The great thing about being back in school is being back on the school schedule. You get more holidays – plus random days off for “faculty days” and such. And you get BREAKS. It’s pretty awesome. This week was Spring Break and I got a whole week off! Only 5 more quarters to go!!
This break has been far less productive than winter break was as far as the property goes; BUT I got to catch up with a few friends and my grandparents, I got to deep clean and organize some neglected spaces (like my file cabinet!!), and I got to mountain bike some more! I also spent half a day cooking when my original plan was to spend that time tilling up a new garden for this Spring. Unfortunately, the tiller was in disrepair so my father-in-law had to spend some time getting it all ready, and then had some errands to run and we didn’t have a chance to plot out the garden. So I did a pork roast in the oven and some fancy brussel sprouts; I even homemade some dinner rolls! ALL of which need to be practiced a bit more before they’re anything to brag about – but it was a lot more time and thought than I usually spend on dinner, and was a lot of fun to put together.
My father-in-law also got a ton of work done on the chicken coop! He finished the construction and primed it in the first half of the week, and was able to get it all done in time for our Sunday BBQ so we could get some friends’ help moving it out to its new home! Now we’ve just got to get a small chicken wire fence set up so the little chicks can be let loose in their big new space!! They are getting pretty loud and wild in the brooder and are almost fully feathered out. We’ll have to put the heat lamp out in the coop for the first few weeks, but they won’t need it for too much longer! I’m so excited to see them outside!!
By Thursday the rototiller was fixed and I spent a couple hours tilling up the new garden site – wow – that is hard work! Hopefully one day we have a tractor for the muscle work! I was pretty sore the next day…and only got more sore throughout the weekend with our other projects… The garden is going to need quite a few more passes with the rototiller, but I got through it 1 1/2 times the first day, and my husband was able to finish that half and do another on Sunday. Eventually (apparently – this is my first go at tilling…) it won’t be as difficult as the ground loosens up; but right now it is a mean workout! Just look at that giant garden! I don’t know how we’re going to fill it just yet – my mother-in-law is the garden guru – but it’s going to be a lot more hard work and time (oh goodie, just what we needed!)
We also had a chance to meet with the log home specialist in the middle of the week. It was really awesome. He is a really helpful guy, and while it seems like he typically works with much more… grandiose log homes with (much) larger budgets, he was more than happy to talk us through lots of different options. He offered a ton of knowledge and talked us through a few of our next steps. I’m very grateful he was able to come out and look at the Cabin and talk to us about our plans and aspirations. Our next step will be to get a foundation under the Cabin. Which unfortunately meant we needed to remove the wood flooring. It was a bit of an intimidating and tedious project, but necessary! On Friday we removed the top layer of wood flooring – yes, there were two layers.. We were trying to save as much of the tongue and groove planks as possible, so it took a lot of time and a bit of a learning curve to get them up cleanly. We ended up sledgehammering wedges in between the two layers of flooring to pry up the top layer without causing the nails to rip the boards apart.
Eventually we got a really nice flow going and figured out a pretty efficient way of getting the boards up. And we got smart and pulled the truck up so we could load the boards right into the truck and wouldn’t have to move them twice. I’ve never had a real reason to use a sledge hammer for a long period of time before and it always looks like fun, but let me tell you, it is only fun for about 4 swings. Then it is just plain exhausting. As I started out the day sore from tilling, I quickly worked all that soreness out (exercise is a great cure for sore muscles!), and then replaced it with brand new sore muscles…it was really fun.. When we finally got the top layer removed and all the boards relocated into the barn for safe keeping until they can be used, we were so tired we decided to call it quits and head into town to mountain bike with some friends to decompress. Which is – by the way – way more exercise. Wooooo. (I’m a big baby when it comes to exercising, can you tell?!)
The worst part about get the first layer of the flooring done was that when we looked around all our hard work, it was hard to see that anything was done at all. The next morning I was scheduled to work (thank goodness!), so my husband worked on removing the second layer of flooring until I got home. My eyeballs were practically popping out of my skull when I got back and saw this:
How he accomplished so much in so little time – and all by himself – I will never understand. But I am incredibly grateful. We tag teamed hauling those big beams down to the barn with the in-laws, and then we unloaded the planks from the little tractor trailer he had loaded to overflowing (why didn’t I get pictures of that?!). I had to sit on top of the pile of boards because the seat wasn’t even accessible and attempt to steer the John Deere mower over to a little pathway beside the barn. It was probably hilarious to watch. Then we walked around to see what we could find in the dirt that probably hasn’t been seen since around the 1890’s. Tons of bones, most of an opossum skeleton, and lots of cool little trinkets and bottles.
Next we will have to lift the whole Cabin up in order to remove all of the deteriorating bottom logs and replace them with a concrete foundation. Holy cow am I nervous about that project, it’s going to take some time getting all the supplies together and coordinating with some friends to get extra hands and eyes on deck for the big to-do. I’m practically biting my nails already!!
The Homestead Journey 