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| We have talked about adding a
diary of sorts to our website. We planned on calling it our journey, where
we’ve been, where we are going, and what’s going on at the moment. We
aren't even sure there will be an interest in the daily goings on around
here, but we’re putting it out there anyway. As the urge arises, we will
fill you in on the details of our personal histories. Basically this is a
page for us to commit our thoughts, remembrances, and photos, and to share
them with those who might be interested. Jo Anne. Visit Archives: JanFebMar2003 AprMayJun2003 Jul - Dec2003 OctNovDec2002 2004 entire year |
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| January 2009 Here is a photo of our finished kitchen. Today I am trying out the high-speed wireless card that works on the cell phone system. Not really so high speed here with the signal we get, but a wonder nevertheless. We will probably stick with the satellite internet system and and add a router to use two computers online at the same time. Our present system has its flaws, but upload speeds are good for what we do. Roger
September, 2006 Wow, I’ll bet everyone thought they would never hear from me again. Well, I’m back! My apologies for not keeping up the journal, but I found I had little ambition or desire to write while working a full time job. It takes a lot of mental energy to keep onself going at a “real job”. I quit my real job in June and have spent the summer months catching up on some little things here at the homestead, and finally feel like writing again. Poor Roger, we put him to work off the homestead for awhile. He is now working at a national rental company, renting and taking care of their equipment. He does like the opportunity to test drive all the equipment in the yard. We haven’t accomplished a lot of finishing the interior of the house, but that will all come in time, and neither of us are too concerned. It really is all about priorities. We are putting up more fence at the moment so the goats will have more home on the range. They have done a good job clearing out the bottom of our acreage, and the plan is to plant some grass and herbage this winter. Rotating the pastures is the only way to go. Allow one to lay fallow and regenerate while the goats are chomping their way through another area. Our next big project will be for Roger to do some “landscaping”. The plan is to terrace the land around the house which will become the house yard, and fenced off from the goats, clearing an area for next year’s garden and maybe planting some fruit trees. We have found this climate suitable to grow almost anything, given enough water, and of course the goats do their part with their little droppings. We planted an experimental garden this year, and it grew wonderfully. I planted 7 tomatoes, 3 peppers, summer squash, green beans, cukes, corn and swiss chard. I have been picking tomatoes since July, with no end in sight. Until frost at least. The peppers love our mineralized water from the spring, and the bell pepper plant has grown to about 3 ½ feet tall, and still producing peppers. We gave summer squash to the neighbors, and even though the corn was not planted til July, we have had several small ears for eating. We are greatly encouraged, and plan a bigger garden come spring. We cured the mice problem in the garden by feeding our cats there. It became their home for the summer, and one could be seen napping in the shade of the big Cherokee Purple tomato plant. I have started something new as well, the sale of doll hair. I have always avoided it in the past, preferring to sell to spinners. But while looking on eBay one day I decided it might be something I would want to do. Roger was behind me 100%, saying that I spent so much time making my spinning fleeces look so nice, I might as well sell the doll hair as well. The doll hair sent me on a whole new learning curve. Now I have dyed lots of mohair, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was happenstance and spontaneous, “what colors did I want to use today?” It got real serious when I started dyeing for doll hair. I had to start writing down my recipes, measuring dye and fleece weight accurately, mixing dyes to get just the right color……..It has been a blast. First thing in the morning, the dye pots go on the stove. It has been a funny thing. I have often, when shearing, said to Roger, “this fleece is no good, too straight, too flat, little curl…..now I find that most dollmakers desire exactly that kind of hair. Suddenly those goats that we often considered as cull goats turn out to be awesome doll hair goats. So now I find myself with a wonderful herd of goats capable of producing not only the finest of mohair for spinners, but wonderful texture for doll hair as well. Of course I had to learn how to sell on eBay as well. Now, I have visited there often in the past, but never really got involved in the buying and selling. It was an experience, learning the process, and, oh no, it can be somewhat addicting. I find myself spending more time on the computer, and am actually able to list my items as well as updating the web site. OK, I’ve messed up the website and put things in the wrong place on Front Page, and Roger had to rescue me from my errors, but I have learned a lot. Pretty good for one who only wanted to know enough about the computer to send an email. My daughter and granddaughter were here for a visit in August. They live in Austria, so the visit was special, as we don’t get to see them that often. Well, I guess it is time to get back to that combing of doll hair. I find it strangely relaxing and often think of my girls when they were young, sitting on the floor between my knees, and combing their long tresses.
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
Nov. 27, 2005
Nov. 10, 2005
November 8, 2005 October 2005
October 31, 2005
October 29, 2005
October 19, 2005 September 2005
Sept. 5, 2005
Sept. 30, 2005 August 2005 I stayed busy with the walls and had them standing up early in the month. The monsoon season brought welcome cooler weather and overcast skies.
My son Cody visited this month and helped put up the beams that support the ceiling joists. We put tung oil on the beams before we installed them.
We also installed the top plate of the double top plate, tying together all the outside and inside walls.
By the end of the month I had put on the ceiling joists and the attic floor.
July 2005
We painted the floor to protect it from the sun and rain. Very hot in July. I had to drink lots of water while working outside. It may not have been necessary to paint the floor at this time, but we wanted it painted eventually.
I built most of the walls and started standing them up in July. Big Benny takes charge of the house when I'm not there. The Monsoon season officially arrived in mid-July and we started getting some overcast weather and thunderstorms. This has cooled it off finally.
June 2005
By the end of June I had the floor completed. I found that the 4 x 8 foot panels were not 4 ' wide, but 5/8 inch less than 4'. I had counted on that precision to lay out the floor. I added a 1x2 " strip to either side to make it up. After I had nailed it all down I found that the panels are supposed to be a full 4' wide (maybe minus 1/8'' for expansion) and I could have purchased the proper sized panels elsewhere. Thanks a lot Home Depot and LP. When the walls are up this flaw will be covered and it is a good solid floor anyway. I will use 2x6 studs for all outside walls for strength and insulation capacity.
Here you can see the opening for the crawl space door. The perimeter of the foundation will be filled in with concrete block and foundation vents. Our new kitties check it out. It was a very hot June. I sprayed water on the floor joists daily until the subfloor panels were glued and nailed down to keep the lumber from drying out too fast.
May 2005
In late May I quit my job to work full time on the house project. I started digging the holes for the concrete foundation piers. I used the pre-mix concrete in 80 pound bags for the piers. I will use concrete mixed from our own sand and gravel from the wash for the footings between the piers. The footings are for the block enclosures including screened vents that will be cemented in later. The piers have large anchor bolts imbedded to hold down the foundation beams. We sometimes get high winds so I'm trying to build it securely. The piers go down more than 3 feet or to bedrock, whichever came first. The footings between the piers should also help hold them in place. April 2005
The small studio/bath house is finished now and we are taking baths there. Now that we don't have to haul water we can use all the hot water we want. I just have to finish the washer drain and we can wash clothes inside with hot water. Also JoAnne can again wash mohair fleece. I put in 12v electricity for lights and several 12v outlets, one is for a small inverter for light 110v ac use. JoAnne can use her woodburner there or any other 110 ac up to 140 watts. There is a small solar battery charger and our standby gasoline powered alternator if we use more than the solar panel provides. The little house is an intermediate step towards having the house finished and went up fast. It provides a nice view over the flat land below where our orchard will someday be. We have a building permit for the house now and a completed and inspected septic system.
This hedgehog cactus cluster is growing just below the travel trailer, about 75 feet from where the house will be.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Mar 2005
We discovered a new spring up a canyon on our property so I hauled in two 2500 gallon poly water tanks and put them up on the hill. They were gravity-filled in a couple of days. We now have all the running water we want (for now); so are ready for a washing machine, a studio/bath house with hot water heater. We have a constant 35 lbs. water pressure. This time we kept the tanks under control when unloading.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Jan-Feb 2005
Still rainy weather, the Big Wash has flooded over a dozen times so we had to stay in town at a motel several times. I did get the septic system installed and inspected and approved. I found out that the large poly tanks kind of bounce when they get a chance while being unloaded. This one even flipped over and fell in place in the hole, only backwards to where it was supposed to be. I used a logging principle, a parbuckle with a block and cable, to roll it up out of the hole.
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