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Post by steev on Dec 24, 2018 20:47:29 GMT -5
OTF rain all Sunday and today, mostly just light. Although I need and appreciate the rain, when the county and transport come to inspect the site, if the ground looks at all sloppy, I'll be required to gravel the road and a turn-around for fire trucks, 700' to 800'. Really an expense I don't need.
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Post by steev on Dec 28, 2018 19:07:23 GMT -5
Started a new worker today; seems very good. He's Guatemalan Maya; in my experience, they are smart, hard-working, and used to plants.
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Post by steev on Dec 30, 2018 1:27:26 GMT -5
Bought another 6 stone pines today (they're marking them way down, the Xmas "living tree" season being passed); have 2 pounds of favas to plant asap; I'm getting more interested in entropophagy(?) (bug eating); pretty sure bugboy is not as macho as cowboy, but it looks a lot more sustainable and they don't need to be driven to market; prolly harder than herding cats.
Went to the bank all chipper based on my latest monthly report, which said I had enough cash to cover the cost of the house; oops! There was a check that had cashed since the report that left me $7K short. Damn! I'll be good in a couple weeks, having bills coming due and payable; just possibly embarrassing.
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Post by steev on Dec 31, 2018 22:12:23 GMT -5
Three weeks from planting, there was no sign of the peas, so I dragged a new furrow there and started planting favas; 100' down the row, I saw sprouted peas that just weren't out of the ground yet. Doh! So I'll have 200' of inter-planted peas and favas; no biggie.
Last week, I promised another regular of the barber shop I go to as a social venue (haven't had a haircut since May 31, 1975) that I'd bring him in some quince, so I went to the two shrubs that had fruit last week; nada! I have no idea what cleaned them out. Birds?
Unrelated, the annual flockettes of yellow-breasted finches are coming through, such pretty little creatures; the vast flocks of blackbirds are much evident, doing their aerial "fish-school" moves.
Patience dock is leafing, but not yet bigger than sour dock leaves. I really think that when dried and powdered, it will be a very useful flavorant and/or thickener.
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Post by steev on Jan 7, 2019 22:33:31 GMT -5
Got the home-site graveled and rolled; Thursday the company agent is coming to see the place and decide whether the 700' drive must be graveled, which I really can't afford, given the other costs of this project; naturally, it rained Sat and Sun, is expected to Tues and Wed with four days predicted starting next Sat; if he says it must be graveled, I've decided to tell him it must be put off until June, when the ground won't be sloppy; the escrow agent thinks he hasn't started the construction, since she's not released the non-refundable deposit; if she's right, there should be no problem. If she's wrong, I may have to tell him to put the house the same place he can stick the deposit. Better to write off 9K than to spend another 5-7K on graveling that's only needed for <an hour of heavy truck passage.
If it doesn't come to that, I'll have to cut the fence so they can get back there, as they won't fit through the gate; I'd welcome having to do that; it's just 5 strands of barbed wire and a T-post to pull.
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Post by steev on Jan 9, 2019 16:17:58 GMT -5
Spoke to the agent; he says the house is built and that as long as I come up with the balance, he has no problem postponing delivery, so problem solved.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 9, 2019 18:31:21 GMT -5
That's good - already built? Hope they aren't just driving it around on a flatbed until you are ready!  |
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Post by steev on Jan 10, 2019 11:24:10 GMT -5
No, it's in his yard in Redding; while waiting for the dry season, he'll construct the foundation in the meantime, not like I'm in a hurry, I've been crashing in the 10'X12' pump-house the past 13 years, so when it happens, it'll be relatively palatial; at least I won't have to climb a ladder to bed (and I won't have to worry what day it is when I wake up to get out of bed).
I'm not sure I'll be able to deal with a house, not being used to cleaning and all; still, it'll be nice to be able to cook and stuff. I really am pretty feral, but oh, well; one must be adaptable.
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Post by steev on Jan 14, 2019 22:19:24 GMT -5
nice road-kill raccoon; hoping for a nice skull eventually; I really should get some Dermestid beetles, to facilitate the process.
Help! I got around to digging out my artichoke and cardoon seeds, which I'd promised to send to somebody, but I can't find the message with his name (Indian?) and address.
Delete that; I found the email, so the seeds are in the snail-mail.
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Post by steev on Jan 21, 2019 23:46:43 GMT -5
Had to work Saturday at a church I garden; pastor wanted seven camellias ripped because homeless were stashing their stuff (and/or themselves) behind; I planted the root-stumps on the farm; they should survive.
Coming home the back way, a bobcat raced across the road; first time I've seen one there. I've seen no deer OTF the last few weeks; I wonder whether puma are back; I'd like that, but the local ranchers wouldn't; can't please everybody. I admit to empathy for apex predators, being one. Damn! I'm getting a house OTF and I'll have cats again, such rotten little predators; I do love them.
OTF, the soil has had enough hydrotherapy to be workable, so here we go into planting mode; this has the potential to be the best year I've had in years. Yee-ha!
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Post by steev on Jan 28, 2019 2:11:27 GMT -5
Met OTF with the agent, who agrees the soil is not a transport problem, so the house is coming in this week, which triggers other work: beefing up for wood-stove support; building stairs; building a parking structure/solar array support; tiling floors; etc. Damn! Think I've signed up for a lotta work, in the short time. Oh, well, didn't have anything else to do, it's not like I have hobbies.
Planted some ten peas of various sorts, so the growing season is well-launched.
Would've done more but realized I'd forgotten my meds, so I came home early, gonna go re-up my scrips tomorrow so I can have meds OTF, so I don't have to worry about dragging them. Life was better when I didn't need meds, was younger and beautiful, but there it goes. Sic transit steev.
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Post by walt on Jan 28, 2019 13:11:55 GMT -5
Good progress.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 28, 2019 19:23:56 GMT -5
Woohoo!
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Post by mskrieger on Jan 29, 2019 14:40:09 GMT -5
Hooray!
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Post by steev on Jan 29, 2019 23:21:35 GMT -5
So the house was delivered today, not yet on foundation; I'll see it Saturday; just a granny-flat, I won't be raising a family in it; OMG! So much work that has to be done now: beefing up where the woodstove (scrounged) goes (scrounged granite floor and walls around); kitchen island/cupboard to build (with scrounged syntho-stone top); floors to tile (you know how I got the tile); parking structure/solar panel support to build; 10'x12' structure for the solar guts, freezer, etc; two sets of stairs to build; 10'x12' structure for solar array to power the well, which must be plumbed and run to the house and riega; East/West grape trellises for summer shade to build (gotta prune the grapes for more cuttings to root); eventually an earth-bermed shipping container for a food cellar and to support a 1500g water tank, so I don't need a pressure pump when the riega isn't running (good to be able to flush at night, my sweetheart is picky); furniture to buy (not into floor-sleeping); then, of course, it's Spring and good water, so I want to re-claim my drought-fallowed planting areas. Good thing I got my heart back pumping more than 25% of normal, as I've got some cranking to do!
Is this what most people do when they're getting ready to retire? Oh, well, if I survive this campaign, it will be sweet; I shall have cats again.
Got more favas and two Taiwan-bred snow peas to try; the various spuds I've been gathering are sprouting; think I'll try them "Ruth Stout" with my ample supply of bunny bedding. Got to start working up beds for corn, working in chicken-rice hulls for fert and tilth.
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