A different kind of vacuum

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

So I had a new experience in country living last weekend. A big vacuum on wheels showed up on Saturday morning. Except rather than vacuuming up fluff and fur like our new Sebo, this particular vacuum sucked up the contents of our septic tank.

(Yes. I have actually written a post about our septic tank. Feel free to skip this post if your stomach just did a little turn. Rest assured that the photos don’t get more graphic than this).

We never had the septic inspected or pumped when we bought the house, so when Matt’s Dad had his septic pumped by a new local company, we decided to hop on the septic pumping bandwagon. (What? You didn’t know that’s a thing?)

Pumping was as simple as taking the lid off the tank, sticking a big hose inside it and waiting until pretty much all of the contents were removed. (Seriously, people. You have no idea how carefully I’m wording this post).

Lessons learned during my first septic pump:

It’s not stinky. Don’t ask me to explain why, but taking the lid off the tank and even pumping out the tank released no foul smelling odours into the air.
We need to do a better job of mowing the jungle behind the house. Accessing the tank required Matt to do some serious bush-whacking, and apparently the weeds and little trees that have sprouted up on top of the septic bed could do some damage if their roots grow deep enough.
We have an older model cylindrical concrete tank, about 4 feet in diameter (this is more a note for myself so I remember). It’s working fine and has been upgraded with a plastic outflow valve and a riser (where the lid is).
It had been a little too long since our tank had been pumped. We should pump the tank every 2-3 years.
Rocks and septic pumpers do not get along. There appeared to be some hunks of concrete in the bottom of the tank, likely from the old outflow valve. Our contractor didn’t see the rocks at first that and unfortunately a few got stuck in the hose.
We apparently don’t use enough soap. Apparently the top layer in the tank is usually foamy with suds, but ours was not. On the upside, there was also no cooking grease. There was however a granola bar wrapper and a sock (not ours).

As a girl who grew up on city water, moving to the country has made me a lot more aware of where my water is coming from and where it’s going.

Rather than being grossed out, I actually found septic pumping pretty interesting.

While Matt made plenty of inappropriate comments, and I made numerous statements about the need for boundaries in a marriage, I also did say, “A sock? Let me see!”

Who knows what this Saturday has in store for me? What’s on your agenda? Have a good weekend everyone.

Vacuum verdict

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

It’s been nine months since our new carpet was installed. And it’s been nearly seven months since I posted about our need to buy a vacuum.

It’s been two months since we got Baxter, and it turns out that Matt’s sock fluff has nothing on dog fur.

The vacuum situation had become critical.

So, in the category of better late than never, I’m pleased to introduce Sebo.

Sebo, you ask? Who’s Sebo?

Sebo didn’t even figure in my original vacuum research, but after seeing it at the vacuum shop, it edged out the other brands. The salesman described it as comparable to Miele, which is also made in Germany. The Sebo has similar filters and attachments. However, I found the Sebo power head easier to maneuver than the Miele. Plus the power head is a little easier to take apart myself if something gets sucked up by mistake or wrapped around the beater bar.

The Sebo is about the same price point as the Miele, which is expensive. I may have spent more than I needed to on a vacuum, but I wanted something that worked really, really well and I didn’t want to have to buy another one any time soon.

So what’s the verdict?

Ladies and gentlemen, I am thrilled to tell you that my carpet looks brand new. It’s like I’ve gone back in time nine months. The beater bar is really effective at picking up all of the fluff and fur and bits. A dial on top of the power head sets the height, and a light glows green when the height is set correctly, so it’s really easy to figure out. I ended up lowering the power head by one notch. When I did, the drag on the wand increased noticeably, so it felt a little heavier to push and pull.

However, the vacuum is much, much lighter weight than any of the other uprights that I looked at, especially the Dyson. Weight was one of my biggest requirements because I wanted to easily vacuum the stairs. I pride myself on being a muscly (say it with a hard ‘c’ “mus-klee”) woman, but if I had to muscle (say it like a regular person) an upright vacuum up and down the basement stairs, I feared I would approach body builder proportions.

Doing the stairs still isn’t super straight forward.

The hose only stretches so far, so I have to carry the canister with me to reach the steps in the middle of the staircase. The canister will balance on the steps, which makes it slightly easier, but I’m still juggling equipment in both hands. If any manufacturer wants to make a canister vacuum with a twenty foot hose, I am on board.

The other wrinkle on stair cleaning is that the power head is a little floppy. The wand will lock in an upright position only, and when it’s locked the power head doesn’t run. Moving from stair to stair is a little awkward, but not overly so.

On a flat surface, the vacuum is super maneuverable. The power head pivots smoothly, and the canister rolls easily on its three wheels, tugged around by the hose. On the hard floor, the parquet head did a good job of picking up dust and fur. A lot of fur got trapped in the bristles on the bottom of the brush rather than being sucked right up, so I had to vacuum the attachment. The other attachments worked well too, although it did take a bit of figuring to work out that the furniture attachment had to connect the crevice tool and not directly to the vacuum.

Overall, I’m happy with Sebo, even though it wasn’t on my radar at first. The original vacuum post still ranks as my most commented post ever. Thanks everyone for your input. If you have any questions about Sebo, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Making dreams come true

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Since moving to the farm, the animal that Matt has wanted more than any other to see on our property is… a wild turkey.

Goat came out as the top guess in last week’s poll. Matt’s extremely enthused about goats–mostly for their lawn mowing potential, I think. In fact, he confessed that he very nearly voted for goat himself. However, the true animal of his dreams is the wild turkey.

We’ve seen them in local fields. We even saw their tracks in ours. We had one brief sighting of a hen (right on the driveway turnaround on the day after turkey season). But all in all, the turkeys have been elusive.

Until this happened.

Well hello fellow. Or should I say fellows.

These two tom turkeys appeared out of nowhere, strolling up the path from the pond to the house. Matt was so excited he called me at work to share the news.

To answer a couple of questions that were raised by the poll:

Jared said, “I would like to clarify: Even though I didn’t vote for Baxter, I assume he’s automatically allowed to stay. :P”
Absolutely! He isn’t going anywhere. And really, I’m not sure that we really count our fuzzy family member as an animal anymore.
Diane asked, “Why wasn’t a duck listed as an option?”
Because this is Matt’s list, not mine. 🙂

Our big question is will the turkeys stick around?

Pictures in this post courtesy of my brother-in-law Greg who also shot the best photos we have so far of deer at the farm. Apparently he is some kind of animal whisperer.

Now a few questions for you. What animal do you most enjoy seeing? Is there an animal you haven’t seen yet that you’re keeping an eye out for? Do you have wild turkeys in your neighbourhood? Anyone have any tips to entice the turkeys to move in permanently?

Pop quiz

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Yes, I realize school is not quite back in session yet, but it’s Friday, so it’s time for a pop quiz.

Name the animal Matt most wants to see on the farm (and please note that I’m using animal in its broadest definition here to mean “non-human creature”).

Tune in next week to find out the answer (and whether Matt’s dreams have in fact come true).

Wee-wee-wee all the way home

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

You might think from the title of this post that we are adding some little piggies to the farm. However, the opposite is actually the case. We are getting rid of some pigs… pigtails that is.

Most of our lighting in the basement is still pigtails—much to Matt’s annoyance. The conversations go something like this. “You can’t say the basement’s done until it’s all done. Including light fixtures.” Finding the right light takes time though, so rather than choose the wrong fixture, I’m fine to live with pigtails.

Matt, not so much.

However, in my defense, I bought the lights for the long room nearly six months ago. They’ve been sitting in their boxes stacked in the corner beside the shop vac for just that long. Yes, I could install them myself, but under the division of labour in our marriage, Matt is the electrician.

Well, the electrician finally got fed up with the pigtails and decided to send those little oinkers packing.

Better, right?

Obviously, it’s still not “done” (the absence of furniture and art, the unpainted closet door, and the shop vac still in the corner kind of give it away), but baby steps, people. Or maybe piglet steps.

Opinions on farming from Baxter

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Hello everyone. Hope you enjoyed last week’s guest posts as Matt and I enjoyed a little vacation. We’re back to our regular routine, but apparently there’s one most guest post yet to go. It turns out that Baxter has something to share with you all (or, as he says, y’all), so I’m turning the blog over to him today.

Now, I know I’m new to Canada, but I do have some experience with farms (remember Kentucky and the chickens?), and there’s been something bugging me ever since I came to live with Julia and Matt.

There’s no other way to say it. Our fields were a sorry site.

Sure a couple of them had seen the mower this year, but three of them hadn’t. And two of them were at the very front of the property for everybody to see. The grass was so tall it had started to fall over. And after a rain, well golly, then we had these huge matted down areas in the fields.

Our farm was looking downright derelict.

The grass was so high that we would walk to the edge of the field, but we couldn’t go through it.

And never mind sniffing. Do you know how hard it is to sniff over grass, rather than follow a trail right along the root?

It wasn’t fit for man, woman or dog.

But, finally someone decided to do something about it, and I have to tell y’all it is marvelous.

Not only does the farm look better, but it smells better too. Whole new worlds have opened up.

Seriously.

I’ve walked on ground that I never walked on before. I’ve sniffed smells I never smelled before. I’ve watered grasses I never watered before.

So far, I’ve attended to the perimeter and inspected the hay on two new fields.

I saw some signs of the other doggies that I hear at night–the yippy howly ones named Coyote. As much as I’m curious to meet these doggies, they have to know that this is Baxterland, so I sprinkled some of their markings.

Sometimes, I’m near overcome by the twitching in my nose, and I have to just sit down and sniff. Don’t worry though, I always get up and finish my patrol.

After all, this is my farm now. It’s my job to look after it.

Cottage living

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Living at the farm is a bit like living full time at a cottage. There’s lots of fresh air. I can see the stars at night. There’s lots of opportunity for fun activities.

However, there is one particular activity that I cannot do at the farm.

That’s waterskiing.

Waterskiing is pretty much my favourite sport, and I only get to do it a few times a year.

So, I’m playing hooky today and spending another day at the lake.

Thanks to Danica and Diane for guest blogging this week. And thank you for stopping by while I’m savouring my last few days of vacation. I’ll be back next week with a return to our regularly scheduled, waterski-free programming.

Guest post: Flying high

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This week Matt and I are taking a little holiday. While we’re relaxing, I have some great guest posts lined up for the blog.

Often it’s the little things that make a home. You all know how happy Matt and I are to finally have a flag pole at the farm. There was the satisfaction when we finally installed the pole. Then there was the history lesson on Flag Day. And of course the maple leaf on Canada Day.

Well, Diane at West Lake Musings shares our appreciation for flags. In fact, she and her husband Warren recently made a new addition to their country property, and she generously agreed to share it here today with all of you.

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Happiness is infectious. When you love someone and you see them grinning and having fun, you catch the feeling too. Those good vibes just fly across the room and seep into your heart. That’s what has been happening around here this month. My husband feels good and consequently I do too. The reason for all of this good cheer was Warren’s current project. He has been on a quest and totally absorbed in getting a flag made up for the property.

Our new flag is not just any old flag. Oh, you don’t know Warren well do you? No, Warren’s new flag is a custom designed unique-only-to us flag. It will fly high and mark his territory.

It is exactly one year since Warren had a personal design created and 30 custom baseball caps manufactured with that logo on the brow.

Ordering a personal flag using that same design was just the natural progression.

I personally find Warren really endearing when he is caught up in the excitement of a project. God love him. He is cute. He has been running around all month. First he had to go back to the hat manufacturer and ask them to email the flag people a copy of his design. Then there were colour swatches to select and proofs to approve. There was a choice of fabrics to select. Did we want the flag in satin, nylon, polyester, duraknit or duramax? Do we want the grommets on the right or the left side? We decided on a 3′ x 5′ size flag and an 18 foot tall aluminum flagpole. For Warren it was all very important stuff.

The flag manufacturer has been great and very patient. Flags Unlimited are located several hundred miles away yet they were able to manufacture and deliver our new flag within a day and a half from placing our final order. Oh, and the flag pole was delivered too. It came in five sections, each four feet long, neatly packed in a cardboard box. How cool is that?

Armed with a neon spray can and measuring tape we then went looking for the perfect location for our new flag pole. It couldn’t be too close to the trees and we had some over head wires to contend with. Some areas of our property are rather sheltered and don’t get much wind. The last deciding factor was that we wanted to see the flag from the house and whenever we walked out the back door.

The final stage in the project was the installation of the flag pole. It was a real team effort. Out came the wheelbarrow, the shovels, a tarp, gravel and concrete. The instructions called for a 16 inches x 48 inches hole. Two inches of gravel was placed into the bottom of the hole and then the whole thing was filled with concrete. “Quick get the level!” We don’t want a crooked pole.

Today the project was completed. Not since the marines raised the flag during the battle for Iwo Jima has there been this much anticipation. The pole is firmly in place and the beautiful new flag is snapping in the wind. Magnificent. We love it. For the man who has everything it makes a truly unique stand-out symbol of his territory.

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Isn’t that a great commemoration of their new life in the country? I love the idea of a custom made flag for the farm. Diane’s and Warren’s love of their new home is obvious. Thanks, Diane for sharing your story today.

One of my favourite parts of blogging is finding kindred spirits. In the case of Diane–who was actually the one that found me–our transformation into country living has followed a very similar path (almost to the month)!

Breeze over to West Lake Musings to check out more of her and Warren’s adventures.

Guest post: Landscaping revamp

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This week Matt and I are taking a little holiday. While we’re relaxing, I have some great guest posts lined up for the blog.

Landscaping a large property is a challenging prospect that takes a special kind of person. It usually starts with “what a beautiful vista. I can’t believe this is all mine.” But then it often becomes a question of “where do I stop cutting the grass?” Other times it’s “how do I keep my arms and legs going to move all of these bushes/dirt/plants/logs/rocks?”

Danica from Country Chic Renovator and her husband Branko have their own slice of paradise: 49 stunning country acres. Of course, like our acres, theirs are a wee bit wild in spots. Fortunately, Danica also has a hard work ethic–just what she needs to domesticate at least part of her property. I’m pleased to welcome her to the blog today to share some of her progress with you.

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Hi Guys! Danica here from Country Chic Renovator. Julia and I have so much in common especially when it comes to landscaping and renovating our homes.

We have several projects on the go at our “Forever Home” and the one thing we have been working really hard on is the landscaping at the front of the house. The previous owners planted small bushes and never maintained them so over the years the bushes just kept on growing to a point where they were dead underneath and everything that was overgrown on top was alive.

Initially we had hoped we could save a few of them and just trim them down but once we stared cutting the overgrown areas we realized we would have to remove everything.

Here is a preview of how it had looked when we first purchased the place

After many ~~hours~~ days, we finally saw some real progress. The next step would be to create a new landscape layout and a new deck. We need a sitting area where we can set a large outdoor table and umbrella so when we have guests over we can sit outside in the summer. We are thinking of creating a lower deck level by adding stairs to the right of balcony and removing the wrap around. For the landscaping we would like use the large boulder stones in some way. Once we level off the hills we will start on a landscape plan…

So much has changed on this home already including installing new windows, doors, and now the landscaping and removal of the bushes!

Hope you enjoyed my guest blogging for Julia while she is relaxing on her vacation! Feel free to visit my blog for further updates our “Forever Home”.

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Thanks so much, Danica! Head over to Country Chic Renovator to see more examples of Danica’s and Branko’s work. They are what I call hardcore DIYers. Be sure to check out the complete renovation of their first home (including massive addition and complete interior reconfiguration) that they did by themselves last winter.

Now that they’re onto their forever home, I’m excited to see their progress (and perhaps a little jealous that Danica is going to have my dream master bathroom a few years before I do).

Savouring summer

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Fresh-picked corn symbolizes summer for me. Sure you can get any food any time of year now, but corn on the cob is something that I eat only in the summer time.

Pair it with zucchini from the garden and burgers from the barbecue, and you have summer on a plate.

Although my eyes are perhaps bigger than my stomach in this case. I ate my vegetables, but Matt and Baxter had to help with the burger.

What food do you wait for every summer? Anyone else a fan of corn on the cob? What’s on your barbecue these days? Any special meals on the menu the weekend ahead? Wishing everyone a wonderful summer weekend.