April has flown by. We spent the month inching ever closer to the completion of the rehab of the old farmhouse. We are in the phase of hanging drywall on the newly constructed walls -- upstairs. Downstairs is another story. We still have some electrical and plumbing to complete before we can start the drywall. But we ARE making headway.
We started the month insulating the new pump house in preparation for the plumber who would move all of the equipment from the old, cinder block pump house to the new one. What a difference the new pump house makes. Once the pump, water tank, water softener etc. were relocated, we were able to knock down the old pump house, preparing the back of the house for the eventual addition.
And we dug trenches.... yes, indeed. As if we hadn't dug sufficient trenches in the two years we have been trying to tame this land, we decided we wanted power run to some of the out buildings... so more trenches were in order. What's one more trench?
Or two? Another Irrigation trench, please, as long as we're at it!
Well, actually, there were MANY more trenches dug in April, but I think you get the picture. When in doubt, trench!
Now, of course, with the promise of "April Showers" which, in these parts, means....lots of water with no place to go, and since we'd enjoyed almost a month without a rain event, we decided we should take advantage of the pond being almost dry, and increase her diameter and depth.
And none too soon. Sure enough, we were blessed with rain...lots of it. The trees, flowers and plants all loved the rain after such a long dry spell, but we had our hands full (of shovels and rakes) helping direct the water to the newer, better pond. Our work paid off, and, with a few more tweaks, the whole thing should be working without our assistance during heavy rainfalls.
Meanwhile, all the dirt removed from the pond was used to build up the roads around the house and to the outbuildings.
While we were racing against Mother Nature to deal with water issues, our carpenter was busy working on the fire escape we are installing, and replacing the window with a door. The fire escape is not yet completed (railings needed), but it's coming along.
Of course, the juggling of the many different parts of this project can get a little overwhelming. Every day is an adventure, and we never quite know what progress will be made by day's end. There always is progress, but I for one, will be happy when the whole rehab is complete! At least we are nearing completion with the upstairs drywall.
Naturally, life isn't ALL about the rehab of the old farmhouse. I traveled to Maryland on Easter to share a meal with family, and we had a great time. There are definitely some excellent cooks in my family -- several generations worth! I was really, really full when I finally pushed myself away from the table.
I returned to Maryland this weekend to celebrate my mother's birthday with her. We did all kinds of exciting things...umm...we tried out her new washing machine for the first time, ordered a book online for her (one that she will be reading for her book club) and I called and set up appointments for her to meet with contractors to get bids on refinishing her floors! (Will the excitement never end?) Later, she and I met my sister for
dinner at a nearby restaurant. Mom turned 77 on Saturday and I think
she was thrilled when the waiters led the restaurant patrons in song
wishing her a Happy Birthday....
On a sad note, we lost
one of our goats to a copperhead bite. The only good thing about the
whole incident is that she went quickly. In less than two hours from
the time of the bite, she was gone. While I understand this is life on
the farm, in the woods, etc. it is always sad to lose an animal. Oddly,
Renee was always the "loud" goat. The other two were quiet in
comparison. Since her passing, the other two have become much more
vocal.
So life goes on and I (ALMOST) managed to get a post published in April....
And of course, the post would not be complete without a picture of Eloise. One of my nieces and my little brother's girlfriend conspired to snap a
delightfully silly photo of my sweet granddaughter....almost 4 months
old in this photo.
This week was another nice one, once the rain left. Spring is definitely here, despite the still chilly nights. We brought a lot of the plants out of the makeshift greenhouse, where they weathered the winter, into the natural sunlight. I continue to be amazed at how many plants survive and thrive in that porch-made-into-greenhouse.
Plants Made it Through the Winter Again
Moving the Plants Outdoors
We spent much of the week continuing the digging of trenches. We are rerouting water lines from the old pump-house location to the new one, and this means digging deep trenches to ensure we don't need to worry about freezing pipes. We are also changing ancient steel 4-inch pipe from the old farmhouse, to 4-inch schedule 40 PVC pipe. Finally, we are burying part of the water diversion 4-inch corrugated pipe that takes our downspout rainwater out to the gardens and to the back pond. So... lots of digging (again).
Ancient Cast Iron Pipe
The new pump-house was delivered this week. We will be insulating and painting the interior this weekend, in anticipation of the plumber, who will arrive bright and early Monday morning to move and re-plumb all of the components from the old pump house to the new one. With the old pump-house vacated, and her cinder blocks knocked down, we will be one step closer to being able to start really deciding how we will extend the back of the house. We are still collecting bids on a variety of options.
Before Pump House
Pump House Arrives
Using New Roads
Backing over Temporary Trench Covers
Supervisor....
Joe Makes Last Minute Adjustments Under New Pump House
Easy, Peasey
Rolling Her Into Position
Leveling
"We're in a Tight Spot!"
New Trench From Well to New Pump House
During all of our outdoor activities, we were subjected to what apparently is a regular daily overflight by a very low-flying helicopter. This is irritating, not only because it literally skims the treetops but also because it is deafening, rattles the house (and our teeth), and scares the goats and chickens. Yesterday, the daily flyover took on new life, starting at about 11:20 AM and going until around 5:00 PM... At least once ever 30 minutes we had one of these low-flying, tree-topping, teeth-rattling flyovers. And there were at least three different helicopters involved. I have no idea what is going on, but if it continues, I will have to find out and try to lodge some sort of complaint. These helicopters are flying way too low for safety. Someone is going to get hurt. (I mean, yeah, I know it is VERY interesting to see all the work we are doing around the old farmhouse, but does EVERY helicopter tour have to put us on their "must see" list??? LOL)
Helicopters or not, we continue wading in Springtime activities. I was pleasantly surprised to see my asparagus had popped up, providing us with our first meal of her bounty. We ate some of it right out of the garden and it was delicious! We have tiny plums on the plum trees already and even some uber-tiny peaches....still looking to see when I can espy the first apples, pears, cherries and apricots. The grapevines are really taking off this year and I am excited by the prospect of wallowing in grapes come harvest time.... that is, if the birds and critters don't wallow in them first! The raspberries and blackberries are aggressively trying to dominate the berry patch, while the strawberries, ever-multiplying from only a couple of plants my daughter gave us a couple of years ago, quietly extend their territory. I have a strong suspicion the real challenge this year will be being able to actually get INTO the berry patch to harvest, without crushing something. Thankfully, all of the plants in the berry patch are thorn-less varieties....
Asparagus.... Yummy
Goats... "WE WANT SOME!!!"
Goat Conference
Free-Rangers Turn Their Beaks up at Asparagus
Another busy week is ahead of us. Our handyman/contractor who has been doing the majority of the construction work on the old farmhouse will be returning after being gone on other jobs for a month. The plumber will be here on Monday, the contractor with whom we are negotiating bids for the addition will be here on Thursday, and the electrician will be here on Friday to install the new sub-panel in anticipation of the eventual addition. And, of course, it is a busy week at church, with Thursday, Friday Saturday and Sunday services. On Easter Sunday, I will travel up to Maryland to share a ham dinner with family....
Meanwhile....back at the farm.... duck.... low-flying 'copters coming through!!!
It has been a rainy last couple of days. I guess I should enjoy the rain-forced "relaxation days," but I am eager to move forward with the outdoor projects around here. Still, the weatherman has promised us the return of sunny days this week, so all is good.
Maybe my shoes got a little muddy....
Last weekend Joe and I took Sunday afternoon off from our current efforts of building up roads (and continuing the seemingly never-ending "water diversion" efforts) to go see a performance of, "Everything I Need To Know, I learned in Kindergarten." My son was one of the actors in this community theatre production. I'd never before seen the play and was pleasantly surprised. It was a cute play with an enthusiastic and talented cast. It was interesting to see my son play several roles, from a kindergarten kid to a harried businessman, to an old night auditor, to an 80 year old man with dementia, who happily lived in his own world where Christmas was anytime it struck his fancy.
However, the most surprising to me was the scene for one of the vignettes which opened with Stephen playing the saxophone. Certainly, I knew my son played the saxophone, but it had been many years since I'd heard him play. I thought he'd put it aside in favor of the guitar, mandolin and other instruments he has picked up along the way. It was nice to hear him play again. After the show, I asked him if that was the same instrument on which he'd learned to play, and he said, no, it was a replacement -- the original was ruined in an apartment flood many years ago. Nevertheless, seeing him on stage, in the low light, playing the saxophone, brought back images of my brother, Ted, and my first real introduction to that instrument.
Ted, at age about 20, for reasons unknown to me, got the notion that he'd like to play the sax. One day while Mom was visiting yard sales or church white elephant sales or something, she came across a saxophone. She purchased the gift for Ted and he happily spent the next few years teaching himself to play. When Ted passed away, shortly before his 25th birthday, the saxophone went to my brother, Ray. I have no idea whether Ray ever played the instrument. However, when Stephen decided to take up the saxophone in 6th grade, Ray gifted Ted's saxophone to him. That saxophone, refurbished for the new student, was played daily for the next seven years or so. It marched many miles in marching band. It traveled to Florida and New York and as far as Canada for competitions. That yard sale saxophone certainly brought a lot of joy to us. I think one of my all time favorite quotes a la Stephen came when he was in about 7th grade.
"Mom, I know where I want to go to college," said he, with enthusiasm. "Oh yeah? Where?" "Either Yale or Florida State." "Ummmmm... OK. Why?" "Well, Yale is a really great school, but it's very expensive. Florida State has a great marching band!"
Well, Stephen went to neither Yale nor Florida State, but then again, he didn't become a garbage truck driver (his dream at age about 5) nor a glass blower (5th grade ambition).... Still he happily performs in community theatre productions and, apparently, still breaks out the saxophone, every now and then!
So that was last weekend and since then we enjoyed five beautiful sunny days before the rain set in. We managed to finish one of the roads and get the drainage systems working (we think) in preparation for the arrival of the new "pump house" this week. We are relocating the well pump, water tank and softener system from the current location at the back of the house to the side of the house. This will allow us to eventually add on to the back of the house without obstruction. I look forward to another productive week on the old farmhouse, with the sunny weather predicted.
Digging trenches
Laying Water Line (for Hoses)
Adding Dirt
Burying Drainage Pipe
Trying to beat the Rain
Compacting compaction soil layer
Spreading compaction soil
Road with first layer of Crush-n-Run
This week I have also been enjoying reading the blog posts of one of my son's best friends from school days. Travis was Stephen's first friend when we moved to Virginia in 1988 and they remained good friends, both in and out of school, in Scouts, and in church youth group, through their graduation from high school in 1999. I lost touch with Travis when he went off to college, but recently found him on Facebook and have been catching up. Travis has, this week, embarked on fulfilling one of his long-time dreams. He has taken a leave of absence from work, entrusted his "everyday commitments" to his wife for the next few months, and has begun his hike .... he aspires to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in the next five months.
Travis writes a journal entry (daily so far) to keep us (those of us who must live vicariously through his adventures) up to date. As of his last entry, he'd hiked a little over 30 miles. I am adding his blog to the list of interesting reads that appear on the shoulder of my blog. I hope you enjoy his journal of his trek as much as I have.
It's been more than three weeks since I saw my grandbaby, and I am itching to take a drive back over there. They grow and change so quickly in these early days. I'm going to try to get over there for a few days in April. Hard to believe she is already three months old!
Jenn and Eloise (Flower Child)
I do so love Spring .... the big thrill for me is seeing all of the plants that survived the winter and are starting to put on their blossoms and leaves. I was excited to see that the dozen Canna Lilies I planted last year have multiplied, and I have counted nearly five dozen new lilies popping out of the ground. The plum, peach, pear, cherry and apricot trees are all in bloom. The fig, apple trees and the grape, raspberry, blackberry, black current, gooseberry, and strawberries are all leafing out. The forsythia is brilliant yellow and the azaleas are about to open in pinks, reds, purples and whites. It will be interesting to see which annuals return from seeds dropped last year.
"Mr." tries out the new road....
Daffodils
Fig
Forsythia
Pear
Meanwhile...... there's still plenty of work to be done!
