1, 2, 3

1 GORGEOUS WEEKEND:

2 MORE LOST TEETH:

3 DAYS FROM TURNING 3:

RANDOM SHOTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Baby ducks heading to the water with their mommy:


Is this a poppy?:

The bees were lovin' this:

Choke cherries aren't quite ready:

Storm rolling in:

Big Daddy pruning one of the apple trees:

Look at these handsome fellas out for a walk:

He'd go great with my taters eh?:

THINGS I'VE LEARNED THIS WEEK

Paint WILL freeze inside the cabin in the middle of May.

Whatever budget you set for projects - double it.

Woody's Mexican Lime Vodka Coolers can be opened with a variety of garden tools.

When you've overworked your shoulder/knee/hip - the best treatment is to work it some more.

"We can have that out to you by Saturday" - really means it will be there on Tuesday, 2 weeks later.

Whatever time you've allowed to finish a project - triple it - something WILL go wrong.

9th anniversary is NOT pottery afterall - it's farm equipment.

Old treasures:

You know you live in the north, when......

LOADED UP THE TRUCK...

....and they moved to Beverley....Hills that is! lol Well not quite. Big Daddy and I hauled our stuff up north on Friday in a rented cube van. Fence posts, wire, shop equipment, shed kit, and furniture all made its way to the farm. I love it! Oh and did I mention that the black flies were finally out. They were still stupid though and didn't know that they were supposed to bite.

Saturday we drove up again and got to work....Big Daddy moved all the posts down to the field and got the shed kit in place - all 1000 lbs and 1000 pieces....while I worked my field once again! And it poured down! We were both soaked to the skin!

Sunday it snowed! I kid you not! Did a number on the black flies too! Gotta love that!

Loading the truck:

Big Daddy moving all the posts down to my garden:


Just taking a break:

I'm almost done. My garden measures 160 x 120:

Rock wall that we found:

It's 4' high, 8' wide and 350' long:

OLD FOUNDATION

There are so many neat things on our property that we've found over the years. One of them is the "old foundation". It measures about 18' x 26'. The walls are close to 2' thick! They just don't make 'em like they used to. lol



The first step's a lulu:


Big Daddy measuring it up:




Trees growing in the doorway:

Don't think Home Depot will have a window to fit this:

It's going to make one fabulous root celler, don't yah think?!

WEEKEND IN PICTURES

Future pond - the water is just bursting out of the ground here:


Fresh paint and little girls - not a good combo:



Not a very flattering picture of Mama lol but...that's my new toy:


Now who's been down to the garlic field? A fair sized bear!

Wild rhubarb?

RODENTS, RAIN, AND A GREAT LOOKING RACK

What a great weekend we had! Just the 2 of us - it was like old times. We drove Big Daddy's old "beater" up to the cabin and good thing. The road/path was horrendous! Trees down across the road, wash-outs in a couple of spots and mud....knee-deep boot-sucking mud! I haven't had the ummm pleasure of riding in his old CRV for quite some time - with the cracked windshield and unmistakable smell. lol We had our first date in that old car....ahhhhh the memories!

We took Belley girl for a little walk as soon as we got there. Over to the hill where we'll eventually build; down to the old foundation; through the garlic field. There were tons of moose and deer tracks....and we found this:

The sun was shining...man I love our little chunk of paradise!!

So back to the cabin to get things fixed up. What a mess! What a smell! It was worse than Big Daddy's CRV. We got the windows open, donned our masks and started by clearing the place out. Everything went outside....and that's when the rain started! Tooooo funny! It poured. We got soaked! Finally found the source of the smell - a total of 10 dead mice. Then the generator wouldn't go so we couldn't finish what we had planned.

I guess that's the downfall to being a weekend homesteader. We only have a limited amount of time to get a huge list of stuff done. And no matter what happens, we still have to head home on Sunday night.

So let's hope everything runs a little smoother this weekend. I've got a field that needs tilling! Long range forecast - 90% chance of rain....hooboy, here we go again! LOL

Belley girl - a little cold, wet and tired:

A LITTLE HISTORY

In May of 2001 BC (before children), Big Daddy and I were out for a drive up north - hitting all of the backroads. We ended up in the middle of nowhere on a dead-end road...well road is not quite the right description - this was more of a path. At the very end, we spotted this old cabin...and wouldn't yah know it, a dilapidated for sale sign hung at the entrance. This place had been for sale for years and no one wanted it! Two old dolls from the city had purchased the place 15 years prior and were going to have a little goat farm one day. Well that day never came for them and they decided to sell it - dirt cheap! As soon as we bought it, we got the real skinny on the property and the surrounding area.

In 1896, Isaac and his family were deeded this 100 acres. The house that he built is long gone, unfortunately. A massive rock fence, 100 year old apple trees, and the square-cut stone basement is all that's left of his hard work. Oh and a ton of broken glass and rusted iron in the 3 dump sites. lol

In 1899 the area got its first one-room school house which happened to be at the bottom of the big hill leading up to Isaac's/our property. I actually have a picture with the kids all standing in front of it, some time in the early 1900's. Over time, the original log school house was dismantled and moved to be used as an Antique's Showroom. Then it was dismantled and it took one more trip....up our hill and landed right on our property. So that lovely old cabin at the top of this blog, is the original school house in the area! Isn't that cool?!

It sure was a mess when we first saw it! There was a tree growing right in the doorway - no one had been in there for quite some time. Okay, no people had been in, but my word, it had been party central for the local wildlife! Sure enough, the littlest of the wildlife still drop by for a visit.
We cleaned and disinfected, painted, and put in a new woodstove. We also installed hardwood floors...well sort of...we actually used 2 x 10 plank. Best wearing floor on the planet! lol And the cheapest too!

So that's our retreat - Hall Land 1896...no hydro and no plumbing...just lots of fun and lots of love.