. . . he's still going:
He added drainage around the edge of the steps and along the side of the driveway just passed the parking area. He laid this new stuff in the narrow ditch ( last year for an amazing deal, he found a 12 inch wide bucket for the back hoe) that is supossed to carry away more water than a 4 inch pipe:
It's starting to look sort of spiffy up here.
No, I'm not going send you a tee shirt if you guess it right. I tried that before and I still own 2 tee shirts which are not even made yet. I haven't forgotten though.
He has created a wall at the point of the tear drop that will be formed when the driveway to the future big house goes in to the right where the tractor is sitting. The road to the arena and eventual barn is to the left. I am standing on the cabin deck using the zoom to eat up the distance.
He has dug a ditch and is lining it with rocks to slow heavy rain down.This is looking up at his new wall from the driveway. Then looking down from the same point:
He also found vehicle 2 of 3: a little Nissan for $2,200. It is a whole lot 'tinny-er' than the Toyota and has some rust happening here and there. But, it is 4 wheel drive, running well, and the price was right. The money for vehicle 3 of 3 has evaporated from the bill paying pool puddle. So that will longer in coming.
And LOOK, he added steps to the deck that he made several weeks ago (before he got side tracked with moving dirt and stumps and building a rock wall, and making a ditch). Dan always needs a variety of ongoing projects to hop back and forth to and from. He's always busy!
Now we have a little more room for our Grain Room / wood working shop / storage area. What a cluster! I bet with some rearranging it wouldn't need to be quite so ugly-ish! The down fall of being is such cramped quarters and having so much to do. Oh Now what on earth is Dan up to in that photo BTW? He is pulling out the old temporary makeshift posts that held the deck up since the cabin was first hauled up on top of Lythos. It is now sitting on the real footings.
Remember way back then nearly 2 years ago:
Here are a couple of links to more of the story if you haven't been around that long or maybe just want to reminisce. I don't get the urge to much yet! I'm still in the midst of it after 2 years! Still dreaming of the day when I can start to actually think about beautifying a home--if you know what I mean--like not just making do-like --like--LIKE UNPACKING! I can't wait for unpacking. But realistically there is no place to do that till we have the big house. I hope I remember how to comfy a home!
I watched the radar map at noaa.gov every chance I got between meetingsand testing. I noticed at 2:30 the yellow outline of a "servere weather box" over Lythos. I called Dan. He was fairly confident that things would hold up. I was ready to go into a panic, but I had important meeting all afternoon so I had no time for it.
This is what I found returning at 6:00:
The retension pond at the foot of lythos, which is 1/2 filled in with sand again, also had 3 inches of hail stones in it. (BOY I can't wait till we can get the seeding finished!!! I hope we get permission to do repairs. Dan will find out today.) But also there was several inches of ice balls.
We got a bunch of rain too.
Icy cold rain! But all the sand stayed on our side of the road! Yippee! It's working, and it will be very efficient when we can get it FINISHED.
The horses were not frazzled, but quietly munching their now rather soggy brand new fresh green round bales.
There was a mourning dove sitting under the bird feeder. It took flight suddenly when the camera flash went off and this was all I got:
Dan is making a stump grinder. Here is a Video of a stump grinder in action.
"Our you going to take a picture of me making the stump grinder?"
"You're making the stump grinder, right now?"
"I'm drilling a hole."
"You want me to take a picture of you drilling a hole?"
"Yeah"
"Do you have the teeth out there yet?"
"No."
I still had to fill a water tub, so by the time I finished he was getting the the teeth out. So I took a picture:
Aren't you Glad I waited for the teeth?
Last night I wakened by the Storm that I knew was coming (I'd been watching it since I got home from work on the radar at noaa.gov). I went to bed to get some sleep before it woke me. I jumped out of bed at 1:30 ish and pulled out my ear plugs to listen to the rain on the metal roof of the little log cabin and saw lightning flash illuminating the bedroom loft. I went down the stairs and curled up in the recliner with the lap-top tuned into, you guest it the noaa.gov radar screen, and held my breath each time the rain seemed to intensify. My heart beat too fast, my tummy hurt, for over and hour and half I waited tense and trying to remember to breath.
Now I love a good thunder storm and have been known to stay outside way too long watching one roll in. But, that was in another life. A life before the infamous driveway up Lythos that terrorized our most excellent neighbors with landslides that washed across the street and through their yard.
We had several engineers come assess the situation that first year before we finally found one who had a real plan to help us. We made the beginnings of a catch basin and planted lots of grass on banking's. we had 4 inches of re-claimed hot-top added to the driveway surface all the way up ,710 feet. We have made a huge dent in the issue and have managed to keep all sliding land on our own side of the road at least, so far. There is still plenty to do though , sand to move, rocks to lay, grass to grow, gravel to haul in.
And for the last 2 months and the next 2 to possibly 3 months our hands are tied!! We have engaged the lower section of the hill, including the end of the driveway in the conditional use permitting process of Hollis America. And we were told we cannot move a single shovel full of dirt, or plant one grass seed down there until the process concludes one way of the other!
So when the thunder storms come through I'll be sick again this summer. But this too shall pass. Last night no sand moved at all. It never did rain all that hard, thankfully. Still I expected to see some sort of damage--not this time.
This is Henry he is a Heritage Black from the Noble Sam bloodline. He is the Boar who sired the the little piggies we brought home on Saturday. He weighs approximately 600 pounds and resides at Alder brook Farm in Athens Maine. He has his own back scratcher rake and gets lots of love and attention. His stall is a run in type and is kept amazingly manure free. The entire farm is remarkably clean.
This Charlotte she is from the Warbler blood line and momma to our little ones. This is one of the pastures that the pasture fed hogs live on year round. More to come later on the Heritage breed, Alder Brook farm and pictures of the little guys. . . (I hate when work time cuts into blog time)
And these are our cute little piggy pies: Loinie and Keven (yes--as in Bacon).
Thanks Funder , You are quite right. Those surely must be Oak Galls. Oak Apple Gall seems to be the one: Picture of Oak Apple Gall. They are little private nurseries to the Cynipid Gall Wasp. I was hoping to learn more about the wasp. But I am far to sleepy now and I will so regret sitting up till 11:43!
I will post soon on:
todays successful training session with the psycho mare from last summer, how Lucy will no longer wear a bit, my new Yoga class, bringing home the new baby piggies, the upcoming BioScan / light therapy demo next Saturday, AND the Mint Julep recipe I found for DERBY DAY, May 3rd 2008, the 134th run for the roses!
I need some help please. I cannot find this tree in my little field guide to North American trees book:
Its leave look like the Oak and I thought it was Oak when it foliated last summer. But this spring I find all these little ornaments hanging from it. Some sort of seed pouch I am assuming since they seem to have seeds in them.
I live in Maine remember. I thought maybe it looked a bit like a type of Sycamore tree but they wouldn't be just hanging out in a woodlot in Maine would they? Some Beech trees have a kind of seed pouch like this I think. But the tree is not beech like in any other way is it. I 'm going to have to take one to the local tree nursery and see if they can tell me.
Hay to Rescues
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