to sit out there and try to take care of the problem for us, and fill his freezer at the same time. I can't have them tearing everywhere up.

On our way home, as we got to the end of our road where the goats live, we saw someone outside and ended up speaking to the goats owner. Having had goats ourselves, I know how expensive it can be to keep them fed through Winter ... and here we have a grass/weed area that they could munch on for free, so I'd been trying to see them outside for about a month to let them know they could take them down there if they wanted to.

The lady (Amy) apparently used to live by us here and remembered going by ours when we had goats roaming the front yard with our chickens and dogs. She used to live in the subdivision just down the road. I still miss my goats.

Rammy was our first, we got him when he was 3 weeks old, in June 2003. She has a female with very similar markings. Rammy had such a quirky personality, but sadly long gone now. Then we added Cleo, Red and Sadie. Sadie used to run with the dogs when she was the last one left, with a chicken on her back! Our animals have always been just as crazy as us!.

We are now thinking of m-a-y-b-e getting a couple of goats again. I have to weigh up a lot of things before making that decision though. We have so much else to do with getting the new place how we want it, and do we really need the responsibility of goats again? Watering, feeding, mucking out stalls? A lot to think about, we are a lot older now and they can be a lot of work.

It's been a really nice day though, and I'm feeling content.

The Drearies Are Here

 Grey clouds, rain showers and fog, yes the drearies are upon us for the next few days. Hubby has taken our 2 sons to dump trash and recycles, and pick up breakfast from Crossroads again. The great-grand-puppy is in the bedroom with me having "nanny time". 

My plans for today, other than this afternoon's school run, are to divide and transplant one of my Pothos plants (too big for the pot and needs a lot more root space), pedal on my bike for a few, and pot the 2 chestnut trees (that are coming today) in large Jiffy pots so that we can plant them out when we go back over to the property on the next dry day. 

The strawberries that I planted the other day, that looked so sad and wilted, are perking up nicely with being bedded in the tower pots and given plenty of light in the kitchen. I don't want to put them outside until we are over the cold spell promised for next week. One is even trying to leaf ... aaah.