Week of May 6, 2012

It's been a busy week, and of course, in the rush of getting up and moving this morning, I forgot to pack my camera and batteries to take pictures.  Ah, well.  I can always take some next weekend!  I should note that this homestead start isn't going to be off-grid at least for now ... we need to have electric right off, and we'll hopefully be switching to off-grid over time if we can convince the landlords to allow it.

In various news, I got off probation at work and promptly had to take a point this past Friday, so the hubster and I could go vehicle shopping for him.  He celebrated three years at his job on April 22nd, and got his vacation pay this week.  So we used a good chunk of that for the downpayment on a vehicle for him.  It's not what we were looking for, but we do laugh, as it fits hubby's requirements.  He wanted something he could haul and pull with, and he wanted it to have a CD player.  He was thinking of a truck with a working CD player.  We ended up with a 1996 Ford (he hates Ford, lol) 150-Econoline van.  It does have a CD player, but we don't know if it works.  So he got what he asked for, just not what he WANTED.  *gigglesnort*  Unfortunately, it took us most of Friday to find it and do the paperwork, so while he's on vacation this week, he has to arrange the insurance and such so we can hopefully pick it up tomorrow after I get out of work.  Fingers are crossed.

The landlords were going to go to the property last Sunday and get the Taurus out of there, but then they couldn't find the title for it.  So it and the van are still there, while they apply and wait for a lost vehicle title so they can go get it out of there.  It will be one less thing for us to have to deal with on the property, in the form of "something we could get hurt on by accident that doesn't belong to us."  They'll let us know for sure when they can come up and try again.

We opted to spend yesterday here at the apartment to get a few things done and then went to Harrison, Arkansas to the fairgrounds for a truck pull.  We didn't stay for the whole thing, because with my schedule, I was getting really tired, so we left about 10:30 PM.  But it was pretty good.  We'd already seen all the modified gas engine classes and the start of the diesel classes, including two brothers who made full pulls (200.76 and 210.?? yards), and long enough to watch them do their pulloff.  It was a blast.  Hubster likes them for the noise and fumes and the trucks.  Me, being something of a nerd, likes them for the physics of it.  Of course, we both shout and scream pretty loud, and have a blast.  We ran into a number of local friends who work where hubby does, so we had a good crowd to sit with while enjoying the show.

That left today as the day to go to the property and get some work done.  It was hot and humid and we chose to get work done as early as we could (hence why I forgot my camera, it was early for me on a weekend), and avoid some of the heat.  More shrubs and small trees came down, and while we originally were only going to go about 3 feet away from the drive to clear stuff, we're now thinking five to ten is better with all the ticks there.  It'll give them less chance to hop around or whatever onto us, considering what a tick magnet I am.  Good thing hubby ignored my three-foot comment and went for five to start, so he doesn't have to go back and redo a couple small places back a couple of feet.

We also got a lot done in the kitchen, the cupboards are in better shape than we thought they were, so we can save a bunch of money in there by not having to get new cupboard stuff.  That means a bunch of things crossed off the to-get-before-moving list.  I can just take a lot of water up there, scouring pads and rags, and clean the bejesus out of the countertop and sink.  The cupboards are being swept out and will get new contact paper, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing them.  WHEW!!!!  About a third of the cupboards are now cleared out, and we can get a camp stove into the kitchen in the place where the stove goes - there's actually a good range hood AND vent pipe there!!

When it got a bit too warm for us to be outside working on the lumberjack/jill routine again, that's when we went at the kitchen (me) and outlets and switches (him).  He remembered to bring tools and the wire stripper/cutter tool this time, so got quite a bit done there.  Apparently a number of the outlets had been previously overloaded, we think, as he found scorch marks on a number of the outlet fronts and bad wiring on the backs.  But the good news is, the wiring about an inch or so away from the outlets is in great shape with no scorching or anything.  Just nice, clean copper wiring.  I know a number of the outlets work, just not which ones, so we're being expedient and replacing all the little buggers, along with the switches.

And finally, we peered through the brush to find the grey of the meter box on the power pole, and line-of-sight read that toward the conduit coming down out of the house into the ground for the power lines, and guesstimated and marked where we believe the conduit runs and where we were told that the conduit with the splice in it is.  I really need to get in touch with the power company and find out how long it will take to get a meter back up there and the power on, as well as if they'd run line from the pole to the house aboveground and how much that all will cost.  If we can get them to run lines to the house above the ground, it'll be a heck of a lot easier on us to fix it than to have it all running underground in hard ground. (Addendum 6/2/12: Talked to the power company at the office near where I work, and running new wires above ground is a no-go. Apparently, HOUSES can have above-ground wiring, but trailers cannot. It's silly if you ask me, but them's the rules here.)

So that was this week.  Not a lot done, but there's a kitchen floor and countertop showing now, and that's a big improvement over what there was last weekend!  I can't wait to see what this week brings (besides the van being legalized and more work at the plant and more cleaning at the trailer). Course, we can hardly wait to MOVE either.  There's so much to get done to move, but gosh, it's a lot of fun.  There's still cleaning to do, and the driveway to clear more, and the electric to fix, and furniture to get (this apartment came furnished, so we can't take it with us, bleah), and a coop to build for guineas and chickens, and guineas and chickens to get and brood till they can go outside safely.  They'll make it a lot more bearable with the ticks, that I know!!!  More news next week, see you then!