Did you know...it is getting cold.

I know it has been forever since I posted...actually the day after school started so that makes it like almost twelve weeks.  Yikes!  The pump house roof is officially finished with a gutter and everything (except and drain spout).  February is coming up quick and soon after that we will begin demolition and start the remodel/construction of the house.  Friday, I met Dad up there and we spent the night.  If our dog Arnold had been there we would have been fighting over him to keep out the cold.  It was freezing!  Saturday, we put in part of the fence for next summer (and the permanent) garden.  Dad pounded in eight posts and we strung around 64 feet of 5' tall horse fencing.  I now feel like a hypocrite with all that I have said about crazy cross fencing with only one or two sides...I'm currently an offender!  We also battled the wind and put a tarp over the roof of the trailer.  It is still coming along...next time is tree trimming and brush clean up (hopefully, everything is dependent on the weather).  So long for now.

Gahhh!

For those of you who do not know, this past month has been crazy (and the next few months promise to be crazier).  I'm now back in the college scene (for the time being) and have made a move, started school and other crazy things of the sort.  Unfortunely, for my lovely blog followers (who are few and far between) I have nothing exciting to report.  Nada. Zip. Zilch.  So I apologize, but I am still alive and hope to have lots of exciting news in the near future!

Last week we had both the well pumps pulled and fixed.  I wasn’t there, though.  I was judging Equine Champion Challenge at the California State Fair with my friend Jessica.  So we finally have reliable water.  

Our garden is growing.  Tomatoes, watermelon, sunflowers and squash.  We set out our soaker hose for the lower garden (which will eventually be the main garden).  

We framed out the skylight we cut out of the roof on our pump house and stapled down the tar paper on the roof.  Next week the plan is to put the on the metal roofing.  Then comes the siding (of which we may have some somewhere...)!  

Oh...Well

It's summer, it's dry and we don't have water.  The well is out again.  We called Precision Pump out to figure out what is wrong on Thursday.  We still aren't sure exactly what it is, but they are coming back out Tuesday to fix it for good!  In order to fix the well, the pump has to be pulled.  So, the roof we put up last week now has a skylight! 

While the well guys were working on the well and pump, I did housekeeping in the house/shed.  I made enough room to set up a work table!  I also disturbed a bunch of wasps...luckily they didn't know it was I that wrecked their nests. 

Our kittens are still alive and healthy.  They will hide in a corner and watch me.  I hope I will be able to tame them enough to pet them someday! 

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

It has been a couple weeks since my last post.  We have had quite a few set backs in the past weeks reguarding the pump-house.  First Dad and Dave went up to move the electrical panel from the little shack around the well to the inside wall of the new pump-house.  It turned out to be more work and expense than any of us wanted to put in so we decided to leave it.  We had picked up our metal sheeting for the roof so Dad decided they would put that on instead.  One of the rafters we put up fell (I'm not sure what exactly happened) on the plumbing that connects the pump to the holding tank and broke the plumbing.  The entire holding tank emptied and the pump is shorting out again.  It is really frustrating!

Last Tuesday (June 28th) I had Summer Orientation in Chico and Mom and Dad went to the property to fix the broken plumbing.  With only one trip to Home Depot in Oroville, the fix went smooth (even with the summer rain storm!)  We also made the decision to use wood sheeting and tar-paper in addition to our metal sheeting.  So the metal roof came off.

This past Wednesday, Dad and I put the wood sheeting up.  I got the job of going up on the roof to nail the sheets on (one of the hazards of being a light-weight).  We also cut the roll of tar paper into 3' x 12' sections.  We were about 5' short, but after a trip to my Great Uncle Cecil's we have enough plus some for the next project! 

Summer is Here!

Yesterday was the first day of Summer and the longest day of the year.  In our area summer finally made its appearance with our first day of triple digits.  And today was just as hot.  Despite the seasonally warm weather, we did get a good amount of work done today. 

We got more done on the pump house for the framing and it is almost ready for the siding!  We just need the electrical moved before we put the roof on.  Then come the gutters and an awesome rain water collection system.  Oh, and we can't forget about the solar panels! 

Our poor persimmon tree was sad when we got there.  Lack of water does tend to do that to a tree and being in a container does not help.  So we got out the shovel.  Then we upgraded to the tractor and auger. 

What would be a work day without some weed-wacking?  So of course we weed-wacked our hearts away.  We are moving out from the house and from the future site of the barn. 

I do want to mention that the bee hive is thriving!  Still waiting to put another super on top!  And our garden is doing well too!  Maybe we will even have some potatoes, tomatoes, squash and peppers this year!

Weed Wacking Our Lives Away!

Today, Mom left early this morning for my cousin Travis's high school graduation and Dad and I headed to the property.  We checked on the bees, who are all doing very well.  In the next month or so another super will be added so we can have a bit of the bees honey.  Our garden is doing well, tomatoes, potatoes, sunflowers, watermelon and squash are all thriving.

Dad and I weed wacked our hearts out today, got all around the trailer, house, tractor implements, woodshed and some of the trees.  The only reason we stopped was because we ran out of mixed-gas for the weedeaters!  I can't believe how much we knocked down and how great it looks.

In the next week or so we hope to get the roof on the pump house and maybe even the siding!  We also plan on setting the posts for the barn in the next month!

Wow!

Wow!  That is really all I can say about today.  It was awesome!  We accomplished what we set out to do!  And there were no major hitches!  Today, Dad and I put all the rafters up for the pump-house!  One more step closer to completion! 

Dad marking off for the next rafter

Using the nail gun to secure the rafters

Me (Katie) climbing up the ladder

He is thinkin' about something...



I'm thinking about something...

The bees are doing wonderfully!  In the next few weeks we should be adding another super (I think that is what it is called) to the hive.  And maybe in a couple months we will get our very first honey harvest!  The bees are a wonderful learning experience for me and Mom and Dad love it!  This Saturday is the SABA Picnic in Davis.  Mom and Dad are going and I'm making a cake for them to take (unfortunately, work is my priority and that is where I will be). 

Progress!!!

After around three months of inactivity on the pump house, progress has been made!  The ladders were brought out. The hammers and nails, saws and levels were put to work.  Did we run into problems?  Um, yeah!  Isn't that a given? 

One post was about a foot and a half shorter than was supposed to be, so that began our troubles.  So we found a 16' 4x4 and cut it to size and went up to the hardware store (which is a little more than a quick jaunt) to get bolts to attach the new 4x4 to the 4x4 in the ground.  I guess that gave Dad and I time to think.  We revised our plans and switched to a different style roof.  Instead of a pitched roof to match the roof-line of the house, we decided to a one foot single sloped roof.  It was easier, we didn't need the bolts after all and it will use less metal sheets for roofing.  So our troubles, actually turned out to be a blessing.

So we ran the top across on the 16 foot sides and put a beam up on each of the 12 foot sides for stability.  There is a about a foot slope on the roof.  I can't begin to say how wonderful the big ladders we got were for me (who is extremely height challenged)! 

Dad did decide we were going to wait to finish putting the rest of the rafters up until next week (hopefully!) when we have a nail gun.  We did however, find enough 4x6 for the rafters and cut them all to size. 

While I was getting our supplies out of the house for today's project, I looked between one of the shelving units and the wagon and thought I saw a cat.  It looked huge so I thought she was pregnant.  I grabbed the flashlight and shined it back there and found not a pregnant cat, but a Mama Cat with four or five kittens curled up to her!  And they are all big healthy kittens with a big healthy Mama Cat.  They don't want you too close, but don't run away when you're a safe distance! 

Public Transit

This past week Dad and I went up to spend the night Wednesday after he got off work.  The plan was to just ride the bus around on Thursday to see how it worked and where it went.  It was quite the adventure.  First on Wednesday when we got there we set up my "new" (which is actually my old) mattress and checked on the bees.  I actually got pretty close to the bees and didn't die!  I was really cool to see all the bees and they had wasted no time making a comb off the queen box.  I chewed on some beeswax and talked to our neighboring horses.  The horse are drop dead gorgeous! 

Thursday morning we woke up around 6am and caught the bus in Oroville at 6:50 heading to Chico.  Got to Chico about 7:40 and went to a horrible (no joke) breakfast at this place called Jack's.  Never eat there.  Never!  We couldn't even choke it down...and I had pancakes (how do you screw up pancakes that bad?)!  At 8:50 we caught the bus back down to Oroville, hopped on the Olive Highway route 25/26 bus and rode around for a while.  We found out the bus stops right in front of the casino and in the parking lot at the Lakeside Store.  We also found out parts of town to stay away from, where to eat, and that the Wagon Wheel is supposed to have an incredible deli. 

By this time we were starving from lack of a decent breakfast and headed back to Bangor for burgers.  After lunch we fed the bees and I hungout with the horses.  That concludes our adventure for the time being, until next time!