Update!

Opps! I can’t believe I haven’t posted in almost a month! I guess I’ve had a lot going on trying to get going with the new semester and stuff. Anyway, we have made three treks up to the property since I posted last and a lot has happened.

Trek #1 (1/17/09) – Just Dad and I went up there with Brittany and her dog Tango while Rachel and Mom stayed home. We really didn’t do too much that day; Brittany and I pulled out more t-posts and fencing and Dad moved the bricks away from the house (we’re saving the brick to use to make an outdoor BBQ & kitchen). We met some more neighbors a family who is slowly building their house themselves down the road from us. I should also put that a tragedy occurred on this trip, my Kodak M763 camera was injured, the screen was hit against a rock on accident and it no longer works. I hope to get it replaced soon, but until then I’m using my Kodak Z740. The plus side of the tragedy is that I have re-discovered my old camera and the lenses I have for it; as well as my love of photography.

Trek #2 (1/24/09) – Today everyone came up to the property; everyone being Mom, Dad, Rachel & myself. We survived the forecast of rain and got a bit done. Rachel and Dad worked inside taking out sheetrock and insulation, while Mom and I worked around just picking up trash. Dad found a ton of old wasps nests in ceiling (no wasps fortunately). Mom and I found a woodpecker’s work, a pine tree with holes all the way up and in the limbs with acorns in almost every hole. We met another neighbor, a horse who decided our pasture was better than his. After a while Mom & Dad went to the feed store to get cat food and Rachel and I stayed to graffiti the walls of the living room. I must say for not being vandals we did a pretty good job!

Trek #3 (1/31/09) – This was definitely the best trip up there; I think we have ever had. Marissa spent the night on Friday and rode up with us. Dad tore out more walls and insulation, Mom planted more iris plants and cleaned up more. I was Rachel and Marissa’s official photographer most of the day. Then I trimmed some trees for a while so I wasn’t hitting my head on all the low hanging branches. Rachel, Marissa, and I had a small picnic, if that is what it can be called. We didn’t bring any real food so we had chex-mix, goldfish crackers, and cookies along with water and soda. But I guess what counts is that we had a ton of fun with each other. Our horse-neighbor was there again. Hopefully in the next few months we will have a trailer up there.

I believe that is about it. I hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful day!

Happy New Year!

A little over a week into 2009 and we finally get the chance to get back up to the property. A lot has changed since it became ours. The part of the house that burned has been entirely gutted and torn out. The trash everywhere is starting to disappear and it's looking more gorgeous than ever!

Yesterday we spent a few hours working. Dad and Rachel tore out sheetrock, Mom picked up more of the trash, and I pulled out t-posts and took down some more fencing. We also brought up a bench so we finally have a place to sit other than rocks!

Update!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! And happy almost 2009 to everyone! I know this year has been an amazing year for our family and I hope everyone else had a great year as well.

Now, I'm sure everyone is anxiously waiting for an update on how the work on our property is coming along, so I'll give a quick one. We have all the burned part of the roof off, and some of the walls out. I'm not sure of what the next step will be.

The first building we're planning to build is the garage. I'm not sure on the details of it, but I know it's going to be pretty big. If you look at the pictures there is a pretty charred oak tree next to the house and that is basically where the garage is going to be.

Another Days Work

Last Sunday, we took Brittany and Tango with us to see the property. Unfortunately, we didn't beat the rain and got a little wet. But Dad and Rachel started demolishing the kitchen that day.

Yesterday we spent a few hours working up at the property, thanks to an absolutely gorgeous sunny day! I continued taking down the crossing fencing, Dad working on demo-ing the house, Rachel and Mom helped with everything, moving bricks, picking up more trash and whatever else they did. It does look a lot better than when we started!

We are still working on drawing/finding plans for the new house and garage/shop. Hopefully we can find plans we like soon!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, if I don't see or talk to you before Christmas!

A Week In....

It has been a week since we closed on the property. Saturday was spent cleaning up cans, bottles and other junk laying around. I starting taking down the crazy cross fencing and got almost two sections done. We have had a hauling crew to clean up & haul away a lot the junk. Wow! is all I can say! The change is amazing! So much has been taken away!

Before & After Pics!

We are working on floor plans for the house. Rachel has a great computer program we are using to design it! This weekend will be spent working up there, unless the weather-guessers are right and it rains!

Until next time!

1st Day of Work @ Hobble Rock

Today we went to Chico to finish the process of purchasing our property. Then we headed over to the property to do a little work and scope it out a bit more.

When we got up there someone was there and we found out it was a new neighbor, Ken, who was feeding the cats that were left behind. He was really nice and we look forward to meeting our other new neighbors.

Mostly we picked up cans & bottles and threw garbage into a big pile. We can't wait to get a dumpster up there and get rid of the trash! The good news is that there really isn't as much trash up there as we originally thought.

Rachel made friends with the neighbor's steers. The whole afternoon she was pulling up grass and feeding him. I think she wants to buy him a bale of hay for Saturday!

We're going back up there Saturday for a little celebration with our family and some more work on our part! I think we're going to take down the crazy cross-fencing and continue cleaning up in general.

I'll try to post more this weekend, along with more pictures!

Hobble Rock (or so the working name is...)

Hi everyone! This is Katie, I'll be managing the blog for our new property currently going by the name of "Hobble Rock" this is because the road it is on is called Hobble Bush and there are lots of rocks on the property. The property is 5 acres with some hills, some flat, and lots of rock. There was a house on the property but it was partially burned down in a recent fire, along with the shop and a trailer.

We plan to build a new house, but first a shop with a small apartment (for me!). We also plan to plant a large garden, Rachel wants to have a good size flock of laying hens with a few bantams mixed in, we all want goats (Nigerian Dwarf and Boar), of course we would have our rabbits (Flemmies, Mini Lops and who knows what else!), and eventually we would get some horses. We also will raise some hogs and beef steers for butcher every year to supply ourselves with quality meat! Oh and I almost forgot to mention the orchard we're going to plant with apple, peach and orange trees. And since Mom and Dad love olive trees we're going to have a small grove of them too! That's a summary of our unwritten plan (always subject to change!)

This blog is for our family and friends to keep up with what is going on at the property. I will try to do at least one post a month, but hopefully I'll do one every time we trek up there!