February 2011
Planning the March visit.
March 2011
Becky and I made another trip to “The Farm” in March 2011 during Spring break. We accomplished quite a bit, but not everything I had on my list. I guess I need to be more realistic when it comes to making lists.
Here's a list of things we accomplished on this trip:
• Had the heat pump serviced by Gordon’s Electric. It's now ready for another year of service.
• Took the car to town and had a diagnostic service performed. The car mainly needed a battery but they checked everything out real good and performed a regular service. Once the title clears the estate, it will be ready to sell. The car wasn't included in the sale of the property, so it has to be sold separately.
• Becky and I spent most of our time outdoors, when weather permitted. Mornings were usually good and then the rain would come. That put a damper on our afternoon outdoor work.
• I had a huge dumpster delivered by the sanitary service so we could dispose of the stuff that was no longer usable. A lot of what we put in it was old fencing material that was hard to dispose of.
• I was able to completely clear out the old utility trailer and it now sits at the other end of the pasture, just waiting to be restored.
• The old pig pen, or lean-2 behind the chicken coop was completely packed with stuff that needed to be discarded. I ended up tearing it completely down, just leaving the four solid posts. I will probably rebuild it some day.
• When I pulled up the plastic pipe to the sand point well hole, the last 5 feet was wet. That tells me there's water there this time of the year, and eventually I plan to tap into that resource once again.
• We didn't do anything in the house this time around. I'm thinking about some new floor covering in the kitchen so I can get some appliances back in. Guess I'll work on that for my fall trip this year.
• The bridge across the ditch has seen better days. I cleaned it off the best I could but some of the railing posts were rotted and just plain fell over. I haven't decided what to do with the ditch yet. The irrigation district that I pay for water from says there won't be any more water in that ditch and it's basically obsolete. I was thinking of filling it in and leveling off the pastures, but it kind of has some character to it with the little foot bridge and all.
• I have a lawn service coming in once a month to keep the lawn and pastures mowed. They will keep the roadside fence line cut down as well. I'm sure after June, there won't be much to cut, since we aren't watering right now.
April 2011
Here are a few before and after pictures of the grounds maintenance.
• I was able to completely clear out the old utility trailer and it now sits at the other end of the pasture, just waiting to be restored.
• The old pig pen, or lean-2 behind the chicken coop was completely packed with stuff that needed to be discarded. I ended up tearing it completely down, just leaving the four solid posts. I will probably rebuild it some day.
• When I pulled up the plastic pipe to the sand point well hole, the last 5 feet was wet. That tells me there's water there this time of the year, and eventually I plan to tap into that resource once again.
• We didn't do anything in the house this time around. I'm thinking about some new floor covering in the kitchen so I can get some appliances back in. Guess I'll work on that for my fall trip this year.
• The bridge across the ditch has seen better days. I cleaned it off the best I could but some of the railing posts were rotted and just plain fell over. I haven't decided what to do with the ditch yet. The irrigation district that I pay for water from says there won't be any more water in that ditch and it's basically obsolete. I was thinking of filling it in and leveling off the pastures, but it kind of has some character to it with the little foot bridge and all.
• I have a lawn service coming in once a month to keep the lawn and pastures mowed. They will keep the roadside fence line cut down as well. I'm sure after June, there won't be much to cut, since we aren't watering right now.
April 2011
Here are a few before and after pictures of the grounds maintenance.
Summer 2011
Planning the October visit now.
I have another long list of things to get done, but I'm sure I won't get everything done. When that happens, the tasks just move to the next visit.
I'll be on my own this time around. Becky will leave for her senior year of High School in Australia. She leaves on August 4th on a 15 hour plane trip. She will arrive in Sydney on the 6th? Wonder where the 5th went, haha.
Hope everyone has a terrific summer.
I'll be back to tell you all about my October visit soon.
October 2011
We'll here it is October and time to put the farm to bed for the winter.
Jake, Kristy, and Audrina traveled along with me on this trip. Mom was happy to get to see Audrina for the first time and we all had a good trip.
Here's a list of things we accomplished on this trip:
• Had Gordon’s Electric install an exhaust fan and light in the bathroom. I wanted to replace the center light with the exhaust fan/light but the duct work for the heating system was right on top of that area so they ended up putting it closer to the door.• Took the Dynasty to town and the front right brake caliper locked up on us. Ended up taking it to the Toyota garage to have that fixed. We were hoping to drive it for the entire trip, but they didn't get it fixed until late Monday, so we had to rent a car until then. After the repairs the car ran great.
• We removed the fencing and the grape vines between the left side of the orchard and the back pasture. The vines were dead and the fence posts rotting. It really opened up the whole property once the fencing and vegetation were taken out.
• Since the dog run was falling apart, we ended up smashing up the concrete and taking it out completely. Time for a new dog run I guess.
• We covered the Arizona room and the garage windows on this trip and installed a monitored alarm system. We had an incident a few weeks before our arrival where someone entered the house by taking out one of the glass windows and forcing the kitchen door open. We decided that a little more deterrent was in order so we beefed up the physical security the best we could.
• We dug out the stump from the birch tree that was in the front. Now the hole is ready for a new tree. Not sure what I'll plant, but I'd like something that will provide a lot of shade in the front of the house.
• We spent a lot of time trimming trees so we could walk under them. I think it will make it easier for the lawn service to mow. I'd really like to get the ditch and the area behind the ditch cleared, and hopefully I can start on that the next time around.
• We have gophers in the yard. They even came up in a little open square in the pump room and left a huge pile of sand. We scooped up all the sand and dug down about 4 inches, and then put a one inch layer of quick set in the hole. I'm sure they won't be able to get through that :)
Here are a few picture I took before we left.
• Since the dog run was falling apart, we ended up smashing up the concrete and taking it out completely. Time for a new dog run I guess.
• We covered the Arizona room and the garage windows on this trip and installed a monitored alarm system. We had an incident a few weeks before our arrival where someone entered the house by taking out one of the glass windows and forcing the kitchen door open. We decided that a little more deterrent was in order so we beefed up the physical security the best we could.
• We dug out the stump from the birch tree that was in the front. Now the hole is ready for a new tree. Not sure what I'll plant, but I'd like something that will provide a lot of shade in the front of the house.
• We spent a lot of time trimming trees so we could walk under them. I think it will make it easier for the lawn service to mow. I'd really like to get the ditch and the area behind the ditch cleared, and hopefully I can start on that the next time around.
• We have gophers in the yard. They even came up in a little open square in the pump room and left a huge pile of sand. We scooped up all the sand and dug down about 4 inches, and then put a one inch layer of quick set in the hole. I'm sure they won't be able to get through that :)
Here are a few picture I took before we left.
