May 22, 2012

No photos this time, but I hope to have more this weekend.  This is just a semi-quick update on how things are going, besides busy.  We found out yesterday that the plant I work at is taking tomorrow (Weds.) off, and rumors today say likely we will have them off for some time to come. This means one less day for me to get anything done at the property, but an extra day here at the apartment to get things done here that need doing.  This is good, I think, but we shall see what happens.

There are still some things to get done before we can move, and unfortunately, between me working a couple of weekends, and this past weekend, Quentin getting sick, it means we're three weeks behind schedule.  This is not fun for either of us, as we don't like being behind schedule.  But it happens, and it's a part of homesteading.  Nothing gets done quite on the time frame you wish it did.  We still need to fix the deck so it's reasonably more safe (that's this weekend's project), put up a screen door, and fix the splice (still need to get a mattock or pickaxe for that).  We also need to work on the plumbing, which has become slightly more complicated.  Remember that big yellow whatever thing near the eyesore vehicles?  We found out today it's a 500-gallon septic tank.  Funny-looking septic tank if you ask me, but *shrugs*, that's what the landlords told Quentin (he works with one of them, different department, same plant).  We are asked to eventually get it shifted into the sewage lagoon and hooked up to the house plumbing.  That's going to be down the road, because it'll take at least a day to clear out the brush enough to get the darn thing TO the lagoon!!!  But that will help a lot with odors, I think, too.

With any luck, I'll remember the camera this weekend and take a series of shots of Quentin fixing the deck.  We're reinforcing the base frame and joists, taking off the old, warped plywood decking, and putting on new, treated 3/4-inch plywood sideways on the joists.  The new board will run the same way the trailer does, and give us four solid feet of supported decking to walk on.  That will be important for being able to move in, if we don't have the other decking board down by then.  I laughed when Q and I talked about it this afternoon before he went into work, saying I think we're both adult enough to know not to walk off the deck and into the temporary hole.  He laughed and agreed, saying he sure HOPES we are!  We'll be using his new-used van for transporting tools and supplies to the property, because while we could get MOST of it in the back of my trusty little Aveo, a sheet of plywood is NOT going to fit.  At least not in one piece.

The wild black raspberries are so yummy.  I need to cut the brambles back when they are done fruiting and I'm done eating the heck out of them, so that just the new canes are left, as they will be next year's fruiting canes.  I need to also get some kind of edging around them to try to contain them some, likely some of the old tires on the place that I keep finding, and fill in with good soil and compost to give them a really good start for next year.

Quentin got me a can of orange spray paint - pumpkin orange, as that's all Wal-Mart had - so I can blaze trees I want him to take down and we can avoid a lot of the hand signal issues of making sure he's cutting down the correct one.  There's only one little issue I found today.  One of the trees I had to mark is pretty darned huge.  It is also the tree that currently has the no trespassing sign nailed to it.  I happened to look up today and discovered that it is a - very tall and b - the top third or more of it is dead.  *sigh*  That means it has to come down for the health of the remaining forest.  Bugger.  That also means I have to move my sign.  Bugger again.

On the upside, I guess the local wildlife has decided I'm okay to have around, as pone of the squirrels beaned me today with a green acorn.  Ouch.  Another upside is that with all the clearing we've been doing, I've found hardly any ticks on me during "tick patrol" when I get home yesterday or today.  Either tick season is dying down rapidly, or clearing out deadfalls and cutting up them and the brushpile isn't a very ticky business.

Other wildlife is abundant.  I've seen a wild turkey twice.  I'm pretty sure it's the same bird, but unless I can kill it and still see wild turkeys, who knows?  I've got a beautiful little iridescent blue-black gecko-type lizard whose taken up residence in the woodpile.  The woodpile, by the bye, has been completely moved to a new location, away from the power easement.  With the addition of today's work, we now have a face cord of wood for the winter.  Ummm ... I've also seen a bunch of sparrows and chickadees, a red-tailed hawk, several turkey vultures, cardinals, bluejays, and a bluebird in feathered friends.  Lots of orb-web spiders in the area, you can't hardly move without seeing a web.  I'm not fond of spiders in the house, but outdoors, I have no problem with!  Insects abound, other than the ticks.  I've also seen grasshoppers galore, dragonflies, bees and wasps, and lots of butterflies.  I'm no butterfly expert, but I can identify a swallowtail at least, if not the specific species of swallowtail.  Many, many of those all over the place.  Beautiful fluttery things, and useful pollinators.  I've also seen deer.  A herd of about six or seven does and yesterday going up to the property, just as I reached the driveway, one that I think was a buck about fifty feet further up the road, just standing there as pretty as you please.  I'm pretty sure it was a buck, because he looked regal and majestic and rather masculine compared to the deer in the herd of does I saw.  He just stood there for a few moments staring me and the car down before bounding off into the woods.  I can't identify him as a buck for sure since he wouldn't let me get close enough to examine him for boy parts, but if his demeanor and musculature are any indication, he's a mature buck about five to eight years old.  I do hate killing things, but I wouldn't mind having him "hang around" at freezer camp, for I do love venison!

More after this weekend when we hopefully get the deck fixed.  Right now, I'm off to goof off on Farmville for a bit before I head my sleepy behind to bed!  I've a lot to do tomorrow after Quentin heads off to work and I want to be well-rested for it!