Ready To Hibernate...

November 22, 2016

We’ve pretty much wrapped up work at the farm until next spring.  Last week when we were there, we did get a few projects finished up before the weather turned colder.  Charming insulated the water pipes under the house to help keep them from freezing.  In addition, he removed cabinets from the kitchen so we could put them in the shed.  This will give Charming space to organize and store his tools. 

While Charming was removing the cabinets from the house, I painted the floor of the shed.  It is now a nice neutral gray.  Although it took me two days (and a couple doses of ibuprofen for the stiffness in my “painting arm”) the paint job turned out well.  Charming also stacked three rows of cinder blocks as temporary steps to get into the shed via the side door. 

All in all, we’re happy with the progress we made during the spring and summer.  Although we’ll make frequent visits to check on the place, we’ve decided to spend the winter months trying to get things done at our current house.  For now we’re going to concentrate on paring down by cleaning out closets, the basement, and the shed in order to get rid of things we don’t want to move to the farm.

So for the next month or two, I’ll be gearing my posts more toward crafting and cooking projects instead of building and renovating projects.  I am truly thankful that God has given Charming and me endless opportunities to express our individual creativity…along with the strength to carry them out.

Hard to see, but it's Charming under the house wrapping water pipes.

Freshly painted shed floor (with a crack of sunlight shining through the door).

I think the kitchen cabinets look better in the shed than in the kitchen.

The pantry cabinet will provide lots of room for jars of nails, screws, etc.

 

Spring Forward, Fall Back…

November 6, 2016

I just love the sights, smells, and sounds of fall!  The green leaves of summer have turned into the bright oranges and yellows that set the mountains ablaze with color.  After these gorgeous leaves have floated to the ground and started to decompose, they produce a simple earthy scent that hangs in the crisp November air along with the smell of smoke from our woodstove.  At the farm, I’ve noticed many squirrels high up in the trees jumping from limb to limb and tree to tree.  I’m guessing that they’re “squirreling” away some of the many acorns and hickory nuts that have fallen to the ground.  I guess we’re not the only ones who are preparing for the coming winter.

Charming and I have cut up quite a bit of wood from the back lot at the farm.  We took Charming’s old four-wheel-drive pick-up, along with the wood splitter, through the river and, after two afternoons of cutting, have enough wood to get us through our first winter at the farm.  Since we don’t expect to actually move into the house until next fall, the wood will have plenty of time to dry and be ready for use by that time.  I’m sure we’ll continue to cut more wood to add to the pile as time permits.  I’ve found that I really enjoy helping to cut wood.  Charming cuts the branches and limbs off the tree then cuts up the tree.  After we place the wood splitter near cut-up tree, I carry manageable-sized pieces of wood to Charming and he splits them.  We end up with nice tidy piles of wood as well as having had a good physical work-out. 

In the meantime, Charming has finished working on the shed for the winter.  The shed has been painted, the roof has been shingled, doors have been installed, and the outside trim added.  After we move to the farm, he will most likely go back and install windows in the shed.  This should be fairly easy to do since he had already roughed-in the openings as he built the shed.  He also plans to add a “lean-to” on each side of the shed to shelter various farm implements from the weather.

While Charming was finishing up the shed, I continued to work on my knitted purse.  It is coming along nicely.  The purse has been completed, but I’m still working on the strap.  It has turned out well and I hope to finish it this coming week.

Our next farm project, before we begin our winter hibernation, is to install the wood stove in the house.  We’ll need to install some kind of protective covering on the floor as well as some kind of fire-resistant backing on the wall behind the stove.  We plan to start this as soon as Charming decides what he thinks will work best and temper that with what I think will look best.  In the end, we’ll compromise and come up with a nice-looking, workable solution.  Should have some pictures of this in my next post.  Enjoy the nice fall weather while you can!  Be sure to soak up all the sights, smells, and sounds that your eyes, nose, and ears can possibly stand because it’ll be a whole year before you will experience the fall season again.

Some of the pumpkins we grew on the farm.  Soup, bread, pies...oh, my!

The finished shed.  Will add windows, steps, & lean-to later.

Charming made hooks from rebar to hold the doors open...he's so clever!

My knitted purse, minus the strap which I'll add later.

 

A close-up of the knitted cable pattern on the purse and button closure.

One of many piles of wood that we've cut so far.  Nothing compares to wood heat!