This week has been pretty busy. Heck, this year has been pretty busy. My husband has had a huge project going on at work for the past month, and now they are going to be moving the company to a new building in a few weeks to top it off! He’s been pretty beat lately. My MIL also has had a huge project going on at work for a long while now. It’s funny how we were looking for a big property for years, and the same year we all got super busy, was when we finally found our dream place. It will all work out in the long run, and we’re all grateful to have the Homestead, but it is a huge time and energy responsibility!
This past weekend we finished getting the jacks all set up and ready to go. We also removed all of the windows – don’t want those shattering down on us when we’re already high strung hoping the lift goes off without a hitch! We also went shopping and got the supplies needed to build the frame for the stick-built wall once the bad logs are removed. Our plan is to get everything prepped and ready to go, lift the Cabin just enough to release the pressure on the wall with the bad logs, remove the bad logs, and immediately build in the stick-built frame and place it on jacks so that the whole Cabin can be lifted the same height together. Once we get there, then the really stressful part starts!
We also did cross braces between all the beams to prevent any unwanted movement. In addition to all that, we also set up some come-alongs to preload the walls together so that they don’t try to slip away from their nicely seated dove-tail ends. We placed a big beam across the span of the Cabin (north-south) below the come-along near the bad wall so it can’t move much at all in any direction (we hope!). It took all four of us to get the beam into position Monday night after work/school. It was quick and easy once there were four on it, but it felt absolutely impossible with only two! I forgot to get some pictures of those setups though 😦
Monday I had some extra time after school so I went around and picked up all the extra wood and got the whole area cleaned up. I burned all the small stuff and the rotted window frames, and saved what I could for future use or for our firewood. Tuesday was a clinic day so I didn’t do much after getting home and Wednesday we decided to go for a ride! It was really nice to break up the week and get some time to just relax and have fun. We are going to try to fit another bike ride in this weekend – all work and no play isn’t positive for anyone! Today I was able to get a big project done and had some time to spare! I spent it hauling rocks that had been piled in inopportune places back behind the barn where we’re keeping all the bricks. It was good fun work. I kept hearing my old coworker V from the office telling me to “be careful” and “lift with my legs so I don’t hurt my back”, and then rolling her eyes and looking stressed when I didn’t seem concerned. Well, my back was pretty tired after today, so I’ll have to work on that lifting with the legs thing!
I got some baby sprouts coming up in my little sunflower bed this last week! Unfortunately, everything you see here has been eaten :(. All of the leaves were nibbled off one morning when I went to check on them! I hope whoever stole them really needed them and enjoyed them, because I was really excited to have grown them! I did start some more in a little pot in the cold frame, I’ll have to wait to plant them until they’re a little older and hope they survive I guess.
We have still got some gorgeous blooms going on here. The lilacs are starting to fade, but we’ve got a bush that looks fairly similar to lilac (and smells nearly identical) that’s blooming right outside our RV now (second image above). Our yellow azalea (first image above) is absolutely amazing, it’s placed right next to the driveway and I love seeing it every time I come home! The pale pink rhododendron is shaping up nicely as well! It was looking pretty sad a couple of weeks ago, but this last weekend I did my best to dead head everything that looked rough, and this week it is looking revived! Hopefully she sticks around, because she is an absolute beauty. The fourth image is a tree/bush that I have zero idea about what it is. But it’s very pretty and the bees and humming birds seem to be enjoying it as well! The final image above is our first peony bloom! We’ve got two peony plants, and this plant only had the one bud – but the other plant has loads that are getting ready to open!
This weekend was Mother’s Day, and I got to go out and make my MIL a bouquet of our awesome garden. Our single tulip was beginning to wilt so I took advantage of the holiday and stuck that beauty into the bouquet so we could enjoy the last of her life. I tried to get one of everything! However, I saved the peony because it wasn’t fully open yet, and I didn’t want to cut it too early. Just today I went out to check and found the peony to be fully bloomed! As the Mother’s Day bouquet was getting a little wilt-y, I took the sad flowers out and replaced them with this showy lady :)! I can’t wait until we’ve got more! There was also a ton of work done in the garden this week, and my baby trees are starting to grow as well! I didn’t do a fantastic job of getting pictures of everything this week, but that means there will be more for next week 🙂
The Homestead Journey 
How wonderful it all is!!!!! Gardening – flowers – building – what great pictures. I’m very happy for you. Looking forward to more ♥️
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