January Cleaning!

Today was a nice, cold and rainy in Bangor.  The rain gave us the opportunity to take some time and really clean up the house/shed.  I neglected to take a before picture but it was packed to the brim with "stuff".  It really was impossible to walk through the house.  Not true now! 

Dad and I assembled another metal shelving unit.  We put seven shelves on it spaced about a foot apart to accomodate the wood bins we have.  After we had the shelf up and the bins in place we started an organizing frenzy!  The big plastic storage bin of tools we have was separated and organized - all the hammers are together, the wrenches are by themselves, the welding tools have their own box and so do all our other tools!  The hoses were stacked neatly on top of the shelving unit and the old Camp Box just fit on the bottom shelf.  I emptied out the wheel barrow that the copper wire was thrown it and put it in the plastic storage bin that used to have our random tools.  We dug out a forgotten empty plastic storage bin and put our hoses with holes in it until we need the hoses. 

Now that we know what we have and where it is our future projects will be a ton easier!  The only thing left to do is label the bins and shelves.  Until next time.  God Bless!

 New-To-Us Lumber Rack!

Solar heater 

Our trailer all rainproof and winterized! 

 Our new organized splendor!

Our friendly neighborhood rooster (who seems to have lost his ladies)

Wood Run!

I don't quite know why, but I love going on wood runs.  What is a wood run you ask?  A wood run is when we (my family) go to get wood to heat our home via our fire-place insert.  We used to go up out of Georgetown in the El Dorado National Forest with a wood cutting permit and get wood out of the National Forest.  Now our wood comes from our property.  Most of the wood we have now is solid oak, ponderosa pine, and madrone. 

The wood run was just up to the property, we just split wood from the wood shed, cut long pieces down to size and loaded up the truck with enough wood to suffice us for a couple weeks.  In the spring when we start trimming trees we will split and stack the wood to cure for use in the winter. 

We did have some trials yesterday, first of all the log splitter had a flat tire (which really wasn't too big a surprise), the guiding plate that guides the splitting blade sheared a bolt off and we had to go to the hardware store to get new bolts, and then we broke the pull start string and had to drill off the cover plate that was rivetted on instead of screwed or bolted.  We shall fix everything this week at home and put the log splitter back together next time.

The best part about yesterday was the amazing, pristine, air and sunshine!  It never cleared up down in Sacramento but up in Bangor is was a beautiful sunny day!  But it was COLD!  And another highlight was stopping for breakfast in Marysville at Gary's Place.  I got a great plate of french toast and Dad got the ham and egg special which consisted of three plates - a huge-mungous ham steak, a plate of potatoes and eggs and a gi-normous pancake!  It provided us with two nice meals that day. 

On a not so high note, our cat Hunter has gone missing since early November.  There has been a mean raccoon spotted in the area that is killing for fun, not food.  But we haven't found a body yet, and I doubt we will.  I hope Hunter is just spooked off the property but I doubt it.  We still have two kittens, but I think I'll be in the market for some barn cats in the near future.

Happy New Year!

It is the very last evening of 2010.  After an evening of reflecting on the past year, I conclude it has been a good one.  Not only for me and my family, but for the progress we have made on Hobble Rock Ranch, what we have learned and the experiences we have had. 

After almost a month we got back up to the property.  It was a beautiful, cold wintery day.  We found a huge leak in the trailer, and Dad and I had to tarp it.  It actually turned into a comical predicament.  The big ladder was at the Citrus Heights house because we had to clean gutters down there and put up Christmas lights, so we only had the small ladder.  After a good while of trying to throw the tarp over the trailer without actually getting on top, we had to devise a way of getting me up there.  We ended up moving our picnic table up against the trailer and putting the small ladder on top of the table and even that was barely enough to get my hobbit-size self on top of that trailer.  But after a little more effort we got the tarp on and tied down.  Did I mention the wind was howling against our efforts?  I really hope that the tarp holds!

On the way home we stopped at the bridge dividing Butte and Yuba Counties.  The nice little stream was a raging water.  It was crazy insane! 

Olive, the other Reindeer!

Today, my parents harvested the olives from our baby olive trees in the backyard.  We cleaned them off and now are soaking them in a glass bowl filled with a brine.  It should be three or four weeks until they are cured.  I can't wait to try them.  I really hope they are yummy! 

This spring we are going to plant the olive trees at Hobble Rock Ranch was the first two trees of a small olive grove.  We plan to make table olives and boutique olive oils out of the olives produced.  We will use all we need for ourselves and maybe even market some to local restaurants. 

Winter is Coming

I think I can safely say Winter is on its way.  It is chilly and breezy outside and I'm wishing I had a nice warm fire and a good book to curl up with.  Alas, we are low on wood and are rationing it until we have a chance to bring some more home from the property.  The last two nights it got down around 25°F and out little nursery in our Citrus Heights backyard had to be tucked in for the night.  We covered our baby orange and olive trees and the little blueberry bushes.  And my rabbits bunkered down for the night in timothy hay forts, while the chickies huddled together to keep each other warm. 

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to more Turkey, crab cakes, Granny Goose's rolls, and all the other yummy food we are having this afternoon!  Right now I'm watching the pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade and then the National Dog Show.  Now, I must go finish my triple chocolate mousse cake.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Photo Update!

I was not fortunate enough to make a trip up to the property this week, so I thought I'd get caught up on photos from the past few months.  Next time I'm go I'm hoping to get some cuttings from the crape myrtle trees and propagate a few more.  And I'm hoping to have a giant bonfire!

Let the Rain Come!

So I guess I'm not too great at keeping this blog up. It's not that I don't want to; it's more like that I don't know what to say. But I will make more of an effort, because this really is a great adventure!

Summer has come and gone. It was hot! But we actually did a lot! Mom has almost officially completed the rock retaining wall around the crepe myrtle trees. It looks really amazing! We have all learned a lot about building with rocks, how to fit them together and use smaller rocks to fill in the crevices. Next week I'm hoping to cut the suckers off the Crape Myrtle trees to propagate.

I have painted and set up bee boxes for Dad hoping the bees would come...they did not. But in the spring we will catch a swarm from an area beekeeper or a home-owner with a swarm in their yard. As terrified as I am of bees I'm actually excited about this project. I want to have the home-harvested honey and the bees-wax to make candles and cosmetics.

Our current project is building a pole-barn style well/pump house. I can't remember the exact measurements, but it is fairly large and will cover the well, pump and our holding tank. It will also provide shelter for our barn cats.

I probably should make a statement about Hobble Rock's current barn cat population. Hunter is still watching over the property for us, but unfortunately Winchester is in kitty heaven. From our observations he probably caught and ate a rat that had eaten some poison and consequently died. We do have three (or so) young kittens born earlier this year that are Hunter's little buddies. We love our barn cats, they keep our rodent & snake population down and give us entertainment.

As I said in the title of this post "Let the Rain Come!" It is now Fall and we have had a couple good rain storms. Since the rain has started, our trailer has begun to leak. And I have become good friends with a product called Henry Roof Cement (or that's what I call it) and you can put it on in the rain! How awesome is that?! I have so far done two applications on last week and one today...I really hope it works for good this time. The view from the top of the trailer is really cool!

Since it has officially started to cool off for the Fall & Winter, Dad and I have started to cut out more of the dead brush. Next week we will hopefully hook up the tractor & trailer and haul what we have cut up to the fire pit and burn it! I'm so excited for bonfires!

Last but not least, we have started on the barn!  It will be a 24' x 36' pole barn.  We have started to auger the holes and hope to have it done by early spring!