June 30, 2012

MONDAY

WHEW! I'm working on this a bit at a time during the week, so I don't forget anything. As a warning, I'll add in photos before I post it, so this may be a bit discombobulated this time. Blame it on work - I heard at work today that my department's supervisor is going to try to get us more 8-hour shifts like we need to be running. It's kind of hard right now in our department, the breast table, as we've lost at least five people that I know of in the last few weeks. One guy moved to a different part of the the debone department, another quit last week because her husband had died, a third left a few weeks ago to go back to MS to be with her folks, and a fourth quit end of last week by pointing out (taking too many days off). The fifth walked off the job. So things are necessarily just a wee bit hectic at the plant right now. Q's job seems to be going good again, though we found out Sunday evening after the last blog post that he's going to have to fix the brakes on Sheamus this weekend before we can move the beds we were given to the property. He's either going to take a vacation day Friday to do that and get the trailer and load it with at least the beds, OR rumor right now has it that they won't be working this Friday anyhow, so he could save the vacation day and still fix the brakes. This is good, as the left front is starting to grind just a wee bit, and that's not a pleasant thing in any vehicle, but especially one that is nearly two tons of weight.

So full day at work for me today and not a lot done at the trailer on the way home, other than a tiny bit of brush trimmed to small logs and kindling, and the main trunks dropped in the drive by the woodpile if they were too big for the loppers. Triple digit heat, double in the shade, and too hot to be sawing on things, so I'm leaning toward knocking the brushpile stuff down to just bigger trunks and things that have to be handsawed or chainsawed. Means a heck of a lot of kindling and small logs in the woodpile in one lump, but hey, it's like I told Quentin - either I make kindling from the smaller sticks and big twigs of all these trees and the brush we're cutting down, or YOU get to split big logs into kindling come wintertime, your choice. Since I'm still cutting kindling from small sticks and big twigs, you can guess what his choice was.  Heehee. No more signs of that rattler, but that doesn't mean he or she isn't around, just that they are nowhere I am seeing them, and I'm fine with that. Though my asking questions about what gun would be good for snakes and small vermin, when you're a 5-4 woman with short arms whose a lefty has led to some interesting discussion on one group I'm on.

And for Gentle Reader Annightflyer, I hope you and hubby do get to move back east where you want to be soon. Not being content where you are is a pain in the tuckus, as Q and I can attest! We like our apartment, but gosh, the neighbors and management are a major issue anymore! We've been here nearly a year and the amenities are nice, but we don't appreciate neighbors teaching their dog to whine and howl, other neighbors getting drunk and fighting, having to fight for OUR parking spots, and management going "Well, you're leaving soon anyhow, so what's it matter?" With me picking up more hours at the plant, perhaps we can soon have that splice fixed and the electric deposit taken care of so we can have juice at the house.

We talked last night about the solar setup, and decided that on-grid electric is our best bet for now, so we have the power we want and need, while we buy the components one at a time as funds allow and hook it all up, then get rid of the electric company. He is looking forward to it. Even though the property slopes ENE, there is a LOT of sun up there, and facing a bank of panels toward the back of the house for southern (albeit somewhat blocked by the ridge) exposure and more facing toward the front downslope for whatever ENE sun we can get will be a big help. There's got to be good sun for solar there, considering that even in the current shade the trailer has, it gets to be a major hotbox with just a tiny bit of sun coming in. It helps that we're 1800' up a mountain in the Ozarks, so we're pretty far south in the latitudes. Wouldn't get THAT in my home state, that's for sure.

TUESDAY


Hotter than bejeezus again today. The county's had a burn ban on for months now, and it's so easy to see why. The trimmed stuff in the easement that I haven't had a chance to get at yet, with working on the original brushpile, is so dried out so fast that one good spark would be all it took to set the whole mountain off ... and considering how many leaves there are in the woods on the mountain, not just our acreage, you can imagine how big a fire that would be. Since we didn't get out of work till 4:30 again today, all I got done at the property was a quick walk round to make sure stuff was okay and then I collapsed in the car (parked in the shade near the road) and ended up dozing off in the heat for nearly an hour. I don't mind the heat, and we'll have sliding screens in the windows that don't currently have screens, plus the screen door either before we move or very shortly after, plus a few box fans in strategic places situated so the cats can't knock them over, but it's still going to be a bit warm there. We will have to have a large auto-waterer for the cats, though. The small dish they've got now will go dry in no time with the summer heat.

A wall unit for A/C just isn't feasible. One, it's too expensive for our budget to buy one, and two, they cost a fortune to run. Add in that they take a lot of juice to start up and to run, and for a home that is eventually going to be solar- and wind-powered, an A/C just isn't workable into a sustainable  homestead off-grid. So it's fans and cool drinks and cool rags on the backs of our necks a lot during warm weather. I did it growing up in MI, where we didn't have A/C, either, and MI summers get just about as hot as Ozarks summers, only more humid due to all the lakes and rivers. The humidity makes it worse when temps soar into the 90s and above. I'll take the dry heat any day. Easier to stay cool without feeling awful sticky and nasty and you can still get some things done if you're careful. I think the only thing I'm going to miss about the apartment for a while, till I get used to it again, is the A/C here. Then again, here is a box stuck between boxes, and that doesn't help with keeping the place cool, either.

Some photos, all taken today (Saturday, the 30th, some were just planned out earlier in the week):

This is the downhill of the easement. I'm standing next to the utility pole with the meter boxes and yard light on it. You can maybe see the road where it curves at the bottom of our property. The property line follows the road from the driveway, downhill past here to a small wet crick the landlord calls "Hogwarts Creek." (Someone's read a bit too much Harry Potter!) You can also see all the crappy work that the electric company did in trimming. It's a typical electrical company trim job, sadly. Trim to the easement line and quit. Never mind that you left a foot-long stub of the branch sticking out of the tree, when proper trimming calls for the limb to be trimmed all the way back to the trunk.

This is right next to the driveway. It's part of that trash pile and the oldest brush pile. You can see where they dozed stuff like dirt into the trash pile to get it out of "their" easement.

This is looking up the easement from the driveway. It's what the downhill side should look like, with a lot of loose brush in it. It's what the downhill side WOULD look like if someone had passed on instructions like they were asked to do. Still grinds my beans, that's a lot of good winter wood chewed to sawdust.

The woodpile is getting bigger! Mostly kindling going on it right now, because it's too hot to use the handsaw at all. Just using the pruners and loppers is hard enough in this heat. Quentin is laughing at my photo of the woodpile. He won't be laughing when he doesn't have to split kindling this winter. He does say that he laughs because I have so much fun with my contribution to our winter heat, even if we don't manage to get a woodstove in this winter and have to make do with space heaters and possibly a kerosene heater. The wood he cut even just two weeks ago is already splitting itself from the drought we've got going here. He's in this photo because he's setting up a very hot, very shaken up, soda can for target practice for the first shot with the air rifle we picked up yesterday (Friday). More on it below.

I meant to inclue a photo of my new leafy twiggy pile, but forgot to take one, I was just that hot. I have plans for this stuff, mostly involving partially filling raised beds for the garden. The soils is crappy here and so full of rocks that it would take a decade just to get a handle on clearing enough rocks and building the soil up to get a decent garden in. I'm going to cheat and use plastic totes, old tires, and the cupboards from the Merlot when we get to tearing it apart for scrapping it. Many of the drawers are six inches or more deep, the doors can be taken off and the hinges salvaged for something else. The doors can then be fastened together to make rather interesting raised bed frames. The base cupboard units can also be taken down off the walls and laid on their backs and used for raised beds. Put a few inches of gravel in the bottom for drainage, a lot of leaves and twigs and compostable stuff to halfway or so fill the bed, and finish off with good topsoil before planting. Instant raised bed. Yes, I will take photos when I get that far! (You've all figured out my weakness by now for documenting everything.)

WEDNESDAY


Shortish day at work today. They ran us neck or nothing, so we ran out of birds to process. Heh. Still a good day, though really warm yet. But it gave me time to do a little work on the original brushpile this afternoon and look!!!!!!!

There's a huge spot that's finally empty of brush to be trimmed for the woodpile! It's a big step forward for me and helps me feel like things are moving along again. I've been feeling a bit out of sync the last few times I've gone up there, and I know a lot of it's just the "homestead frustration" that all of us homesteaders feel at some time or another. You know what I mean. Things aren't going as fast or as easy as you think they should be, and it's frustrating that they aren't done yet, and you start to feel a bit depressed and begin asking yourself why the heck are you doing this anyhow? That's been me for a few days. This is a big help to feeling better.

We also found out that Quentin won't have to take a vacation day Friday to fix Sheamus' brakes. His plant is not running that day, so he gets the day off anyhow. Free vacation day! Which means he fixes the brakes, gets the trailer and loads up the beds. Friday night, we'll also load up what we can of stuff we don't NEED here right now to take up and offload Saturday along with the beds. We need to get bolt cutters for the wire to the house to fix the splice and some PVC pipe and a couple reducers for the ends so this doesn't happen again. It's going to be a hot, nasty job to fix that splice, too, because it's in the sunny part of the driveway by the house, and I'm pretty sure Q's going to have to individually splice together the little wires inside the big wire and tape them together one by one, before he can put electrical tape around the whole thing and slide the pieces of the conduit over the wiring and cap the ends to keep moisture and dirt out as much as possible.

Discovered today we have to do a bit of work on the outgoing plumbing, but most of it's easy. The hard part is that the plumbing leaving the tub/shower stall doesn't seem to exist, so that'll have to be installed. The easy part is that one of the joins taking wastewater and sewage to the lagoon has come apart, and another whole big piece not only has come apart but the expanded end has a piece out of it and needs replacing before it can be glued back together. But at least I'll soon be able to use the kitchen sink, and once we fix the toilet, we'll be able to flush it. We'll also be able to use the solar showers in the bathtub/shower stall and have that water run to the lagoon as well. That's a three-inch pipe, by the way, in the photo, of the part that came apart AND has to be replaced.

I keep hearing how a homestead should only have one or two major projects a year to concentrate on. Seriously, we are concentrating on one or two at a time. Thankfully, most of them, like the prep for moving, the screen door, the sliding screens, solar shower, and plumbing, are all one-offs. Once they're done, they're not likely to need doing again any time soon, if at all in the rest of our lives. I'm 44, Quentin's 37 (yes, hubster is younger than me!), so we've got 30-40 years of  homesteading ahead of us. I think most of the stuff we have to do or want to do is going to last at least that long. Our two major-major projects for this year are the woodpile and buying and installing a woodstove. Cuz either we get that sucker and get it installed by Thanksgiving, or we have to get space heaters for the cold months, and those things suck up energy like there's no tomorrow. I'd rather cut wood all summer than put up with a high electric bill from running space heaters to stay warm!

THURSDAY


Today was a wash. I woke up with a back spasm bad enough from yesterday's work running neck or nothing, so had to take a sick day. Sad, because I ALMOST had a point earned back. Grrr. Ah well. Q wouldn't let me out of the house anyhow, I was moving so slow and painful, as he put it, like an 80-year-old woman. More sleep helped. So today I did chores and hung out on a free ebooks site and downloaded a bunch of books from Amazon for my Kindle for PC. As if I really NEED more books, lol. Got some knitting and spinning done, too. Generally, just relaxed and had a good time. One more day to get through this week and we're going to be loading unneeded things into the van and taking off Saturday to git 'r done on phase one of the move!

We also decided what to do with that old chest freezer, since it's in good shape generally, but not likely usable as a chest freezer again. We're going to take the lid off and build a frame with legs on it and Q can have it for a workbench. The main part, we'll haul outside, make sure the drain works,  and set it where I can use it for a planter!

FRIDAY


Crap. Crap, crap, crap. When I got up this morning, Q informed me that we won't be moving the beds this weekend, because we have to fix the van. One of the pulleys that runs the sole belt on the motor snapped off (the bolt it sits on is fine, the pulley is gone somehow) and shredded the belt. He had to drive about half the way home with no belt and no power steering, which was a major issue, but thank goodness for the automatic blower motor which kicked in and saved his butt and Sheamus's motor. So brakes are holding off for next weekend, since we have to get a belt and the idler (or belt tensioner) pulley for the van and he has to put them on so he can drive to work Monday. We will still go to the property, though, just in Victor again. Poor Sheamus is out for the count for the moment. Isn't that just like homesteading? Just when you think things are going great, something goes kerflooey and you have to back up a few steps?

We'll deal with this as well in time, it's just a difficult thing. Good thing we both had full paychecks, so that everything's taken care of, and we were able to get a small air rifle. It's a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster (if I remember correctly - I know it's a Crosman Pumpmaster), which is what we could afford. Q wanted a scope on it, but I can't see through the scope, since I'm a little short on one end, haha. Also , I'm left-handed, but right-eye dominant, so I have to  learn to shoot right-handed. I AM small enough that I can see through the legs of the scope to the rifle sights, and sight a target easily, so Q gets to keep the scope on the thing while I get to use the sights. I didn't want a scope anyhow, so this makes us both happy. I'm also happy that I get to relearn to shoot a weapon with no recoil. Mind, the Crosman is only good for small pest control and target shooting, but to start, that's what I need to keep away the blasted snakes and pop those bloody squirrels that keep beaning me with green nuts. That HURTS.

SATURDAY


Woke up a bit ouchy, probably from the extra time I put in at a different department after mine got done yesterday, to make up a bit for the time I missed Thursday. Didn't make all of it up, but half is better made up than none. There was a lot of bending going on, and I ouched my back again, but not too badly. I'm not moving like an old lady today, I'm just sore. So plenty of aspirin and by the time Q wakes up and is ready to rock and roll, I should feel better. (Breakfast also helps.)

A quick recipe share for today, one I've been using the last few days to get some older rice out of the house.

HOMEMADE RICE PUDDING

You'll start with white rice. (Yes, I'm a heathen that way, I use white rice.) While the water's coming to a boil, throw in bite-sized fruit of whatever you like - apples, peaches, strawberries, pears, blueberries, etc. I had a bunch of raisins on hand, so used them. When the rice is cooked up, put it up in the fridge. Remember that cooking white rice takes 2 cups of water for every cup of rice. I should note that I usually make this up the night before I need it for breakfast.

When you're ready to eat it in the morning, fill your bowl with the cooked rice and fruit, add a bit more water to it and warm up either in the microwave for a couple of minutes, or cook a bit longer till the water's absorbed. This will help fluff it up for the morning. Put some cold milk on the rice/fruit in your bowl and eat. It doesn't seem to fill you up much at first, but as rice soaks up liquids really well, especially when warmed up it seems, in an hour or so, you will be pretty full from a bowl of this stuff, and it will hold you for a while. Great way to use up leftover rice, or old rice, and it's about as cheap a breakfast as you can get.

Whew. now that we're home for the night, barring our weekend dinner that Mom (me) doesn't cook so we go out. This weekend, we decided to go to Denny's instead of Famous Dave's. They have to wait for our money again, haha. But Denny's is 24/7 and Q is working on the van right now, and so far he's doing great! The bolt for the idler pulley is already out and the new pulley is on. I have to go help in a few when he cools off, is to help get the thing snugged up a bit more so he can feed the new belt on. Then, if we can get the van restarted without jumping it, we'll take it to dinner.

But other photos of things we accomplished today, despite the heat!

 We did some target practice a bit with the air rifle with pellets, and he shot the crap out of that soda can. He hit it near the seam, and the pellet went right through and the seam split, spilling soda allllll  over the woodpile. It was cool. Me, I chose a partly empty jug of water that had been sitting so long the water was pretty nasty. I hit the label a bit to the left and down of center, so not completely on target like I wanted, but I still hit it. TWICE. First two shots with a gun in nearly 30 years, and I sighted, took a deep breath, let it out, and held the exhale like I'm supposed to, and kept steady on target. Managed to hit the jug just above the water line the first time, and the second time, just down and left of center and Q says I made the jug piddle, heehee.

 These are the splice as we've managed to dig it up so far. It isn't much, but we discovered through examining the conduit coming out of the house as well as the conduit coming out of the meter box, and discovered there's one splice, but three honking big wires going to the house. *sigh* At least we only have to fix one wire (which is all we were told there was at all) and put it in conduit to protect it. We aren't messing with the ones that are fine, because there's no sense messing with what isn't broken.

 This is the big logs Quentin cut up with the chainsaw today. There's a number of them that just needed to get cut in half for the woodpile, and a lot of oak and maple in that log. The property is covered in oaks, maples and elms. All lovely, lovely hardwoods that burn nice and hot in a woodstove. *happy sigh* All in all, a good day's work on the splice and the woodpile.

And this is a better photo of the hubster. Quentin says he hates having his picture taken, but he consented to this one. He's crouching down resting in the shade for a minute after cutting up all that wood in the photo above!

We have made plans on the way back to the apartment today (neither of us calls it "home" anymore, just "the house") that once we have the beds up there, we are going to take the boys (aka the kitties) and some stuff and go camp up there overnight on weekends till we're moved. Get us and the cats used to the place. I think the boys will like it, especially once I get the last few holes in the baseboard area patched so they can't get out by accident. So many little things to do to make the place a happy home, but we have so darned much fun doing it.

Now let's see what this week brings besides more work and hopefully good long hours at both plants for us, and a great Fourth of July to everyone.

ADDENDUM: The hubster cussed and swore cuz it drove him batty doing it, but the idler tension pulley and the serpentine belt are back on Sheamus. The belt took the longest cuz he couldn't figure out how it went around things, even with a diagram, becuase apparently the diagram wasn't the right one, though the internet swore it was. On the upside, Sheamus is fixed and back on the road, though now the brakes still have to be fixed. That's a minor thing, Q says, and can be dealt with next weekend. And, best of all, Sheamus, depsite being driven close to 40 miles with no serpentine belt, still had enough juice in the battery to fire up without being jumped. Yay us. Yay especially for the hubster. He is amazing. Now it's time for dinner at Denny's, because we are starved.