Got one of those lanterns as well works great.
This weeks preps check-in
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We had frost again last night. Not sure if we lost any more plants in the garden yet. High temp yesterday was 58. Supposed to start warming up today.
Sounds like heaven. We're setting heat records allready. My cucumbers are getting burned up allready, and today was the first day of summer!
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It warmed up a lot today. It hit 71 here. Down in the valley was in the mid 80's. The garden looks OK. Some plants look like they're a little frost damaged but they should pull out of it.
i got a shopping bag full of purple hull beans today.in which i've already started on shelling..i just hope there's enough there for 2 pints..
Just put up a new 2 meter high fence around the rear of my property.
Now, you know the UN frowns on things like that. You should be willing to share everything you have with anyone who wants it. You wouldn't want to make all the people that are unwilling to work feel inferior when they see how well you have it behind your fenced security would you....... You know I'm gagging just from writing this crap!
I'm canning another pot full of red potatoes tonight. The good news is it's five o'clock on Friday afternoon, so I just made a glass of wine with grape juice and peaches in it (yum), the bad news is the canner just got to 11 lbs pressure so I have 35 minutes to babysit the buggar.
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Planted a couple cherry trees yesterday and have been working on a fence to keep the deer and elk out of the garden. Some of the pepper plants are starting to grow some peppers and the tomato plants are a foot high now. We had frost last week but I think we're done with the cold temps, until at least late August.
I wanted a THREE meter fence topped with a single strand of razor wire, NOT ALLOWED in case a tresspasser hurts themselves according to the cops and council. So Two meter it is with carpet gripper rods tacked at the top on the inside edge smeared liberally with dog ****. If I cannot keep them out then when they leave they go with tetanus as a parting gift.
Ok, I'm a little slow sometimes, I admit it. I've been canning with the pressure valve that comes with the pressure cookers, which is set for 15 lbs. since I only need 11 lbs I had to sit close and watch the cooker, releasing pressure each time it went over 11. You can regulate some with the heat adjustment on the stovetop, but on electric it's tough to get precise. Anyways, I just ordered an adjustable regulator that I can walk away from. I told my son about it and he's like, why in the hell didn't you order that ages ago. Like I said, I'm a little slow sometimes! I love Amazon prime, they have just about anything you can think of, and it ships to your door. Can't wait to try this thing out.
Well, tonight it's pickeled beets. I picked beets, red and white potatoes, and blueberries today. The berries are washed and frozen, just shy of 1 gallon today. I have several different varieties of them and th come ripe at different times. I'm about 1/5 through the bushes now. The beets are sliced with onions and spices and are cooking right now, yum. The kitchen smells great!
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Started excavation on the garage\shop today. It will be 28'x30' with 10' walls. The barn should be just about done next week. When the barns done I'll build some corrals and fence about 10 acres off around the barn/house area. Should be ready to bring the cattle up here by Spring.
Are you doing the work yourself, or hiring help? Even with help, that's a lot to do.
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I'm doing the dirt work myself but hiring a crew for the construction. I am building the well house myself, starting today, and just finished building a storage shed yesterday. Still have the chicken coop, hog pen and garden shed to build this summer. The house will be last.
You're either smarter than me or just have more money.
. I tend to do it all myself, but sometimes you can hire someone and not only is it done quicker, but with a lot less wear and tear on your body. I just finished putting a roof on a 16x14 covered parking area to park our bucket/lift under. It's so hot that I could only work a little in the am and then again in the pm. I don't know if it's hotter now or maybe I'm just older . When I built this house I bought a bandsaw mill and cut the lumber for the whole thing. Framing, cabinets and all. It was cool doing the Daniel boon thing once, but now that I look back it wasn't even close to being economical. You can buy lumber much cheaper than cutting it yourself.
I've done the same thing when I built my house, I setup a wood mill and cut my own timber from the trees on my own property then I got hit with a 5% yield tax from the timbers I cut down. When I purchased my land the land was considered 'forested land' then meaning the trees were considered crops (lesson learned) I should have purchased my lumber and saved a year of cutting and milling the timber, at the time it would have been cheaper to purchase pre-cut, though I take comfort in knowing I have TRUE 2x6, 2x4, 4x4 and 4x12s!
There's always someone in the government trying to figure a way to seperate you from your money. I got fined 150.00 for cutting down a couple trees on my last house build. They said I didn't get a permit first. I remember in fla. a county worker told me anything over 50.00 needed a permit. Hell, you can't get someone to repainted a room for 50.00 .
I've had a pretty good Sunday here. I'm tired, but always feel satisfied when I accomplish things on my lists. I got the gardens watered today, and started on the grapes. I bottled 20 gallons of muscadine wine, and am almost done canning another batch of red potatoes. I even made a loaf of banana bread with oats in it. ( friggin awesome!). Earlier I made a box to hold the fluorescent light bulbs for the work truck. We have been changing literally thousands of lights for a grocery store chain. Anyways, as soon as these potatoes are done I plan to spend the rest of the evening sipping muscadine wine and lying down with a remote control in my hand. Good way to end a busy day.
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I built the pad for the well house today. Its a little bit on a slope. May get the forms built tomorrow. Did some more excavating on the garage site. It'll be built somewhat in a hillside. The back and side walls will need about 5' of block work and the front will be level with the driveway.
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This is why I live where I do; no permits required for anything ag related. And that covers everything but the house, which will need a building permit but that's no big deal here.
I narrowly averted a disaster here last night. When I was done with the pressure cooker I turned off the stovetop and slid the pot to the back of the stove. Then I took a glass of wine and headed off to bed. About two hours later I smelled something, almost good, but not. The pressure cooker hit one of the knobs just enough to turn it on high. Since the pot was in front of it I didn't see the indicator light for the burner. Anyways, by the time I realized it the cooker was almost out of water, but not quite luckily. If it had run dry it would have started to melt, at the least ruining the stove, and at worst catching the house on fire. The potatoes are really, really sterilized now, although a bit carmally colored. Oh well, the rooster will eat anything! So, the moral here, don't drink wine while cooking. If you do, then at least check your smoke detectors! Seriously, this just reminded me how quickly something small could disrupt our lives really easily.
I think I've heard that any outbuilding here under 3500.00 dosent need a permit. We are in the country too. I have a feeling though that if asked they would say "why yes, that will be 65.00, thanks". Here it was pretty easy to build the house as well. I did my own drawings, which were very professional, and they were happy with them. In Fla. you had to have professional drawings in color. Another 700 to 1200 dollars. The inspector here looked at my electrical panel and signed the permit. I asked if he wanted to look at anything else and he said the panel was so neat that he didn't need to see anything else. I was pleasantly shocked. Really good guys here to work with.
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Hoping to get the pool up during the 3 day weekend. We'll have to use the ladder for the time being, until I can build a mini-deck and steps....but would be nice to get it up and usable.
Also planning to get a new gas/charcoal combo grill, and little gazebo over it, as well as some patio stones under it. This will be pretty near the pool.
Soon after, we'll get a larger gazebo to cover up an outdoor table and chairs that will be by the pool. We want to try and enjoy it all this season. (and makes a killer backup water supply).
Also planning to get a new gas/charcoal combo grill, and little gazebo over it, as well as some patio stones under it. This will be pretty near the pool.
Soon after, we'll get a larger gazebo to cover up an outdoor table and chairs that will be by the pool. We want to try and enjoy it all this season. (and makes a killer backup water supply).
Got the smoke detectors replaced throughout the house yesterday. Just in case.
our extinguishers are up to date. but we do need new smoke detectors thoe..
Picked up 5 cases (4gal per case) of white distilled vinegar $10 for all 5 cases (.50c a gallon) they will be getting more next week and I will pick more cases up.
