Or is it bump? Or in our case, crunch, plunk, rattle, splash, thud, and crash.
I was awakened several times during the night by a single note on our piano a couple of nights ago. The first time, I thought maybe I was dreaming. Nope, there it was again! Now this is weird; were one of the boys playing a note on the way to the outside privy? Nah, that couldn't be it. The next time I called out, just to be sure. Nada. Ghost of ranch past? Yeah, right. Piano playing dog!? Hmm, but why just one note? BTW, it is way too cold to get out of bed to find out.
The next night, it happened again, but more often. You may wonder why I didn't just close the lid. I would have sworn that I did, but I'm not the only human in the house. The next morning, I saw a frog, but dismissed that thought immediately. The next evening, I closed the lid and put a box on top!
No more isolated piano playing, but my adventuresome noise visitors have started finding other means to wake me. Last night, I heard assorted crunching and rolling sounds coming from our bedroom. Mice! has to be! Bold, big ones! Then, a cup of water on the bedside table was knocked to the floor! A little later, there was a little bump on the bed and a thump on the floor... I want my Mommy!!!
Mice or ghosts, we gotta get a mouser or something. this is driving me crazy!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Little house in the desert.
Week one on the ranch was certainly an adventure, no running water, no electricity, no propane, no windows or doors. I do have a wonderful husband, three sons and two protective dogs on the ranch. Every one has been working hard unloading and unpacking.
The dogs seem to love it here, they roam the house at night making sure every one is safe. One evening I took a stroll down the dirt road and had the funny feeling I was being followed. I turned around a few times but didn't see any one, maybe it is a coyote in the brush. Then up comes Julie , our black and white Akita mix, she just wanted to make sure I was ok.
.
I dont mind the hard work, but the lack of running water is driving me crazy. The well guy came out one evening while Steve and I were running errands and suggested we use trucked in water until the well issues were solved. Our neighbor Mike has been very helpful. The plumbing in the house is almost complete. For showers we have guest memberships at the YMCA. I just dont like having to go into town to take a shower.
All of this brings me to the title of todays blog, My favorite books as a little girl were the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I was fascinated by how everything was done from building a cabin to preparing food and settling in for the winter. I am now living my own little house adventure in the desert. Just like Laura we are having adversities and overcoming them as a family and that is what I like the best. No TV means that we talk and play with each other more. I'm planning on no TV satellite until after Michael has graduated high school. This should motivate him to work quickly and we all will interact with each other more.
Closer to my heart I think of my Grandmother's family moving from Arkansas to Oklahoma and Texas by an ox drawn wagon. Granny remembered as a little girl having to get out of the wagon to find rocks to put behind the wheels while going up hill so that the oxen could rest. My mother remembers the family driving out to Modesto, California from Munday, Texas as a five year old. Grandad had gone out earlier and was building their house and sent a hired man to drive Granny and the Kids to California. When they got there the kitchen and living room were done and there was an outhouse in the back yard. Compared to these adventures mine is a walk in the park. I will be comfortable in my new house very soon.
The dogs seem to love it here, they roam the house at night making sure every one is safe. One evening I took a stroll down the dirt road and had the funny feeling I was being followed. I turned around a few times but didn't see any one, maybe it is a coyote in the brush. Then up comes Julie , our black and white Akita mix, she just wanted to make sure I was ok.
.
I dont mind the hard work, but the lack of running water is driving me crazy. The well guy came out one evening while Steve and I were running errands and suggested we use trucked in water until the well issues were solved. Our neighbor Mike has been very helpful. The plumbing in the house is almost complete. For showers we have guest memberships at the YMCA. I just dont like having to go into town to take a shower.
All of this brings me to the title of todays blog, My favorite books as a little girl were the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I was fascinated by how everything was done from building a cabin to preparing food and settling in for the winter. I am now living my own little house adventure in the desert. Just like Laura we are having adversities and overcoming them as a family and that is what I like the best. No TV means that we talk and play with each other more. I'm planning on no TV satellite until after Michael has graduated high school. This should motivate him to work quickly and we all will interact with each other more.
Closer to my heart I think of my Grandmother's family moving from Arkansas to Oklahoma and Texas by an ox drawn wagon. Granny remembered as a little girl having to get out of the wagon to find rocks to put behind the wheels while going up hill so that the oxen could rest. My mother remembers the family driving out to Modesto, California from Munday, Texas as a five year old. Grandad had gone out earlier and was building their house and sent a hired man to drive Granny and the Kids to California. When they got there the kitchen and living room were done and there was an outhouse in the back yard. Compared to these adventures mine is a walk in the park. I will be comfortable in my new house very soon.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Some Homestead Ramblings
We have actually spent a couple of nights (3 now) in our project. The daytime weather has been unusually warm for November, and the night time has been pretty nice. The Lord is good – all the time (yes, even if it wasn’t temperate), and we are thankful for pleasant evenings, especially since we have no doors or windows installed!
Everything seems to cost more than we thought, so of course we’re running out of funds. We really need to establish water and power; we really want to get up doors, windows, and heating before winter hits.
Again, wiring is done for 110 and low voltage lighting, although I also want to add low volt receptacles before drywall. Tomorrow, Mike R is going to help me with the water tank and getting water into the house. The generator is in for a tune-up and propane fittings. The propane company wants us to put in huge tanks because of our questionable road; it’s a good deal for getting a great price ($1.99 per gallon for 1st fill vs. market price later (@$3.50)), but it’s a lot more money up front. Two free 500 gallon tanks, filled to 400 gallons, equals.... yikes! $1600! All the interior and exterior doors have been purchased, but only a few of the windows have been bought.
My commute has not been pleasant, since I’d gotten used to avoiding the freeways. My very first commute had major accidents slowing both ends of my commute. Fortunately, it’s been a conference week without students, but the travel is a planned inconvenience.
More later, Steve.
We Made It!
OK, the POD driver arrived early, so the whole time schedule got thrown into chaos.
Some of Michael's friends from CBU had helped load the 2nd POD and 26' U-Haul and unload it the night before. We still had stuff at the house! Argh, another trip for the U-Haul to get the rest of the stuff from the house. It was my plan to load the truck in the morning, unload it, and get it back to U-Haul before 2:00 PM to avoid second day charge. But then, the POD guy called and said he'd be there at 9:00 AM instead of 2:00 PM.
Sam helped me load the corral panels onto the U-Haul, then drove the pickup out to the ranch to lead the POD truck driver, and stayed to help out there. That left me alone to work on the U-Haul. Shelley had gone to Escondido to help Katie, Jonathan and Michael had spent the night with friends. After Sam left, the corral panels fell as I maneuvered the truck back into the driveway. Being the young, strong man I am (HA!), I decided that I could lift the panels one at a time back up into standing position. I actually had all but the gate up, but had to reach down too far to retrieve it, and all 13 panels started to fall again - ON ME!!! By God's grace, I was able to duck under and escape with only a few bruises instead of getting crushed. At this point, I slowed waaaaay down on the loading and waited for the younger boys and Shelley to help. We left some items I really wanted to bring, but we left around 4 PM, said goodbye to our Pedley home of five years, and hit the road for the ranch. We got everything on the U-Haul unloaded, and dropped off the truck around 7 PM.
We decided to spend that first night at a motel in Riverside so that I could go to work in Fontana the next morning. The hot shower was very, very welcomed. Hopefully, that is the last night spent in a motel! We've spent a few nights at the ranch, but this post was actually written after the next post, which I will cut and paste in a few minutes.
God is so good!
Steve
Some of Michael's friends from CBU had helped load the 2nd POD and 26' U-Haul and unload it the night before. We still had stuff at the house! Argh, another trip for the U-Haul to get the rest of the stuff from the house. It was my plan to load the truck in the morning, unload it, and get it back to U-Haul before 2:00 PM to avoid second day charge. But then, the POD guy called and said he'd be there at 9:00 AM instead of 2:00 PM.
Sam helped me load the corral panels onto the U-Haul, then drove the pickup out to the ranch to lead the POD truck driver, and stayed to help out there. That left me alone to work on the U-Haul. Shelley had gone to Escondido to help Katie, Jonathan and Michael had spent the night with friends. After Sam left, the corral panels fell as I maneuvered the truck back into the driveway. Being the young, strong man I am (HA!), I decided that I could lift the panels one at a time back up into standing position. I actually had all but the gate up, but had to reach down too far to retrieve it, and all 13 panels started to fall again - ON ME!!! By God's grace, I was able to duck under and escape with only a few bruises instead of getting crushed. At this point, I slowed waaaaay down on the loading and waited for the younger boys and Shelley to help. We left some items I really wanted to bring, but we left around 4 PM, said goodbye to our Pedley home of five years, and hit the road for the ranch. We got everything on the U-Haul unloaded, and dropped off the truck around 7 PM.
We decided to spend that first night at a motel in Riverside so that I could go to work in Fontana the next morning. The hot shower was very, very welcomed. Hopefully, that is the last night spent in a motel! We've spent a few nights at the ranch, but this post was actually written after the next post, which I will cut and paste in a few minutes.
God is so good!
Steve
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