Friday, January 15, 2010

All Fired Up

Does that make you feel warm!? Today was an absolute beautiful day and it was warm enough that I just wore a light jacket over one shirt! Wow! However, I am still having trouble completing the back filling behind the house because the freakin' dirt is frozen! I piled up a formidable amount of great topsoil for the top layer of fill but it's frozen solid. Hard as a rock. I can't even break it with the Bobcat. I scraped and pushed and banged...nothing. So, I had to find something else to do today.
I went over to the little valley where my power lines come in and did some clean up over there, pushing and dragging up stumps and trees that have been down for a while. It didn't take long to get up a good pile and start a bonfire. I had already gone through and removed anything that would have made good firewood and a lot of this was very rotten. It is so nice to have a machine to work with. Makes short work of lots of things.
I would like to keep that area cleared and sow it with nice grass and wildflowers. Maybe one day I will get time to fence some of my land and have a cow or two. I worked there until it got kinda warm and then the soil started to get very slick because it was thawing. I was sliding all over the place, so I went down the driveway and did some work there, widening certain areas.
There are 2 kinda sharp curves in my drive that just really freaks a lot of people out so I hauled mucho dirt from the old dam and did a pretty good job easing one of the curves. Now, even a big truck can get more straighten out before heading up the hill and around the next curve. I still have more work to do there but I was about to run out of gas, well, the machine was not me, so I headed back to the house. The Bobcat does not seem to be as fuel efficient as the mini-excavator. I wish I could get some pics or video of the Bobcat in action but since I'm on it, that's kinda hard to do.

I hate to not be working on the house itself on such a nice day but I also must take full advantage of this equipment when I get it and there is SO much I can do with it. This is the dilemma when you are doing it all yourself and sometimes I think it is hard for some people to understand. They think, well, you've got all that stuff to work with, you should have it all done. When my family came for Christmas, my sister bitched and complained the whole time that I was not finished yet. Well, why not? What had I been doing all this time? Why aren't the floors in or the kitchen? I get so frustrated and down sometimes because I just can't see any end to the work with it being just me. It just goes on forever. I have made progress obviously but it just takes so long. Yes, I could forget completely about the land and such but some upkeep to the drive has to be done and I really hate to let certain areas go because the power company will come spray vegetation killer on everything if you let trees start growing under their lines. I can't let that happen. I guess at least if my heart just quits one day, I'll croak here on my land and they can just push some dirt over me. Well, if the Bobcat happens to be here anyway!


*Pat Benetar

10 comments:

Caddie said...

Maybe your sister and any other naysayers should wear your shoes for a bit and I bet her tune would change greatly.
How may acres do you have Annie? From the picture today I assume many.
Hang in there girl for we out here are rooting for you and very proud of all your stamina, efforts, and abilities I might also add

Pablo said...

So is that your power cut in the photo? I don't see any poles or lines. That can't be our road, can it?

Also, they won't be able to push any dirt over you if it is still frozen.

MamaHen said...

Hey Sis! oh, my sister wouldn't make it one day trying to do this kind of work. :D
I have almost 20 acres now. I recently acquired another acre from my next door neighbor.
Thanks!

Hey Pablo! yeah, that is the power line cut; if you enlarge the photo you can see one pole way in the back in the middle but you really can't see the lines running towards where I was standing. In the back is a road that Allen cut to get back to where he was going to build a tractor shed.
Well, maybe I'll croak in warmer weather! or they can just pile sticks on me.

Ed said...

But you did it yourself and very few people can say that. If I had some land and decide to build a house, I suspect I will be working on it a lifetime because that is what I want to do. I suspect you have some of that in you too.

HermitJim said...

I remember reading somewhere that a homesteader is never really finished working on the home place. A life long task, but one that is truly an act of love!

Don't worry about those that don't live the country life...they will never understand!

Looking good to me!

MamaHen said...

Hey Ed! yeah, I know I'll always be working and improving on it, so it is a lifetime thing but there are some parts that must be finished quickly or they begin to deteriorate. That's what bothers me.

Hey Jim! thanks and same answer that I gave Ed. The thing is with my sister, she does live in the country and likes it! She just likes to bitch at me. But then, she has a husband that does everything for her so she doesn't realize how some things are.

Jenn said...

Aw, piss on yer sister.

You've done great stuff lately - stained glass and trim and french drains.

The discouragement is the same I get in my garden. I get work done - weeding, planting, whatever- and it doesn't look like anything - BECAUSE IT LOOKS DONE. We are so trained to notice the unfinished and not see what is done. Anyway, I understand.

MamaHen said...

Hey Jenn! well, that's what i said as far as my sister goes.
You know, I had not looked at it that way before but you're right about we don't notice stuff once it's done! I'm that way especially; I notice what not finished!

Rurality said...

Hey Annie, you might get a lot of flowers come up volunteer! I could not believe the number of wild hyacinths that came up down the road from me, when apco cleared one of their paths. It was really beautiful! So I would encourage you to wait before sowing, if you can stand it. :)

MamaHen said...

Hey Karen! oh, I probably will get a lot of volunteers and if that goes like everything else around here, it's going to take a while for me to ever dress the area enough to sow anything. Meanwhile, the natives will have plenty of time to show themselves.