Another one down

Well, I did it again. Monday morning, on my way to work, trying to get there early for a head-start because I had a meeting at 9, I hit a deer. Busted the radiator and one headlight, and killed the deer. A whole herd was passing, and I was stopped. I waited after they passed because I know there's always a straggler. When no stragglers appeared I put on the gas and started heading back down the road. Of course she waited to jump when I'd picked up enough speed to cause too much damage to keep going. Of course, this all took place in an area with no cell phone reception or houses nearby. So off I went, hiking down the road in my meeting clothes that I'd just made all the effort to get out of the house in without the dogs jumping on me to get me dirty. The first house I stopped at had no one awake to answer the door and no dogs to wake them up. On to the next house where some very nice folks getting dressed for work let me use the phone to call momma, who was staying at Anna's house in Kingston. Then the man dropped me back off at my jeep on his way out to work. By this time, my pants legs are grass stained and full of dew and my shirt is sweaty because it was a humid and warm morning, even at 7 a.m. By 10:00, I managed to get to work and had to walk into the meeting underway now for an hour.

That makes three deer and one cow now. I should have met my quota for a lifetime.

Today's picture is compliments of Gab. This one was under the tractor she was standing next to, and kept rattling, but she couldn't figure out what the noise was until it dawned on her that it was a snake - good thing it had its mouth full or by the time she got it figured out, it would have bitten her! She was at her boyfriend's house. When I came home today, I made (well, I didn't tie him up and force him or anything; I just asked in a manner that implied there was no option, lol) Zack bring me down on the 4-wheeler to go get the horses because someone (not me) left the gate open and they went hiking. When we came back in, there was a rattlesnake stretched across the driveway. We killed it in fine Ozark fashion... by stoning it. I don't kill them if they're up on the mountain, but in the field and around the house they get killed. The dogs almost stepped on it and the horses were coming up the driveway behind us. Too risky to leave it alone.

We have Doors!

Whooo-hooo! Tried them all out, too :) It's so nice to take the curtains down from the doorways and have actual doorknobs and actual doors - especially for the bathroom.

Also, I changed the picture on the title of this blog. That's an elderberry in bloom up there now. The lighting was very nice when I took it, and I was so dismayed when I downloaded it and realized the camera was set on a low resolution at the time. So unfortunately, it's only good for a web pic, won't make a magazine or print quality picture.

I think it's Good Now.

For real. This morning there was around 300 gallons in the tank, with no signs of leaks anywhere. So I am breathing easier, finally, and feel pretty sure this is the end of water woes for at least a little while. We've been able to take showers and wash a couple load of clothes today and not sweat over it too much. Now I'm already thinking of winter preparations. I found the heating cables so I plan to wrap the exposed lines at the house with them soon. The line is exposed all the way down the logging road, though, where the floods earlier and last year washed them out. So they'll freeze anyway if I don't keep a good hard drip going during the cold spells.

Coon in the Henhouse

Badger and Bobbie Sue must have had some excitement last night. While gathering eggs just now, I found a dead coon in the chicken's yard. No sign of chicken struggle, so the dogs must have gotten to him before he tried to get one. We have some awesome guardian dogs, otherwise we would have no chickens because of the coons and predators that love chicken. I'm surprised the critter got so close to begin with, though, because the dogs usually keep the whole area around the house clear of everything but rabbits, which they seem to tolerate until they feel up to a chase.

Learning continues...

Not that I have an aversion to learning things, but learning from my mistakes is getting old. We haven't managed to accumulate any water in the tank, so I knew something was wrong somewhere, but we just couldn't find the 'where'. This morning, I went up to the tank to look around again, and this time, I found it. Water is spilling on the ground as it leaves the tank, just as fast as it goes into the tank. Another spot where I cut it with the blade. I must have been swinging that blade some crazy to have cut it twice without noticing, haha. Take that as a warning - I'm dangerous with the swing blades!

This is the cut, under the blackberry stems.

This is the partial repair. I need another pipe clamp because one of those are broken, and a pair of gloves so I can hold the pipe without it slipping when I try to push it onto the connector.



So, after I've rested, back up the mountain I go. The tank is shut off so at least it can gain some volume in the meantime. I measured the flow. We're getting a little more than one liter per minute, which calculates out to about 12 gallons per hour. Not very much, but it's usually plenty enough when you allow the tank to fill halfway before starting to use it heavily. Halfway is 750 gallons, so we have to use sparingly while it fills.

Spoke too soon.

Well, the tank wasn't full when we got home from work today, it was empty again. But I found what is likely the reason: I had left a faucet running, more than a drip, but not wide open, in the old house. What little had managed to accumulate in the tank was used by Gab when she took a shower when she got in from work today. Arrrrrggggghhhhhh! Bad enough that it is STILL not good, but worse that it was because of my own mistake. I am so tired of learning from my mistakes. Hopefully it will be better in the morning.

All is Good

The water is now back to normal here at the house, even upstairs in the bathroom. Last night we still didn't have enough pressure, but this morning there must finally be enough water in the tank to give us normal pressure at the house.

I'm getting ready to head out to work. The floors are now done in the kitchen, bathroom downstairs and the utility room. The interior doors will be delivered on Friday, and the next thing on the schedule are the doors and walls in the living room. I also still have to paint the bathroom and upstairs. The next item after that is baseboards, and last will be the cabinets. Hard to imagine, but it almost feels like I'm almost finished.

Forgot about the stairs - still need a more efficient way of reaching the upstairs than the ladder I'm currently using!

The problem

Okay, found the source of the problem. The blackberry bushes by the tank and over the line from the spring got so heavy that they snapped it off at the tank. So now I have to go buy the connector that broke, and go back up the mountain with a ditch blade to take care of the bushes. And there's such a layer of silt and algae that I might as well flush the tank while I'm at it too. At least the problem is something I can repair on my own. I was worried it might be more than I could handle. Garrison has been my helper this morning, too.

...

It's 1:30pm now, and I hopefully have the tank repaired. While cutting the briars away from the line, I inadvertently also cut the line. But I had extra connectors with me, and extra pipe clamps, and soon had that blunder repaired, too. Water was going in when I left, but it's not coming out at the other end yet. The other end is about 200' down the hill at the faucet behind the house. I hope that once enough head pressure builds up, if there's a slug of algae or sediment in the lines, it will blow that out. Not sure I can make another hike up there - that's a hard climb! Water is such a precious resource and living out here where my entire water storage depends on our own ability to conserve, repair, and harvest the water is a good lesson in preparedness. When I bought new fittings for the part that broke, I bought extra connectors, too. If not for that, I would have been in a real bind when I accidentally cut the line I was trying to repair.

...
It's 2:40pm now and we have water! it's nasty dirty water full of bleach, but at least there is flow. We'll continue to flush this out and soon we'll be back online. I had shut off the valve to the house so that none of this nasty water makes it into those lines. But we had drained the tank last night with showers and washing clothes, so I probably need a new filter inside.

This morning I woke up and turned on the faucet to wash my face. The moment I heard the hiss, I knew there was trouble. No water. It's a long hike up the mountain to the tank, but hopefully, the tank is just empty. And if it's empty, then I have to know whether it all leaked out, or someone left a line open, or if we just used it all. If we used it all, that's easy enough to remedy; we will just begin our later summer water rationing. It takes about 24 hours to fill the tank and from there we will will know to only use what we really need, wash only one or two loads a day, and no tub filling for hot soaks. If it's broken somewhere, well, this will be my first time figuring out how to fix it on my own. I'll let you know how it goes, and I sure wish my horse was ready for riding. If it wouldn't be more trouble to lead him up there than it's worth, I'd tie things onto his saddle, but I'm worried it will be more tiresome to coax him up there than to just hoof it on my own two feet. First I have to figure out what kind of repair items to bring with me.

At least I had a gallon of water so I could make some coffee this morning while thinking about my game plan to fix this issue.

Lowe's delivered the stove and refrigerator on Wed. last week. They brought it in a huge delivery truck and I was worried they wouldn't be able to get up to the house in it, but somehow they managed to get in AND out. Getting back out was harder than getting in. It feels so good to have a gas stove again. It was hard to find the one I wanted that fit my budget, though. I wanted gas, because I love cooking on gas ranges - it's easier to adjust the temp to simmer when you want to simmer or sautee without burning your dish. Also, I like to use a lot of cast iron and most of the ranges had small burner grating. But I finally found one that had heavy cast iron grates and the burner in the middle that I wanted for the griddle or oval dutch oven that I have.

The fridge is just a basic white freezer-on-top refrigerator. The 21cf one cost a bit more than the 18cf, but the operating cost per year was significantly less for the larger one, so I went with the larger one. In a few years, the energy savings should pay the difference for the upgrade.

Today's plans include moving Sallie's old glass door cabinet to the porch so I can refinish it. We are also laying the first course of rocks for a retaining wall in front of the house to help with erosion around the porch piers. We also need to move all the stuff from the living room into the kitchen so Eric (our contractor and neighbor) can begin working on the paint in there.

On thing is sure. I will never run out of things to keep me busy, and I should never get bored with life. This place is a lifetime project, and it's a good thing the work is something that makes me feel a sense of accomplisment and satisfaction. Without that, it is punishing to live out here. I guess that is how my husband looked at it and one of the reasons he left; punishing and enslaving. The experience here is quite the opposite for me; rewarding and liberating. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

Okay, I didn't get the pictures taken or posted last night. When I got home from work, the kids informed me that the computer was crashed - again - so I scratched the whole thing. This morning, though, I got a couple pics, and even though the quality is bad (not enough light) you can see the colors on the wall and the floors. The tiles are rough on the edges, so it's not clean lines, but that is the way I wanted them to look. I'm still mopping grout haze from them; hopefully I'll be able to finish that up and get them sealed this weekend. You can also see my messy kitchen workstations, lol. I'm taking the old cabinets from the old house and refinishing them. They're good quality cabinets, just been painted over one too many times, and the hardware is outdated on them... in other words, I think they're ugly. But a little time and attention will fix that. To buy new ones is just too expensive to justify right now. Today, I'll look at some curtains during lunch.

Just updating...

Tonight I will try to get some pictures posted. So, the kitchen floors are finished and they look great. Wednesday my stove and refrigerator should be delivered. I hope the truck can make it all the way up to the house with them - the driveway is in pretty bad shape. The bathroom floors are underway, and the utility room will be next. Then onward to the living room...and it's a big job with lots to be done. After that, I'll be focused on getting the old house torn down.

Last week I had to make a run to West Virginia for work, so I was afraid I wouldn't get home in time this weekend to get much done with the house. But I did get the kitchen moved back into the kitchen. Everything has been in the living room while the floors in the kitchen were getting done, but the refrigerator would not have been able to make it through the maze with it like it was, so my priority was clearing the path.

On my way down the county road as I headed out to W.Va, I spied a Joe-pye weed growing. It's the first one I've seen out here, so that was interesting to see. The entire WV trip was so fast, I didn't get any scenic pictures.

Tonight I'll post a pic of the kitchen.

Riding Comanche

I didn't take pictures again, but this weekend was an exceptionally good one for me. First, I finished painting the kitchen (with some help from a friend). Then I finally found a stove I liked and bought the refrigerator and the stove yesterday; they're scheduled to be delivered next week. To cap off all the good progress of the weekend, I finally 'officially' rode my horse Comanche for the first time. We've sat on him a good bit, and he has taken voluntary steps around with someone on him, but this is the first actual ride and I'm so thrilled to be the one to actually have gotten to do it. Gab rode Snippy and I rode Comanche, with his new bit and bridle. Rode bareback because I don't have a saddle for him, yet, for one, but also because the ride was spontaneous. We were worming, cleaning hooves, and brushing them and then decided to just go for it. We did great, considering that I have never really ridden bareback and considering that he has never really ridden anyone with a goal in mind. I didn't hit the ground, at least - and that's saying a lot! We went past the burn pit, down through the creek, up to the field on the other side. Rode around on that side for a little while and then headed back to the house, me begging the whole time for Gab not to break into a run with Snip because I knew there was no way I could handle anything more than a fast walk with Comanche yet. He goes downhill really really fast, so it was scary, but he stayed upright and I stayed on. He just turned three in May and I was waiting until he plateaued a little on his growth before beginning his (and my) training. It was exhilarating.

Moonshadows

I didn't get around to taking a picture, but for the last few nights the moon has been shining so bright that it was making good moonshadows everywhere. I have a hard time sleeping during full moon to begin with, but with it so bright that it lights up my room it's even harder. But it was beautiful and I got to enjoy sitting on the balcony in the chilly moonlight, listening to whippoorwills and frogs.

Kitchen Floors

Thought I'd post a pic of the new floors going down in the kitchen. I've always wanted terra cotta tiles and can't wait to see how this all turns out. So far it looks really nice. The walls have the first coat of paint but they'll need a second. This weekend it looks like I'll be painting, again. Next week I should be able to get some appliances, so I can cook some real food for a change - can't wait.

I thought you might like to see how Comanche has grown - and Gab and Snip, lol. When Garrison gets back from visiting his dad in Louisiana, I'll post a new one of him, too. The next time Zack fires up the barbeque, I'll get a pic of him. He's a great grill cook; coincidence that his last name is Cook?

The white duck is 'Duckie' and he was very lonely when he was a hatchling. So I went to the feed store to get him a friend, but they would only sell me at least 6 birds. The ducks were expensive, so I only bought a couple of those and a few chicks. He adopted the chick babies like they were his very own kin, even encouraging them to go swimming. Unfortunately, one drowned, but he still has 2 chick babies and 2 duck babies. They all sleep and forage together. The chicks don't know they're chickens, but one of them is beginning to get the inkling that he may belong over in the other crowd. He's started to hang out with them more than his duck family lately. The other one still has no clue.

The black cat is Lynx. He's a very lazy tom cat who never needs to defend himself from other toms because the dogs protect him, too. He's fooled Badger, the great pyr into thinking he's one of his wards. Sometimes he sleeps on top of Badger and massages his head. I guess the old adage 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' holds true even between cats and dogs.

The Calling and Random Thoughts

I've been having a lot of random thoughts lately.

Today I've been thinking a lot about our calling. Each of us has a purpose in life, but most people have no clue what theirs might be. It's not something you can learn from a book, and it's not something someone can point out and say 'here, this is your purpose'. No, it's an elusive thing that each individual must learn for themselves. And then there's the tricky thing; no one can tell you if you're right or not when you think you've got it all figured out. God does seem to give us signs, but then those same signs can be interpreted differently by different people, so unless you trust your instinct, it's hard to know if you're right in the interpretation of your sign. If you trusted your instinct to begin with, you wouldn't be asking for signs, though, right?

Some people never hear the calling. They go right through life and never agonize over these issues. Those people probably think the other people, the people dedicated to finding or following their calling are nuts. Or selfish. Or weird. Or a mix of all three.

Some people hear the calling and ignore it, or don't recognize it for what it is. They think somehow they'll find the cure for their nagging unhappiness and dissatisfaction in life. Some people smother the calling with alcohol or drugs, or other forms of addiction.

Some people hear the calling clearly and know that if they do not respond, they will go insane or die.

And now for the really random and cryptic thought I came up with. Anyone who's ever raised a wild animal and then released it will understand. A wildling can never return to captivity once freedom has been tasted.

Which leads to the last thought for the this blog entry, which is derived from the above random thought and combined with the previous thoughts. The calling, once heard, and acknowledged, cannot be denied. I think someone said that before, but I can't find a source for the quote. If you know it, please let me know so I can properly credit the author.

Rain, rain, go away...

It's been raining pretty much since yesterday. Our rain gauge is broken, so I'm not sure how many inches exactly, but it was enough to send the water over the bridge by a foot or more, and enough to move a small boulder into the branch where the county road crosses the creek so that we can't get past, and enough to position a sand bar in the middle of where the branch crosses our driveway so that the car can't get past. Now, if the rain would just stop, Zack could get out there with the tractor and see about moving some of those obstacles, but the water over the bridge is going to be a problem for a couple more days from the look of the forecast. They are predicting still yet a couple more inches through tomorrow.

Yesterday before the rain got good and started, my new neighbor, Carla, came to help me with a little rock project. We stacked rocks in front of the pier on my porch that is washing out. Hopefully, this will catch any silt and small rocks passing it as it washes down toward the creek and build up underneath the pier again. Garrison made some really nice rock steps going up the hill on the other side of the house, but it hasn't stopped raining long enough for me to get out there and take a picture yet since he finished.

The new picture on my title of this blog is a pawpaw flower, with a baby pawpaw in tow. Every year lately, there haven't been much fruit. But this year looks promising, so maybe I can get a few before the coons and possums do.

Sounds of Spring

I know spring is here now because last night I heard the first whippoorwill. Since we've moved here I've worn earplugs to sleep because they are so loud it keeps me up all night. But the good thing is that in my new house, I can't hear them. Now I have to sit on the porch to listen and then I can go inside to blissful quiet.