Turtle Ranch Tales

The Good, Bad And Ugly of 2011

2012-01-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

THE GOOD:

These wonderful products are the best find of the year! They beat SOS pads hands down! And they have sanding blocks as well. I can not say enough good things about them: made in the USA out of recycled glass! All a win, win product!
Find out more at www.goearthstone.com

THE BAD & UGLY

Ideal Feet Review

I hope if you are planning on visiting an Ideal Feet store you find your way to this Ideal Feet review to learn about my experience with this Ideal Feet company.

I had heard their advertising on the radio many times. About how wonderful these cutting edge Ideal Feet orthotics would change a person's life. They mentioned several times about the lifetime guarantee, just come in for a free fitting! So in my mind I thought wow! these are guaranteed to improve the way your feet feel or your money back.

So my husband and I found the Ideal Feet store and went in for this free fitting to see if they would apply to us. the Ideal Feet store was very stark, they had a very limited selection of shoes in a corner and what appeared to be a small stock room in the back. There were two salesmen waiting to attend to us and at that time there were no other customers in the store. So, we proceeded to sit down to be wowed.

The first thing the salesman did was to get an imprint of our foot on a piece of paper, I guess that was to get a beginning idea of what our foot imprint looks like. Then they put one of the inserts down and they have you do the imprint again with the insert in place. This was to show us how the insert redistributes the weight onto your foot. This was very impressive for I thought this would help my Planter Fasciitis that I developed on my right foot. He then has you stand barefoot on the ground and attempts to push you over, then he puts you in the inserts on the ground and attempts to push you over and you feel more solid. Another very impressive maneuver.

So as he is doing all of this maneuvering he is talking to us about the wonderful stories about people coming in and their lives changing because of these Ideal Feet orthotics. About an athlete that played table tennis and his feet became so painful he was no longer able to play table tennis until he was fitted with the Ideal Feet orthotics, he was then able to win championships. He mentioned all of the older people, I guess a group we could identify with, fact were able to walk again pain-free.

Keep in mind that during this whole fitting period there was never a mention of the Ideal Feet inserts not being refundable. The only sentence that was repeated over and over and over was the lifetime guarantee. Which led us to believe that they were refundable if the inserts did not work out.

At this point we were both fitted with the new inserts and asked to walk around. They did feel different, it did take the pressure off of my Plantar Fasciitis AT FIRST . As I am writing this I do remember the salesman saying, when I had mentioned my orthotics bought at another store seemed like they were not working anymore, and his response was, that is typical. that should have been a red flag to me.

So after we were fitted and walked around a little bit and felt the relief and the difference, we were told that it would take at least two weeks to break into the inserts before feeling the full benefits. That we should not attempt to wear them for more than about one hour the first day increasing by an hour each day. So they sell you two sets of inserts, the main inserts that you work up to wearing full time, and have more of an arch in them, cost $279.99.the second pair of inserts that they demand you buy cost $219.99. I was very shocked about the price but I felt if they work they are worth the price and we would have time to try them out and if they didn't work we could return them and get our money back, thus the lifetime guarantee!

So we bought the Ideal Feet inserts and religiously followed the guidelines for breaking in our feet to these inserts. I was not able to wear them comfortably for more than a few hours. I wanted so much to believe that they would change my foot comfort that I assumed this was just the break-in period. My husband didn't really feel a difference either way, it wasn't that his feet hurt but they weren't exceptionally comfortable either.

So after about six weeks of attempting to feel comfortable in my new Ideal Feet inserts I went back for a re fitting. I was given a softer pair with less of an arch and he told me this would definitely do the trick, that I would feel an amazing difference and to apply the break-in period as with the first pair.

My foot pain was so excruciating with the Ideal Feet inserts that I could no longer walk. I stopped wearing the Ideal Feet orthotics and a few days later went back to retrieve my previous inserts that they had us put in a see-through container to show potential clients what the ideal feet inserts replaced. At that time I asked the salesman what the procedure was to get our money back. He told me to call the number on the back of our receipt and that they would take care of us.

So when I got home I looked at our receipt and found the service hotline number 405 – 285 – 1287. Along with the fine print that reads; "We are here to help you fully enjoy the benefits of your investment in ideal feet products by offering free adjustments for the live on the trainer and maintenance line arch supports. Since our products are personal items, we do not offer refunds. However, your Pedorthic consultant is here to walk you through the adjustment process. There is no implied warranty of merchantability for any particular purpose. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact your Pedorthic consultant or call our customer service hotline. Have a great day !"

I called them up several times and I never received a return phone call. I e-mailed them my concern and was never returned a response. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and their process is that you explain your concerns and it is e-mailed to the business. They then have a window of time to respond. Ideal Feet sent back a standard letter repeating what they basically say on their receipt. This is done three times. Nothing ever got accomplished this way.

So I am writing this in hopes of saving many people from the deceptive advertising and deceptive trade practices of Ideal feet. I suggest that those that have experienced what we have experienced to file a complaint with your attorney general's office, AARP email: on your side@AARP.org and Clark Howard, phone number: 1–404 – 872 – 0750.
Ideal Feet
Maybe together as consumers we can stop this sort of practice in the marketplace. I hope this has been helpful for those searching for relief.

Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet
Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet
Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet
Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet
Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet Ideal Feet

2011 UPDATE

2011-12-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

This has been a year of closure with the death of Richards' father , he will be greatly missed. It was important for Richard to spend that time to care for his father and closing his affairs. So not alot was accomplished on the ranch this year and last.

We found these great cast iron signs on e-bay at http://stores.ebay.com/Cecils-Collectibles for about $20.00 each, they work well for the rustic look we have going on.
The 31 chickens are loving the winter rye grass and laying about 22 eggs a day between them. I know there are about 3 older hens (4 years old:not laying) that I can not tell a difference from the younger layers (less than a year) . That was when I failed to mark the older hens from the younger ones with plastic rings.
Richards cousin gave us a few dozen fish and the aquatic plants to really dress up the pond. With the powerful filtering system it is really staying clear.
The bath house awaits the next step.... raising of the walls.
We are grateful it has started raining again and hope this is a ongoing trend.
I started placing the insulation in the green house, a very dusty job dealing with recycled fiberglass insulation, I wear a face mask and rubber gloves.
The garden is sleeping . It has been a very warm winter and we have not had a deep freeze. This is the time I get caught up on weeding and plan for the next planting season.

Our son found this little heater for our outside shower . We hooked it up with the hose using adapters to convert the hoses from outside plumbing to house plumbing so the shower head would work. We have it in the chicken coop that shares a wall with the shower.

Bath house door frames

2011-12-11T05:42:00.000-08:00

The door frames are ready for installation. We calculated the dimensions by measuring the doors and allowing 1/2" more for adjustments. We then placed temporary boards nailed to the frame as to hold them to plumb and square.

On to the Bathhouse.....

2011-12-03T18:20:00.000-08:00

The windows are done and finished with cross boards to make sure they stay plum and square. We marked the top and inside of each frame.
We have been collecting the other materials for the bathhouse project as well: 7 yards of masonry sand, 15 bags of masonry cement, 15 bags of portland cement, 10 sticks of #3 rebar and Perlite for insulation to pour into the blocks. In my research I found out that this is the only material that can be used because loose fill fiber will absorb moisture .
Here Richard is using a square to make sure the corner remains square as he secures it with a screw. We are using treated 2X8 lumber for the windows.
We are using the shop slab that was poured 2 years ago for our work space, this is really coming in handy as it is level and cleaner than the dirt!

Here are my sketches that I drew up for the door and window openings. These have to be built before the first brick is laid for the building. I calculated the width of the door plus 1/2 inch for leaway . We decited to not have jams on these doors because of the final look. If you are planning on jams , you would add another inch and 1/2. The windows are the actual width plus 1/2 inch in all directions. It is important to note that the top piece rests on the side pieces for stuctual integraty .

YEP!, the Carport.......

2011-12-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is the exciting part when all the forms are removed and the final finish coat is applied to the side walls. They used a cement and sand mix to smooth out the rough surface. The weld plates and anchor bolts are placed in the cement when it is hard enough to walk on yet still soft enough to get them in place.

Carport.....Yaaaaa

2011-11-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

The final truck has come and gone and although lunch is ready and waiting for them, they have to get to a certin point before they can take a break, cement waits for no one and once it has set, it is there forever. Oh and by the way, it took 4 loads!

The third truck has unloaded and we are lookin good!!

The second truck arrives and it looks like it will take us to the half-way point. I calculated 4 loads, 40 cubic yards. We will see.

This is a good shot of all that steel that we will never see again but will be so important as time goes on.
The chute man guides the cement to where it needs to be placed and the other two rake like heck to get the cement in place before it starts to set, it all depends on the temperature and humidity as to how long it will take, somewhere around 3-4 hours.

The cement truck arrives with the first load and the hussle begins!!!

Carport ongoing....

2011-11-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

Due to weather constrants and Thanksgiving it took longer than we had planned to do the pour, but this happens and the only thing to do is wait it out. But we are ready ! Larry is digging out the final hole where a center pole will help to support the building. Rocks are placed to keep the rebar off of the plastic and the bottom where it would be exposed and could weaken the foundation. Because this is a carport the thickness of the slab will be 6"in the car parking side and 4" in the storage side.

Carport continued.....

2011-11-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

The crew worked yesterday and today building the forms to withstand the force of the wet cement . As we have learned in our past projects about how cement can get away from you if you don't have extremly strong forms and enough people to get the cement in place and smooth before it dries.
Above you can see the rebar in place about one foot apart going in both directions. We used 1/2 inch rebar, also known as #4 rebar.

After the fill dirt is in place and the footings are dug (footings are the ditches that go below the frost line around the whole building and where ever there will be a wall that needs extra support) ,6 mil plastic is placed as a vapor barrier so the cement does not dry out too fast. Next the rebar is cut and tied together to give the foundation its strength. In the picture above you can see one of the rebar structures ready to be placed in the footing.

Here we brought in our electical inside the building so we would not have to see the box on the outside. This line was dug a few years ago and we just extended it about 10 ft to come up from under the footing.

Carport Foundation

2011-11-17T07:22:00.000-08:00

The forming of a foundation starts with finding the corners that are square to each other and the top of the floor that is level from one end to the other. This is done most easily with a Laser Level, but it helps to use someone that knows how to use this instrument. We decided to hire the crew that had formed the shop and bath house 2 years ago. It will take them about 4 days to complete the foundation.
After they found the corner points and what was level, they established the top edge with 2 X 12 inch lumber and reinforced this board with 2X 4 for support. Because we wanted to start on solid ground, we needed 48 cu yards of heavy sand fill dirt for our 22 foot X 36 foot carport.

Installing the greenhouse ceiling

2011-10-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

WOW , what a difference a shiny ceiling makes in the greenhouse ! Two of us put it up in 5 hours. The building is not exactly square, so the straight sheets were off 2 inches from end to end.
The east to west walls are 31 feet long, so We bought 2-10 foot and 1-12 foot lengths of tin. This size was relatively easy to handle and we had room to overlap. The plants are loving the extra reflective light!

Chicken Soup Anyone!!!

2011-10-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

Lastly , the chicken is cut open from the rear and all the internal parts are removed. At this point the chicken is cooled in ice water for 2 hours, this allows the remaining blood to be removed. It is best to refrigerate the chicken for 2 days before eating or processing.
Here is the de-featherer , the chicken is spin around and the rubbery spikes take the feathers off in about 1 minute.
Next is the soapy steam bath. Exactly 140 degrees, any hotter and the feathers will not release. They are in there for 1 minute.
They start the process by putting the chicken head first into this cone. The "kosher" way is to cut the main arteries in the neck, this is the least hurtful to the chicken. When they are commercial killed they cut off the head which is a shock to the chicken, thus the saying "running around with one head cut off".
I transported our chickens to a farm that processes turkeys and chickens. We just have too many chickens and I could not sell a 4 yr old , by the time they are this old they decline in egg production to about 1 egg a week.

Finishing the waterline!!!!!!

2011-10-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

When you have seen on ditch ,you have seen them all!
I just wanted to show you how we set and glued the pipe so dirt does not get in the joint. We placed 2 foot long boards across the ditch , cut and glued . We let the glue set for about 15 minutes then lowered the pipe into the ditch..... and of course we covered the ditch up, sounds simple but exhausting!!!

Water line week 3!!!

2011-09-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

This project has certainly been a challenge!!! More digging.......
Richard stands up and reaches in , sometimes 3 ft , to dig out the sand. The walls are really starting to get very fragile. Richard fell into one of the massive holes he was preparing for the freeze hydrants, the side gave way when he stepped too close and knocked the wind out of him .
I have found that sitting on the ground has worked better for me, using my leg for leverage and my arms for strength.
Here is the start of the hydrant holes where we placed a cinder block down surrounded by gravel, then drove a T-post to support the hydrant while we place and fill it in.

Covering the gravel with tar paper will insure that sand will not seep down and fill in the drain area.

For the electrical lines , we placed the conduit on the ground to make sure we would place it with the correct angle and length. We measured and marked the pieces to make sure it all went together in the ditch correctly.
Then we pulled the wire through each piece one at a time, then glued each piece in place.
And to add to the excitement, the pump in our well went out. We were without water for a week in 100 degree heat!! Luckly it was under warranty..... I guess it was the luck of the draw!!

Putting in a water line Cont...

2011-09-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

This project has turned out to be very labor intensive to say the least!!! We are slowly cleaning out the trenches so they are level on the bottom and at least 2 feet deep. The work is difficult because we have to reach down 2 feet and lift out dirt. Richard has been standing up , trying to use his legs as to not stress his back. I tried this at first but have resorted to sitting down on the side of the ditch , using my legs as leverage and arms as the strength. This has worked for me as it hasn't stressed my back.
We are slowly inching along. We decided to do a section at a time, completing the gluing and covering up the pipes as we go. The picture above is were we have cleaned the ditch and will put the pipes on the cross boards to glue.
We are also are completing electrical and drainage pipes as well. This is by the studio slab, where we have the washing machine at this time.
Here is the maze of pipes by the well house.

Putting in a Water line.

2011-09-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Putting in a water line was the next step to our infrastructure plan. We had all of our building sites determined and were ready to get rid of our primitive hose delivery system.
Prior to this we had gone a lot of clearing and had time to think about where we wanted the water to go and what was most important.

Our hope was that we could trench in one day (which we did), clean the ditch the next day, lay the pipe the third day and cover it all up on the fourth day. We are seven days into the project at this time.

Our well digger had suggested inch and a quarter pipe to run up to the garden and elsewhere because of the long distance. With in the well house the pipe is 1 inch diameter. Where the water lines terminate, whether it is in side a building or at the freeze hydrants, the pipe is reduced to 3/4 inch.
We first laid out the pipe along the route it would be buried in the ground. This way we could determine the angle needed to connect the pipe so as to route it around trees and in the direction it needed to go. PVC joints only come in 90° or 45° angles. We did find out that we were able to curve the PVC pipe if it was not too severe. once we had determined the path of the pipes. We watered where we were going to trench with a sprinkler and tested to see if it was damp at least 2 feet down. This was a very important Because us having sand and over 80 days of over 100° with no rain, the walls of the ditch would have just falling in.

The next step was renting the trencher from home depot at the cost of $180.00 for a 24 hour period. That included tax and insurance. We could only actually run the trencher for a period of eight hours. This particular trencher is one that you stand on and run backwards.

It was very difficult for Richard to be looking over his shoulder and operate the trencher in a straight line. Therefore, I marked the soil with a hoe and gave him a guide line to look down between his feet to follow. This worked extremely well.

Richard also discovered if he moved the trencher a foot or so at a time and then put the chain down to cut the trench that he could get a much more accurate and straight trench.

We were able to trench 900 feet in a little bit less than eight hours. The trencher cut through small roots, but not the larger ones more than 2 inches.
As you can see the trencher places the dirt from the trench very close to the opening. Therefore, we found we had to move the dirt a foot or so away from the trench in order to work on the pipe and the trench with out the sides caving in. This took us about two days to do this portion of the work.

The next Step was to clean the dirt out of the trench. So as it was 24 inches or more deep. We note that in this part of the country people don't think about burying their pipes very deep because the Frost depth is not very deep, but we decided we wanted to make sure we never had to worry about Frost depth, cars driving over the driveway where the pipes are buried and digging in any place the pipes might be located.

This is extremely hard work because you have to bend over, reach down 2 feet and remove the dirt out of the ditch.

We also ran into a lot of roots that we had to clip to get the trenches clean.
We decided to complete the water line where the driveway was so we could again have a functioning driveway. We laid 18 inch or so scraps of wood across the ditch and placed the pipe on top. This gave us a clean area in which to glue the pipes and also kept the connections in alignment with the trench.
At this place in the run of water pipes. We actually had three pipes in the trench, one going to the future house for outside watering one to take the rainwater up to the well house for filtering and dispersion, and the third pipe to take the filtered rainwater back down to the future house. This way we did not have to disturb the driveway again.
Here I am applying the purple primer to the PVC pipe, then applying the glue to the outside of one of the pipes in the inside of the other. Then it takes a bit of muscle strength to connect them, holding for about 20 seconds or so to make sure they don't slip back out and there you have a solid connection.

I use this little bucket to carry the wiping cloth, glue, primer,PVC Cutter and parts, so everything keeps clean.
We are installing eight freeze hydrants at different places. Because we have sand. We are a green the actual freeze hydrant to a cinderblock placed underneath, with a 6' T-bar hammered into the ground, wiring the back of the freeze hydrant to it. We dug the hole about a foot below the bottom of the freeze hydrant and put gravel in, this is so when you turn the freeze hydrant off the water has somewhere to easily drain. We will place tarpaper on top of this so the sand does not work its way in to the gravel spaces.

Catching Coons.

2011-08-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Part of living in the country is living with animals. There are times that they become destructive and must be removed to a more wild area. This is especially true with Raccoons.
We bought this trap and added metal sides and partial metal bottom so they could not reach the food from the outside. We also put a thin board on the platform so the have to move the board to reach the food. This has made the trap fool proof. We have caught 5 coons already.
When the coons are caught they can be very aggressive, so what we do is put a towel/ blanket over the trap. We also added wire handles on each end to easily move the trap while keeping it covered without getting bit.

Chicken Waterer

2011-08-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

I was frustrated with always cleaning dirty chicken waterers. After much research I can across these 360 degree chicken waterers . They are easy to install and the chickens figure out how to use them! You just need to take away any other source of water at night , then when they wake up in the morning they will go in search of water. There is a drop of water on the end of the nipple for they to peck at, then when they reach for that more water comes out.
I have attached this to the rain water system we had in place with a 18" piece of PVC. I put a plug on the end so I could easily empty and if needed, clean it.
Farmtek gives good instructions , the one step I added was to use Plumbers tape with all the connections.

5 year update

2011-08-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have finally created a map of our Land . I hope this give you a sense of the layout of the buildings and garden.
To zoom for a closer look ; double click on the map, then click on the little Zoom courser on the map (the little magnifying glass symbol). Move the courser to where you want to see a close up of, then click on the courser.

We have started watering the driveway with a sprinkler for 24 hours each week. This is helping to leverage our time and has proven to be much better for the plants, especially in the 100 degree plus heat!

We now have collected all the tanks we need for the rain water collection, now all we need are roofs and rain.
Here is where the future house will be built, it is our burn pile for now. Since there has not been sufficient rain, we are still in a burn ban.
The flowers are showing signs of heat stress.

The pond is crystal clear, only two fish out of 20 that we bought. We are thinking is is the heat, too much temperature difference between what they are use to in the store and the heat of the tank water.
One out of the 6 water lilies we bought on sale made it.

This is the bone pile that is located behind the future carport.
Piles of rock waiting for placement on the trails , in the drainage lines and freeze hydrants.
The shop slab waiting for completion, hopefully this winter.
The studio , where we store our shop supplies, is protecting the goods from rain and sun with the vinyl advertising panels as the roof. We call it the studio because after we move the contents to the carport , we will build this to be used as an art studio someday.
The pigeons are so happy in their outside flight area protected from hawks.
Another pigeon cage.
Here is the Latrine and on the other side , the shower. These buildings are on the north side of the chicken coop.
The kitchen is getting shaggy, but the move into the shop is getting closer.
The new chickens are starting to lay eggs. The new rooster (Lucky Duck) is doing really well, he has the undivided attention of 45 Hens.
We planted milo as a summer crop for the chickens, it was OK at first, then it just became dried stalks. After we run the water line we plan on planting Bermuda because it grows very well in sand and we can keep it watered..
The greenhouse has its first coat of paint, we hope to finish it after the water line is installed and maybe before the carport slab.

The garden is having a hard time with the heat, cut ant and moles.....but the shading is helping.

Finishing touches on the pigeon coop

2011-07-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

The important details.........
Selves are in place with heavy duty braces that were screwed in . We chose 2X 12 boards for the landings brought out a few inches from the wire wall so Pigeon poop does not accumulate. We used stain on the boards instead of paint, we found that the boards are easier to scrape clean when there is not a layer of paint that seems to chip up easily.
Richard built these screen doors between the cages and attached springs to close the doors automatically when he passes through.

Richard attaching the heavy duty braces with long screws, there is no way the landings will ever move!

Side Stories/The BEST Face care

2011-07-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

The most wonderful face and body care products I have ever come across are from the www.backwoodsbodycare.com.
I am always looking for a natural way to care for my face that is not full of chemicals and reasonable priced. The products at this site are high quality and they deliver. I really LOVE THEM!!!
The botanical oils absorb into the skin and I feel the nurturing instantly . I have received comments on how they make my face glow!

I am so impressed with their quality, effectiveness and price. Check it out for your-self..........

Garden in HOT JULY....

2011-07-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

Shading of the heat sensitive plants has really helped. It is becoming the hottest July on record, over 100 degrees!
The garden always looks a little rough this time of year, overgrown and aged.
The peppers are busting through the roof and are still producing!
Squash is done , everything is struggling with the heat.
The okra on the left is doing well but not producing yet and the strawberries are holding their own.
The grapes are ready for harvest and healthy. Having the cage keep the large animals out, but I found the tiny birds made it through and I ended up sharing some meals with them.
The blueberries will be picked clean this week, finishing a record season. Although I did not measure the crop , I believe I picked about 4 gallons!

Pigeon flight cage

2011-07-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

This project was done over a period of about 6 weeks. It was very slow going because of the HOT 100degree days and alot of slow details.
At first the chicken wire is very loose , but as we stretched and nailed , it became very tight.

Against the building we had to raise the wall with a facade of tin to let the building appear to be taller and we decided to put in a window for ventilation for the end cage. The posts were painted to match the building color, this made the posts disappear.
The top chicken wire is stretched first. We started from the building , attaching the side closest to the building first by laying the wire on the first section and temporarily tacking the wire over the area to be covered. Inching our way along pulling and stretching the wire tight with each nail. The next section was laid on the first section , tacked down along the side closest to the building first (because we could reach it) and then flipped into position onto the second section where it was nailed down on the opposite side.
The top perlins were set next, defining the height at eight feet.

Here we planned the scope of the project, deciding on the width and length of each cage. We set the poles against the building as the starting point and extended the other poles out from there.

Upgrade for the fish pond

2011-07-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

We love the new water feature.... but these kinds of things come with a price. After buying a larger tank ($265.00) , we had to purchase a new pump ($200.00) and replace the filtering system. After much research, I could not find anything different than what I had in the past. Until I came across a different web site that showed a filter with the filtering pad on top so the cleaning process is very fast and easy ($360,00). It does take up alot of room in the tank, but it does a really good job of filtering the water. The problem we have is how to take the pad off of the platform without the material it has collected falling back into the pond.

We have always had a simple inexpensive gold fish pond. The 4 foot round metal tub was rusted at the bottom so we lined it with black plastic and attached with a rope around the end. It slowly developed leaks and was impossible to keep clean because it had so many folds. The only filter we could find was labor intensive to change and keep clean. So when we decided to retire this old tank we wanted a larger pond. We did not want to have to line it with plastic so we invested in a new 7 foot diameter tank and moved it to the center of the yard away from the fence corner. SoOOO the "have to do this right" research changes what we thought we were getting into.......

May UPDATE

2011-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Finally, we have got some rain. We could just feel all the plants soaking it in and rejoicing. The picture below is during the rain taken from the front porch.the picture above is the same shot with the flash on. It certainly created a different perspective.we ended up receiving four inches of this precious commodity.

So far we have really loved having Zinnias planted around our circle. They are so easy to take care of and so beautiful. Their leaves stay green and the flowers remain very vibrant for at least a week at a time.

The Wisteria has been growing for a few years and has reached up into the very top of these trees. These kinds of vines are known to kill the tree they climb up. So we are retraining the Wisteria, to create a crown around our statue. Hoping that because the vines are not up in the tree preventing light from reaching the leaves that we will not kill these trees .

The new chicks are about two months old and are free from their confined area. They are out and about with the other chickens, free to roam the 10 acre spread. It will take them about a week to where they feel comfortable enough to explore beyond the enclosure.
This pullet (a chicken before they begin laying eggs) must have eaten something that block it's croup. She would eat and her croup was swelling so badly that she was unable to walk very well. I tried to massage the area to dislodge what ever was blocking her passage way, but I was unsuccessful. Therefore, we decided to end her misery.
Beautiful clouds in the sky and hopefully the rain follows.
The first blueberries of the season! . I usually make blueberry pancakes at least once a week during blueberry season. We also have them with yogurt or cottage cheese or just eat them right off the Bush. It has been a very prolithic season and it lasts at least a month.

Below is a copper head snake, with a very poisonous and painful bite!!!

The Good ,the Bad and the ugly of Internet in the country!!!!

2011-05-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is the Hughes Net Satellite internet dish.
These three Pictures are the Rohn tower.

This is my review of www.hughesnet.com / www.wildblue.com satellite Internet versus www.att.com / www.verizonwireless.com wireless Internet versus local broadband.

It all started when my current broadband Internet provider was bought out by another local broadband Internet provider. These are the kind of receivers that are put up on top of a pole and they are about the size of a pizza box, they need a direct sight of line in order to get good reception.
To back up a little bit, when we first moved on to our land. I had dial-up with our local Verizon landline, it was painfully slow and impossible to transfer data, most dial-up is about 40 to 50 kB per second. I decided to upgrade to the local broadband, at the time cobalt was the only provider in the area. Their office space was about 200 miles from us. And this service was horrendous, it was constantly breaking down, their towers were overloaded and there was absolutely no customer service.

I was with them for two years because that was the length of the contract and it would have cost $200.00 to get out of it. They happened to have a clause in the contract that I signed that if I did not notify them four months before the end of this term that they would automatically renew me for two more years. Luckily, a neighbor who had been through this before told me about this in time for me to notify them ahead of time and I was on the search for a new provider.

Another neighbor said they had a local provider that was building his business and they were very happy with the service and the price. So I called this provider , he came right out , hooked me up without a contract and I was back on the internet very happy with the service, for a while anyway. Then it seemed either his towers were getting hit by lightning on a regular basis or my receiver would be blown off course or his equipment wasn't working. He was such a nice guy answering his phone in a timely manner and took care of the problem right away, but it seemed like there was always a problem.

So all of a sudden I get an e-mail saying that He had sold all of his clients to another competitor in the area. They came out and evaluated my service. They informed me that I needed a 80 foot Rohn tower in order to receive their service. I thought that this was my only option for I had heard horror stories of other Internet providers like satellite so I didn't think I had a choice. So I made a few calls trying to find out how we could get a Rohn tower founding out it would cost around $5000 to get one erected by a company. I made a few more calls in the area finding a ham operator who was willing to have us come over and look at these Rohn towers that he had.

He had gotten his from what are called Ham Fests in the area. After my husband and I saw how they needed to be erected and guy wired we had second thoughts.
We knew we could not afford to have someone else erect this structure and when we found out it would probably cost us around $1000 and a months worth of time to do it ourselves, I was back to the drawing board to find another Internet provider.

Another neighbor of ours had the wildblue.com satellite Internet, he was very happy with it, although he did emphasize that he just did e-mails, not really any data transfers and he was on the lowest plan, which was about 475 kB per second. Not really enough for large data transfers, which is what I needed the Internet for. I did find out they had a larger package for more money. So I proceeded to explore. When I called the wild blue number I had to put in my zip code and in doing so I was automatically transferred to HughesNET.com . There was another time that I tried to acquire the Wildblue satellite and I was given an message to write in my zip code and my e-mail that if I was interested in attaining wild blue satellite that they would let me know when it would come available. I never have heard from them to this date.

So I hesitantly scheduled an installation by Hughes net, being promised that I would have 30 days to make a decision if it was right for me or not, and I would be refunded all my money. Except for the installation fee, which they said was only $50 and I thought well it would be worth a try if this was my only option. Now I understand how they work. What they do is promise you a rebate. After about two or three months of service they will rebate you one hundred fifty dollars for the installation fee. So when I canceled within the 30 days, I was still responsible for the $150 installation fee which I did not realize until after I canceled ! And I really thought I asked all the right questions to thoroughly understand what their obligation was to me if I was not a happy camper. they are very tricky.

The installer of the satellite was very nice, very professional and did a great job. When he configured the satellite he said I had really good reception and that it was really good I was going with HughesNET instead of wild blue because wild blue had overbooked their satellite and they only give you a certain quota per month depending on how much you paid them a month and if you go over that quota during the month then you have no Internet for the remainder of the month. Wow, he was really a salesman. I was all set up with Hughesnet.
I downloaded their software, which is extremely invasive and takes over a lot of the functions on your computer, like the download function and you need to check your Internet speed only through their HughesNET satellite Internet speed test. Somehow they say it is the only speed check that is accurate for satellite.
I have always used speedtest.net and have consistent results with that service. I do believe that Internet speed is the same measurement for all providers.
I learned the reason satellite is so slow, is what is known as ping (how long it takes the signal to travel from your computer to the satellite and from the satellite to the website you have requested, back from the satellite to you) ,and how much data the satellite can handle at any given time.

I was on the phone for hours almost every day to try and resolve this problem of no speed. I was always given the runaround and repeatedly told that they do not guarantee the speed , it is in the contract that you may receive up to 750 kB per second on the plan I was on, which was $60 a month. I was told that 500 kB per second was acceptable. They had me check my speed through Hughes net speed checker for a 24 hour period. I was able to get around 700 kB per second at about five o'clock in the morning, the rest of the time I measured between one hundred and 160 kB per second up to around 500 kB per second, depending on the time of day . Because they could check exactly what my speed test was and because I at some time during the day was able to get around 500 kB per second, that's what the contract promised.

I also realized that if it was raining or windy or if trees got in the way of the line of sight between the satellite and my receiver then I would not have any Internet at all.

So after struggling with this for two weeks , not getting any results , completely frustrated when I was on the Internet, that I basically had dial-up for the tune of $60 a month. I canceled my service.
Certain parts of the satellite needed to be returned and that was on my dollar. And to this day, which is about two months since I returned the components I have not received my initial refund of the equipment, I am still waiting.

I was back in search for an Internet provider. I remember when my daughter came to visit. She had an AT&T wireless data card. She was transferring a lot of data and said she had never had a problem with the service.

We have AT&T for our cell phone service and get great reception outside of our house. So I did some research and found that there is a way to get the Internet from outside of your house into your house. It's kind of like having your own personal tower inside your house. The name of the product is Z-boost, and it really works. If you have a really good signal for your cell phones outside of your house, then it will capture that signal and bring it into your house.

So that was the first step to get our signal inside the house so I could utilize the data card where I do most of my work. All of the representatives for AT&T that I talked to in that initial research time had all told me that if I had a good cell phone signal, then I most likely would have a really good data card signal, so I proceeded to get the data card and installed the software and test it out. It wasn't until after I received the data card I was told that the data service is a different apparatus on top of the tower then the cell phone service. That, in our area we only have the capability for a 2G ( that stands for second generation )transmission in our area. The cell phones work off of a 3G network, which is a different part of the tower. So because the data card was calibrated for three or four G network, I was not able to get a good signal. This was something I realized within the first day.(they give you 30 days to try it from the day of activation) I was able to return the data card to a nearby AT& T store and didn't have to pay a penny for any of this trial period. I must commend AT&T for their great customer service and acknowledgment seeing that it was not going to work. I was able to return everything and get out of the contract very easily.

Back in search of an Internet provider I turned to Verizon wireless, believing that if they were the dominate provider in this area that they would have a good service with a good signal. I ordered their data card and received it very promptly, but I only had two weeks from the date of ordering the data device, not the date it was activated, to return it. When I did activate it I did not get a very good signal and during the time of free calls on cell phones, I noticed it was extremely slow. Verizon cell phones and data cards are on the same system,but because the data card takes up more bandwidth,that's where you notice the speed.
It was more difficult dealing with the Verizon wireless customer service. I was charged a $35 restocking fee when I took it back to a store instead of shipping it back. ( that was later refunded after much negotiations.) I did need to talk to a more superior representative to not get charged the early termination fee.

I went full circle with all of this exploration, and ended back with a local broadband provider. I learned that they are not all created equal, I learned that my previous broadband Internet providers used home made kits as receivers., did not have tall enough towers and did not have state of the art transmitters that could ark over trees. I am now with a company called Zochnet . He only serves our County (Lee) and is extremely customer service oriented. There were a few bugs to work out of the system, but he was always very responsive and took care of the issue within the day. I am now getting about 1.2 MB per second and I am extremely happy with the broadband experience.

My suggestion for all those living in the country looking for the best Internet provider, is to find a responsible local provider that knows his craft and has the integrity to run the Internet business like it should be. Ask the questions and do the research, leave no stone unturned!
I hope this has helped those out there in search of the best provider for the best money and the best service. BEST of luck!!!!

Garden Shading

2011-05-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

The summers in central Texas are very hot, it can get up to 100° for several months in a row. Therefore I have decided to try shading my garden to see if I can extend the season.

I started by buying six ft T- posts and rebar plastic caps. I set the height and width at four feet. I then strung wire from post to post tying it to each post. I use clothes pins to attach the shade cloth to the wire.

I built the structure that will hold the shade cloth first so I could measure the exact length and width to which the cloth will be attached. This doesn't seem important at first, but when you go to install the shade cloth you find out how important it is to have the grommets meet before the wire for easy and secure attaching.

The new pigeon cage boxes

2011-05-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Richard is finishing up the nesting boxes for his pigeons. He has constructed them so each pair has two nests in which to lay eggs and raise the babies. He has made them so they are detachable and easy to clean.

The top picture is what he calls the "honeymoon cages", so he can separate out a pair for breeding.

Finishing the garden cage

2011-04-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

Putting chickenwire up can be a tricky endeavor to say the least. The system we have applied is starting by rolling the chickenwire out on the ground, measuring about one foot longer then the measurement of the space you want to cover.

We then place temporary nails to hold the chickenwire in the approximate placement, then anchor one end. Starting at the anchored end we angle the large headed nails under one of the wires and stretching the wire while we hammer the nail into place.

At first it is very loose and does not look like it will ever get tight. But if you I'd catch the wire in this manner it will be almost as tight as a drum.

At the threshold to the gate. We placed cinderblocks embedded in the Earth. This will keep animals run digging underneath the entrance. Around the circumference of the cage we attached the wire to the bottom perlin and buried it in the ground about a foot with 6 inches curving to be outside.

New play yard for the chicks

2011-04-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

The chicks are about four weeks old now and they outgrew their limited space I had set up for them in the greenhouse.
I fenced off a portion of the enclosed yard for the chicks with chicken wire and netting. So as they would keep within their designated space.I took some plywood pieces and leaned them up against the chicken coop building and protected it on one end with another piece of plywood to protect the baby chicks from the cold nights. I also strung a lamp and placed it in this makeshift A-frame. This will give them a cozy place to sleep at night and also protection from the sun during the day. I like using this large feeder for their food. I can put in about 10 pounds of feed for them all at once. This section of the chicken yard also contains the rainwater, so I know they will never run out of water. I also feel it is very important for baby chicks to get exposure to the sun light, and here they have it all.

Garden Update

2011-04-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

The blueberry cage is ready for the final chicken wire to be applied.
I have been covering the lettuce this year and have really had success in growing sweet lettuce for an extended period of time, I will see how long this will last !
The blueberry bushes are loaded with fruit. They look as though they are ready to be picked and eaten, but blueberries take about a month from when they start turning blue until they are ripe.
I weeded everywhere and have applied a mulch of alfalfa hay. I have found this to be extremely beneficial to the plants for moisture retention and adding humus to the soil. The plants on the right are sugar peas and the little plants on the left just starting to take off our cucumber plants.
Those are carrots on the left row and just the start of squash plants on the right-hand side.
Here are the tomato plants in cages, due to the fact of my greenhouse starter failure, I purchased plants already 10 inches tall. Maybe next year I can fine tune the process.
The raspberries are just starting to leaf and grow.

And here is the start of the baby grapes, I thought I may have cut them back way too much that they might not produce this year, but it looks like they are giving a start in the right direction.

The baby chicks are growing...

2011-04-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

The baby chicks are growing rapidly and it is almost time to change their environment to a larger enclosure. They are about three weeks old and it is hard to imagine that they came out of a small egg.

An egg laying chicken is mature or at the age of five months, that is when they start laying eggs themselves. The chickens that you eat are mature at six to eight weeks of age and it is at that time that they are butchered, and end up weighing about four or 5 pounds.

OUR WONDERFUL NEIGHBORS!

2011-03-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

We have the most amazing neighbors that each Friday we join with them in a wonderful meal that we all share in bringing to the table. The couple at the ends of the table have lived in their wood cord house for 35 years. The other couple has lived in the area for about 15 years and she raises goats for the mohair. We always look forward to our Friday meal together, it is a time that we talk over what has happened in the past week and read our local newspapers police blotter, which always brings loud laughter.

Their garden consists of raised beds with grass pathways and shade cloths consisting of PVC on wires connecting the shade cloth with shower curtain rings.

They have a 30,000 gallon rainwater system which is used for household water and they have a 400 foot well that waters the outside areas.

More baby chicks!

2011-03-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Baby chicks are shipped in a box with straw on the bottom . They do not need food or water for three days, that is how they can ship them with out them dying. They are always shipped with enough babies to keep each other warm. They are born with a soft down covering their bodies and can not maintain their own body heat until they develope their true feathers, which take about a month. This is why I use two heat lamps, just in case one burns out. For the first month this would be certain death.
I always put them in a special brooding box at first so that they are protected from snakes and other critters that would love to have them for dinner. I set it up so they have plenty of water in a container meant for baby chicks so they'd don't have water deep enough to drowned in. The starting mash I use is a natural formula very high in proteins which is necessary for their initial growth.

As I transfer each chick into the brooder box I put their beak in the water so they know where it is, this is very important. They always seem to find the food pretty easily. I use the little theaters that are meant for baby chicks because this keeps them out of the food and keeps them from scattering it all over the place.

Personally I like to use newspaper on the bottom of the brooder box. It is very easy to just roll it up and replace it, which has to be done at least once a day.

Spring garden time!

2011-03-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

The strawberries are on the right and the broccoli, which has been producing all winter is on the left.

The rows here are ready for the planting of the spring garden, if the weather cooperates and there is not a sign of a freeze I hope to plant within the next week or two.

Here is a picture of the cage we built around the blueberries and grapes to keep out the squirrels and birds that will devour the fruit at the perfect moment of ripeness the day before we have a chance to harvest.We have the posts and the purlins and cross supports for the chicken wire which will cover the structure.
The picture above is where on the left is my asparagus, the middle row are the raspberries ,and the right-hand row that you can barely see are the blackberries.

I have found that this is the best time to do a super job on the mulching . the plants will grow through the mulch and be completely surrounded by. I always mulch with alfalfa hay because they do not use herbicides on it.
This is how I prepare my planting beds for the spring garden. I have added mushroom compost, ladybug fertilizer, cottonseed meal, Epson salt, zeolite; which I find at our local grocery store as Kitty litter, dried molasses, corn meal and lava sand.

I then use my wonderful mantis tiller until it all is completely mixed and no individual ingredients can be recognized.I'd till it up about 12 inches deep because most crops roots don't go too far below that.

I then rake it smooth with a rise around the edges so the water won't run off of the row.
Here are my blueberry plants very full of wonderful white blooms, they always come out before the leaves which is very interesting but that's just the way the blueberry plants work
I hope you can see this bug in the middle of the picture on my broccoli plants. It is called a harlequin bug and it is the most destructive bug I have ever had in my garden. If you spot one of these, what I call a Halloween bug because it's orange and black ,very distinct and if you do spot one of these squelch it immediately because I have never found an organic compound that will work to get rid of these bugs. They are an absolute menace and can do extreme damage to your garden in a very short time if you let them get out of hand. they will distend upon your garden as soon as it is warm enough for them to reproduce. So be on the lookout for them as soon as you are able to start working your garden.

Building a wood Rack

2011-02-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

I built this rack out of recycled material so always the first thing I have to do is take the nails out of the recycled boards. These are the tools that I always need to use : a special fence tookitchenl that is very very helpful because it is designed to wedge nails out by grabbing onto them and rocking them to one side, the next tool is a crowbar, I used this tool first if the nail still has the head, if the head happens to fall off , I use a very heavy hammer and rock the hammer from side to side inching the nail out little by little and that rarely fails me.

I then placed the boards in such a way that the vertical boards are secured by the horizontal boards by three screws. For the most strength I put three horizontal boards so as each board holds the minimum of weight with the most space for storage.

I constructed three of these frames and then attached each of them with three side vertical boards that tie it all together.

We have found the best material to place the racks on are cinder blocks , they keep the wood legs dry, off of the ground and they also add another level for wood to be safely stored.

Making Seed Starter boxes

2011-02-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

I had read on the Internet that I could start my seeds pretty inexpensively by buying a rope light to heat the bottom of the seed starters. The reasoning of this person using rope lights was the fact that they put out about the same amount of heat as a heat mat costing about $20 and if you want to keep it within a certain temperature you have to buy a thermostat which cost about $30. So I thought I would give it a try and see if it works.

So what I did was I found some wooden boxes, actually they were drawers that we had obtained for free which I couldn't use as drawers because they had been in storage too long and were not in the best of shape. I attached the rope light to the bottom of the drawers using U nails loosely attaching the rope light so I could adjust the rope light making it shorter if it got too hot. I then put kitty litter which is actually pure zeolite to give it a smooth surface in which to put the plant trays on. Next I cut out a piece of plastic about 4 mil to lay on top of the zeolite as not to get it dirty or wet.

I prepared my seed bed trays and place them on top of the plastic. I also placed a thermometer in the dirt so as to monitor the temperature. I was very very hopeful about this because I did not want to have to keep my whole greenhouse up to 70° just to start a few plants so this seemed like the perfect answer, I will keep you posted.

Cardinal in the greenhouse

2011-02-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

This beautiful cardinal made his way into the greenhouse and would not exit through the door. I tried to get him to fly by going to the outside of the south windows and waving him out. He flew up and hit his head and was quite dazed. I gently wrapped him in a towel and carried him out-side , in about half an hour he flew away. I wonder if it is him hanging around sharing his wonderful song.

SNOW!!!

2011-02-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

The chickens did not know what to think about all this white stuff, it was the first time they had ever set foot on this crunchy cold solid water. But after a few minutes they were off doing what chickens do best, scratch!

Everything looks so different covered in white. We are not strangers to snow, Richard and I lived in Santa Fe, NM for 25 years and say our share of it. A day of this is wonderful, We do not envy those that have it for months, you are true pioneers!

Progress Report end of 2010

2010-12-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe we have lived here 4 1/2 years. As in all things of time and space, it seems we have accomplished a lot having pretty much done everything ourselves. And on the other hand we have not started the main house which we thought would have been in the works by this time.

But as life takes us on this ride, or should I say "this adventure" we are learning to go with the flow and enjoy the process. What we realize is that each new finished project is a huge step in added comfort and ease of life, so that in its self is worth the effort! So in gratitude we carry on....

This has been a year of patience and caring for family. Not large enough blocks of time to do the big things , but we did finish the greenhouse (well almost) , the drive way is just the way we like it and it is keeping in good shape. The trees that Richard trimmed last year are filling in nicely . We got the annual rye planted so we have the green pastures.

The chickens are happy campers, all the permanent buildings are holding up very well to the elements. We are staying warm in the "room house" as our daughter calls it and we are so ready to finish the "shop" so We can have a cleanable warm kitchen with a solid roof!

Insulating the green house

2010-11-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

We decided to insulate the ceiling of the greenhouse so it would retain the heat from the solar gain created during the day. We received the 19 R/ 5" fiberglass insulation for free from a building that was being torn down.

The rafters are 2 feet apart on center (meaning that it is 2 feet from the center of one 2X6 to the next 2X6 center) so the insulation should have just fit, but they kept falling. We put up nylon rope with roofing nails across the rafters to hold the insulation untill we could put up the plastic to hold it in place.

We found it easier to cut the plastic in short pieces , then we stapled them to the rafters.

More work on the Greenhouse

2010-11-18T18:46:00.001-08:00

The change in elevation between the 2 sections was about a foot deep, so we decided to reinforce it with 2X4s pounded in the ground and screwed into from each board going across the width of the building.

Against the south side where the bottom board ended I took short lengths of left over tin and pounded them down into the soil and then nailed them to the frame.

I had our bobcat guy bring a load of super select (about 2 yards ) to the greenhouse when he was working on another project.

We received some free replacement ,double glazed windows. We planned on putting them up for the winter and taking them down for the summer. I bought vinyl edging to glue around them because they had very sharp edges . When I put them in place they cracked because of the pressure. We ended up custom ordering "sliders" with screens from HOME DEPOT
which will fit perfectly into the openings!
I left the cracked windows in place until the custom windows come in.

We learned that painting on the wood preserver / stain at this time is the best. This way we did not have to worry about over painting on the tin once it was up.
Next was putting up the shell made of tin. We only had 3 sides with a little cut work around the windows. Since we were working with recycled tin (there were rusted spots), I laid out the tin and calculated what pieces to use where before we started putting the sheets up.

Excitment in the neiborhood

2010-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today a neighbors white cow was in search for her new born calf. Vaughn , the owner did not know that she had given birth and moved her to another pasture. There is nothing like the determination of a mother to find her baby!
So this cow tore through Vaughn's fence , ran down our street and tore through two other neighbors fences, including steel panel fences and an electric fence making her way to a large pasture miles from her calf.
A cowboy for hire ($75.00) with horse, trailer, dog and 45 years of experience came to lasso the cow and get her home. At the first try, 30 feet away , he caught her by the horns. She was then lead into the trailer and sent home.
A short time later a black cow , who had followed her buddy the white cow, through all the broken fences, made her way to this same pasture. Vaughn with a bucket full of grain coaxed the black cow down the road, back to friends and family. And that is about as excited as it gets around here on our dead end street.... I LOVE IT !!!

There was another funny incident in the local paper, I will write it verbatim....

At approximately 10:16 a.m., Officer Cary responded to the Lexington Food Mart on Hwy 77 and 5th Street to investigate a vehicle reportedly crashing through the front windows of the store. As officer Cary arrived the vehicle was gone and the owner of the store told the Officer that the known driver of the vehicle pulled up to the store and the next thing the owner remembered seeing was the vehicle jumping the two foot curb, crashing into the window and resting inside the store. The known driver exited the vehicle went to the beer cooler picked out a pack of beer took it over to the cashier and attempted to pay for it with a check. The owner in disbelief refused to sell the beer to the driver. While being refused the driver asked the owner of the store to hurry because the police were coming and the driver admitted he was on probation, intoxicated and did not want to go to jail. After the refusal the driver got back into his vehicle exited the store and drove off. The Lexington Police are attempting to apprehend the driver with a warrant.

More Pigeon coop work

2010-10-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

Back to the Pigeon coop to finish the framing and put up the tin. Sometimes when working with recycled material there can be alot of rust. We have learned that the older tin being of a thicker gauge can be better than the new tin that is of a lighter gauge even though the older tin has more corrosion. The way to deal with the rust is to wash the tin with a soap solution , scrubbing with a brush. Then after it is thoroughly dry, spray on Phosphoric Acid (not diluted) let that dry, then apply paint, either a color or galvanized paint within 24 hours.

Richard made the door by clamping together 1X6 boards and attaching them with 2X6s across , top, bottom and middle. Then he uses 2X4s for diagonal support.

Greenhouse/garden shed continued

2010-09-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

I (Mariah) decided to resume work on the greenhouse while Richard was taking care of his father . I knew it would take me much longer doing the work myself.
I started by establishing the inside grade by using a level on the top of the boards and How I did this by myself was to place one screw on the side of the board I had already established the grade and with using the level I raised the board until it was level, placing a screw at the other end of the board. I used treated 2X6s from each 4X4 post so the top of the board would be the top of the inside grade. I placed either 2X6 or 2X4s lumber down below outside grade.

Because of the 18" change in elevation, I decided to make the room two levels. That would make the door a more practical depth for an entrance.
When a building is being set to grade , you have to start at the lowest part first, then make a building level from there.

I hired a friend of a co-worker to help me carry all the windows from all the places we had them stored up to the greenhouse and set the south windows in place. This part really took 2 people.

We used 4X4s, 2X4s or 1X4s to create a frame for the windows to be set into, depending on the size of the window.

To hold the window in place we put 2X2s on the outside even with the 4X4 edge. We had to use this size because the openings were not true, plum and square. So where on top it would touch the right corner, on the bottom right there would be a 3/4 inch gap.
Once the window was in place we nailed quarter round trim to hold the window in place.

Pigeon feed room/coop

2010-09-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

It is time to build a feed room for the pigeons and another attached coop so Richard can sort the different Pigeons into groups depending on the time of year.
At first he was going to build separate small cages to do this , but that would have been very confining and not as healthy for the birds. This way it will also look more organized and neat.

This building was made out of recycled material as well, except for the 4X 4 posts in the ground. Even the window is a shower door turned sideways and framed in.

Fall Garden

2010-09-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

The fall garden cleanup: Weeding, Tilling, getting the beds ready for the fall planting, and showing off the beautiful garden sign my son made for me from an old medal sign .

Building a wall....

2010-09-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our son and his athletic dog came to visit and helped us build a retaining wall in front of the shop slab. We started by determining the line with cynder blocks. This gave it a solid base and a straight line to follow.
We then placed the largest limestone rocks on first alternating them so as to lock them into each other.
We then backfilled from the wall to the shop side with super select, which is a mix of 3/4 inch jagged rock and fines, which lock it all together.

The permanant "Latrene"

2010-08-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

We decided to place the latrene next to the shower so as to consuladate the buildings together as much as possible.

Starting with measuring where the poles would go, keeping in mind being true , plum and square. Then the poles, roof and side perlins.

When cutting the tin, we learned that the tin needed support at both ends and where the cut was being done. This is so the blade won't bind and the cut is straight. Cutting can be done on the ground or well supported by saw horses.

We left screened vent openings on the east and west sides of the building to make sure there would be a good air flow through the room.
We planned enough room inside so we could have about eight holes dug ,if need be. One at a time of course.

The permanent outdoor shower

2010-08-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

When we decited to build a permanent shower room, we considered where it would fit the best and how we would easily get water and in the future, electricity to the room.
So the back side of the chicken coop was the final chose .
This location required three walls and as we went along we discovered it took some creative planning to merge the shower roof with the chicken coop wall. There were limitations because of the placement of the gutter. We tucked it right underneath and it worked out really well. The gutter protects the seam from direct water exposure.
The first was to establish where the post would go , we did this by measuring out from the existing building 4 feet making sure it was perpendicular from the wall.
The posts were placed in the ground making sure they were square to the existing wall. Next the top line and side wall perlins were established. We have learned that this is the best time to treat the wood with a wood preserver/stain so the tin doesn't get painted as well. The reason we seal the wood this way is to give it a protective finish from the elements and it looks so much better all stained the same color since we will not put an inside finish on the walls.
Next was the roof with a sky light, and to keep from having to cut the tin we made the building the lenght of 2 sheets of tin (3' ea) plus the sky light width (2') , allowing for the depth of the walls and the overhang.
Next we put up the walls and corner trim as well.
For the floor we placed cement pavers to give it a higher grade than outside and put pavers sideways to divide the shower floor from the dressing area. A small ditch was left between the wall and the pavers to allow the water to drain to the outside where we made a larger ditch filled with large rocks to carry the water away from the building.
Trim around the window and door, painting the walls and trim and sewing up the curtains completed the project!

Clearing between the shop and the chicken coop

2010-07-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

We decided the best path for the water line was from the well house to the chicken coop then up to the garden. So another clearing day with a bobcat was in order. This exposed the temporary Shower and out-house. So guess what the next projects were to be?

The water pump dies....

2010-07-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

When the water stopped flowing while watering the garden, I turned it off for a few hours thinking that it just got over heated . But it did not start pumping water, I knew it was beyond my knowledge.
We called the well guys and they came out the next day. As they pulled the pump out it almost got stuck about 100 feet down (our well is about 150 ft deep and the pump sits about 120 feet down) They said the pipe must have shifted at that depth. They tried to replace the pump with the same size (4"diameter) and it would not go below this shift in the pipe, so they installed a 3" diameter pump.
The one thing we have realized in creating our homestead, is some tasks are best left to the experts that do the same thing day in and day out. They have the special tools and knowledge to do the job quickly and right. So the well is one place we have chosen to hire experience. It cost us $150.00 (the pump was under warranty) to get back on track with getting running water quickly. And we had it back in 48 hrs!

Having them come out and pull the pump let us see how much room they need to maneuver to keep the cost down for us. They need the roof to be removable, a road in front of the well to get to the pump and 30 feet behind the well to set the pipe on the ground as they pull it. They told us if these suggestions are not done , then the time and cost go up fast!

Refinishing the picnic table

2010-07-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Before we moved onto the land Richard built this wonderful picnic table & chairs out of a few old discarded ones. Over the years the mildew grew so bad that it was a health hazard. So I took on the project of removing all the paint. It was a massive undertaking of using stripper (I tried all kinds and I believe the gel was the easiest to work with) I used the stripper instead of sanding it down because the sanding belts get full of paint gunk so fast it would have been very expensive.

Progress Report Mid-Summer

2010-06-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a very dry and hot summer. The garden did not fair well this year, I planted late and the weather went from cold to hot. I also need to shade more plants and water more than I have been. Moles got into the raspberries and I did have a very hard time keeping them wet enough, the way berries like to be.

The Rooster is taking care of his hens, so all is well on Turtle Ranch!!!!

Staining of the Bath house floor

2010-06-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

We were always planning to stain the cement floors in both the Bath house and shop. We figured this would be a good place to experiment to see if we liked it enough to use in the main house.
I first did a test run on some stepping stones we had made from the left over cement. I first cleaned the cement with simple green and rinsed them with a hose really well. After the blocks dried for a day, I sprayed on the stain using a non-metal spaying unit (the stain is very corrosive and will damage any metal, this action is what makes the cement turn a different color). I let the acid stain work for a few hours and then rinsed the cement really well with baking soda and water to make sure the acid was neutralized. There is no need to scrub just let the soda do its work.

I did learn that the stain will look lighter before you but on the sealer. So when the cement is wet, that is the way it will look when you apply the sealer.
So what I did was to apply a first coat of the stain, let it dry, wash it with water and saw if it is as dark as I wanted. I repeated this until the floor looked the way we had envisioned. By the way , don't trust the sample colors to turn out the same on your cement, there are to many factors. Take the time to get the little sample bottles they will let you have and do the test batches. We like one of the samples ,did the test patch and it turned out very different than the swatch, so beware!!!!
After I got the desired color , washed the cement real well and let it dry completely I applied the sealer. I first used a lambs wool pad, this was disastrous. The pad shed and fell apart. I then switched to a hand brush which work very well but was difficult on my back and knees. So on the shop slab I used a 1/4 " nap roller, which worked well until the edges started to fray, so I had to switch out the roller a few times.
It really turned out beautiful, we are very happy with the results!

Blocks for the bath house

2010-06-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

We found a place in Austin that sales construction block seconds at a 30% discount. We have tried for a year now to acquire these recycled but contractors are in such a hurry that they do not take the time needed to gentle push the wall over so they don't break.
The semi-truck the blocks were delivered in could not make it into our property so our neighbor moved each pallet weighing 3500lbs each one at a time 400 ft down the back driveway. If the blocks weighed any more his Bobcat would not have been able to move the blocks at all!

Rain water for the Chickens

2010-06-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

We wanted to try our hands at a simple rain water system so we are starting with the chicken house. It had to be elevated as to gravity flow into the water bowl. We decided to dry stack cinder blocks , anchor them in place with re-bar and fill the center with dirt.
The first step was to find level grade for the cinder blocks to be placed on. With stakes and string we leveled the ground then packed it tight. Then the blocks were placed, fill dirt in the center and packed down to form a solid base.

For the rain water system we installed a roof washer that will fill up first before going in to the tank. We used a plug at the end with a clamp to open the plug. This way we can flush out even large debris easily.

Shortly after we got it installed it rained 4 inches and filled the tank half way!

Baby Chicks at 6 weeks old

2010-06-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

Almost time to let them loose. Even though we were told to wait 4 months before we let them out, our neighbors have always let the chicks with the other flock about this time, so we might try it soon.

New Garden Cage for the blueberries/ Grape

2010-06-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

This started as just replacing one post that had rotted and caved in.
We decided to redo the whole cage and include the grapes as well.
The blueberries were in full production so we built the cage around the existing netting. This winter we are planning to replace the netting with chicken wire to keep the squirrels out as well. It will take putting up perlins to hold all the wire. A great winter project!

The Closet is done!

2010-05-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

The closet is officially done! It really feels good to get another building completely finished.

Richard is putting together a collage on a thermometer for an added architectural detail. I think this is why is is taking us so long to get the buildings done but it does add an element that no one takes the time to do any more

We finally learned to cut and paint the trim BEFORE we put it up in place. This has saved us days of retouching when we tried to paint the trim in place!

Spring blooms

2010-05-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

We love this time of year when it hasn't gotten so hot and the bugs haven't started drilling holes in some of the plants. Just a few of the blooms.

Mama hen adopts the chicks at 1 month old

2010-05-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

One day I noticed a hen sitting beside the baby chicks cage and talking to them through the bars. So we fenced off a portion of the chicken enclosure just for the babies and this hen. She keep them warm at night and taught them the ropes of being a chicken! Actually chickens know all chicken stuff from birth, its in their genes, but it was so heart warming to see this gentle hen adopt them for a while.

Chicks at 3 weeks

2010-05-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

The chickens grow soooo fast. When meat chickens (the chickens used for meat are much bulkier and not good egg layers) are raised for eating , they are ready for market in 6 weeks!

They are quickly growing out of their 2nd cage.

Setting the bath house drain

2010-05-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

We are planning a hot tub for the bath house so we felt it would be a good idea to have a floor drain just in case any leak would happen. As an after thought we think it would have been a better idea to have hidden the drain under the sink. You have to have a very skilled cement person to slope the floor in the right direction. We have realize it is not an easy task as when it rains we see the puddles form on the slab and not so much to the drain.

So here we are finishing the drain even to the slab. Since we are going to stain the cement we will place the drain slightly lower than even with the floor, so that most of the water will be directed there. It is a little tricky because you have to cut and cement the PVC before the cement is poured into the patch hole. The easy way is to place a board across the hole and dry attach the parts before you cement them in. This worked quite well for us.
After the cement set we
ground the ruff edges with a grinder.

Garden Update

2010-05-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

I had to do a bit of art in the garden, it helps to have something to look at that is finished and pleasant to look at.

The blackberries are ripe and so sweet.

The blueberries are incredible and plentiful thanks to the "termador" that has taken care of the harvester ants!

Strawberries are still going!

Grapes are forming well!

Here I am putting down cardboard, wetting it and then I place cedar sawdust over the top, I really like this method because it holds in the moisture, keeps the weeds from growing and it looks really nice!

And of course , another chicken snake caught in the net!

The road gets a facelift

2010-05-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

We were hoping to wait until we had the main house finished before we finished the driveway with a final smooth top coat but the limestone base was so hard to walk on. It is a very good first layer for a sandy soil.
I am so thankful for our local sand and gravel yard that encouraged us to finish the driveway off with a product called "super select" ($8.00/yard , we used about 50 yards). It is a mix of 1/2 inch and smaller jagged rock. It packs down really well , it prevents flooding streams during rains and stays very clean, we love it!!!.

How we did it was to order the gravel from a hauler that pays for it and delivers the load ($50 to deliver the load, about 12 yards a load) and dumps it in the drive, then our neibor spreads the gravel with his bobcat (priceless).

Chicks at 2 weeks...

2010-05-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Mellow is in the foreground with his harem in the back.

Getting the garden in shape....

2010-05-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

The first rose of the season.... then back to working in the garden.

There is always something to do to keep the garden is shape and it always seems to get away from me.
I have been spending about 2 hours in the mornings weeding and shredding the dry waste from the fall and planting sweet potatoes. How I did this was to put a whole sweet potato in the ground a few inches from the top, watering it . In about a week or so the potato will sprout leaves, these are called "slips". I pulled these out of the potato I set in the ground , holding the potato down. I then planted the slips about 18" apart in the row. As the vines grow be sure to not let them root, as they will take energy from the main stem and dwarf the new growing potatoes.

The Garden shed awaits ......

Animals out and about....

2010-05-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Copper head snakes in the Crape Myrtle.......

Wrens in the pigeon coop storage..........

Cardinals in the slab area............

Chicks are 1 week old....

2010-05-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

The pullets are 1 week old and Mellow is 2 weeks old. He is already acting like a protective rooster. He makes sure they are warm and he watches over them with great alertness.
We have the chicks in a cage I lined with some cardboard on the sides to keep the cool draft from them. I feed them a chick grower for food that has high protein that they need for good growth and a chicken water bottle. At first I line the floor with newspaper until the poop accumulates faster then I can keep it clean in a day. Then I raise the cage with bricks and put the paper under the wire floor, which they poop through. A light is placed above the cage to keep them warm when it gets below 85 degrees. The rule of thumb is : at 3 days they need to be 90 degrees and for each week the temperature can be reduced by 5 degrees until they have their true feathers. It is really important that the new chicks are not released in with the older chicks until they are at least 3 months and they have a place to escape to.
They need to be protected from chicken snakes as well. Chicken snakes will eat the eggs and chicks small enough to fit in its month. They will also attempt to eat a full grown chicken starting at the head. They will get the head of the chicken in their mouth then realize they can not finish the meal. The snake then releases the head and by then the chicken has suffocated and died.

TERMITE repair....

2010-05-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

When we first noticed the termites it looked like a dark crack in the paint of the trim. Then the crack started to cave in. At this point we actually could hear them chewing away at our house!
Because our building was constructed as a pole barn the termites had free access to the wood in the house. Normally on a slap construction you would see mud tunnels up the side of the walls.
We thought that if the wood was up higher than 18" that the termites would not be a problem.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DETERMINATION OF A TERMITE TO GET TO THE WOOD THEY WANT TO EAT.
We now take termites very seriously and have applied "TERMADOR" around the perimeters of our buildings. We tried nematodes for termites , which did not work in this situation . We also tried orange oil, it seemed to work at first but the termites returned after 2 weeks. Then I found "Termador" on http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com
It really works! I filled a hypodermic needle with the mixed solution and inserted it into the cavity of the eaten wood and treated the perimeter as well.

When I started to replace the rotted wood with solid good wood , I did not know how extensive the damage was. I took an ice pick to test how deep the soft wood was. Luckily the termites only ate some of the trim around the window.
We dug out the destroyed wood layer by layer down to the good wood , cutting the trim where the termites ended and the good wood began that was not a straight cut.
Some of the plaster broke off getting the new trim in but the 2" by 2" cut to length worked perfect.
After the new trim was in place we used wood putty to replace the missing plaster.

Hoping for a kinder, gentler Rooster...

2010-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

I really miss having a rooster. They do protect the hens and the crowing adds to the sounds of our homestead, although sometimes it can be on the annoying side , for the most part the voice of the rooster is reassuring.

We started out by buying just the rooster (we are calling him Mellow Yellow), but he was so lonely. So the next week we bought 6 Gold sex link chicks. When a hen is just a baby they are called pullets.

This year there is a high demand for chickens so we had to search for the availability. I called 6 farm supply stores and all of them were not expecting deliveries for 2-3 weeks. Some of the stores only pre-order chicks , so you have to know about a month before you actually want the chicks. This system has its advantage in that you can order exactly what you want. We ended up buying them at Calahans Feed Store in Austin. They get the most popular breeds in on a regular basis and for a reasonable price ($3.25 each).

Here is a picture of me holding Mellow the day we got him (April 23). So far so good, he is a really sweet guy, hopefully that will hold after the hormones kick in!

Time to say goodbye to the peafowl...

2010-04-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

YES, they are beautiful creatures but, when they are in breeding season they go crazy and because we have them housed with the chickens the male started attacking the hens.
We decided that they needed their own house . At this time we want to put our energy into our own living situation, so the peafowl must go.....

The peahen started laying eggs and she has been dropping them from the roosting pole in the yard, a 5 foot drop! And they don't break! This is a picture of two of her eggs with one chicken egg.

Re-screening the screen door

2010-04-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

It was time to do repairs to the dog ripped front screened door to the office building . It is not a difficult process, just tedious .
First, we carefully removed the existing trim with a wide heavy scraper, then removed the staples.

We then repainted the door because once the screen is on it is very difficult to paint the wood and not the screen.

We then centered the screen and stapled it to the edge, then we cut the screen with scissors.

To protect the thinner regular screen material we then covered that material with 1/8 inch hardware cloth, stapling that screen right over the regular screen.

We then replaced the trim and did touch up painting.

For extra protection from our dog , we bought a screen guard meant for dogs and screwed it in place on the inside.

OK , this was pretty boring , but that's how it is sometimes here on the ranch!

Burning saved youpon poles....

2010-04-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

When we first got our land and started clearing we would save EVERYTHING! So as we cut down the youpon we thought "these seem really solid, lets keep them for fencing". Well, as time will tell all, the Youpon is a wood that rots very fast and unpredictable. So all the time we took to carefully cut the side branches and save hundreds of sticks, we are ending up sending them to the flame! What a shame!+
So a word to the wise, only spend your
valuable time saving things that are worth saving and that you are really going to use.

New chickens in the coop....

2010-04-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

We decided to try a Rhode island red & Rhode island white cross breed of chicken ( they are also known as Gold Sexlinks). This is the kind that the farm where we buy our feed has. They have had the best of consistent production with this breed. They do well in the cold and the heat, they tend not to brood on the eggs (this is where the chickens want to sit on the eggs and hatch them, whether they are fertile or not) and they lay more eggs then the other breeds!
We keep all the chickens in for two days so the new ones would know where to roust and get food & water. Since they were the new kids on the block, the other chickens harassed them, at some point the pecking order will be reestablished.

Propane Tank Arrives....

2010-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

WE had been searching for a used propane tank for 3 years . Several (250 gallon)were found for around $250-350. The problem is getting the tank from the seller to our place. The transporter of the tank needs a permit if the tank has any gas in it at all. They are very heavy and if they have rust on them or bad connections, the units need to be refurbished, which can cost more then buying a new one.
So we decided to buy a new one before the next shipment when they would have gone up $250.00 . The 250 gallon tanks were $800.00 and the 500 gallon were $1000.00. We decided to buy the larger tank knowing that we could buy the gas at the cheapest time of the year . At this time we plan on using the gas for cooking only, so we figure the gas will last about 10 years! The propane company delivered the tank with a special trailer. They backed it into the location and dropped it down on cement pads.
Propane tanks need to be positioned at least 15ft from any building and be accessible to fill up with propane. We also wanted it a place that was not an eye sore!

Triming the 80 foot tree....

2010-03-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Before we could start on the shop , we needed to trim the tree on the south side of it. We had considered renting a "cherry picker" machine that would left us up 60 feet or so in the air, but we found out they are expensive ($400.00 a day), only reach 40 ft and most of them need to be pulled with a truck to the tree that needs trimming.
Our wonderful recycling guy told us about Angel. He works for a tree company and on the weekends does this on the side. He charged us $125.00 and lunch, to trim two trees.
He brought all the ropes and harnesses and two other guys for back-up help.
They threw the rope up over the first limb and pulled himself up into the tree. He started at the top and worked his way down. He was so agile and very talented with his craft! It took him about an hour to trim both trees, and it was well worth it!!!

Materials arrive for 3 buildings

2010-03-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Our main goal is to always search for materials that are recycled , easily recyclable and will produce a building that is energy efficient and esthetically pleasing to the eye.
We have searched for metal perlins for the last 4 years to build the shop, greenhouse and carport out of. The perlins have either been way overkill , not the right size or for the person removing them, not cost effective to dismantle cheaper than can be bought new.
We decided since the metal prices are at their lowest in years to purchase the perlins for the next 3 buildings. The termites won't get to them and we have placed them on cinder blocks to keep them elevated covering them with plastic to keep them dry.
The material was delivered on what is called a "Bob tail" , it's like a smaller semi that can get into tight areas. He made it OK down the driveway and was just barely able to turn around where the carport will be, so that brought up another question as to how we will get the materials for the main house delivered once we build the carport. I think that is why most people build their main house first and the out buildings after that. I am sure there is a way to figure that out when the time comes. We are trying to think this through from the end as much as possible !

Tilling with a "Mantis Tiller"

2010-03-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

More work on the garden was really enjoyable with my new "Mantis" cultivator. I took a few months to research which cultivator would be the best purchase for the money and the "Mantis" won by a long shot. I was very impressed with the reviews and it is everything they speak about. It was easy to put together , the details were well explained and when I had trouble with the throttle at first, I called the help center and received immediate help. It started right up and did the tilling easily. It was very manageable, even in tight places! I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!!

Back to the Garden shed...

2010-03-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

We got back to the garden shed long enough to put up the roof. We first laid out the roof on the ground to get the installation of the panels in order. We bought this roofing from our recycling guy for pennies on the dollar. It is 3" standing seam , which means it clips together and is anchored down after the piece is attached . The advantage of the standing seam is that there are no screw holes going through the metal from the outside. The down side is that the length of the roof has to be exact.

Mike & Gwens Story....

2010-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Mike & Gwen bought this 18 acres so they could raise horses. It was covered in oak trees and yopoun holly bushes so over the years , with the help of a Bobcat machine , they have cleared about 1/2 of the trees and transformed them into pastures. They are in the process of clearing the rest of their land so the horses have enough pasture to rotate and give the grass a chance to grow.
They bought a church and had it moved to the property and lived in this converted church for 8 years as is. Over the years they added a bedroom/bath, small kitchen to the sides of the house. This last year they made a major renovation and added on about 1000 square , which included a living room, a much larger kitchen and laundry room. It is a work in progress, not finished yet but they are at least living in the areas as is.

They really have a nice set-up; chickens, ducks,turkeys (they had one of them for Thanksgiving that weighed 52 lbs) an above ground pool, the horse barn and a soon to be very large nice house!

SNOW!!!!

2010-02-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

WOW it never snows here...well almost never!

The snow was so wonderful to see, it reminded me of the snow we had in the mountains of New Mexico. It would always silence everything and bring a stillness to the day.

Another day of inside work!

Dead tree over the chicken coop...

2010-02-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

A few months after we finished the chicken coop the tree hanging over the roof died of Fungal canker. We are told it was because of the extensive drought that oak trees get stressed and are susceptible to this disease . Here is some information on the internet http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/SUL11.pdf

We started cutting the tree down by cutting the small branches with aan Electric 6 amp pole saw (ours is a Homelite) we have had a gas pole saw but it was so top heavy it was difficult to maneuver and it would shut off when we tried to cut branches up high.
We then chained a short section to the next lower section of the tree so it would not fall on the roof. It took a long time to do this but we did not hurt the building or ourselves by going slow and cautious.

The state of the winter garden..

2010-01-23T13:51:00.001-08:00

The peafowl are growing, these are the younger set of 4. We were told that they would look just like the older ones..... I guess time will tell!

I have been working on the winter garden, getting it ready for the the spring season. I added decomposed granite (that is the brown-pinkish piles), weeded and cleared out the old plants.
I discovered this year that Penny Royal is EXTREMELY invasive. I planted a few seeds and it spread like wild fire (it shows in the picture with the shovel and bucket, it actually spread into the paths on both sides of its bed). I did not pay that much attention to it ,not realizing it creates a VERY thick matte of dense folige which took me 2 days to dig out!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE GARDEN SHED TO BE FINISHED SO I CAN GET ORGANIZED AND NEAT!!!!

This was just the start...to be continued.....

Side Story: A trip to the dentist...

2010-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful mechanic that has repaired our Honda Accord for the last 10 years told us about a dentist in Neuvo Larado in Mexico (just across the Rio Grande River from Larado) . Our mechanics' son and brother in Law had seen the dentist and her husband (he does the casting and surgery) . They had root canals/ crowns/ fillings and bridges done and have been very happy with the work at 20% of the cost in the US.
Some background on our experience with a dentist in the US begins with Mariah going in for a simple filling that turned into a root canal that when this procedure was done the tooth cracked because The US dentist was very rough and in a hurry. So he had to extract the tooth, which being a large molar has left a huge void. He told me my option was to get an implant. This involves testing to see if my bone was strong enough to accept the implant ($200.00+). If it wasn't I would then need a bone graft, then a screw would be inserted in the jaw, and then I would come back to him for the crown, total cost around $6,000.00- $8,000.00. That was 2 years ago.
So when we heard about Dr Patricia Vidal Ozuna ( 956-242-7775), We were ready to try her out. I should note here that both her and her husband were trained in the USA and have Licenses hanging in the office.
We called her home in Larado, her son who knows fluent English made the arrangements for us to see his parents. She works on a walk in basis unless you are from out of town, in which she will see you first . So for us it is a 5 hour drive. We left at 4:00 am , checked into the La Posada hotel 956-722-1701) , which has secure parking and is only 3 blocks from the border crossing. They accept AARP & AAA discounts.
We then walked across the border ($.75 each to get in, $.50 to get out) which was heavily guarded and straight down the road about 3 blocks on the right. We got there at about 11:00am. Richard went first , needing a difficult root canal, X-rays and cleaning. Mariah was in the chair from 1:30 to 4:00 pm and needed 5 vaneers , X-rays, correction of her bite, and cleaning. The total for the day was $ 575.00 for both of us.
She told me my options for my missing tooth was 1)a fixed bridge ($800.00) , which utilizes the two neighbor teeth to create a bridge consisting of three crowns in a row. This cannot be removed. 2) a removable bridge($350.00) , which is a single crown that is like a retainer that attaches to a joining teeth. This is removable for cleaning. 3)Or an implant ($1,500.00+) which even in Mexico is still expensive and at this time can only be done in Monterrey, Mexico. She is considering training for this in the next year. So we will go back in February (Richards root canal must heal first) for the crown for Richard & the bridge for Mariah! We have been very happy with her Professionalism and results!!!! Her space is very clean and neat.

Fast forward to Feb 18...... We made the trip back to The dentist and felt even more comfortable with the hotel/ Nuevo Larado/ and Dr Vidal. She did an exceptional job and we will always call her our DENTIST!!!

Don & Jeans story...

2010-01-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

A visit from our handsome son, his beautiful partner and the cutest bulldog in the world!

2009-12-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

It is so wonderful to have our son living just a few hours away!!! We were so happy to see their new arrival and she is the cutest bulldog with such amazing character.
She played with our dog like she was just as big and fierce!
We really had a blast with them!!

Side story: A mothers story

2009-12-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

Finding herself with child after a night of experimentation, Liddy was at a crossroad. She was 16, wanting to live more life before committing to raising a child, alone.
The father never knew he had a child on the way, and she wanted it this way : he was not the father/husband type.
Liddy worked at a day care center and let it be known that she was planning on putting the child up for adoption. A close friend of one of the co-workers was unable to have children and was planning on adopting. Liddy and her met up and hit it off. All of her expenses were covered and she would at a distance watch her child grow-up.
Liddy felt this was a gift from God, that she was able to carry and give birth to a child that another women who was more prepared and financially set was not able to conceive. She signed all the papers and felt completely at peace.
That was over 20 years ago and the child is in her life, he knows the whole story and is so grateful to have such an amazing situation that his loving birth mom was wise enough to know what was best for her and her son, and give such a selfless gift of life.

Life is magical and can flow so beautifully if everyone allows it to happen.............

A warm place for the plants to winter

2009-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well it doesn't look like the garden shed/greenhouse will be finished before the first frost, so we are constructing a temporary cinder block space to house the plants and keep them at least above 40 degrees.
To build this structure we used the fiberglass frame from the shower as a guide for the width. Cinder blocks were dry stacked (with-out mortar) on the sides and a few in the front for strength. We then placed the fiberglass frame with yupon holly sticks as the support for the plastic that encloses the whole structure. The important thing to pay attention to is not allowing any air to escape, it will surley be the warm air you want to keep inside.
We heat the space with two 75 watt light bulbs and when it gets below 28 degrees or so we fire up two kerosene lanterns. All the plants fit and It really does work!

Winter is fast approaching!

2009-11-28T15:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a very wet and warm fall. The leaves are turning colors and slowly falling. We have not had a freeze yet, but it will be here soon!
I love the wet falls and winters for the green grass that grows!

The cement arrives...

2009-11-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

We scheduled the cement to be delivered mid-morning so it would be warmer than an early morning pour. Cement needs the warmth to cure properly, it is better to pour in the middle of summer than in the winter, but the summer in this part of the country it is so hot it would have been very hard to have worked in the hot sun setting the forms, so we compromised with the fall .
The crew finished up with last minute details just before the 1st truck arrived .
To extend the 30 foot chute the crew used a 4X8 sheet of plywood, it sorta worked but the cement was so heavy the plywood collapsed easily. So they used special cement tools to move the cement in place.

We were a little worried after the first truck because it appeared not to go very far. We realized that they started in the corner with the deepest forms so as each truck arrived they covered more area.
Each truck carries 10 cubic yards. So how it works is the contractor estimates the cubic yards by measuring the ditches and slab top.
One cubic yard = 27 cubic feet.
Cement is ordered by the nearest full truck then after the last truck dumps the last truck is ordered to complete the job. Our two slabs took 48 yards of cement.

After the cement partially cures ( it will become thick enough to hold some weight but soft enough to move steel through it, there is a small window of time for this) we put in the weld plates(metal poles will be welded to these) anchor bolts (6X6 cedar posts will sit on top of these) for the shop and re-bar for the cinder blocks in the bath house (the re-bar will go through the blocks to anchor them to the slab) .

The slab sat for a few days then the forms were removed and the out side was smoothed and finished.

Larry and his crew did a wonderful job and for a reasonable fee. Here they are on the steps to somewhere.......