Our Friday guessing game returns.
What do you think this is?
Tune in Monday when everything will be revealed. Mwa-ha-ha-ha.
Monthly Archives: September 2012
I live in a gated community
It’s a very exclusive enclave we have here in the country.
Population: 2 (plus 1 cat and 1 kitten)
With our new gate in place at the bottom of the driveway, farm living has become quite chi-chi.
Open sesame
Actually, setting aside my new pretensions, we installed the gate for security. We’re far enough from civilization that neighbours or police really wouldn’t be much help to us in the event of a break in. If we’re home we can keep an eye on things, but when we’re not the gate may just be enough of a deterrent to people who are thinking about trespassing.
I’ll admit that I was initially pretty resistant to having a gate. I don’t like the way they look, and I didn’t want the inconvenience of opening and closing it when I was coming and going.
However, I actually like the way our gate ended up looking. It’s still a bit of a pain to stop, open the gate, drive through, park and close the gate when you’re leaving or arriving, but it’s a small price to pay for feeling secure about our house.
It’s a simple set up: just a chain and a padlock
If you want in, you have to have the key
My Dad and Matt made some metal hooks to support the gate when it’s closed and when it’s propped open.
The hook supports the gate to ease the weight on the hinges and also secures the gate in place.
We do like having visitors at the farm–at least from people we know. So if you’re planning on dropping by, let us know, and we’ll open the gate for you!
Welcome to the farm
Anyone out there live in an actual gated community? How do you deal with security at your house?
See my earlier post for the story of setting the posts for the gate.
Six month review
Some days, it seems like we’ve always been here at the farm. Others, it still seems unreal that all of this is ours. However, it is true that this is our new life. In fact, Sunday was our 6-month anniversary of farm ownership.
My backyard
I thought it might be interesting to look back and see what we’ve accomplished so far:
- Energy Audit, both the initial inspection and the post-retrofit review
- Install new geothermal heating/cooling/hot water system
- Have all of the ducts cleaned
- Drill a new well and install completely new pumping and treatment systems
- Buy and install new washer, dryer, dishwasher, fridge. We were also given a new-to-us stove, so all of the appliances have now been replaced.
- Upgrade the insulation in the attic
- Remove woodstove from the basement
- Brick up two old windows and woodstove chimney hole in basement
- Reframe all of the exterior walls in the basement
- Rewire the basement and do minor electrical upgrades upstairs in the house like a new exhaust fan in the bathroom and a dimmer switch in the bedroom
- Reinsulate the basement with spray foam
- Install new drywall throughout the basement (pasting still in progress)
- Reframe and replumb basement bathroom and install new toilet in upstairs bathroom
- Choose tile for basement bathroom (we’ve taken delivery and just need to get moving on installation)
- Paint basement bathroom
- Reroof the house… I feel like this point should somehow be bigger to show the magnitude of this job
- Recover the chair seats of our newly refinished dining room set
- Cut down a huge tree that had a split in it and was dangerously close to the house (and cut and split all the wood)
- Find homes for three kittens, adopt one kitten ourselves… oh, and have Ralph spayed
- Get internet service
- Get telephone service
- Get satellite TV
- Remove the old TV aerial
- Make numerous repairs to the barn, including adding a door where there was just a door-sized hole, relocating another door, rehanging a third large sliding door, installing locks, fixing the broken staircase, installing lighting and plugs on the main floor, cleaning out many, many piles of garbage, scrap wood and bales and bales of loose straw
- Rehang the driveshed door so that it will now close
- Buy a tractor
- Install a gate on the driveway
- Sell the paddocks fencing, gates and run-in shelters (removal still in progress)
- Watch our first hay harvest
- Trench new waterline to the driveshed
- Clean out and clean up the house and property
- Move in (we’re waiting to finish the basement before we completely unpack)
We’ve had a lot of help over the past six months mainly from my Dad and Matt’s Dad. We also hired professional help for several of the jobs listed above, so it has not all been DIY.
It’s been a lot of work and at times I’ve been frustrated that we don’t seem to be accomplishing more. The to-do list is still very long, even if I just look at what we want to complete over the next six months. Looking back at what we’ve accomplished makes me realize that we have done a lot over the last half-year.
In the review that I posted when we were two weeks into farm ownership, I wrote:
This is definitely where I want to be. I feel very privileged that we were able to make this happen and that we’ve found the property for us. It’s very special. Tiring and a lot of work, but still special.
This statement still completely reflects my state of mind. We are so happy to be here, working together to build our forever house.
Signs of September
On Friday I got all sentimental… and metaphorical and poetical… about the sun setting on another summer. I realize officially we have a few weeks left, but here we are the start of September (already!) and things are starting to feel a bit different.
They’re starting to look a bit different too
To mark the start of September, one of our maple trees has already started turning red.
I don’t mean to alarm you, but the change is not limited to just a handful of leaves
So far, the change does seem to be limited to the one tree.
But the whole tree is involved in the metamorphosis
I think it’s coming, people. Yes, it’s the f-word (not that one!), soon to be followed by the big W.
Are you ready?
Home on 129 Acres 