four of them…and I’m too exhausted to write anything more right now.
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We have walls
Monday, July 13th, 2009Eight hands are better than four
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009We are getting some good work done this week. Here is the progress report:
- The septic rework is done.
- The panels are due here Mon., July 13.
- IJoists, lumber, and other supplies should be delivered early next week.
- The floors are finished.
- The slab has been trimmed, and the sill is going in today.
- The driveway has been mostly moved to accommodate the new house.
- The greenhouse is making significant progress and should be done by week’s end.
- We’ve built a holding pen for cleared brush next to the composter.
We’ve worked out a schedule for while the boys are here that includes all four of us getting to the property by 6:30 or so (thankfully, Brad has taken the task of getting them up) and working until 9:30 or 10 (while it’s still cool). Then Brad runs me home to do my “other job,” and then he and the boys come home around noon or so. After some rest, Brad and I have been going back to the property to do a little more work from about 6 until dark, weather permitting.
I can’t wait until the panels get here. Then we’ll really be moving along.
A big event in town
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009July 4 is a big day in Rodeo. They have a parade, a community barbecue, and a dance. It’s quite an event; they even close down the one paved road here for it. Here are some scenes from the parade.
The boys opted not to go. Here is what they did instead.
Our house now is filled with the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, NBA basketball, and machine gun fire.
They’re here!
Saturday, July 4th, 2009And work on the new driveway has begun. (Part of the existing driveway goes through where our new house will be so it needs to be moved.)
Big equipment on the ranch today
Thursday, June 25th, 2009This is a part our septic rework in process. Should be done in a couple days.
Rush hour traffic
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009Playing with my new HD camera (for work, of course)….
thar be turtles!
Monday, June 15th, 2009No, it’s not talk like a pirate week… I’m just excited to finally see a turtle.
We been hearing about the desert turtles since before we moved here. There are signs warning you not to run them over. There are roads out here are named after them, “Turtle Run”. There are even signs proclaiming love for the turtles. I never see them though… until yesterday.
I was driving back from our property when I saw a rock in the road that looked a lot like a turtle. I stopped to take a look and indeed, it was a turtle. Wow! I have a hard time believing they survive out here. It seems so hostile and they’re so small.
Here’s what one looks like in the road.
And here are a couple of close ups.
(In this picture, I crossed a line and he scrunched up.)
It was another interesting day for wildlife. I got a couple of nice vulture photos.
Thunderclouds – all thunder little rain
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Scoring the concrete
Monday, May 25th, 2009On our existing slab, which we’re staining, we decided to try scoring the concrete to get a tile-type effect. The great thing about Tumbleweed is that it is a low-risk “practice” ground for our main house. And the workshop in Tumbleweed is the practice room in the practice house, so that’s where we tried this out.
We read up on this on the Internet, and here is the process we used.
Step 1: Measure
Step 2: Lay down a straight 2×4 as a guide, and cut lines about 1/8″ deep with a Skilsaw with a diamond blade
Step 3: Spray with water and sweep to remove the concrete dust
Step 4: Use a grinder to smooth out the groove (a couple passes)
And here are the final results (wet and before stain):
We like this so much that we’re thinking about doing the whole slab this way.
Compost post: What a nice surprise!
Sunday, May 24th, 2009What a nice surprise to come home from a trip and find that Brad had built me the tumbling composter I wanted!
The hatch
Aerated tube inside the composter
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If you haven’t followed it, we’ve been doing a lot of reading on composting to prepare for this. For the mix in this batch, I used those bush-type weeds I’m allergic to and dry grass mixed with some tea and coffee grounds and dried cow dung as activator. I’ll add some veg and fruit peels, etc. over time.
I’ve set up a page to show compost updates over time for those who are interested.