Well it's a lovely warm day, and considering what was on the ground that means MUD... the dreaded "M" word. I really, really love mud... don't you? Especially since it's all clay mud which as it sticks to your shoes adds 50lbs to your foot.. or at least feels that way. Today we went out and put the rebar stakes into the MUDDY ground. pounding rebar in ground The ground is just squishy enough to make it easy to get into the ground, I almost wish we had the ground rods to put into the ground, they would be very easy to get into the ground right now. While we were doing the pounding my son who doesn't currently attend a church got to stand in the middle of the mud circle and hold our 100ft tape to make sure we had the right length from the center. We also had to measure the distance between each one which needed to be 6ft 8in between each one.  The rebar "arches" need to be slightly off of where we put our stakes so that there is an opening in the center of the top of the dome. traditionally this is where a chimney is put.  We are going to put glass block windows, vents and a whole house fan in a small  addition above the top of the dome in the center.  Silver is planning to find a way to run the chimney up it as well, but we need to figure out the logistics of it first. measuring to 3 ft The ground stakes have to be in the ground 2 foot so the 5 ft rebar stakes need to only have 3ft above the ground.  So after placing all the stakes Silver went back around and pounded them into the ground till they reached the correct depth.           We only had issue in one spot: the one with an issue I am not sure if you can see it, but this one here is stuck in a frozen block of clay, so once we have enough above freezing days we should be able to go back and fix this one. Well it figures we'd have one that would not be able to be at the proper depth.  We should have really gone out and fixed some of the mud piles before the bad weather came through.. but you know what they say about hindsight. I'll also have you know that as I am writing this.. all that snow you see in the picture?  Yeah... it's gone, not there... just the MUD!     So when we finished putting the stakes in we spent some time looking for the orange "tape" to mark where the stakes are as they are a tad hard to see against the browns. outline of house from doorway It is much easier to see the outline with the tape on the rebar.  also this is taken at the place where our door for the house will be put.  The nice thing about it is that the door will open to just across from our soon to be outdoor kitchen.  I think that is very convenient. As you can see from this picture there is much more mud than snow now, at this point we had the kids moving the rebar from up front to the house ring as Silver is going to start making the arches. The arches is what  the second floor is suppose to be connected to so that it is more secure, I'm not sure if we are going to do it that way as yet and Silver is thinking we may only need to make half of a second floor based on how much space there is in the interior. As for the start of the arches... bending the rebar First, after we set out three pieces of rebar of course.  We needed to bend the rebar, Silver discovered after trying to use his "bending" tool that it wasn't going to work very well.  That is because when he first tried to bend it the tool bent. So as you can see he went and got out the pipe wrenches and used them with me standing on one end of the rebar while he hand bent them.  The one downside I have to say for the birdcage dome site is that they do not mention how they bent their rebar.  So we had to figure it out ourselves. So we had to bend two of three pieces, the two end pieces.  The center piece gets bent when you attach them together.  We discovered it's much easier to bend with the help of two children in addition to me standing on the rebar. So after the bending comes tying the rebar together. tying the rebar We are using rebar ties to connect them together, now we have seen people using zip ties.  While they will hold a great deal, I think using the metal rebar ties will be 100% better as then they will be part of the concrete with the rebar. Silver is planning on using a couple of zip ties then we put the arches up and need to temporarily secure them to the rebar stakes while we get the others in place.  Then will go around and use the metal ties to finish securing them. Incidentally we did not put this one in place as we have discovered we need to have a ladder or a scaffolding in place to do that as we need someone at the top to hold it in place while it is secured. As it is flimsy while being strong.  I know once they are all in place they will be much more secure, jut one by itself would not be. We only put one arch together so as to get the "idea" of how to do it for the first time.  Notice in the picture... no snow at all and all the MUD on Silver's shoes?  That was after he scraped the MUD off.  The kids finished bringing back all the rebar, after some issue over figuring out how to navigate over the trench while carrying the rebar.  We found one random plank to place across it, and it's kinda working. One child of course fell into the trench and had a fit over getting muddy, I guess a 13yr old doesn't think MUD is fun anymore.  Well at least she had changed into the jeans she didn't want to wear before it happened so the pants she prefers are saved for school.  So now we are all sitting around the house MUDDY waiting turns to bathe the MUD off.  I'll be last as I have to go back out in it to get the laundry down.  Then it's on to start cooking our dinner tonight.  which will be a beef roast mashed taters and peas.  YUM!   So I hope everyone enjoys their start of MUD season... I know I am... rolls eyes Be Well BE Safe and Blessed BE...
 
Yes, I have some minor news for all who are keeping up with what is going on here.  Yesterday evening me and Silver went out to peek at the pond and discovered that it is about an 1/8 of the way full.  So we seem, so far to have a good possibility of having a full pond.  I am certainly hoping it'll be full enough by the time the local farm store has their fish ordering days.  As they will send for catfish, I do not know if they do tilipia or not though.

I will be once the pond is full enough and it's warm enough.  Be going across the street to get some cat tails and one bucket of pond water.   Why the pond water?  Well I have in one of my homesteading books that the best way to make sure you have the right microbial life in your home made pond is to go to a living one and get a bucketful of it's water and dump it into your own.  There by adding the "pond life" that is surviving in one pond to your own.  Also this way you know the microbial life is acclimatized to your area as well.

I already have permission from the people who own the property across the way to go over and gather some cat tails.  They had, had a hard time finding a place that sold them when they put them in, so they were very willing to let me go and get some once we had a pond set up.  Now that said I know of one nursery that has cat tails at it also Lowes has them in the middle of summer in their "water garden" area.  So I do have them available if necessary, but I'd prefer to get some that have grown "wild"




That's  it for now, have a good Saturday!




BE Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
Well here we are the morning after the storm and I'm making brownies.  Sourdough brownies specifically, it takes about 25 minutes after the sponge sets most of the night to mix them.  However I am a tad worried that they might come out a bit burnt as my oven is now running a lot hotter than it was before.

As for the storm...?  Well we have ice, we have snow, and we have power.  That makes me happy, not long after my post yesterday our internet went out for the whole day, it was expected as we have satellite internet; breathe the wrong way and it goes out.  The kids again have no school so lets see... They had a total of 2 days of school this week, guess it's better then them not having any school at all.  Granted though some school are having a late start today it would be near impossible for them to walk to the bus stop safely.  Also as Silver mentioned yesterday due to the ice, we are not driving for the next couple of days.

We are planning on either tomorrow or Sunday to go out and set the rebar stakes into the ground, more likely on Sunday as we are going to be in the 50's then.  Maybe I'll cook something outside on our mini grill if it's going to be that nice out.  Though we had something interesting in the storm previous to yesterday's.  The old dishwasher that was left on our property before we got here that we are going to turn into a smoker was knocked onto it's side by wind.  Now it's sat on it's base for years and a couple of days ago it gets knocked over?  Defiantly a strong wind, or rather strong gusts.  The wind that day also picked up one of our 2 good outdoor chairs and dropped it in the pond breaking it.  So now we are down to one outdoor chair, we need a couple more; hopefully we can find some more cheaply as we still have building supplies to buy.

Speaking of which on next Friday we will have money again and after bills/animal  feed/gas are paid for and my DL is replaced we are going to go and buy soil for the apple trees then the next item on our building supply list.  Which may be either wire, pipe or fencing for the dome itself.  Depends on what we have left really.




Well have a nice day all, I have to go check my brownies as they are starting to smell very done way to soon.  Where did I put that aluminum foil again?




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
Well I was woken up at 4am to be informed that yes, the kids would not have school today.  looks out window  EEhh... I don't think they'd make it down the hill to the bus stop anyway with all that ice and freezing rain anyway.  My daughter as the school hadn't posted it last night like 50+ other schools in our area woke me at 6am to ask about school.    I told her there would be no school so she went back to bed.  However I couldn't, so I got up and fed the dogs and cats; and the fire needed tending.  So now here me and Silver are watching the radar, listening to the weather woman.  




We are hoping the ice won't be too bad, Silver already commented that due to the amount of it we won't be driving any where in the next couple of days due to the ice on our van.  It should thaw on Saturday though as we are suppose to hit 50 again.  Our other concern with the ice (aside from power outage that is) is the possibility of trees/branches coming down from weight.  I know it happened in the last ice storm years ago, so it is a concern.




So now I have kids home and quote "bored" as there is "nothing to do".  I don't remember being so bored as a kid as I could not find something to do.  I guess it has to do with all the electronic devices out there as the kids seem to think if they aren't gaming on something when they can't go outside that there is "nothing" to do.  Considering how many books I "chewed" through as a kid you'd think my kids would do the same.  I'm not saying I don't have a reader... my reader however reads only one set of books over and over again.  shugs  I don't understand it, but I guess that just makes me old.




Well, I need to go help Silver with the breakfast we are making the kids. So, stay warm and dry everyone!




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
Well it looks like this will be another day without working outside as a ice storm is headed this way.  Last time there was an ice storm in this area a few years before we moved here there was wide spread power outages, some lasting a couple of weeks.  So in a few hours we are going to be setting up some emergency water as with having a well means if there is no power you have no water.




The first thing we did this morning (well after feeding everybody of course) was to go out and cover our wood pile, just to ensure that we will have usable dry wood that isn't frozen solid.  I'm going to have my son dig out the hatchet for just in case when he gets home from school.  We got the wood pile covered with one of the tarps we bought to keep cement dry, as when we start buying it we will be buying in small amounts till we have enough to work on the house with.




We're making up a "vat" of chili which will be good if the power goes out as we could set it on the wood burner to keep hot  for us to eat as needed.  The only concern I will have if the power goes out will be the water issue as we don't have enough things to store water in for emergencies right now.  I'm going to be using my sugar bucket as there is no sugar in it right now.




With the possibilities this brings, it has one more.  That one is that the kids may not have school tomorrow, which would be annoying as they had Monday off of school for President's day.  From what it appears as I sit here watching the radar for the last couple of hours the storm seems to be moving a tad faster than the weather men said it would and I believe it will be here in the next couple of hours.  Which doesn't bother me aside from wondering how easily the kids will be coming home.  As the school calls off days when there is a tiny bit of snow, as they do not think the buses can handle the dirt roads in the bad weather.  So it makes me wonder.




I know when we lived in New York there was not as much trouble getting the kids to or from school in bad weather.  Those buses had chains that are always on the bus, they just descend when needed and attach tot he tires then.  When not needed they detach and go back into their "holding" area.  These buses here don't have them, so I wonder if it starts to get bad will they call home requesting parents pick up their kids up or will they close early after watching the radar and send them via bus?




Well I have to go out and check on the chickens before this gets here, have a good day all and stay warm!




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
… my daughter came home with a stomach bug over this weekend and yesterday after Silver finished working it struck me. So I couldn't even eat the nice dinner I made last night, Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn. Then I got to spend some quality time with the porcelain goddess around midnight. So imagine how much sleep I got last night...




We took the track hoe back this morning and had no issues getting it back to them unlike the trip out. I will say if you are ever in my neck of the woods try out:




Bailey's Rental & Sales

305 S. Madison

Lebanon, Mo 65536

(4170 532-2353




I would recommend if you need at least 2 days of rental do it for Saturday as you'll get Sunday for free as he is not open. We are considering when we need scaffolding renting it from him. His prices are reasonable.




Tomorrow barring any rain we're going to go out and start putting up the the rebar framing for the house starting with the stakes. I am hoping to be able to set up some flower beds this month near where the outdoor kitchen will be. I have flower bulbs coming some time in the next month along with my apple trees. I want to this fall get some mums as well so we have flowers most of the year.




Well as it's rainy today and the kids are off of school we are watching movies today. Have fun everyone!




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed be...

 
Fun Days, Fun Days! We did more work with the track hoe today. Silver started with digging the electric trenches for the power out to the new house. He did not dig it very deeply as the wire doesn't need to be down very deep as it won't be damaged by the cold temperatures.

When he was half way to the new house he started the trench from the water and then connected the two together. That needs to be deeper as you don't want water pipe freezing, or it may break.

After doing these two he dug me a couple of trenches for my apple trees that are showing up next month. We are going to mix some soil for their “baby years” and then planting them and giving them as much care as if they are babies.

Well our pond still has water “seeping” up, granted this may just be ground water. However I am still hopeful on the site of it, as it's to me also an indication that the water so far is staying in the pond. With spring rains coming soon I am sure the pond will be full fairly soon.

Next thing we will be doing is re-staking the house site and putting in the rebar stakes Silver made up a few days back. The track hoe goes back to the rental place tomorrow, please note the best time to rent if you have a place that is closed on Sundays is on the weekend so you get 2 days for the price of 1.




RANT OF THE DAY!




Now I have a comment about something that happened over on Blogger. I keep getting Anonymous people leaving comments. While I have no issues with people doing so, I will not respond to a negative person who is Anonymous. I won't even give them the satisfaction of attention by removing it either, I'm sorry but if you want to be negative at least have the guts to leave your own name. In specific the post was about GM seed companies (read as seed companies owned by BIG M and company). NO, I did not check out the list myself as I didn't use any of the companies. However as I know of a great many people who prefer to be GM free I figured they can find out if their seed company is or is not. Also by seeing the names on the list they can go ask the companies themselves. I was just trying to be a handy go between. I had gotten many bad comments about that post which, I might add is at least 1 year old. The reason I am bringing it up now is someone left a nasty comment 2 days ago on it. I'm not removing the comment, but geez... come on people if you don't like my posts... don't read them. ..and if you want to read them and make a counter point great! DO NOT be nasty, and if you are going to … have the cahones to put your name on it.







That's it for now folks! Have a nice Sunday.




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
Well today was FUN, we picked up the track hoe,;(again I am amazed that there is such a thing) and after seeing the full sized back hoe up close I defiantly think the track hoe is the better option for us. I was very happy when we picked it up that the hitch held, which I was worried about it. As we left the young man who got us hooked up (literally)

However as you can see when we got very close to home the tire..

...didn't last. Well I called the person about it, and he came out quickly with a replacement. Within 20 minutes and considering where we were sitting that was fast. He even made a joke, as he used the track hoe to lift the trailer. “It comes with it's own jack”, cute joke especially while we were pissed off at the loss of the time.




So we drove it home, the dirt road was so much -fun-; we had no traction and we had to go at about 15 miles an hour to go up the first hill. We had to “get off to the side” twice on the way to the house on the dirt road as no one would yield for us.




So the first order of business when we got home was, COFFEE! For Silver anyway, (btw pics will now be tossed in at random)I set up a new pot of coffee and put cookies in the oven for a warm treat. While he “figured out” how to start it. While he has used heavy equipment before this was a different model than he was use too using. Of course our dogs were not happy with this new loud scary looking device and only stopped barking once Silver stopped using it at about 4pm.

After he figured out how it worked he started on digging the pond out for our fishies to go in. I am also going to grow the edible water lilies and cat tails for food production. We are also considering either ducks or geese to keep in the pond, mainly to keep the algae down. If we get pairs then we can butcher the extras.




So we have a short area for the little fishies and the cat tails to grow in. Then a deeper area for catfish and full grown other fish. We are considering Tilapia. I think the deep part is at least 6 foot deep maybe deeper, hard to tell until the extra dirt is “ground down” and we can tell the “actual” ground line. After we finished it off and worked on a few other projects we discovered something that may be very good news. We may have a spring under where we dug for the pond. I will know more tomorrow after it has sat overnight.




When we finished working the pond Silver went out and dug a septic for the dome out past our tree line. The only problem we had there is he was hitting something too hard for the track hoe to cut through after about 3 foot down. So he had to opt for a wider septic than a deep one, which we would have preferred. Once he finished that he dug the trench for it all the way into the area we have cleared for the house.

The next item we did was “unpleasant”, but necessary. We needed to dig out some more on our current septic. No I did not take pictures of it, I didn't want to take pictures of it shudders it's disgusting.




After that Silver went and turned the garbage pile of things we cannot burn or are already burned and is just the garbage ash. The thing that surprised me was that it seems some of the things “out there” are decomposing. Now before anyone rips my head off. Please recall the post where I commented on the fact that while I really want to be “green” I know in some things it not possible. Garbage, is one of those “things” I burn my trash, then I dispose of the ash and the “unburnables” in a pile that will not if it ever composes down be used for food crops. However, I will be happy to grow flowers over them.




That is all we have managed to do today, tomorrow we dig the trenches for the well and the electric. Then Silver will have to find things to do with it.... I am sure he will figure something out, one thing he wants to do is remove that engine block that was here when we moved in.




I am baking some sourdough brownies right now, and tomorrow morning is a bread/laundry day. Have a happy weekend everyone!




Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

 
o today was our grocery shopping day, and we got a good deal on canned milk. Both evaporated and condensed, at $.50 a piece for as may out of one shopping cart we wanted. We now have about 45 cans of evaporated milk, which one can is the correct amount for my sourdough bread. So I'm happy.




I have a few picks of my plants in their trays that I took yesterday while the weather was nice and warm, and also a close up of the sugar cane that will be “sprinkled” through this posting. I have enough sprouted that I'm very happy aside from the sugar cane which we only have 1 so far, I am hoping and crossing my fingers for more.




Yesterday Silver finished setting up the hitch for the trailer for the track hoe as we are picking it up tomorrow. He also made a bender for the rebar that will circle the dome. After we are done with the digging we will start putting out the rebar.




He is thinking about running down the road with the grader that is on it when he's done as our road does not get worked on by anyone. There is a spot not far from us that while it has one of those “metal” culverts it still floods and almost always has standing water in it.




I want to take a moment and comment on something I have been thinking of. Yes, I am trying to be as “green” as possible, however I know that you cannot be 100% green and exist in this day and age. Something has to give somewhere. One thing that me and Silver were discussing today has to do with chickens.   

 
Picture

..well not really, but the kids thought that it would be. It was so funny when the news people even said on the news after the kids got up, “Alright everyone time to get up and get ready for school”. The kids just groaned about that.

We had a bit of good news at about noon today...


Our delivery of rebar was going to show up today! It was nice to see the work on it didn't take too long to get done with. Oddly, we were the only delivery, so I'm guessing we had the only one that required the flat bed today.




I think this loading, unloading device is really cool it's a forklift that latches into the truck.

Here's Silver setting some wood down for the rebar to set on until we can use it.

After the truck left Silver rushed to get out a cutting tool to start cutting some of the rebar for the “stakes” he needs to start the framework of the dome.

He even pointed them to make them easier to go into the ground.

30 minutes later this is what is left of the 4, 20fter's he was cutting up.




Now he's disappointed as we have to wait till after the track hoe is here and done, so he's practically crawling the walls wanting to get the work done. It only took 2 days for the delivery to get here from 25 miles away. It was the truck's fault.. granted I imagine a horse drawn wagon would have gotten them here faster.




Hope everyone has had a good day, and is staying warm!




Be Well, BE Safe, and Blessed Be...