shtf « Robin Writes

What a whirlwind weekend! The kid was supposed to work Saturday morning, so we’d planned to go down to the farm early that afternoon. Then we had a birthday invite for the oldest granddaughter for Saturday night, so we thought, okay, we’ll just go Sunday morning and come back that night.

For the record, it’s about a 3-hour drive, so I’m not a fan of this. Friday afternoon, the kid found out he wasn’t working, due to the weather, and around noon on Saturday we got a call that the girls were sick, so that was postponed.

My husband said, “Let’s go!” so we threw some stuff in the truck and took off. We got there around 6:00, a little late to get started on any big projects, but I did get the house organized.

Now, you might think there isn’t much to that, considering a lack of furniture, etc., but things were starting to get cluttered. Ahem. Not by me! So I fixed all that, and then we spent a couple hours on the porch, just sitting and listening to the critters around us, and a little rain.

Sunday morning brought a few clouds, but we got all the rest of the trash and junk picked up. Sadly, we found more, and now have yet another pile of crap over by the garden—but hey, I said “garden!” With the help of a push trimmer, a weedeater, a hoe, and a wagon, we have a nice cleared area now.

Well, close enough. Still a lot of rocks, but they’re (mostly) dug up; we just need to move them.

I also transplanted a rose bush we found in the garden area, trying not to disturb our new “pet,” Blackie . . .

What else did we find in the garden? ANOTHER FLIPPIN’ AIR MATTRESS! What’s the count up to now? Ten? Fifty? They’re everywhere!

Then we brought out the chainsaw. While I pointed, my husband cut down all the scrub trees, mostly cedar, and we dragged them into a big pile for burning.

We headed back home around 3:00, managing to miss all the storms except for about 15 minutes of hard rain at the halfway point. Whew!

Sadly, I’ve not been able to get down to the farm since our work weekend, although I’m going for a short time this coming weekend. My mom’s going to be in town and wants to see the place, so we’ll drive down and back, after she takes some photos.

My husband was there this weekend, though. He got the barn cleaned up and the pit drained—oh, I didn’t mention the pit? We saw it first in the pictures, trying to imagine what it was for; someone suggested storm shelter, another claimed it would make a good wine cellar. Turns out, the guy who built the barn was planning to refurbish old school buses and was going to use the pit for draining oil, etc. Don’t think he ever did, but now it’s full of water. Or was.

He also got the sinks cleaned in the house, and the tub and shower. Yay! Had to heat water, as the water heater itself is kaput. Aside from the fact that when we first turned on the water and the thing leaked from the top—and by “leaked” I mean that it sprayed all over the lean-to which, as I also said, needed a good cleaning anyway. Still does.

So next order of business is a new water heater, and a showerhead. I’m sure those who come down to visit will appreciate both these things!

No, we still haven’t hung the new gate or built out the campsite, but we have all the materials so that’s a good start. The problem, at least during the school year, is having the time to go down in between jobs and school. ‘Cause, oh yeah, the kid got a job caddying at a local club. Which is good, but not so good for several-day adventures!

We’ve also managed to move a fair amount of “stuff.” Have to hold off on more for now, until we can do some building inside the barn, for storage. Most of our camping gear, and things that are duplicates—like tools and cookware and so forth—is already there.

However, the critical chore is breaking ground for the garden. I have seeds and seedlings that need to planted very, very soon. So, yeah, another big project. Think I’ll ask Santa for a tractor this year . . .