Forming

Ed was correct in his assumption that I would be pouring concrete soon. This is the formwork for the future chicken coop. Or the Taj MaCoop, as Woody put it. Now, I know some of you are looking at this and thinking, that's a helluva thick slab for a chicken coop. Well, it's not so much. See, none of my land is flat. None. Not 10 square feet anywhere. It's all gently rolling hills or steep inclines. I picked the flattest part I could find around the garden but it still meant a 12 inch elevation change in 12 feet. But, that is easily remedied with a concrete slab.
I wanted it connected to the garden for a variety of reasons. At certain times, when there are no tomatoes, the chickens can be let right into the garden to patrol for bugs etc. Scraps from the garden are easily thrown to the chickens and chicken poop is easily gathered and taken over to the garden. Plus, I already have electricity and water at the garden and it won't take much to trench the power down to the coop, although I would like to maybe install some solar lights. And, last but not least, I already have shock wire run around the garden and it won't take much to incorporate the coop with this. The coop will also be known as ChickenTraz.

So, forming the slab here wasn't much problem but I did have to fill the interior in order to have only a 3 inch thick slab to pour. This involved wheelbarrowing a lot of dirt and gravel but that's good exercise. However, if you do this, you MUST tamp the fill so that it won't collapse on you later and have your slab crack. And that dirt will settle, I assure you. So, that is what this contraption is above; a motorized tamp. One of those little handle doolollies ain't going to do it. These big tamps are way cool. Due to Allen and I being in the business, we just happen to have one residing here all the time. It doesn't get a lot of use but is very handy to have. The things are extremely heavy, as you might guess, and when running that thick plate on the bottom vibrates, causing the tamp to well, tamp, and actually move forward. You can barely pull one of these things but when running it moves along on it's on.

It's kinda hard to see in this photo but I left a small turndown around the perimeter of the slab for a footing. You must have this so that the edge of the concrete turns down to contact undisturbed earth. This is kind of a mini version of what we call a monolithic slab. Meaning the slab and footing are poured at the same time. My little footing turndown is only about 5-6 inches wide at the bottom.

I dug the right hand side down just as low as I could, and still have the slab be above grade but that still gave me about 11 inches on the other end. The slab is 12'x8' and it slopes 1/4" per foot in the short direction. This is to allow drainage when I hose the slab off for cleaning. I know most people would not go to the trouble of pouring concrete just for a chicken coop but I have my reasons. 1. I am just partial to concrete; it lasts. You will never have to redo it. 2. No predators will be allowed access to my chickens. They are for my meals, not theirs and I prefer not to kill predators. I think it is better to just not allow them the opportunity. 3. Concrete is easily cleaned and a clean coop is essential. 4. With the rising cost of lumber, concrete is a good deal. The local batch plant used to charge an outrageous minimum on concrete; 5 yards. I suspected with the recent falling economy that maybe they haven't been doing as much business and might have changed their policy. I called them and what do you know? they said they would work me a deal for just 2 yards. How about that? If I have decided to floor the coop in plywood I would have to use pressure treated, probably 3/4 inch, and it would have cost about what 1 yard of concrete is going to run me. With 2 yards, I can also pour a small footing for the tool shed I want to build connected to the coop.
So, I'll be back later to show how I finished my preps for pouring this slab. Oh, and I meant to say I did not buy any lumber to do the formwork. It was all constructed of scrap material I had laying around. Basically just old 2x4's and stuff. Unless it is going to be pretty architectural concrete that is really going to show, I almost never buy form material.

Lately

Oooh, lots of wonderful things have been going on around here lately. Well, maybe not all of them wonderful but at least productive. I believe I have recovered from the burn-out I suffered last year and have really been enthused about finished many things. I didn't get much garden planted this year but aren't these maters pretty! They are doing really well. I may even try canning some in the following weeks.

Is this not a thing of beauty? One thing though, that is kinda odd, is that this is supposed to be a Rutgers and the Beefsteak tomatoes, which are kinda supposed to look like this, are generally small and smooth. Oh well, they taste fantastic. Makes you want to go into a grocery store and just start slinging all those tomato-like things they sell against the walls and run around screaming "Anarchy!"
What? Ya'll don't have thoughts about doing stuff like that? I bet you do.

I also had a very nice man come out and grind three stumps for me. This was a big one very close to the house that I needed out of the way so I can start installing the flagstone patios and walks. Yay!!! But I'm not sure what to do with the 'leftovers' from these stumps. It is pretty evenly mixed dirt and wood fibers. I thought it might make good garden soil after the wood decomposes? Anybody ever used this stuff before? What did you do with it? I want to remove it, since it will partly decompose, and fill the hole with just dirt so it will compact good. Oh! I also had another nice man come out and give me an estimate on what he would charge to build my kitchen cabinets. I'm just going to have him build the pantry cabinet now, as that is what I can afford right now. It will be about 3 weeks before he is able to start though, so you'll have to wait some for pics.

I got quite a bit done on the clerestory siding over the holiday weekend but I ran out of material once more. I'm very excited; I think it's going to be great! I will be so glad to get off that roof! But at least my butt is getting a good workout going up and down that ladder so much.

I also started on mortaring and stacking this stone wall for my kitchen/ herb garden. I've still got to come up another 18 inches or so to be high enough though. Allen had a good idea to make it tiered. I think that will look good and then the front won't have to be so high.

Wow, that seems like a lot after writing all that down. Well, got to burn this energy off somehow and since I haven't met a nice guy lately and thereafter proceeded to get into his pants, I guess manual labor will have to do. LOL! Heck, if that's any indication on things, I may finish this house by the end of summer!
I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday; hope ya'll have a good day.

*Stevie Wonder

Just Around The Corner

Do you see the significance of this photo? As of yesterday, the siding has completely wrapped the house now. Except for the clerestory area but that's okay, I'll get to that. And what's more, the siding elevation matched up when I connected this corner!
I said I was not going to take time to paint as I went but I think actually, I will paint this section before I move that pick board because it is so heavy, it's just a pain to take down and set back up and all that. As soon as I finish this side I'm going to move around and top out the east side of the house that you see on the right there. Then, I'll do the clerestory. I probably should have done the clerestory first and been done with that but I didn't have that foresight.

I woke up feeling kinda crappy again this morning, which is not good. I thought I was over this thing and I was supposed to get into Birmingham today. I have been informed that I will be returning to work on the 15th of this month so I have to be drug tested beforehand. I'm excited to be going back to work but now it's a mad rush to get as much done as I can on the house because I don't think I'll have much time in the coming months. In what is becoming the norm, the owners of this new building pissed around for about 4 months not being able to decide on some things and now that they have finally decided to start, still want the building done at the original completion date. I'm like, no, you delayed us 4 months starting, so you get the building 4 months later but our company says sure, we'll have it done. From what I'm hearing we are going to be on some major overtime and this will leave little time for my house. However, the building is supposed to be finished around September, so if I can work like hell until then, save all the money I can while on this job (which should be a good bit), then I can just take off again at the end and finish the house completely. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Oh, yesterday afternoon I thought I'd do a little dirt work around here because it seemed that the soil had dried out enough and I knew it would be raining again today. Well, it hadn't dried out as much as I thought and I got that Bobcat so stuck! The machines with tires are bad about such whereas the ones on tracks are virtually impossible to get stuck, although I have seen it done. Fortunately, it was down in the valley and not up here next to the house. I tried a few things to get out but couldn't even push myself out with the bucket, so I called Allen and he got Oliver to come to the rescue. I had that machine marred up past the carriage but ol' Oliver snatched him out like it was just a cardboard box. I thought he might strain just a little or something but no...didn't even hesitate. Sorry I didn't get photos. I did think about it but didn't feel like slugging up to the house to get the camera.

As you have noticed, I changed the look of the blog again! I decided to go with this layout since my posts can be long sometimes and this should help to minimize the amount of scrolling needed to read the whole post. If some parts of it are not showing up well to you, or it's not easy to read, let me know.

*Cock Robin

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

Something To Talk About

The one thing that most people comment on when they visit me, is how quiet and peaceful it is out here. Even though I'm actually not that far from other people, and even subdivisions, the hills and valleys allow for most street and people noise to be blocked. It is very nice. This week however, it has been a little oppressive or isolating. I don't do well in total solitude for long periods. A few days ago I was watching a special on PBS about 'happiness'; maybe some of ya'll saw it too. It was very interesting. They interviewed a man who had been a POW for 7 years during Vietnam and he talked about how he and the other prisoners communicated by tapping on the walls of their cells. I was fascinated at the elaborate code system that they developed to 'talk' to one another. Now, I am in no way trying to compare my situation to the literal hell these men went through, but it occurred to me that, for me, blogging is a similar system. Tapping on keys to see if anyone will talk back. The desire to reach out to other people is strong and curious. Am I such a freaking loser (by not having anyone of my own to talk to) that just seeing words written on a screen by other folks makes me feel better? Maybe I've just read too many recent blog entries by women rattling on about how their husbands did this or that for them. Oh, he chops the wood, he built that stone flower bed, he builds everything for me etc. etc. Oh well, at least I don't have to cook supper if I don't feel like it. I can just eat popcorn and fruit if I want.

While I have the Bobcat, I went down to the old dam to gather the flagstone that is strewn about there. I'm going to use it to build a large patio and steps in the area behind the house that you see in the photo. The terrain around the dam is very rough and as I picked my way down a particular gully, I spied a perfect, very large piece of flagstone. It was beautiful; I had to have it. No problem except it weighed about 80 lbs. and was at the bottom. No other way but up and over to the waiting bucket of the skid steer on the other side. I got it almost to the top and then slipped in the muck. I had to laugh a little at the image of me and that huge stone rolling 'round and 'round but managed to stop it halfway down the hill and yes, it now resides with a stack of other stones behind the house.

The other day when I was installing siding, I could have sworn I heard chickens somewhere around the house, clucking and such. After a few minutes I walked around to investigate; I know I heard chickens. So, I started calling and clucking to see if I could get them to come out or at least talk back so maybe I could see where they were. If there were any, they probably saw me and said, 'let's get the hell outta Dodge, that woman's crazy!'

I did see a possum tonight. He ran up a small tree and tried to act like a limb.

Perhaps one day I'll unite with a man that loves to talk and then I'll long for the quiet again. Kinda hard to say.


*Bonnie Riatt

Proving Ground

What is it with Blogger lately? Are they being a complete friggin' ass with everybody else, or is it just me? Nothing wants to work right. It took me forever to get these #@%#^%&^ photos to load right side up and it keeps wanting to underline everything I type!
So, this is how to install a proper French drain. And I don't give a flying shit what some residential contractor said, this is the way you do it and have it work.
When you get your footing and wall waterproofed (with an actual membrane, not just some paint on crap) lay your 4" perforated drain pipe down along the wall. Now, I put down a layer of landscape fabric between the pipe and the ground because the dirt was a little close and I couldn't get a full 1 foot of gravel all the way around the pipe.

I know many of you may have never seen this before and God knows, most residential builders won't go to the trouble to use it, but this is the perf pipe with a sock on it. Just a fine, fabric mesh tube that covers the whole length. If you don't use this type your pipe will fill up with dirt in about 6 months and then you just got a big, fat, solid worm of pipe laying there in the ground doing nothing. And again, I don't care what some contractor told you, if it doesn't have the sock on it, it ain't worth a crap. Do you want to dig this thing back up in a couple of years? No? I didn't think so. Now, you are going to have to go to a commercial construction supply to get this. Lowe's and shit don't have it. They don't even know it exists.

You can also get 90's and T's and such to make different connections and they just snap on, so it's really easy.

After you lay in your pipe with the sock on it, cover the pipe with at least a foot of gravel. You also need to use what we refer to as #57 stone. This is NOT 'crusher run' or similar. #57 stone is a stone of one consistent size and will allow water to freely pass through where 'crusher run' or #89-10 compacts solidly and doesn't allow water to go through as well.

Then, lay down another layer of filter fabric over the stone and start backfilling with dirt. This is a proper French drain and will actually allow water to filter down to an open pipe and be carried away from your foundation. Oh, I forgot to show how I ran the pipe around the corner and down the hill so that it does turn downward and allow water to run rather than just sit in the pipe. It ends down around the front of the house.
So, I'm in a little better mood now. Halfway through writing this post one of the guys called and I cried on his shoulder (so to speak) for a while. Everybody is all up in the air 'cause we have heard of a job starting in Birmingham.


*Widespread Panic

Stoney End

Just a few photos to show the slow progress of my retaining wall around the parking area. I had to come in and cut the bank plumb again since it had slid down to about a 45 degree angle from when it was first cut. Then, I just started placing the large stones against the bank and back filling some, in order to let that layer of dirt settle to set the next stones on top. I hope to find enough of these large stones for this wall as they must be fairly heavy in order to hold this bank. The deepest cut into the bank is about 5 feet, I guess.

Well, crap; I just realized I somehow deleted one photo but it is late and I'm not going to try and get it back on. I am using a few smaller stones to fill in some gaps. Once I get the stones close I can maneuver them somewhat with that iron bar you see propped against the stones. I'm getting pretty good at placing them close with the machine though. I have walked all around my property and located many large stones for this. Then, when I get home from work, and have time, I go around with the excavator there and gather them up and pile them near the wall. Then I just pick through and set them. There is no way I could do this without this machine so I'm very fortunate to get to use it. Hopefully, I will get the wall finished (or very close) before they come get it.

I painted some over the weekend since the weather was so beautiful and cool and I will put up some photos of that soon. I changed my colors some (trim work) and think it looks much better. Ya'll can tell me what you think.


*Barbra Streisand

Lay Down Sally

Okay, the title has nothing to do with anything but I just couldn't come up with a relevant song title! So, not a lot has been going on and I'm running out of photos I took before Allen took off with the camera. I took a few with my phone but to get them onto my 'puter seems to be a real pain in the rear, so that's probably not going to happen. I'm still working as of this week. Still just playing that by ear. Our company has basically run out of work, except for just a couple of small jobs, so no one is really sure what is going to happen. I'm grateful to still be working and if it can last just a little longer I can pay off one last bill.
I have been running the excavator just as much as possible and wish I had photos or video of that but.... maybe later. I have reworked a bit of the drive, dug up a bunch of stumps and small "trash" trees to make a nicer area for good trees. I've planted several hydrangeas along the drive and cleaned up several old brush piles. I also started clearing an area for a chicken coop and re-cleared along the power lines so that the power company won't spray their noxious chemicals. Dug some drainage ditches along the drive and also artfully (ha!) placed some big boulders in areas to make it easier to mow. I might have done some more but can't remember right now.
The past couple of days I have been working in the garden though. The weeds have taken over so that I just gave up on pulling and mowed it! It's pathetic. I don't know why I plant a garden. I think it is mostly a waste of time for me. I think I would do better to use the time working on the house but something always compels me to plant at least something. I did harvest 2 more heads of cabbage and a couple of onions and it won't be long before I have a few tomatoes. But still, I wonder often what ever possessed me to think I can do all this by myself. It's way too much and I think that I will just half-ass do everything for years, because there is too much, rather than do just a couple of things well. If the house ever gets finished that will be a lot off but that is so far in the future it just seems unreal. I'm not really down but I guess I just feel like I'm chasing my tail, so to speak. I never seem to make a lot of progress. Well, I can only do what I can do.
I've been watching 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' tonight. One of my favorite westerns but I'm a big Eastwood fan anyway. I love it when he spits on the dog's head. 'Unforgiven' is another favorite and probably 'The Shootist". What would you say is the best western? And the best line from a western? One reason I love Eastwood's so much is they always have at least one good line in every movie. In 'Josey Wales' I think it is, "dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy." Ha!
Well, we'll see what tomorrow holds. I found a beautiful feather in the creek the other day when I got home from work. If I can remember I'll show a picture of it later. I'm not sure what bird it would come from but maybe one of you will know. I suspect it is a hawk feather.

*Eric Clapton

Hang On Little Tomato

These photos are a little old so the 'maters are much bigger and there are lots of them at this point. Yum! Can't wait! This is either Rutgers or Cherokee Purple. The Rutgers are a new one for me but I have high hopes as they are heirlooms and supposed to do well in our heat and humidity. The other heirlooms I have tried just can't seem to handle it. I am trying to keep the garden going, although at times I am not very enthusiastic about it. I hate to be that way but it just seems like a lot of effort for just me. I can take some of the produce to the guys at work though.
I have several heads of cabbage ready now. I am in the process of eating one and it is very good! I took Molly's hint and sauteed half a head with a little butter, salt and pepper. I did also add a little chicken stock let it steam for a bit until it was good and tender. Excellent! Two of my great readers from Mobile, AL stopped by Saturday (or was it Sunday?) and I gave them one head of cabbage. I have excellent readers who are very sweet to email or call or come by. Ya'll are great and make me feel a lot better when I need it.
If I get some time, I hope to try to make some sauerkraut. I think I'll have plenty to work with.
This is one project that I finally was able to complete with the excavator and was very happy to have it done. I have a few of piles of topsoil stashed in various places around the valley and I was able to use the excavator to load my pickup with soil and bring it over to this flower bed that runs along the drive. I had already filled half of it by loading the soil in a wheelbarrow and pushing it about 100 yards over to the bed. Not fun. Good exercise but I've got other things to do. Anyway, two pickup loads and I completed this one. I also brought some large rocks over with the machine and strategically placed them about one end. Well, more like that seemed a good place to dump them and after rolling them around a little I decided they looked fine where they were.
Now I just need to clean up some of the roots and sticks that I raked out of the dirt and just threw in the drive. And fill in all that empty space with new flowers! I have a small collection of echinacea on that end and would like to add to that. The lavender on that end is also doing great! I harvested a large bundle over the weekend and still have one whole plant to go. The bees are going absolutely nuts for it too.

In other news, I'm still working as of this week. I found yet another heart-shaped rock at work. I wish I had a photo of this one but, no camera. I have taken a few pics with my cell phone but guess I need a cable to get them to the computer? I could email them to myself but I bet that costs a fortune. Maybe I'll figure it out.
Allen made it safely to England but I haven't heard from him since. Hopefully, Cat Daddy is coming home this weekend and so I'll have a date. Hhmm, gave Grendal a bath. I guess that's it.
The excitement of it all just overcomes me sometimes! Phffft! Haha! Actually, I had a good time over the weekend, in between severe thunderstorms!


*Pink Martini

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Lookie what I got to play with today! No, no, not the truck; what's on the back of the truck! One great perk to working for a construction company is getting to borrow the equipment if it's not out on a job. Of course, this is one of the older models but hey, even a wore out excavator can do an enormous amount of work. I've got lots of rough patches around the places that need smoothing, stumps to dig up, the driveway to work on and some swales to cut for water diversions.
The fellers from the warehouse delivered it this afternoon and I just have to keep fuel in it and make sure it stays greased. Maybe I'm weird but these machines are such great fun to use.
You may notice also, in the foreground there, a new stack of siding. Yes, I am working on the exterior again and determined to get that finished. Of course, I have to take advantage of the machine while I have it and get as much done with it as possible. I might get to keep it for a week or two but they might come get it Monday also. Just depends on what's going on with work.

Comin' Home Part 2

So this is the second half of the drive. This is at the sharp turn by the rocks. Lots of oak leaf hydrangeas grow along here.
The drive makes another kind of sharp turn at the top of this little hill and then it is the final stretch to the house. I am looking back down the drive here, towards the creek. Several concrete truck drivers have had a pause here at this curve but we have never had any problems getting any of the big trucks in.
This is the last leg of the journey and you can see in the distance where the clearing starts. There is a little area here, over to the right, where there is another large boulder and that I want to plant more hydrangeas and ferns etc. Maybe some more daylilies!
Now it opens up to where the house sits. Over to the right is my pathetic little garden that I am woefully behind in planting. Hopefully, this will be the last photo you see of that freaking house wrap as it will soon be covered with siding! I know the house looks funny but when all the retaining walls are poured around it etc. it will look closer to the ground. The way it is now does not make sense to a lot of people but I know in my head what it is going to look like finished. I just have trouble explaining it to everyone else.
To answer your question Pablo; I believe this was a 25 acre lake and the shore of it came to about where my house sits. You can see how the land kinda slopes off to the right; in the direction of the creek. We have found an anchor and fishing lures right in the vicinity of the house and driveway. The dam broke in 1963 so it has had quite some time to grow up. I was born in 1968 but we won't discuss that as my birthday is Wednesday and I may be having a crisis. Oh yeah, you can see ol' Blue sitting over there in his little parking spot and who is now paid off!
I start my weeks vacation tomorrow although I will be working the whole time. But I will be working on my house and not for the Man so it is very good.

Comin' Home Part 1

It occurred to me the other day that I have not posted any photos of the land or garden areas in some time and that a lot of readers may have no idea what type of surroundings are here. I am tired of posting shots of the unfinished house so I thought I would show some other stuff. Allen and I have a little over 17 acres here although it is divided between us. It is basically a whole valley. My house sits back off the road about 1,000 feet. The terrain, my desire for privacy and layout of the property lines are the reason for this. Basically, the best home site was just that far back. When we first acquired the property it was completely inaccessible. Fortunately, since I work for a large construction company, I was able to procure the use of some heavy equipment to make things work out. Still, I tried not to disturb the terrain any more than necessary. Oh, a large part of the land was once under water because back the 50's, this was the site of a man-made lake. This photo shows the beginning of my drive. There is a very large sycamore tree right there on the right.
I enjoyed Pablo's video he made of his drive into his land and so that is part of where this comes from. I have no idea how to make and download a video though so this will have to do. Basically, I just walked up to the furthest point you see in the photo to take the next one. The sloping banks you see on either side of the drive here are what is left of the old earth dam. I was very fortunate to be able to use this soil as the fill and base for the driveway. It would have been very expensive to haul in that much dirt and very destructive to have tried to gather it from around the property.
This is just past the dam and right before the big rock bluff that I showed a few days ago. Some of the areas on the sides of the drive are fairly bare and I would like to eventually have these all planted with native shrubs and flowers. The rock bluff is on the left but it is mostly obscured by the trees now. We had to move a few very large boulders here to be able to get the road in but just moved them over to the other side to help shore up that soil. We also moved the small, spring creek over just a few feet to give a little more room! What you can do with even small equipment. Of course, we got a backhoe stuck right here so bad I thought we were going to have to call a wrecker. If you look off to the right at the turn there in the drive you can see where the spring creek joins the main creek. I have planted some groups of irises and there are at least 2 different types of ferns that grow there naturally. Maybe you can make them out in this photo. You can see the main creek over to the right for most of the drive. It makes for a very pleasant walk too.

I will show the rest of the drive tomorrow maybe. I have this whole week off from work and hope to get a large portion of the siding up. I received the trim yesterday afternoon and will start staining that Sunday since it is raining here today.

*Deep Purple

Good Intentions

I have recently been trying to make more of an effort to tidy up the landscape around here. During construction things get so torn up and you get to where you don't really care but I have gotten tired of looking at just dirt and mud. My dream is to have a mostly naturalized landscape with native plants and grasses. Something that does not require a lot of maintenance or resources. This area was clear cut about 10 years ago and so it was very thick with undergrowth and small trees when we came down here. About all you could do with it was just bulldoze it and start over. I want to restore the forest areas; clear out the privet hedge and briers. Well, a friend was telling me how he his trying to do similar work on his land and has gone to the National Resources Conservation Services for help. I had never heard of this but basically, the federal government, if they deem you fit, pays you to restore your own land. An agent will come out and advise you , after viewing your property, on which programs you may be eligible for. Most all counties have an agent; it's something like your county extension office. Then they give you money, a written plan of what you must do and a certain amount of time in which to do it. My friend has gotten money to restore some watersheds and help restore the quail population in our area.
Part of the quail program is that you must plant a certain amount of native grasses for them. I have been needing to plant something in front of my house because the runoff is horrible and it looks terrible too so he gave me some of the seed he had leftover. It is a mixture of 3 grasses and 2 wildflowers. Indian Grass, Little Bluestem, Switchgrass, Partridge Pea, Illinois Bundleflower and Blackeyed Susan. He also gave me some Tickseed and Mexican Hat seeds. So, Allen and Oliver boxbladed the front area smooth again and we got up a lot of the rocks and sticks and then I sowed these seeds. Now, I didn't have that much so, on the friends advice, I sowed these along the edge of the woods and then just did a short fescue grass in the big open areas. I did sow the wildflower seeds in with the grass and might get some more flower seed. This is the mixture I was given. I know you can't tell much from the photo but it did have a wonderful silky feel. I did this on Sunday and Monday and it rained good today so I hope the seed takes and begins to grow.

I also built a little temporary retaining wall along the drive to stop dirt from washing onto the driveway and planted some more daylilies and daffodils and some other stuff. I will try to show that soon. I have tries to start a few things in the garden but need to do a lot of work there as the ants and grass are fighting for control within it's borders.

Well, time for bed. I have to get up earlier these days because this new job is about 20 minutes further from my house. Ack!

*Lyle Lovett and his Large Band

Loose Ends

Well, alot of stuff has been going on these past couple of weeks. I've been working so much I haven't had time to post much but here is a summary of some of what has happened. Allen finished framing and sheathing this end of the house so now it is completely framed except for a couple of small interior walls. The outside is ready for roofing and siding. We used up alot of scraps we had on this so that was good. I hate to waste material.
It's so neat to see on the inside! It actually looks like a house now! Now to start planning electrical and plumbing. Well, the next immediate thing is to get the permanent roof on but we are planning utilities too.
While Allen was working on that I got the backhoe! Those things are sooooo much fun. I started cutting the area that will be parking next to the house. I do pretty good but I am a little slow with the machine but I think I still made fair progress. This is not a really good shot; I don't think it really shows how much I cut and moved. I will have to build a retaining wall here at the front of this cut as it will be about 4 ft. into the hill there with a set of steps going up towards the house.
I also gathered up all the many piles of rocks that I have all over the property that has been accumulating for months and took them up to the house. You have to throw them in the bucket by hand but its great to just be able to dump them wherever you want them. I have a pretty good pile at the house but I fear its only going to be a drop in the bucket for what I need to build this wall.
I started clearing this area behind the house too in preparation for putting in a french drain at the base of the retaining/foundation wall here and backfilling this area. There will be a large flagstone patio and walk here that leads to the entrance to the house, which will be in the dogtrot part of the house. Which, of course, is just porch now and won't actually be a dogtrot until I build the other half of the house. Which hopefully will be in the not-to-distant future. If I survive this. I will be clearing quite a bit more here but leaving the bigger trees for shade. There are also a number of dogwood and redbud trees that I want to keep. I'm trying to keep lots of the native plants that are attractive and that also includes wild hydrangeas and ferns.

Here I Am

No photos today though; just a little update on what's been happening. I'll have some current photos shortly. We really didn't work on the house this past weekend so there wasn't much to show. We thought we should take more advantage of having a free backhoe so we did some more road and clearing work since we were kind of to a stopping point on the roof. Allen cleared the way that the water lines are going to run from the spring to the house and consolitated some brush piles that we have been trying to burn up and took them away from the front of the house so it looks much better. In the process, he uncovered many good rocks that I am going to need to build the wall under the house so we loaded 2 full backhoe buckets of rocks and took them up to the house.
On Sunday I went to a lecture that an architect presented here in town on passive solar houses. I didn't learn much but it was interesting to go to anyway and see that there is growing interest in the subject.
On another subject but still related to the house, I have been lent to another job that needed a carpenter for awhile so I am not on the Big House right now. The job I have been sent to is a branch of a children's hospital down here. Hospitals in Birmingham are big business and are constantly being renovated, which is what we are doing even though the hospital isn't 7 years old. Anyway, renovations mean they are tearing out and throwing away LOTS of stuff; great stuff if you are willing to deal with it. So, I have got enough insulation to do the entire house, 3 practically brand new bathroom sinks (Kohler no less), stainless steel lock sets and maybe some other stuff. The sinks even still have the fixtures on them but I will probably buy something a little more residential looking. Money is starting to get a little tight so this comes right in time and hopefully the insulation will not have to sit long before being installed. I wanted to buy the insulation that is available nowdays that is not made using formaldahyde but when you are offered completely free, basically new material it is hard to turn it down. It is a standard fiberglass bat-type roll insulation so it's good stuff. Maybe any fumes have already dissipated. Truely green materials can be very hard to come by in this area or too expensive for me to afford but I think it counts to reuse what you can because that saves any material (green or otherwise) from having to be manufactured, which is where alot of enviromental problems come from and plus the materials are not thrown in a landfill. It still pains me greatly to see how much is still thrown away. But if the owners of the buildings do not put it in the specs to recycle the materials, then it is rarely done.

Night and Day

The past couple of weeks we have been concentrating on getting power lines run to the house site. The land is pretty inaccessible except for the road we put in; steep hills, lots of thick forest. We have kinda been putting this off for whatever reason but we just had to get to it. I was able to procure a free backhoe, which helps greatly, and if you can swing that you generally don't get a choice about when you get the equipment so you just have to stop whatever else you are doing and use it. Anyway, we did not want the power lines to come down the driveway because the power company loves to whack a 30 foot wide swath all the way down the lines and it would have just destroyed the looks of the drive. So, we had to convince them it would be easier on everyone if they would come in this back way. There is a small subdivision at the end of the valley (and the land) that they could come off of so we cleared this road to show them the lay of the land and that it is actually closer this way. The power man came out and Allen showed him around and he agreed to do it this way! I was very happy. If another house is ever built out here it would be on this side anyway and so the power will already be there. Now, I know I said that I wanted to avoid wanton destruction of trees coming in one way and this road looks horrible so I know somebody is thinking, "that really helped". Well, here's my thinking. The drive has old growth forest also (which is very pretty and home to many critters) and this area is relatively new stuff. Very thick and not too pretty. Another big thing is that, to everyone's horror, the power company here has started using RoundUp to keep the land under their lines clear. They spray everthing anywhere and it looks horrible and I believe is very unhealthy. In this area of my property, I intend to keep it cleared anyway for pasture and can possibly keep the power company from spraying if I can keep the foliage cut back. The power company will only have to set 4 poles so I don't think it's going to cost me anything and eventually I want to run underground from the last pole to the house. I don't like to see power lines etc. It will probably take a few weeks to actually get the lines in so for a while still we are on generator power.
I just happened to be up at our little apartment at sunset and snapped this pic. This was unusual because we have been working so much lately alot of times we don't actually get to the apartment until way after dark. I thought it was a cool view because you can see over into the next valley.
Well, this weekend our friend Ted is coming to help us again and we will continue to frame the rest of the roof. I want to have that done by the end of this month. I am going to have to start setting some hard deadlines to motivate us more.

The Long and Winding Road

These photos were taken at the end of summer I think so the road is more finished; there is gravel on most of it and its wider and smoother in places. Some of them show a little more progress. I got these photos in backwards so if you scroll down to the last summer picture and then scroll back up , thats what it would look like driving into the property. This section is much more finished now and just as you go around that last slight curve it opens out to the house site. Those are wild hydrangea on the left bank. They are everywhere here.
This was the toughest spot to get in. We had to clip off the end of this rock line and roll some very large boulders away. To the right, down that slope is a little creek that comes from 2 of the springs that come out of the mountain. We used some of the large rocks that we had to move anyway to shore up the dirt that we pushed over there. The cut you see at the top of this hill is about 15 feet high. We may put in a retaining wall one day if it seems to want to start sliding. So far its okay. I was really nervous this first time we had a concrete truck come in on this curve. But he made it fine. Some of those drivers are really good.
This is another view as you are driving in; if I had done the sequencing right it would be in order but we are going backward actually. On the left are some large trees we had to cut and on the left is the creek. You can see it when you are in a vehicle and its real nice. When we took down the old dam we uncovered a very long section of 12" dia. steel pipe (probably 60' or more) that was a drain or overflow. Another serendipitous find! So we cut that up into 3 sections and used it for the culverts under the road. One of them is in this photo although you can't see it. It has a really cool, huge gate valve on the end that we left for a souvenir and it still works! This section has alot more gravel on it now and Allen loves to run Oliver up and down the driveway with the box blade. It makes it really smooth though. I was suprised how well those things work.
This is closer to the main road as you are driving in. The wall of dirt on the left is the old dam or whats left of it. We have planted some azaleas and ferns on the little hump on the right. Ferns grow wild all over the place here though so you can get as many as you want.
This is looking from the other direction at the same spot. Dam on the right; we tried to grade it down so it looks kind of natural but we need to plant some kind of ground cover or something. This was taken just the other day. We have a couple of spots here and there in the road that are holding a little water but its still settling in some. There is alot of water seeping down off the hills right now and I think we are going to have to dig a couple of little ditches to divert some water. We still have alot of clean up as far as cut trees go. We have tried to give away as much as possible for firewood but most people don't want to have to split it. There are a couple of really tall, straight trees down that I would like to use in the house if we can. They would make great interior supporting columns.

Fun With Machinery.

I'm going back in time a bit here, but I wanted to show a little about the drive. Also, I noticed on some of the other blogs I visit, the subject has been the occasional trespasser and I have a story about that.
This photo is from the very beginning of the driveway, as you can probably tell. I have to say, I have been extremely blessed with very opportune circumstances regarding this land. Someone must be watching out for me! One instance is with this drive. In the 1950's, about a third of what is now my land, was a man-made lake and then in 1963 (I think) a huge rainstorm came and it rained for days on end and the earth dam that had been built for the lake, broke. It was too much to rebuild so they just left it. When we arrived, there was no other good way to bring a road in except by this old earth dam. (I am land-locked and have a 500' long easement back to my place.) So, by some twist of fate, this old dam provided all the dirt we needed to build this very long driveway back to our home site. There is no way we would have been able to afford to have this much dirt hauled in. Well, it would not have made good financial sense.
Now, we had gotten about half of the drive in and had connected to the main road but it was not really passable but with a machine, when some person decided they wanted to come see what we were doing. They did not ask but just went tooling down the road, on a muddy day no less, and got back up in there and just about got stuck. There was no where to turn around and a creek on one side. I t could have turned into a very bad situation but they managed to get out although they rutted the road up something awlful doing it. Now when I saw this I was furious! It was bad enough they didn't ask but somehow it was made all the worse because they DROVE on my land. I told Allen we were going to go get a gate that day! I knew there were several large gates up at my parents that were not being used anymore so we went up there. Allen said I should just calm down and that they (trespasser) had learned their lesson and probably would not be back but, NO! I was pissed! So, we had to drive into the pasture at Mama's to get the gate I wanted (remember what I said about it being a muddy day) and we noticed right away that maybe this wasn't a good idea. Well, we made it down to the gate and loaded it up but in my infinite wisdom, I told him to take a different route out. We almost made it. We got about 30 yards from the exit and marred up so bad the mud was up to the axle of the truck. We pushed and shoved and crammed everything we could find under the wheels but it wasn't going anywhere. Did I mention it was dark by now and about 38 degrees? This went on about an hour and Allen finally just gave up and said we were going to have to get someone to pull us out. But I said NO! we were construction workers! we've seen worse! we've gotten concrete trucks out of worse mud before! So I told him to get in the truck and just go when I said. He was so exhausted he went along with it. So I worked for another 30 minutes but was really starting to crash; I was exhausted, freezing and muddy from head to toe. In despair I said (outloud), God if you'll just help us get out I'll try to NEVER act so ugly again about something so trivial! And then I threw a couple more rocks under the tires and told Allen to floor it and don't stop. And he did! He drove right out! I couldn't believe it. I was still laughing when I got up to the house and he and Mama asked me what I was laughing at. I told them and they said that's what I get for being so pissy and ungrateful. So we went back home and the next morning Allen went down to install the gate. I told him he should not pull in all the way but he said, oh I won't get stuck! Well, you can guess what happened. Now, down here people will generally stop if they see a motorist who needs help and so this man stops and pulls Allen's truck out with his truck. The clincher is that it was the same man that I was accusing of being the trespasser to begin with! Generally speaking, I am so hard-headed that I have to learn lessons this way. My brother, who is a preacher, thought this was a very good story.