Mockingbird Acres

New Kids in the Yard

2011-07-19T22:47:00.002-05:00

Photos and video here
The other day, JoAnna and I rescued 2 newborn goat kids when their mama headed back to the barn for the night and left them right next to our house. They might have survived the night on their own, but we called Bobby the goat guy who came and brought them to the goat barn on his side of the fence. First-time goat mamas aren't so good at first, so he says. We are hoping to see them again soon, munching on what grows here in the fields.

Ears To You

2011-07-11T21:05:00.003-05:00

These little ears are the first pick from the garden. They're small, and I'm just 10 minutes away from eating them, so I'll let you know how they taste.

The seeds we planted were provided as a free sample from Heirloom Acres Seeds. It was said to be 65-day corn, so I picked it on day 66. I'm going to leave the other ears on the stalks for a while to see if they end up larger than these first two. And that's a sunflower grown from seed, too.

Happy Harvesting!

Goat Video

2011-07-05T22:13:00.003-05:00

This video didn't capture the sound of their slow trampling of the brittle twigs snapping under their goat feet. It sounds exactly like a crackling fire!

Play Goat Video

~40 Weed Whackers

2011-06-17T12:18:00.008-05:00

Over the past few weeks I have been patching the fence surrounding our property, as well as enclosing the house area and adding two gates. This all started when I was faced with the decision to buy a weed whacking machine to keep the weeds mowed down so they wouldn't take over like in previous years. I initially considered buying a type of weed machine that is pushed on two wheels with the whipping line out in front. The cost is $350 plus gas (? $) and time (?). I don't know how often I would have to run the machine, but I don't exactly find mowing to be enjoyable work.
So, I decided to let nature take care of the weeds by inviting our property-neighbor, Bobby, to run his goats on our land. He had recently lost the use of some other land that he had been leasing, so he had to add those goats to the ones already on his 6-acre property next to us. I found a bunch of used pasture fencing, gates and fence posts for sale on a local swap-and-shop website, so I bought that and it turned out to be exactly enough to do the job. Bobby was kind enough to help me patch the fence over a couple of days, and now we have goats roaming the place. Here are some pictures, including one of Traveler, one of two Great Pyrenees dogs that watch over the herd:

Traveler

Within the house fence perimeter, close to the orchard, wild blackberries are growing. There are hundereds more growing across the uphill side of the driveway, but the goats will be taking those as soon as they discover them. Here is a bowl from todays collection:

JoAnna has been baking breads since early this morning, making use of the Nutrimill Grain Mill and whole wheat berries. The difference it makes using freshly ground flour in bread recipes of any kind is quite amazing to me. Delicious.

2011 garden progress

2011-05-13T19:57:00.008-05:00

Many seeds have been sprouted, and many of those have been transplanted into the garden. We tried to follow the system defined in John Jeavons' book, "How To Grow More Vegetables", but our unheated greenhouse probably set us back. Many of the initial seeds never germinated, so timings for transplanting got a bit messed up. Nonetheless, we have stuff in the ground, taking hold, and promising to feed us in the near future. At this point, we have the following in the ground:

Bush Peas
Pole Peas
Daikon Radishes (bolted)
Radishes
Anise
Mustard Greens
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Asparagus
Collard Greens
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sweet Corn (3 varieties)
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Romanesco
Okra
Winter Squash
Acorn Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Nest Egg Gourd

Standing by to be transplanted:

Bok Choi
Kohlrabi
Rutabega
Beets (2 varieties)
Carrots (3 varieties)
Peppers
Cantaloupe

We said goodbye to Sunshine the stray yesterday, leaving her in the care of a group of volunteers who send puppies to places where people need them. It was fun to have her around for 2 weeks, but it is good to be back to normal in the house again. A puppy needs extra care, and the 2 dogs we already have are enough for me as it is.

This is Render,

and this is Noodles.

Meet Sunshine!

2011-05-02T18:17:00.000-05:00

this is a picture of the dog that Kelly found on our doorstep on thursday morning. no... we're not keeping her but if you know someone who wants a dog please let me know. we got her pretty much potty trained but she's going to need shots and worming and spaying.

Note: I only use this acct to send email & photos from my Droid; Please use "chefjoanna@chefjoanna.com" for regular correspondence. Thanks!

Help me win?

2011-03-05T21:21:00.000-06:00

Hello from rainy Prospect, TN!

Although we're happy to have the rain for our fruit trees and flowers, I'd rather be out pulling weeds and prepping our garden plot while it's cool and the bugs are still asleep. Once they wake up and the humidity climbs, it gets pretty uncomfortable out there.

I'm writing to ask for a minute of your time. I've entered a contest: Would you please vote for my entry? I'd really appreciate it!

just go to the following website, select "B" for my entry and click on VOTE.
Red White & Food Blog

The prize is $150 to the grocery store of my choice. I plan to use the prize to get more organic gardening supplies so Kelly and I can continue improving our homestead.

The contest ends on Monday at NOON, and there are only two entrants: me & another girl, so my chances are good!

it will take LESS THAN A MINUTE and you don't even have to register or give your e-mail address.

I'm only ahead by a few percent right now, and your vote will really help!

Thanks!
JoAnna

P. S. If you're not already receiving this blog's update emails, please send me a note by e-mail (click on this link) and I'll add you to the list. (s-u-b-s-c-r-i-b-e@M-o-c-k-i-n-g-b-i-r-d-A-c-r-e-s.c-o-m)

Grillin' and Hangin' Out

2011-02-28T14:50:00.004-06:00

I spent Sunday on a couple of simple projects. When we had our favorite HVAC guy over to install the gas line for the propane heater, we also had a line run out to the spot under the deck where we could eventually feed it up to the grill. After drilling a hole in the deck for the gas line, I wheeled the grill into place and made all of the connections. After testing for leaks, I fired it up and it worked great. Inspired by the strangely wonderful smell of a hot grill, I convinced JoAnna that we should abandon the dinner plan for Shepherds Pie, and instead, GRILL OUT! The burgers were nothing short of amazing, with the seasonings that JoAnna uses making us both want to eat more than we should.

A few months ago when the weather was cold, we built a bluebird house and a bat house. The bird house has been mounted to a tree just outside our living room window for at least a month, but has yet to be claimed by a bird. The bat house was mounted yesterday, 12 feet up on a tree.

To understand the scale, the house is 18" W x 24" H. I painted the image of a bat on the front. We saw many bats cruising through the open area in front of the house last summer, so we hope to encourage a colony to eat locally (they eat a lot of flying bugs).

Follow-up on the leaky faucet

2011-02-22T21:43:00.002-06:00

It turns out that the leak under the master bath sink was not the fault of the faucet, but caused by a modification that had good intentions. Here's the story: Our Rheem Tankless Water Heater is designed to not fire and heat water unless the flow is substantial enough. The special ultra-low-flow faucet aerators on the 2 bathroom faucets did not allow enough water to flow, so we could never get hot water in either location. So just last week, I replaced the low-flow aerator with a standard one, and since then we were enjoying hot water at the master bath sink. But for some reason, the new aerator didn't fit quite right, and it was allowing some water to trickle back into the faucet cavity, which then found its way out and into the enclosed vanity below. After thinking about the issue since last night, I decided to investigate and I'm glad I did. Not only would I have never known the true cause of the problem, but I would have wrongly accused the makers of American Standard faucets of manufacturing faulty goods (I will go back and edit the previous post where I made that accusation).

Today I learned: Water leaks are difficult to track down.

One More Thing...

2011-02-22T09:58:00.002-06:00

I forgot to mention in my recent post that we had our first official mockingbird sighting yesterday. I had seen one down at the road last year, but this time it was up at the house on the power line and on the ground hopping around. JoAnna and I were both out on the deck working at the time, so we both saw it together.

An Ounce of Prevention

2011-02-21T20:05:00.005-06:00

Most of my day was spent filling gaps in the house siding where wasps had been going in and behind to build mud pods for egg-laying last year. Like JoAnna said in her previous post, once the wasps had established a "door" to their lair, one would often be on patrol and dive-bomb human and canine passers-by. So, before the weather warmed up too much, I went out with 5 tubes of caulk and some 1" squishy foam on a roll to jam into any crevices big enough for a wasp to gain entry - or for the hatching young to emerge. I think I got it covered pretty well on the two pedestrian sides of the house, but since the north and west sides weren't a problem, I'll hold off on them. There is much to do with spring approaching and we have big plans for the garden this year.

Last night, I finally installed the fancy programmable thermostat that I bought over a year ago. The reason I waited so long is not one of procrastination, but more just waiting for the perfect window of opportunity. The requirement for that window was that if I did something horribly wrong in the installation and blew up the heat pump unit, we wouldn't suffer from lack of HVAC for weeks waiting for a repairman. Now that we have a cold-weather/backup heat source (the propane heater), I was free to risk it all. The programmability of the new device will add the luxury of having the heat come on before we rise in the morning, but the real reason I wanted it is because of the temperature differential setting it features. Here's why I wanted the differential setting: On the hottest summer days, the thermostat would activate the compressor on the heat pump (which runs in reverse for air conditioning) every 15 minutes or so. It would run for about 5 minutes, and then shut off when the house was cooled to the set temp. Fifteen minutes later, the house would be one degree warmer and the unit would start again. I wanted to find a thermostat that would allow for the indoor temp to rise above the set temp by 1 or 2 degrees before running the compressor, and then let the room cool a bit below the set temp before shutting off. Hopefully, this new unit will help extend the life of the compressor since the hardest work for it is the initial start-up. The model I got is Robertshaw RS5220. So far, so good.

Trixie the dog has been driving us crazy every night lately, barking as if something is prowling around the property. She may just be barking at the other nearby dogs as they howl at the moon. Our only option to get a good night's sleep is to invite her in to sleep in the utility room. She has always been a perfect house guest, and she's so happy to come inside, but once we have chickens it would be best for them if she were outside on patrol for varmints.

I saw seven deer run from our neighbor-to-the-west's property across our place to the opposite corner. The electricity meter-reader guy was doing his rounds in his pick-up, and obviously the deer don't like him.

Today I learned: It is a good idea to routinely check plumbing connections, especially the ones you don't see often. The American Standard faucet in the master bath has a slow drip when open, but luckily I caught it before any damage was done. Back to The Home Depot with it.

Update:The problem with the faucet was mine (see post on 2/22/2011), so I retract my remark about American Standard.

Wasps & Worms, Sprouts & Seedlings

2011-02-19T21:11:00.000-06:00

This blog entry was started on Tuesday 2/15, but here it is Saturday night and I still haven't finished it.

Kelly has been working on wasp-proofing the past few days. The wasps get in between the boards that make up the outside covering of the house, and last summer, every time you'd go in or out, they'd buzz around and be a bother. Kelly was stung a few times. Monty, the guy who has done so much work for us here, was stung a few times too. They've dive-bombed me a bunch of times, somehow managed to avoid getting stung, but my fear of flying-things-that-can-potentially-hurt-you is so great that I would avoid going outside. Kelly has put a lot of effort to make the house less hospitable to wasps, and I'm really grateful. I hope it works.

I gave a cooking lesson on Saturday 2/12. Cute couple, and they were a lot of fun. This was from a gift certificate that's a few months old. I've got a bunch of outstanding certificates, and I usually have to remind folks to cash it in.Here was the menu:

Herb-Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Brie-Stuffed Figs over Mixed Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Braciole with Penne in a rich tomato sauce
Grilled Zucchini Planks
Roasted Cauliflower
Tiramisu

Even though we halved the recipe, there was still enough tiramisu for them to have it for dessert two more nights. We made a large pot of tomato sauce for the braciole, and that's always better the next day, so they'll have a few more good meals ahead of them.

Kelly's been eating well, too. In an effort to make menu planning easier, I wrote down a bunch of our household favorites on the backs of old business cards. He picks out 5 or 6 things at a time, and I base my shopping list on those menus. After we eat those selections, the cards go in the "used" pile, and are out of circulation until the rest of the options have been used. This keeps things interesting for me, and gives him a wide array of things to choose from, so he's not asking for the same thing every week. :-) Here's what's on board for this week:

Bulgur & Mushroom Pilaf, Swiss Chard
Eggplant and Sweet Potato Curry
Tomato & Coconut Chicken
Pan-Seared Trout, Roasted Cauliflower, Baked Potato
Spaghetti & Meatballs, with Broccoli
Roast Turkey, Rice & Gravy, Sautéed Spinach with Garlic
Chili & Cornbread

Usually we round out the meals with a green salad. I try to not make more than our two servings so there aren't a lot of leftovers laying around. Lately we've been having soups for lunch, and those will migrate to salads as the weather gets warmer.

A funny thing happened tonight though: He had chosen Egg Foo Yung for this past week. You cannot find bean sprouts in Pulaski. They are not available for sale at ~~the center of the universe~~ walmart. It's no big deal to make sprouts, since I have mung beans, (mung are traditionally what are sprouted and sold commercially. They're small dark green beans, about half the size of a pea, used a lot in Indian cooking, but I also see them in asian markets... and I also sprouted some red lentils and some adzuki beans.) The only problem is that I had to keep putting off making the egg foo yung since I had to wait the 8 days for the beans to sprout to where they're good to eat. So anyway, today was the 8th day, and we were doing stuff around the house (Kelly cutting wood for the SuperHighIntensityTechnique boxes and I was relocating the wire rack from the utility room to the kitchen so i could put herbs & lettuces in a sunny window) and I realized it was time to start prepping for dinner. I got all my ingredients together, and started making food. I called Kelly to the table, and put his dish in front of him, and he said, "Hey, this doesn't look like Egg Foo Yung!"

Well, it wasn't. I had "accidentally" made Pad Thai.

Egg Foo Yung	Pad Thai
Eggs	Eggs
Bean Sprouts	Bean Sprouts
Scallions	Scallions
...fried in oil	...fried in oil
spices, flavorings, etc.	spices, flavorings, etc.

My brain kind of short circuited or something, because I had a one-track-mind to make Pad Thai and it was quite a shock to realize that, at that moment he pointed it out, we weren't eating Egg Foo Yung!

It was still really really good. Since I didn't make the rice that goes with it (Pad Thai is made with rice noodles, which cook in about 4 mins), it got on the table a lot faster. Luckily, I have enough sprouts left that I could still make Egg Foo Yung for dinner tomorrow, so I'll have a chance to redeem myself. I'll remember to make rice before I start.

---------------------------------

Kelly and I have spent the past several evenings with our laptops, planning out the garden. It's 75x25 feet. Huge for a potager, but small for a farm! We've plotted all 1875 sq ft on a grid, down to the bee-attracting flowers. We'll be sewing seeds acquired from a wide array of sources: some are bona-fide heirlooms purchased from the Internet, some are saved from grocery-store produce (yes, it works), and others were from packets bought at the dollar store or the drugstore.

We've got over 130 different types of seed! Of course, many of them are essentially different varieties of the same vegetable (for example, 4 carrot, 6 onion, 7 peppers, 8 brassicas [chard/cauliflower/broccoli] and 5 potato) but each vegetable group has its own schedule for planting. Leeks need to be sown NOW, in February, even though we can't transplant them for 6 weeks. We shouldn't put a watermelon seed in dirt until after April 1st. Tomatoes MUST be started early, but not TOO early, or they'll get "leggy" and they won't survive the transplant.

The other thing that we spent a lot of time on was figuring out what we can do to maximize our desired results. Let's take beets, for example... and permit me to use round numbers in this example... If we want to eat fresh beets in the summer, and still have enough for canning and pickling for wintertime, we need to come up with about 100 beets. If we sow 125 seeds, we'll probably have about 100 to transplant. If those 100 seedlings need to be spaced at 4" apart after transplantation, how much of the 5-foot wide plot should we plant? Now do this for broccoli, cucumbers, melons, peppers, onions.....and so on. We plotted this all out on a spreadsheet, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the right moment to sow and keeping track of transplanting dates. I'm trying to not think of all the time I'll be on my hands & knees in the garden, but at least I'll feel confident that I'm doing the work as efficiently as I can. The planning and researching time will pay off in better results. We just don't have the years of experience it takes to be great farmers, but I've been studying! I'm trying to learn the folklore like "Do not sow the seeds of beans, cucumbers, squash or melons until the apple trees have dropped their blossoms." and "Onion tops will begin to turn yellow & fall over when mature. At this time, push the tops over with the back of a rake. This will force the bulbs into their final maturing stage." I know so much more about what each type of plant needs to flourish, and how to care for each plant... which means there will be more food to enjoy eating!

I need get my hands on "crowns" of asparagus and rhubarb, as I understand are damn-near-impossible to start from seed. They need to get in the ground sooner-than-later, since they take a few years to get established enough to harvest. There are some things it's NOT worth growing; we're not going to grow any mushrooms, citrus, or grains like wheat or rice*, so we're not going to be totally self-sufficient, but I think we'll be off to a good start.

I've conceded to having chickens again, but just for the eggs (...we did eat that one rooster, though). I think that this year we'll limit our non-canine menagerie to those worms I've been keeping to process kitchen waste (the rest will get fed to the chickens) just because they're self-maintaining, and that rich dirt will go back in the garden and the flower planters around the house.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and we'll finish the S.H.I.T.-boxes and fill them with topsoil. Once I've sown them, they'll go in the greenhouse and turn into lovely little seedlings. I've got to find some setup so i can grow herbs and lettuces in the kitchen, but that can wait.

On Monday, I've scheduled a meeting with a guy at M@rtin Meth0dist Co||ege to see if it makes sense to try and hire any of the students as culinary assistants for catering. I'll keep you posted.

*we're growing corn to be eaten as a vegetable not as a grain, so no smart-alec comments, please.

February update: Los Angeles, Chicago, and Prospect, TN!

2011-02-08T18:56:00.003-06:00

Remember us?

Those fools that moved to Tennessee but still have one foot in Los Angeles? Here's another long-overdue blog entry. They might come more frequently if y'all let me know you read these, and make a comment!

Well, yet another trip to Los Angeles is behind us. Though we spent only two weeks, it felt like a whole month, but it was SUCH a nice trip. Kelly arranged another work trip so that it coincided with Barcamp San Diego, which also coincided with my 40th birthday! My friend Judy from culinary school went with me to Barcamp, and she said she had fun. We came "home" to the Marina Del Rey hotel afterwards, greeted by Kelly, champagne and birthday cheesecake. His gift for me was a drawing:

We took the opportunity to visit with a few other friends during this trip. I admit I'm disappointed when I let people know that I'm in town and they can't find time to see me. I'm sad to realize I'm losing my friends. It's frustrating to maintain relationships with people I can see only once every 6-8 weeks. There's only a few more of these Los Angeles visits left in my future, if things go as planned. I'm not so naive to think that things WILL go as planned, and it's likely that Kelly will still be flying back & forth, but his travel is reimbursed. Mine's not, so it's expensive for me to drop $300 on round-trip airfare only to spend my days waiting around for Kelly to get off work and meet me for dinner. Weekends are better. We went to Chinatown (which I love visiting) on a day with perfect weather, and spent another day driving through interesting neighborhoods, and discovered a couple new restaurants. I don't experience a restaurant like a normal person. I get butterflies (bats!) in my stomach when I go somewhere nice, but that lacks some detail, in that "close-but-no-cigar" way, that inspires me to want to get started on my own place here in Tennessee. I knock myself back down to Earth quickly when I read some other chef/idiot's blog and realize what a pain in the butt it is to run a restaurant. I think if I ever open my own restaurant here I will special-order a chef's jacket that has extra-long sleeves that fasten with buckles around the back:

I caught the current plague somewhere in Los Angeles, and while I made it through the flight just fine, the ride home from the airport wasn't fun. The closer we got to Prospect, the worse I felt. I spent the next three days shivering with a too-high fever, and then the next four trying to convince myself I was well. I don't remember much from that week.

Sunday, (02/06/11) we got back home from a visit to Orland Park (Chicago). We went up for a visit for his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Bob & Sue are pretty much the best in-laws you could ever hope to get, and I enjoy spending time with them. Both dogs were with us on this trip. They're getting better at doing the roadtrips with us. Render is especially happy at the Mohan house, since she gets full run of the place (except the front room!) Noodles is content to sleep in her crate most of the day, but gets plenty of attention in the evenings.

We ate in almost every night, and I cooked. I have trained myself to bring only one good knife PETTY: New West Knife Works (e-mail me if you want a super-secret discount code!)

I also bring along a very small assortment of spices in bead containers.

(you can find them in the bead- or scrapbooking- section of a craft store) which I hardly use, but they're there when I need them! I do my best to make things that are plain enough for "Plain Bob", so most of my cooking there isn't much more than applying heat and/or water to raw things. I made a really good stir-fry, though, using plenty of fresh veggies, diced chicken, and adding only cornstarch, soy sauce from packets saved from previous takeout and some white pepper brought in my mysterious spice vials. :-)

We brought our new Nintendo Wii with us, and both Bob & Sue had a great time with it. We played the Resort Sports and the Wii Fit games every night. They even played the bowling game by themselves when Kelly and I were out shopping for food! Bob was a master at the jet ski game, and Sue got an immediate high-score on the ski-jump game that nobody could beat for a while.

We were there longer than we expected to be, as what was supposed to be a 4-day visit turned into a full week-and-a-day, but it was all good times. The extended trip was due to the blizzard that swept the midwest and dumped 18" of snow on us, followed by an ice-storm that coated the southern half of Illinois. Once we felt that we had a safe window of opportunity to drive, we headed south. We opted to drive halfway and spend the night in Metropolis, IL (yes, they have a statue of Superman downtown, but no, we didn't go check it out) at a surprisingly comfortable and dog-friendly Motel 6.

I'm glad to be home for a while. It's been a whirlwind year for travel, and I certainly don't regret it, but it defined my life in a way I'm not accustomed to living it. I know I'll probably be aching to go back to Los Angeles, or regretting not joining Kelly in Las Vegas for the NAB show (That saying that "the grass is always greener" is so true!) but for now, I really like sleeping on my own soft sheets in my own comfy bed.

Today Kelly gave me a home-alone day! I asked him if he wouldn't mind working outside the house (from the library) one day a week and he was happy to agree. I hardly know what to do with myself! Well, I take that back. I am doing chores. So far, I've done laundry and did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen counters. I even gave Noodles a bath! As soon as I'm finished with this blog entry, I'll sweep & mop the kitchen floor. Whee. What a busy little bee I am. Once that's all done I'll make dinner. Kelly selected chicken fajitas tonight, and I'm going to make tortillas from scratch, which I haven't done since culinary school. That will prove interesting, I'm sure.

We had a trio of guys here attacking the woodpile to the south of the house. Yesterday was actually their second go at it, and they're making progress. Our neighbor Scott, came buy and took every stick of wood he could carry after the first session; he'll probably be back for the results of this second round tomorrow. Once the area is cleared, I'm hoping we can make that space into some combination of a rock garden and a wildflower meadow.

The next major project on the homestead is to make our seedling boxes. We have this book by John Jeavons How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine (Amazon.com link)

and we like the ideas he proposes. The plan is called "BioIntensive Gardening" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biointensive) and the idea is that we can grow enough food to sustain a family of 4 for a year in the space of our 75x15 garden plot. It doesn't include wheat or rice, but it would give us enough to eat fresh all summer and enough to preserve (by freezing, drying or canning) for eating during the winter. I've been calling it "Super High Intensity Technique" simply so I can use the acronym when referring to the seedling boxes we need to build.

We're also looking forward to getting chickens again, and we're still debating how soon we'll be getting a few goats... but we're not in any hurry to do either of these.

bats and collard greens

2010-12-30T21:00:00.001-06:00

Kelly and I went to ~~the center of the universe~~ Walmart & Home Depot last night to get some groceries, and supplies for building birdhouses and bat houses. We spent the afternoon measuring the cuts and deciphering the instructions for the bat-house. Later, he wielded the power tools, and I had flashbacks to the days where my sole reason for existence was to be a Human C-Clamp. I got a lot of sawdust on my hoodie, but only a little in my lip gloss. I guess I'm getting better.

While he did more cutting, I looked for a good recipe for some collard greens we bought. I remember making something wonderful called "Cuban Green Soup" for one of my clients in Los Angeles, but I didn't have the recipe on my computer. I googled for it, and found it, but it looked ...wrong... So I kept looking. It appears like there is only ONE recipe out there, and it got on every recipe website that there ever was. It calls for hardly any greens, FIVE CANS OF BEANS, and it supposed to have 8 servings. Not to mention it didn't call for anything that added flavor besides the salt pork. I was so disappointed that I made my own recipe up. Kelly had 2nds, and so did I, so I guess it worked out. Here it is: I'm going to link to it here as
Cuban Green Soup even though it's probably not all that Cuban, but maybe someone will find it when they're looking for Cuban Green Soup recipe, and think that a few extra steps might be worth the significantly improved flavor over what the other recipes offer - which amounts to hot, wet greens and a smidge of pork fat. <SHIVERS> YICK </SHIVERS>

There's still enough left over for us to have more later this week, so I'm anticipating it to be even tastier, as happens with all soups, stews and pot roasts.

So now, while I was typing up that recipe, Kelly's been constructing the bat-house.
    In the dining room.
       Using power tools
          On "my" gorgeous, new dining room table.
I'm trying not to freak out.

Today I learned: No wonder some people think they're horrible cooks, because other people write up horrible recipes, and the people who go to make them think they're going to work out well.

Who's responsible for your food?

2010-12-01T21:54:00.001-06:00

Not who cooks it for you, although that's important \(^_^)/
Not who buys it from the store, or even who supplies the store.
Not even the farmer who grows it or raises the livestock.

The Federal Government wants to be in charge of your food. All of it. Take a look at this: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
An easier-to-read summary can be found HERE, but if you choose to read the comments (I don't recommend that you do) take them with a grain of salt.

I guess there has to be some regulation. Companies are driven by profits and profits alone. They're obligated to earn revenues for their stockholders, and their executives' enormous salaries, so they're exceedingly greedy and will cut every corner they can, usually with no regard to the end product, for as long as they can. They only change their ways when the public complains too loudly and it could hurt their profits.

Remember the tomato scare? but then it wasn't really tomatoes it was peppers? Then the unwashed scallions? Then the polluted spinach, and don't forget the tainted eggs.

It's really disgusting. But if I've read this correctly, each company writes its own HACCP plan. It's not going to be a fair & honest situation if it's handled the same way as during the first Bush administration's “revolving door”, when government officials and company executives swapped positions between Monsanto and government agencies many times in their careers. The people in those high-level government jobs and said "Don't worry, Monsanto is fine!"

And it doesn't stop with the EPA, USDA and FDA. International providers of food products don't have the same regulations on pesticides, antibiotics and additives, or on their water supply. Just because the ingredients are listed on the label, it doesn't mean that a) it's actually in there, or b) that's all that's in there.

I'm very glad that Kelly and I saved up as much as we did, for as long as we did, and bought a nice chunk of land in a largely unrestricted area. We started on a small orchard (I can't wait for those pawpaws!) and this spring we will take this farming thing on for real. Our first year's efforts, while valuable experience, had been largely entertainment, not sustenance. We'll raise our own goats, lambs, pigs & chickens. If we're careful and plan accordingly, we'll collect as many eggs as the hens will give us, as much milk as we need, and grow all the produce we need, including everything the animals need to eat. I'm happy that we've set ourselves up so we're not 100% the mercy of Big Brother.

Will I still buy foods & food products that I didn't grow myself? Of course I will! I don't want to cook without vanilla, soy sauce, bananas, olives, tamarind, or cranberries. A world without chocolate is not a place I'd want to live in! If it's something that could be obtained locally, I'd rather find a producer that I can trust, and ideally, someone open to barter!

I've got lots of space, lots of cooking tools and kitchen machines, and a bona-fide culinary education, so there isn't much I can't make from scratch. I might draw the line at brewing my own soy sauce, but I don't see why I couldn't ferment my own cider vinegar if our orchard is generous enough to allow me to experiment. I'd love to see Kelly brew his own beer.

Should I be accused of culinary treason if I eat a burger made from mass-produced meat in a restaurant? Go for it. Slap a big red H-for-Hypocrite on my chest. We stopped at Portillo's on our drive home from Chicago after Thanksgiving. I can't remember the last time I ate a grilled Italian sausage on a baguette before that, but I enjoyed every bite! I try to be "good". I do believe you vote with every dollar you spend, If you eat at my place, you'll know I did as much as I could to make sure that everything's as pure and wholesome as I could get it,

Today I learned: I might be turning into one of those live-off-the-land, anti-gub'mint freaks... I'll eventually to go into more detail, but I'm running late for my tinfoil hat fitting appointment.

So, it's been a while....

2010-11-28T11:38:00.000-06:00

...and I'll try to be better about blogging but it's been a weird past couple of months: Gone for two weeks, home for one. Gone for another 20 days, home for 10, then back on another plane. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Several trips to Los Angeles, a couple of trips to Europe, and as of Friday, we just got home from a week-long trip to Los Angeles, followed by another week in Chicago for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for a while now!

Sony is like "the other woman" in my life. She wants to keep Kelly more than the 1-week-per-month that was originally agreed upon. The upside is that Sony has underwritten those unintended-but-welcomed European vacations, since they tied into his required-for-work trips. Since Sony was paying for Kelly's airfare, meals, hotel and other expenses in the work-destination cities, I only had to pay for my own airfare and food (and of course, we paid for our own accommodations in the "bonus" cities) but having them cover the round-trip airfare for him, and half of our hotels, was an offer we couldn't refuse!

The first transatlantic voyage included Frankfurt,Germany (2 days) Salzburg, Austria (7 days) and Verona, Italy (6 days).

Flying to Frankfurt and taking the train to Austria was cheaper, so that's what we did. Frankfurt was just a place to land, recover from jetlag, and maybe see some sights. We stayed in a hotel that catered primarily to business instead of vacationers, but it was nice. There weren't many sights to see, as it's a very commercial area, but we enjoyed our long walks.

We took a train to Salzburg, where Kelly had meetings all-day-every-day during the week. I spent my time walking, shopping, and "sewing" in the park. (it was really more of an excuse to sit and peoplewatch while I kept my hands busy) The weather was beautiful. I indulged in my favorite pastime - eavesdropping - and got to do so in many languages.

We had no international cellphones, which was a horrible inconvenience when you're so used to having one, but I was able to go back to the hotel and check e-mail to communicate with Kelly about meeting up after work. A couple of times we met with his co-workers for dinner, but mostly we were on our own. We had a couple of days before- and a couple days after- where time was not dedicated to his obligations and we did sightseeing and stuff, so that was nice.

Then, we took a train to Italy, landing in Verona. I chose it because it didn't feel like as much of a tourist-trap as Venice or Milan could be, but there was still plenty to do, lots to see, and there was much gelato to be devoured. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast and it was really nice. Every detail was as if I'd designed it myself.

There's no way i'm going to be able to summarize two weeks in a few paragraphs, but I kept a journal on the Austria/Italy trip, which I've photographed and uploaded if you want to read it. Drop me a line and I'll e-mail you the link. I've got photos too, of course, but other peoples' vacation photos are BORING, aren't they?!

I'll write about Amsterdam & Dublin next time, so watch this space :-)

Today I learned: 48ºF can seem downright balmy after a week in Chicago.

Stella Fish Fry - Prospect, TN in Giles County

2010-09-18T17:42:00.001-05:00

The Stella Fish Fry is coming soon!

This year's big social gathering is taking place on Sept 25th. I imagine the prices will be about the same, ($9/plate) but I didn't find anything online. That's why I'm posting this.

Last year, it was being held at the church on Stella Road. If you don't know where that is, the general address is 4733 Stella Road, Prospect, TN, 38477 Look it up in advance, because I can't promise that your GPS will work out here, Also, here's a link for the google map: Stella Fish Fry

From what I understand, it's being organized by Cindy Barnes (Phone: 931-363-3957) She & her husband Tracy own the LAZY ELK CANOE AND KAYAK RENTALS

Volunteers for the fish fry are always needed, so give her a ring if you want to be helpful.

If you're planning on going, drop me a line* let me know!

*fish pun, if you want it to be. haha!

♬ How ya gonna get her ♬ back on the farm ♬ Now that she's seen ell layyyyyyyy!

2010-08-24T13:42:00.000-05:00

I've been in Los Angeles this week, and we go back home in two short days. It's been awesome to catch up with so many friends during this visit, and the weather couldn't be more beautiful!

There's been a lot of travel over the past few months, and more to come. (It would be awesome if you didn't rob us before we get back, but if you must, can you please water my flowers?)

Today I learned: It's nice to leave the kitchen you've cooked in cleaner than when you arrived, but it's especially important when the client hasn't yet cut your check.

under the house

2010-08-04T16:53:00.004-05:00

We hired a guy to do some work around the house, and while he was working in the crawlspace on the "secure the perimeter" task, he noticed a wet spot on the underside of the subfloor. I went under to check it out, and figured that the chest freezer in the kitchen - which sits flat on the floor - was transferring its coldness to the floor. The moisture in the crawlspace was condensing on the area, and would have been a problem if it weren't remedied soon enough. A block of wood under each corner of the freezer should do the trick. We'll find out tomorrow when I go down under for a re-inspection.

Today I learned: that it is important to frequently inspect the crawlspace for weirdness, at least once per season.

Fowl Update

2010-07-03T23:34:00.005-05:00

Back at the end of May / early June, we took a trip that lasted over 2 weeks. When we returned home, there were no more chickens free-ranging. We suspect that owls got them judging by the evidence. We really enjoyed having chickens around. They were a frequent source of entertainment, not to mention the bonus of fresh eggs. We had started with 10 birds, and one by one, nature took them back into the circle of life. But it wasn't always fun and games. When the stairs and landing were finally built up to the bedroom door (which is a full-glass door), Mr. Rooster took advantage and made a point to climb up there at first light to crow, letting me know it was time to feed him and his harem. Yeah, that got old fast. And 4 chickens making their rounds on the deck/porch all day resulted in the additional chore of removing their messes often. So, if you're thinking of starting with some chickens, think twice.

Recent Sightings

2010-07-02T17:26:00.004-05:00

Our nifty camera broke during our recent vacation (but on the final day, at least) so I have picked over the internet for these shots of creatures we saw yesterday from the deck or through the picture window:

Doe and Fawn

Pileated Woodpecker

Raccoon in Tree

Toad

Yellow Finches

Hummingbird

Preparing for the people

2010-05-09T19:13:00.002-05:00

Many projects have been completed over the past weeks since returning from the Las Vegas NAB convention trip. We had set our sights on having the house - inside and out - ready for guests by May 1st, our planned open house get-together date. We wrote a to-do list and then I scheduled tasks to the available time slots. We managed to plant a flower garden in the corner space created by the deck, which turned out really nice. JoAnna designed the layout and selected the foliage, most of which turned out to be not delicious for chickens. Note: Chickens enjoy eating azalea flowers. I ordered a load of topsoil which was dumped in the corner space, and then a short time later, Freddie Byrd came by to distribute the dirt via Bobcat. He also dug 4 holes with the 24" auger - one for the pear tree that never took root from last year, and 3 for some Pawpaw trees.

We also finally got to fixing up the greenhouse. We cleaned it out, removed the old battens that had been holding the plastic on, stretched the new official greenhouse plastic over the frame, and re-installed the solar-powered attic fan. Again, this year we are getting a late start on starting the garden, but I'm sure we'll have squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and melons ready by July.

Inside the house, there were a number of items on the list that needed done:

paint the interior doors
spackle the nail holes in all trim*
paint window frames
touch-up wall paint
install doorknobs on master bath door
prep and stain french doors
install french door knobs

* JoAnna found that a certain offset spatula that is supposed to be used for baking worked quite well for applying spackle. I tried it out, and it is true. Don't worry, it is stainless steel, so no need for concern. It cleaned up perfectly.

Most of the invitations went out to people who have worked on part of the construction, and the rest went to friends and neighbors. The turn out was pretty good, despite the tornado watches and flash flood warnings.

A virtual open house, with new photos!

2010-05-05T11:38:00.000-05:00

Hi, everyone!

Despite the rain and tornado watches, the open house did actually take place on May 1st.

(by the way, we’re far enough south from Nashville that we’re not suffering any effects of flooding at all, not to mention we’re at quite an elevation up here.)

I’ve finally taken photos of the dining room, including the newest addition, “Cabinetzilla Jr.” Consider this a virtual open house... Please take a peek and let me know what you think! (You can comment on each photo in flickr, but you can also make comments here.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mockingbirdacres/

a long-overdue update (sorry!)

2010-04-07T14:14:00.000-05:00

wow. sorry it's been so long since we updated. Spring has sprung in Southern Middle TN and we're just trying to keep up!

The trees are blooming everywhere. The dogwoods and redbud are total showoffs, but our fruit trees are doing nicely, too. We lost one of the pear trees (it never took) so although the blooms on the lovely Kieffer that remains doesn't need a pollinator, we probably still won't be getting any fruit, it being so young. We returned the dead tree last fall but only just went to the nursery yesterday to replace it. Oddly the replacement tree we selected - a "Moonglow" is going to be larger than anything else in our orchard. I also found some pawpaw trees at the nursery, which I want, but we'll go back and get them later.

The deck is built and it's stunning!

Kelly and I have been enjoying our morning coffee out there, and watch the stars come out as we lean over the railing every night. Kudos and warm appreciation once again to Tim Harris and his merry Men (danny & Dave) for doing such a great job.

Although we have this lovely deck, we have only two lawn chairs, so I ordered a metric crapload of patio furniture. two benches, two small (2 seat) bistro sets, one large (4 seat) bistro sets, and 4 (2 seat) "bar height" bistro sets. There will be parties on this deck! y'all have to come visit now, and drink sweet tea from one of the existing 16 chairs, or the rocking chairs we haven't bought yet.

The deck has created a square space of open land that's just begging for a flower garden, so that's what we're doing now. I bought some flowering shrubs, a bunch of rosebushes and a bunch of trees, which are going in right away, and next week I'll be on hands-and-knees doing clumps of perennial groundcover and putting in the flowers I've started from seed (not sewn directly because of the chickens propensity for scratching for seeds)

Oh, speaking of chickens, we're down to 3 plus the rooster. Goldie's gone, as are the other two reds, so we're left with two Leghorns and the remaining Dominecker (Dominique) hen, who recently survived an attack by a stray dog! She's got 2 tailfeathers left, but she's 1) not limping and 2) still laying, so she's fine.

I also bought six huge flowerpots to place around the deck. Kelly's going to build frames for them out of the leftover siding wood, to cover up the plain old plastic. They're all on wheeled scooters, which serves two purposes: first, of course, to make them easy to move and clean underneath them, and secondly, to keep the pots from sitting directly on the deck and causing the wood to rot.

Click through for some other photos of work that's been completed recently: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mockingbirdacres/ Sorry we haven't put much on flickr lately, but one of these days we'll put more up there.

We're planning on the open house -slash- housewarming party for May 1st. We've got a lot to do before then, but it's certainly doable. If you want to come paint, plant seeds, or put seedlings in the garden, you're invited to stop by. The pay is non-existent, but the free meal program is pretty substantial.

Today I learned: it only takes about an hour to pick up enough rocks for the base-layer of six 16" diameter flowerpots.

Frogs in March

2010-03-09T22:28:00.002-06:00

It has been a while since my last post due to work work and the associated travels. I was in Los Angeles for a 2-week stint, and JoAnna had a visitor on the farm for most of that time. Judy and Joanna went to culinary school together, and from what I hear, they had a good time while I was away.

When I returned, there were many improvements to the house in the way of decorations and such. Just before I left, we had a guy named Monty working to finish the interior trim as well as some other odd jobs. It makes such a difference to no longer see the rough edges of the drywall/wallboard/gypsum/sheetrock. One other big improvement we made was the addition of the range hoods. Now, JoAnna can see much better as she cooks on the stove. We installed two range hoods side-by-side since we plan to add a gas stove in the near future. Tonight, we put the bulbs into the left-side hood, and I also installed a shelf on another wall in the kitchen. Monty has been here again, starting yesterday, tiling the bath/shower walls. This is yet another job that I procrastinated successfully. I'm sure I could have done the job of sticking tile on the walls, and it would have been OK, but the tricks of an experienced worker make all the difference. The grout goes on tomorrow, and if there's time left in the workday, I'll find something for Monty to do.

I think it is safe to say that spring is on the way. Temperatures have been in the upper 60s for three days in a row, and the frogs have started singing. It seems like so long ago since it wasn't cold that it feels like a dream to be outside here with a warm breeze. The scent of pine is everywhere and the chickens are working their magic, scratching up their bug snacks. I'm hoping that the seven chickens we still have can make a bigger dent in the bug population since they will be here from the beginning of the season. Last year, they weren't free to range until June (I think) and by then the bugs had established themselves well.

The HughesNet satellite internet service has been working well for us so far. Download speeds are approximately 60-times faster than dial-up, though there are certain restrictions. I'm thinking about how I might disguise the futuristic dish-on-a-stick that stands in what will soon be our front yard. Maybe some kind of ivy plant?

For the past two days I have been reading about how to prune fruit trees. Last February, we planted nine trees - eight of which survived. I probably spent two or three hours researching the proper techniques for the types of trees we have; apple, plum, peach & pear. So, today I went out to the "orchard" and, in thirty minutes, had the job completed. I wish I had done some pruning and training last summer to get the trees off to a better start, but they aren't too bad. I'll be maintaining them better over this summer to keep them in line.

To Outer Space and Back Again

2010-02-12T14:26:00.003-06:00

These are the installation guys from Rackley Technologies in Pulaski, TN.

They were here to set us up with HughesNet service which connects us to the internet. The dish that is being adjusted in the photo will send data to and receive data from a satellite way up in space.

We are thrilled to be connected again (dial-up service hardly counts).

Today I learned: Most people we meet have lived on Stella Road at one time in their lives.

2010-02-07T10:42:00.002-06:00

When I looked outside this morning, I saw some very interesting ice crystals that had grown out of the earth last night. I now know that the crystals grow by adding to the bottom of the structure. You can see dirt and pebbles perched on the tops of the ice spikes after taking the ride upward through the night:

Here's a funny plumbing story. We noticed that the kitchen faucet flow rate was quite slow. The weird thing about it was that the hose sprayer - which feeds from the same main 1/2-inch line - had plenty of power. So, I unscrewed the aerator from the end of the faucet nozzle and found a small piece of some kind of gasket thing blocking the tiny hole that allows a limited amount of water through. Where this piece of junk came from, I don't know. It doesn't really matter, and now we have decided to leave the aerator off for faster water flow. Problem solved. Fast and free!

Taxes

2010-02-05T11:00:00.007-06:00

The other day, a man and woman drove up to the house in a big black pick-up. He introduced himself as Bill something, and I don't remember her name. He said they were from the tax assessor's office, and they needed to measure the size of the house. In the time it took him to walk up to our door and knock, the great Dominecker hen had jumped up into their truck and was poking around the cab. The woman did not want to get too close to the bird, so Bill opened the other door and shooed her out. Crazy chicken. I was told to expect a notice regarding the assessment soon, but it would be October before we receive a new tax bill. I have no idea what the new amount will be, but the last amount was only $168.

It seems the worst of winter is in the past now, with high temperatures hovering near 45F on a daily basis. People say this was the coldest winter in a long time - which I am glad to hear, because maybe that means next year won't be so bad. Currently, our only source of heat is the heat pump system which is 100% electric. On extra cold days, it switches from the efficient technique of extracting the warmth from outside air, to plain old electrical heat. It's no different than running a whole lot of space heaters around the house. This is a very costly method of heating a house, so I had been considering the alternatives.

One option is to get a woodstove and burn firewood - which we have plenty of on the property. The drawbacks are that it requires frequent feeding and it would raise our homeowners insurance a bit. It would also add smoke to our inside air which would be smelly, too. And we would have to buy one and have it installed. $1000 minimum.

Another option is to have an outdoor wood-burning furnace installed, but that costs $7600 - enough said.

So, I decided that for this first winter, we'd see how costly it is to leave the heat pump to do the work alone. Our electric (light) bill for the past 38 days is $155, and approximately $40 of that is general non-heat use. So $115 for automatic, unattended, low fire-risk heat amounts to $3.03/day. I can live with that.

Headed for a Meltdown

2010-01-31T13:10:00.004-06:00

Friday was the start of the great ice storm that swept across the mid-south, from Oklahoma to the Atlantic. JoAnna had to make a trip down to the IRS office in Huntsville to get some paperwork, so she went early. She made it home by 1pm, though it took her twice as long as usual. The snow was sticking to the road surface, and a layer of ice had already coated most everything by that time. When she got to our driveway, she played it safe and parked at the bottom of the drive rather than tryng to climb the incline on the slippery slope. It was a wise decision, since had she parked up on top next to my car, we would have been stranded at home if we needed to go into town for any reason. The storm coated the driveway with enough snow and ice that it would have been really dangerous to drive down, probably guaranteed to slide off and down the hill. Gladly, we were stocked up on milk and bread, so we stayed put.

I had to protect the heat pump from the water that runs off of the roof, because it was freezing onto the moving parts, causing it to make a bad noise. I turned off the unit, poured some warm water over the fan blades to melt the ice that had collected there, and then I propped the dog crate on top of the unit. After attaching a piece of plywood to the top of the crate at a slight angle, the temporary water diverter was complete.

After a night of listening to the sounds of cracking and shattering tree branches, this is what we saw in the morning:

This is a picture of the chickens' winter house, where they usually spend their nights. Since the ground was coated with ice and snow, all but one of them went back into the house during the day. This has never happened before, even on the coldest days. I usually cover the window at night with an old blanket to try to keep it warmer, but it was frozen in place when I took this photo:

Last night, the skies cleared and the full moon was shining brightly. Looking up at it through the ice-glazed trees was really amazing. I took these photos, and then accentuated the contrast of the images to try to show the detail:

This morning, the clear skies remained and the sun lit up the landscape. As the temperature climbed, the ice started falling. The sound of the ice landing on the crusty earth was like the crackle of a campfire. There was vapor rising from the wood pile as it warmed in the sun. It was a really beautiful day.

Super Chicken and Wonder Dog

2010-01-23T20:52:00.002-06:00

Someone needs to tell one of our chickens that it's not egg-laying season yet. I went out to clean their house this afternoon, and I found 5 eggs in there. At first I suspected that JoAnna had placed the eggs in there as a joke on me, but that was not the case. The important thing now is to determine which of the hens is the productive one, and once the rooster starts getting frisky, try to collect her eggs and hatch them. This way, we'll be promoting the proliferation of those genes on the farm. I'm hoping the Dominecker is the hen with the special abilities, because she was the one to lay the latest as winter approached. She is also the one that was seen chasing down and eating a mouse, as well as a baby turtle just last week (I missed that event, but JoAnna witnessed it). It's all about breeding the best down on the farm.

We have been recently enjoying some locally-raised pastured goat meat. Even though our next-field-neighbor Bobby has goats and sheep on his land, we found a farmer in Franklin who had goat meat for sale, as well as other wholesome products. His name is Freddie Haddox. We drove to his place, dodging Berkshire piggies on the way up his driveway. He sold us a 7-pound cut of goat and gave us a bunch of samples of other products he had in his many freezers. We also paid for some Amish butter. So far, we have been enjoying the goat in Greek-style dishes. The flavor is much like lamb, and we both are looking forward to getting a whole goat soon. Someday, we'll try to raise a few on our own. We'll see if I'll have the heart to kill one of our own when the time comes, though they are quite tasty... Maybe if I name them Gyro, Stewie, etc...

Trixie the dog has been around again. She was away when we returned from our trip to Los Angeles back in mid-December, and she finally showed up again 2 weeks ago. She looked like someone had been feeding her well, maybe too well. She couln't race up the driveway like she used to, what with the extra pounds on her little body. We have been taking her in on the cold nights, and feeding her along with our own pups. I'm ever grateful that she is out on patrol; just last week she exterminated another possum. I arrived on the scene just after the fight to find her looking over the dead rat like she was thinking, "Is that all you got, Rat?" JoAnna told me that she was barking the other night from our doorstep where she sleeps a lot. When JoAnna turned on the light and looked out she saw what looked like the tail of a larger dog disappearing into the trees. Who knows what other trouble Trixie has diverted for us. We still have 7 chickens, and I attribute that number to Trixie's presence.

We went into Nashville last week to celebrate JoAnna's birthday by seeing the 3D version of Avatar followed by dinner at a nice restaurant. We both enjoyed the film, but agreed that it was mostly due to the eye-candy factor. Our dinner did not live up to our expectations, but sometimes that's how it goes. JoAnna is now even more determined to have a restaurant of her own. That's what we worked on today - talking about how we will move forward on this project, and figuring out the budget and timelines for expanding our empire. It's looking like the restaurant may be open for business as soon as mid-April. We're planning an open house event for that time, so schedule your vacation time now!

2010... GO!

2010-01-05T15:58:00.002-06:00

We're all fine, especially after I put a small space heater in the chicken house for night warmth. It was probably near 12 degrees here last night. Our heat pump heater runs pretty much all night, and I'm forecasting a hefty electric bill for January. Probably up around $180, with $40 being the minimum/April-typical bill.

So, I went to see a guy about an outdoor wood furnace. The smallest model is an all stainless steel unit that is set up 60feet from the house and circulates hot water to a coil at the front-line of the ducting. It would be great if we were in Alaska and needed 10 months of heat, but not worth $7600 to us. That's a lot of electricity or propane. For now, I'll probably just buy a propane heater for emergencies like an ice storm that knocks out power.

Our new year's eve celebration included watching a scary movie (Cloverfield) at home, which we paused at the stroke of midnight just to hear if the folks around here shoot off their guns and such. But it was silent.

A pox on everyone who sings "LET IT SNOW"

2009-12-26T12:10:00.000-06:00

Startate: (Dec 26 10:44 AM)

Celebrating xmas in Chicago this year. We drove up, eating at Amerigo's in West End (I won a gift certificate on Twitter!) and then driving up towards Seymour, IN to spend the night at a canine-welcoming Motel 6 since the dogs came with us. In the morning, we progressed towards Chicago, stopping for a brief visit with Kelly's Auntie Norma (at the residence of cousins Brian & Jan) in Indiana on the way.

Staying at his parents' home is very comfortable. Kelly and I sleep in his old room when we're here, and I pretty much get to cook whatever I want! In fact, since Kelly's birthday was Tuesday, he asked for a tagine with couscous, and I made that for dinner on our second night here.

There was a "girls-only" dinner at Bonfire, a local restaurant, which included all the female mothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, etc. The place lived up to it's poor ratings on Yelp: the French onion soup tasted like sucking on a Wyler's bouillon cube, a few people had the perch said it was so riddled with fine bones they couldn't eat it. Those who got the cedar planked salmon liked what they ordered. I didn't find anything that looked interesting so i ordered an appetizer of calamari as my entrée. (pre-frozen, pre-battered, deep-fried...how could they screw that up?) The server, however, was wonderful, and if i lived here, I'd have happily invited her to work for me.

So, for those of you who want to know the latest progress on the Bed & Bistro...

I've been fluctuating between "i can't wait to get this started!" to "phooey let's scrap the whole thing".

At this particular moment, i'm in the fugheddaboudit stage. To build the first cottage will be exactly like building the house: pour more concrete, put in a new post foundation, dig for & install a new septic tank, run electricity to it (new pole), run water to it (new meter), install plumbing, roofing, etc., etc.

Kelly is suggesting that we put it on the farthest, most remote corner of our property, which means that everything's got to be run out there 'from scratch' just as we did for the house, so the expenses are going to be comparable to what we spent on the house. We don't have the financial resources to build another house, and seeing as how we don't have any mortgage on our current house, I certainly don't want to take out such a large loan for an endeavor that may-or-may-not be a profit-making business.

As far as the restaurant part is concerned, we can't make our home be a legal restaurant, as our current septic tank wasn't approved for a business. I thought I might do an occasional underground restaurant, but I don't think that it would be worth getting in trouble with local authorities, or risking fines and (gasp) litigation?

Right now, if it's just me, Kelly, the mutts and a few chickens, I guess that would be okay.

Today I learned: I'm becoming extremely sensitive to smells, such that every time I move to a new room, my eyes water, my nose runs, and I have a sneezing fit. Maybe it's being indoors so much? Maybe I've grown especially accustomed to the exceptionally clean air at home in TN?

The grass is greener on the other side of the ...country

2009-12-26T10:39:00.000-06:00

hi there! long time no write. man, the holidays can really come up fast when you're busy.

Kelly had another business trip to Los Angeles, and this time I went with him. I called "Auntie Rebecca" and kelly and I dropped by on the way to the airport to hand off the doggies.

Visiting Los Angeles is weird. When I'm at home in my tiny corner of Tennessee, i'm free to idealize and only remember the good parts, like lots of ethnic grocery stores with all kinds of interesting products and lots of fresh, beautiful produce. Every kind of restaurant, of every caliber, within just a few minutes' drive. Friends who used to think nothing of going out on weeknights. Funky, cool shops that offer endless possibilities for browsing. And I miss my friends.

That most recent visit, however, really reinforced of all the negative things that hide in the shadows of the golden glow Los Angeles always has in my minds eye. The traffic really is unbearable. Finding a parking place can be murder. The constant drone of noise really gets on your nerves... Instead of the milk of human kindness, it's more like pus: People revel in their anonymity and think nothing of being selfish, inconsiderate, and even flat-out rude. Many of my close friends have also moved away from L.A., and the ones who are there still have jobs, and they still have their day-to-day obligations, so they can't hang out all day. Then there's the weird feeling of wanting to contact friends I'd really like to hang out with, but either I've simply lost touch with them (my fault) or we weren't really that close, so it might seem weird to get an out-of-the-blue invitation to coffee or drinks.

I couldn't wait to get back home, which surprised me a little.

I'm sure all those negative things are in all big cities. The concentration of people must intensify the impact of all those slightly irritating interactions that occur in the average day, when my new status quo has me interacting with only Kelly, the mutts, and the chickens on a day-to-day basis.

When we lived in Littlerock, CA for 2 years, the pace was slower and the people friendlier. I didn't appreciate it then... nor would i have imagined that I'd be craving it as i do now.

Today I learned: Change is often unwelcome, even when it's going back to where you were.

An Unexpected Snow Day

2009-12-05T23:30:00.003-06:00

I woke up at sunrise this morning to witness the first snowfall of the season. At first I thought it was a heavy layer of frost, but when I stepped outside to release the chickens from their protective coop, I saw the flakes on everything.

This is a view to the east...

...and a view to the west toward the pond.

The water in the various drinking bowls outside had an inch of ice on top, so I had to break it out and refill with fresh. Like a real farmer!

Yesterday, I was working in my home office, and I saw something running through the woods - and it was too big to be chickens or Trixie. I stepped up to see better, and there I saw another buck. This one was probably a six-point, but it was hard to tell from the distance and through the trees. He was probably chasing a doe, but she was out of sight by that time.

Today I built the winter chicken house. It is made to be more air-tight than the summer dwelling, so hopefully it will keep the birds warm on cold nights. It even has a glass window which faces south to help warm the inside of the coop on sunny days. I'm hoping it will be predator-proof, too, since we will be leaving the birds on their own while we travel during the holidays. As I was building the coop, I heard the chickens making a squawking racket like I'd never heard before. I got to the side of the house where the noise was coming from just in time to see a big hawk come sailing out of the forest as Rooster Man and one of his girls ran/flew to safety. I found all 7 of our birds huddled close to the house with no sign of injury. They stayed in that spot for about an hour, and then finally wandered away back to normal. Now that the hawk knows what's here, I'll bet it will be coming back.

Today I learned: Using screws to build an improvised structure using spare scraps of wood is better than using nails. A screw can be un-screwed, but a nail can not be un-nailed. Once a nail is hammered all the way in, you're screwed.

Chicken Survivor

2009-11-26T11:14:00.005-06:00

Well, we're down to 7 chickens now. One of the Dominecker hens is MIA. We figure some predatory bird must have taken her during the day. We had noticed that one of the Dominecker hens sometimes wandered off away from the flock, so that probably contributed to her disappearance. We'll miss the eggs, unnamed bird.

Speaking of eggs, our hens have practically stopped producing eggs for the season. We read about the fact that the shorter days would cause the pause in egg production, but it was a more sudden transition than I expected. Within a week, we went from collecting 6-7 eggs per day to 1 per day (and I'm sure that won't last, either). We could add artificial light to the chicken house, which would keep them laying, but it also "burns them out" sooner in their life. This year, I think we'll let them rest over the winter.

This morning at 8:30am, I spotted a deer walking toward the house from the south. It was acting a bit more skittish than most deer we've seen, and that's because it was a buck. It was difficult to see the spike antlers on his head, but once he walked into an open sunny spot it was obvious. He passed by the east edge of the pond and walked over the ridge and down toward the shed. We both watched him until he was out of sight. A pleasant start to a fall Thanksgiving morning.

JoAnna cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast, served as breakfast sliders on soft dinner rolls. Another pleasantry. (Thanks, JoAnna).

woo hoo!

2009-11-21T19:49:00.002-06:00

woo hoo!

mundane but exciting

2009-11-21T13:10:00.000-06:00

Kelly and I made a late-evening trip to Home Depot to get a few things, so we could FINISH some of the projects that have been left up-in-the-air.

At this very moment, we're finishing the floor installation in the dining room & bedroom. Kelly and I started it before his most recent trip to Los Angeles. We got a third of the way done. Then, I hired Monty Garrett (the boyfriend of Rebecca Wysock of Sunnybook Farms, where we board the dogs when we're away) to come over on Monday, and he spent a day putting in the next third, but we had to stop because we didn't have the t-spacer thingy we needed. I made a phonecall to Lumber Liquidators to find out why the pieces we ordered (a month ago!) hadn't yet arrived, and a very apologetic woman promised to fedex them from another location. They arrived the next day -- but Monty was working at his regular gig, and Kelly wouldn't be back to finish. I'm not comfortable with the circular saw, so i didn't want to try and use it without anyone around to call 911. Taking a short break at the moment, but we'll have the last third finished in a couple hours.

Other projects to be completed today are:

install doorknobs for the French doors. we haven't stained them yet, but those lovely brushed-nickel handles are just sitting on the floor getting in the way.
lights to be installed in Cabinetzilla - i cringe when i think about how much the hole-cutting bit and the adaptor thingy that goes in the drill cost, but this is a job that requires the right tools.
mount blinds we're able to use the gorgeous (and not exactly inexpensive) blinds that we had purchased and installed in the house we rented in Glendale... knowing that we'd eventually use them in the house we eventually built... and we actually built the house!
install "sweep" on guest bath door with hopes that it will increase the sound-insulation of the bathroom from the rest of the house. We've got a double-layer of drywall on that wall, as well as a solid-core door, and this is the final step.

Then we've got two - count 'em, TWO - social engagements tomorrow: one is a meetup with other godless heathens, and after that, dinner with other people we met through another meetup... Oddly, they lived just a few blocks away from us in Santa Monica, but of course, being Santa Monica, where nobody makes eye contact much less has a conversation, we'd never met them there so we'll meet them here.
We've met more of our neighbors here in Prospect than we EVER did in 14 years of living in Los Angeles county. Let me explain how twisted this is:
We moved in here full-time in June.
It's November.
In six months, we've met 8 families in our neighborhood, which exceeds the TOTAL number of neighbors we met in *all* of our Los Angeles residences combined. ... Yeah.

Foamhenge departs

2009-11-14T11:57:00.005-06:00

Back in April (I think) I put the trailer to use and took advantage of a big discount on some rigid foam insulation. I saw the ad on craigslist; 4' x 8' sheets of 2-inch Owens Corning foamulaR brand insulation for half of the retail price. An insulation company in Nashville had a big job, and ended up with ~100 sheets left over from the semi-trailer load that they had started with. I negotiated the price down from $20/sheet to $15, hooked up the trailer, and made the 2 trips to collect 50 sheets. My plan was to use the sheets to insulate the floor of the house from underneath in the crawlspace, but that plan was abandoned once the plumbing and ducting was put in. It would have been a huge job to custom-cut each sheet to fit around the pipes, and it would have left many pipes below the insulation layer and susceptible to freezing unless I insulated the underpinning walls, as well. So, after speaking with my insulation expert, Mr. McAfee, and being advised to simply insulate just the interior face of the underpinning, I had to make a new plan.

I re-hired the guys who had done the drywall work in the house to come out and finish the underpinning and then apply the foam. They did a good job in a short amount of time, which was a relief to me. I had been closely watching the weather forecasts fearing that a freeze would cause a disaster with frozen/bursting pipes under the house. But, it got done. Once the crawlspace was closed in, I put our remote thermometer under the house, perched on a drianpipe on the North end where I expect it will be coldest. So far, it has been consistently reporting 60 degrees F. I know we are losing some heat through the floor, but I can always add insulation later to help keep that loss to a minimum.

Now, what to do with the left-over 35 sheets of foam insulation? Not only were they an eyesore, but they were being stored outside where degradation was taking its toll. For some reason, the chickens enjoyed pecking at the exposed edges, and some other type of birds were tunneling into the foam for housing. (Talk about a plush, high-rise apartment!) I put an ad on craigslist, and the next evening a guy named Darcy was on his way down from Nashville. I helped him load his pickup, and away he went. As he drove away with the pile of pink listing to one side, I was overcome with a feeling of elation - not only because there was no monetary loss on the deal, but because I was reminded of how anxious I had been when I got on the Interstate pulling a trailer with a 5-foot stack of foam on it. And this time it wasn't me doing it. Darcy emailed me the next morning to let me know that he had made it home without event, and he wrote that he didn't take a full breath between leaving our place and making it home. Good deal.

C A B I N E T Z I L L A !

2009-11-09T18:47:00.002-06:00

Click for large image
The cabinet is in! We managed to wrangle it into place. It's perfect. The color is perfect. Now, to find someone to do the stained glass inserts and get it full of stuff!

You can see four counter-height boards that pull out like drawers, I’m calling them “cookie boards” because when the Bed & Bistro is open for business, I can pull them out and set out cookies, with lemonade, sweet tea and coffee...or whatever other munchies I want to put out, so I don’t have to use floor space for an additional table.

Posting this for friends and family to see... I'll post the whole story later, so check back!

ALSO!!! Lots more photos uploaded at
http://gojoanna.com/mblogimg/

Today I learned: No matter how much you measure, if there is a sawsall in proximity, it will be used.

Not finished yet, but getting closer every day!

2009-11-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

We finally got around to installing the flooring tonight. We got half the dining room done before Kelly passed out.

Asleep on the job...using a roll of foam underlay as a pillow

There are many big changes are afoot, besides the flooring! [insert rimshot here] Kelly hired Dewaine and Randy, the two guys who did our drywall, to help close in the base of the house. This will not only help insulate the pipes and ducts, (as well as to keep critters from living under the house) but kelly also had the idea to create some storage between the 6x6 piers by installing suspended floor using joist hangers. Now he's got a handy little tool shed under the house... essentially free storage.

We've also had a visit from the lovely and talented Tim Harris and his band of merry men (well, Dave's merry, but Danny's just the silent type). They spent Thursday and Friday morning here installing our board-and-batten siding. They've got a couple more days to go.

If you know anyone at OSHA, don't show them this photo.

The color is a vague greenish hue right now, as it's just the natural wood, and it needs to 'cure' in open air for about 6 months before we can stain it. Kelly joked that Tim has to come back when he's all done and paint LOWE'S all over the sides again, so we'll recognize our house when we come up the driveway.

OOH, speaking of the driveway, we got a whole bunch of new gravel to fill in the ruts left from the big trucks that came to plow down the trees, dig the holes for the pier footings, pour the concrete into those holes, install the septic tank, roof trusses, and everything else.

Finally, if all goes as planned, Terry will be coming over on Monday to install my giant pass-thru cabinet!

Things are FLYING off the to-do list. Can you believe it!?!?!?!?!??!

and speaking of flying... :-( we've had a warm spell since 11/1, which means a new batch of wasps and an enormous hatch of beetles. They look like ladybugs, of all different patterns of spots. Some are solid orange, but some are so spotted they look completely black. I asked the woman at the bank how long they last, and she said it's a few weeks before they're all gone. and then... swear... she was absolutely GLEEFUL when she told me, "...and they BITE!" delightful. Since the house hasn't been fully sealed up, as we didn't know if Tim would be removing & replacing the doors in the process of adding the siding, so they manage to get inside. Kelly and I have been taking turns getting rid of them by scooping/flicking them into jars of soapy water. I really hate bugs... so this is a HUGE deal. Every little tickle i feel on my skin makes me swat at it or flick at it. Creepycrawlies are everywhere.

Also with regard to flying... tomorrow Kelly leaves for another couple weeks in Los Angeles. I'll be driving him to the airport (90 minutes) then turning around and driving right back home (90 minutes). That's a lot of driving to go nowhere. If he had a chauffeured van, it would cost him $100 each way, but I don't get a cent, nor do i get reimbursed for gas! :-P

I've got a few gigs while he's gone, but besides that I'll be working on the website for Mockingbird Acres, creating some more marketing materials for my Personal Chef business and find out if I can get my foot in the door with the Viking school, or teach classes through a store that sells cooking tools & equipment for the at-home gourmet. Maybe I'll spend a little time pursuing partnerships for the restaurant: I want to go hang out at the feed store and find out who's raising what, and see if they'll sell me some of their locally-raised meat. It's hard to know if it's too soon to do that, but better sooner than later.

I made some French vanilla ice cream for Kelly tonight, to celebrate the installation of our flooring. Maybe I'll go wake him up and feed him some... or maybe I'll just have some myself!

Today I learned: when you're making ice cream, a little bit of pink sea salt makes it taste really, really good!

we're installing our flooring!

2009-11-07T19:53:00.001-06:00

Not THE most fun way to spend a Saturday night... but I'm also making ice cream to celebrate the occasion.

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Falling Into Autumn

2009-10-23T19:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I brought up the last produce from the garden for this year: some small tomatoes, one cucumber, five small peppers and a very underdeveloped watermelon. Some of the pepper plants actually have flowers on them, which seems weird to me. Most everything else is finished being productive for the year.

The trees have just started to change into their glamorous fall wardrobe, with the yellows and reds really going vibrant in the past few days. We viewed some beautiful scenes as we drove down to the Lumber Liquidators in Huntsville, Alabama to look for flooring to cover the living area of the house. We decided on a bamboo laminate. Supposedly, the installation process is simple enough that we should be able to do it ourselves. It is expected to be in stock sometime next week, so next weekend looks like we have floor plans. (Ba-da Bum)

The forecast for the next few nights have temps dropping down low enough that if I was to shoot a deer, we could leave it to hang overnight to cool and then butcher it the next morning. JoAnna was really creeped out as she butchered the red rooster while it was still warm to touch.

On the subject of cool nights, my next big job will be to enclose the crawlspace area under the house. My insulation guy, Mr. McAfee, dissuaded me from applying insulation to the underside of the floor, saying that it would be better to insulate the perimeter walls of the crawlspace. That will certainly be simpler for me because of all of the HVAC ducting and plumbing that extends through the floor and all around under there. Since the house support posts are spaced with exactly 8ft between edges, I plan to attach a 2x4 ledger running parallel to the posts, recessed back a bit - enough for a 1/2-inch sheet of plywood to be mounted to the center of the posts. I also plan to mount 2-inch thick rigid foam to the inside faces of the walls, which will help keep the cold out from under the house. Eventually, I will cut doorways into these crawlspace walls to allow for storage since the height inside will be nearly 5 feet. But first, I have to just close it in to keep the water pipes from freezing.

Up until now, the chickens have used this area under the house to escape the summer sun as well as for protection from predatory birds. I guess they'll have to do without.

Which brings up another big job on the horizon - building the chicken house for their winter survival. It won't need to be huge since we are down to 8 birds, but we want it close enough to the house that we could run a power cord to it for a space heater to keep them from getting frostbite on the coldest nights. I also want to build it in a way that will keep them safe from predators, even though the only predator we have seen was the giant rattlesnake.

Today we rescued a box turtle from certain death as he was crossing the highway on our way home from the bank. I first passed directly over him at 55mph, and then turned back to try to get him before he became a pancake. We did get to him in time, so now JoAnna is deciding if he will be the newest member of this funny farm or if he will be set free near the pond. (Pun-alert) Having a slow-moving creature around might be a nice change of pace.

We had the Red Rooster for dinner last night.

2009-10-22T15:32:00.001-05:00

He was an ornery fellow, getting more and more aggressive as time progressed. First he was jumping at Kelly when he went outside, then he was jumping at the dogs. When the worker from Minor Hill Water District came over to work on the water pressure issues we were having, Red Rooster jumped at him, and then a few days ago, as I was loading my car, he jumped at me. He had no spikes on his legs, but those claws were plenty sharp enough that it really hurt. It was getting to the point where it was uncomfortable taking the dogs outside, because you always had to worry about where Red Rooster was and whether he was going to sneak up at you and attack.

did you know that the term cockeyed comes from how a rooster will look at you from the side, with one of his beady yellow eyes, without turning his head towards you? They wait until you're just past them, and then run up and launch forward, with both feet aimed directly at you, and can hit a target as high as three feet off the ground.

Since I didn't want people visiting the house to be attacked, and since I thought it would be good for both dogs to keep their eyesight for a while longer, I set my sights on eliminating Red Rooster. The black and white rooster isn't so antisocial and violent, by the way.

First step was to corral him. The chickens are pretty tame, but this guy was super skittish. He'd come to food, but I was never able to catch him like that. I thought that I'd try to keep him contained in Render's crate, but the problem was how I'd get him in there in the first place. As Kelly may have mentioned before, after the chickens go to roost at night, they're little poultry zombies. They seem like they're somewhere between asleep and awake: they flap around a little, they cluck, but they're totally docile and won't fly/run away. Since there was no way I was going to catch Red Rooster during the day, I hatched a plan (pardon the pun) to catch him at night.

When the chickens go in the house each night, they go all the way in the back of the enclosure and roost up on a wood-and-wire shelf that Kelly built in there. Hypothetically, I could have gone in and collected Red Rooster while he was sleeping, but the knowledge that so many daddy longlegs also enjoy that enclosure keeps me from going in there.

At about 6pm as it was getting dark, I patiently spent over half an hour guiding the chickens one by one into their house -- everyone except Red Rooster - and then latched the door. In the past, when the door had accidentally blown shut, the chickens roosted on TOP of their house, and I was counting on it happening that way again. I went out again after 10pm with an old plastic rope dog leash looped over itself, and threw the whole lasso over Red Rooster. It worked perfectly, snaring one of his feet in the loop, and I tugged and guided the little zombie to the edge of the enclosure where I could grab him by both feet. Then I put him in Render's crate and went back inside.

Then he's got to be kept off feed for 24 hours before slaughter, I put a big dish of water in the crate in the morning, but other than that, I mostly tried to ignore him. It was an immediate relief to know that I could go outside and not worry about whether the flurry of claws and feathers would be rushing towards me, as that had been a constant threat for at least a week. He still crowed from time to time, but he seemed to look a little more humble.

To Kill a ~~Mockingbird~~ Rooster We've got several books about farming and animal husbandry in general, but as I've never killed a chicken, I wanted to be sure to we did it right. I think if you got 6 books on the subject you'd probably find 6 (or more!) ways to dispatch the creature. I got the biggest, heaviest cleaver I owned and sharpened it carefully. Kelly did the actual killing while I held on to the rooster's feet.

This part only took about 5 minutes. It went more easily than I thought it might, and with a lot less gore than I expected. The bird flapped around quite a bit but I held on tight, and by and by he stopped moving. We hung him to bleed out for a few hours, then I went back outside later and started skinning him.

Skinning? Don't you pluck a chicken? well, you certainly can pluck a chicken, but if you simply skin it, all the feathers just sort of peel off with the skin, which isn't very messy at all. The process of plucking is tedious when done manually, and isn't a simple operation. You need to scald it, which means to dunk the chicken repeatedly in very hot water. This makes the feathers come out more easily without tearing the skin. These were no spring chickens -- as the saying goes -- so a long cooking process of braising (using moist heat) would be required, and keeping the skin doesn't add to the finished product.

Anyway, back to skinning. I started by myself, but Kelly came out after a little while and helped. The part where the legs go from reptile scales to feathers was the hardest part. I flat-out gave up trying to get the feathers off the wings, opting instead to remove the first two sections completely, leaving only the part that joins the body; what is known as the "drumette".

Of course, there's plenty of info online for how to process a chicken. http://butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ is a very complete site by Herrick Kimball, inventor of the Whizbang Chicken Plucker and I dare say one of Kelly's heroes. Herrick has been mentioned here before, and Kelly's been a huge fan of Herrick for a long time.

I cut up the rest of the bird the way you traditionally would, removing the legs and the breast sections whole and with the wing-bone attached (known as a "suprême" when it's on a menu). I left the rest of it alone, and didn't process the rest of the carcass. The back and the breastbone would have made a nice stock, but by this time it was getting dark, and I was a little anxious about getting the guts out. I won't pretend that this was easy. The body was still warm, even after several hours, but gratefully there was no more blood than you'd see in a grocery-store chicken.

After cutting up the sections I intended to keep, I washed everything very carefully outside, and then did a close inspection of the parts under good lighting indoors. I put everything in a big pot with a lot of cold water with spices for stock, and let it simmer for about an hour. Then I strained it out, diced up half of a breast and some leg meat, and set the rest aside. (The meat was tough, stringy and chewy, as I expected, so I tried to mitigate that by dicing it really fine.) I put all but 2 cups of the stock back in the stockpot, adding some finely diced celery and some sliced green onion. Then I made up a batch of späetzle batter (flour, egg, baking powder, salt & white pepper, mixed to consistency with some warm stock) and made a cone from waxed paper, and drizzled this into the simmering stock. When they were done, I took them out and tossed them with some butter, toasted breadcrumbs and sliced almonds. Finally I beat some roux into the remaining reserved stock, then stirred that back into the still-simmering stock, and let it cook out a little. I put the späetzle in a bowl, added some diced meat, and ladled some stock over the whole thing.

To say it was good would be an understatement. We both agreed that it was the richest chicken flavor in a soup that either of us had ever had. Kelly complimented my suggestion of späetzle, and I really liked it too. It would have seemed such a shame to put store-bought noodles into the soup.

So that was our first experience killing, butchering and eating a chicken that we raised from a day-old hatchling.

It felt a little weird, at first, when I ate the first few eggs from our own hens, but now it's perfectly natural to wash eggs in soapy water before making breakfast. This first chicken butchering process was a little awkward, but I think that by and by I’ll get more used to it and more confident.

I think this is where someone might say stuff like, "Don't you have grocery stores where you live?" but that's missing the point. I don't think the point is that we had to do this, but it's because we wanted to. We want to know where our food is coming from. We want to know what it ate and how it lived. That's one of many reasons why we left Los Angeles. Even though moving to TN was drastic, we're going into this lifestyle slowly so we can learn how to do things as we go along. Neither Kelly or I grew up in an agricultural/agrarian environment, so everything we're doing we have had to learn from Step One.

It'll be a while before I stop buying chicken that comes on yellow styrofoam and is wrapped in plastic, but I hope that not every animal we raise is required to literally kick my ass before we eat it!

Today I learned: I wasn't sure I could do it, but I did it.

Progress report

2009-10-15T02:14:00.000-05:00

This is Terry Jernigan, the cabinetmaker we hired to build "the Beast", a pass-through cabinet I designed, to serve as a wall between the living room and the dining room. He called me in to take a look at how he's come along, and I'm sure glad that he did! One of the design elements that was ESSENTIAL to how it would be built -- that is, the structure of the overlapping sliding doors -- was totally wrong. All the drawings I gave him showed 8 pieces at 2 ft each, but the way he built it, it was going to end up as 16 pieces at 1 ft each. He's going to have to re-do the kitchen-side to make it work like I showed him. I also opted for standard doors on the upper-level of the shelf, and little round finger pulls on the kitchen side of the sliding doors.

He asked me what color i wanted it stained, and I told him I'd prefer a walnut brown that didn't have any red in it. He went back into the room where he does all the staining, picked out a can, rubbed some on a scrap piece of the maple he's using to build the cabinet, and it was perfect. Then I remembered, then at one point, he told me that the pine of our French doors would come out looking different, even if we used the same stain. We played around with more scraps and more colors of stain... Poor Terry! It turns out if we use a redder stain on the white maple cabinet, it will be a much closer match to the pure brown stain when applied to the honey-colored pine. He sent me home with a small gatorade bottle of stain and that scrap piece of maple, so that i could do a color test to see what we get.

Terry's an easy guy to talk to. When he was here at the house, taking measurements, he, Kelly and I got to talking about music & food & all kinds of stuff. I told him that the next time i'd visit to see the cabinet I'd bring him a CD, but he doesn't have a player. I'll definitely bring him some eggs! Speaking of eggs...

Chicken update: 6 eggs again today, same as yesterday. I ate 3 today, with a little truffle oil and a toasted bagel. Yum. The red rooster has got to go. It's uncomfortable to walk out of the house with a dog on a leash, knowing he could come up & charge any time. He jumped at Render today, and if she hadn't been muzzled, it would have been a mess.

Today I learned: If you lay down with a headache at 2pm you'll be rarin' to go at 2am. This means I'll be sleeping in tomorrow. I've already learned how to tune out the roosters' crowing for the most part!

Thoughts about Phase 2

2009-10-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

So as I'm taking my bath this morning, I decided to soak for a while. As i'm lying there, i'm thinking, and thinking...

This whole plan of building a Bed & Bistro is going to be a huge challenge. There are a LOT of decisions to make. The restaurant is one part, then cottages are another.

First off, do we want to have this run as a ch∑z p@nisse model, where there's no choice of the menu and all guests simply eat what's served? Do i want to have a prix-fix menu that offers 2 or 3 different options for each course, but not so many that i can't pull it all off by myself? Do I ask people for a credit card in advance, to charge for no-shows, like they do at Charlie Trotters? Do I just serve an evening meal? and only on weekends?

What do we do with the dogs when we want to have guests in the restaurant? The dogs clearly can't remain in the house. Once I'm open for business, they can't even come into the house, ever. This is a problem. Do we solve it by building another cottage just for them?

UGH ---- don't get me started about the cottages. Obviously, we want to be eco-friendly, and we need to follow local laws and regulations. I need to figure out how to blur the line between the luxury i want to offer and the environmental efficiencies that are available substitutes... which are usually NOT luxurious. I can use LED lighting (which is much 'greener' than incandescent and even better than CFL!) but it's very different than CFL light. Do we want to go so far as to have composting toilets and solar showers, like http://www.smellysmallholding.com/ AKA http://rayers.free.fr/ Would we attract people to a "green" venue, such as http://www.georgiamountaininn.com/. The big question is "How much ''green'' would a guest be wiling to tolerate?"

Then there's the fact that we're out "in the sticks". Can I trust solar power to be as reliable as a hard-wired plug? The initial financial outlay for all the panels, circuitry and storage cells is very high. Will i ever recoup the investment? Can I trust a solar water heater to be good enough for a decent hot shower? Or should I tell my guests that a luxurious hot shower is a thing of the past, making them feel guilty? Do those cards they put on the beds of hotels really make a difference about people hanging up their towels?

NOT TO MENTION, by the way, that i don't think that much of what i've just mentioned above is even permitted by health codes. I certainly don't want to put all the time and money into building a super-efficient, eco-friendly, greener-than-green cottage only to be told that we can't allow guests to stay. (By the way, I've really come to dislike the word "green" for describing "having a low environmental impact" but the term has its use, i suppose.)

If the environmentally-savvy things are against the law, maybe i should go about changing the laws. Is that something i want to undertake? Hopefully I'll be lucky, and the fact that where we live is 'unincorporated' so it doesn't fall under anyone's jurisdiction.

Finally, i hesitate to mention - yet agian - that the infrastructure of civilization is simply inaccessible out there. Namely, we can't get high-speed Internet unless we have a satellite. We have decided it's worth procrastinating that as long as possible, because of the expense. The idea right now is to have the cottages spaced as far apart as possible, which means that wireless won't be easy, either. Will our guests be okay with stopping by the main house and using our dialup connection? (They might... After all, I'm sort of getting used to it!)

Today I learned: The best spot in the library to access the Internet is the worst spot to sit. There is a table in the back where you can sit comfortably (instead of balancing the computer on your lap), and where you can reach an outlet without an extension cord, but it's within urinal-cake smelling distance of the mens room.

Long Weekend in in New Orleans!

2009-10-09T22:39:00.085-05:00

Kelly and I decided to go to New Orleans to celebrate our 15-yr wedding anniversary, for five days of relaxing and fine dining. This was our first vacation together since we moved out here a year ago, and we really needed it. The dogs stayed with their new "Auntie Rebecca" (Rebecca Wysock, dog trainer and owner of Sunnybrook Farm, who boarded them for the time we were gone, plus the extra two days I worked when after we got back. The chickens somehow managed to survive, leaving us with a couple dozen eggs and a mountain of fertilizer as a welcome home gift. Kelly put their house up on the sawhorses so they'd have an added level of protection by elevation, but there must have been a storm because it was half blown down. The Red Rooster is still jumping at Kelly a lot, although the critter doesn't bother me. I might have to make soup out of him. Kelly's in the middle of another two-week stint Los Angeles, and I'm sure he'd prefer his next encounter with the Rooster as Noodle Soup. Of course, i'm all talk right now :-P

We went to two really great restaurants and a few average ones, mercifully avoiding bad ones. We went for a lot of long walks, and spent one night drinking on bourbon street. Except for the post-bourbon-street migraine/hangover (which i earned after two Hand Grenades from Tropical Isle) it was a really nice getaway. We stayed at the Iberville Suites, which shared an entrance and various amenities with the Ritz Carlton. It rained a little the last couple of days, but we got to spend a lot of time outside and enjoyed good weather.

One of the great restaurants was named Stella. It got wonderful reviews, but it was just a fun coincidence that it's also our new address. There was a tasting menu, but it was heavy on shellfish and seafood, and frankly, kelly and I are just not fans. We instead opted to order a couple appetizers, share a "salad", and a couple entrées and our own desserts. It was marvelous. We really enjoyed the food, and picked up a few tricks that we might want to adapt to our restaurant when it gets going. (crossing our fingers, something will happen this spring!) Also, the chef came by and talked to us at our table for a few minutes. For all the high-end restaurants we've eaten at, I think that this might have been the first time that has happened.

The other was August. Just as spectacular but quite different. We both ordered the tasting menu this time. The manager was a young guy & he didn't have the stuffy maitre d' vibe at all. He was positively awesome, telling us the ingredients used, and exactly how each part of each item was prepared. Again, impeccable service, and it was lovely to be a part of that restaurant experience.

It was just so lovely to be able to go out somewhere nice and enjoy a couple of truly wonderful meals. It's exactly what I want our restaurant's guests to feel when they're at our place: an experience where the food is perfect & the ambiance is comfortable, and the calm assurance that everything is being taken care of.

Today I learned: a smile and eye contact with someone out here is a commitment to a 15+ minute conversation. It's not something I'm consciously avoiding, but it's also not something I'm trying to instigate. I am okay with letting these happen once in a while, but 15 mins at the bank, 15 mins at the library, 15 mins in the grocery store, it adds up. I'm learning how to be more comfortable with this. It's hard, after so many years of similar innocuously struck-up conversations with strangers resulting in the person asking for money.

A Fooding Frenzy

2009-09-28T22:58:00.002-05:00

JoAnna has been working hard in the kitchen, cooking all kinds of soups, stews, sauces and such. The chest freezer is quickly filling up with portioned servings of various deliciousness, just waiting to be lunch. As I work in the other room, the aromas drift in and start my curiosity. "What are you making?", I say. "Do you want some?", she replies. The answer is always yes.

The fresh eggs keep coming - about 3 per day. We're keeping pace with them by eating 4-egg breakfasts every few days. We're feeding the chickens store-bought food at about $1/week, so that's about 50 cents a dozen (not counting the first 5 months of no eggs). Once winter comes, we'll have to give them more food since the free ranging will drop off. It's worth it just for the entertainment they provide, let alone the wholesomeness and nutrient-richness of the produce. I can't wait to get goats.

Opening Day

2009-09-26T20:48:00.006-05:00

Today was opening day for archery hunting deer and other big game. I headed out to the back of our property after coffee, while JoAnna helped by detaining Trixie in the house to keep her from following me out to the woods. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, to a spot in the back corner where there is little human disturbance and a hole in the fence. As I crested the ridge and was about to head down to the lower southeast corner, I saw 2 deer - running away, unfortunately. They saw me first. Oh, well. They'll be back. 5 minutes later it was pouring rain as hard as it could pour, so I headed back to the house. I arrived soaking wet, but not defeated. There were many, many times I would spend an entire morning in the woods and not see even one deer. I have plenty of days left in the season to hunt, and our freezer can hold only so much venison.

Soon after, I was enjoying scrambled home grown eggs with pepper-jack cheese and toast. I never had it so good on a hunting trip.

The rain continued for quite a while, so I stayed inside and assembled a console/entry table that was delivered free from Target.com. The engineering on these furniture items is better than it used to be, for sure. All of the parts were in good condition except one which needed some glue. Even the screws and misc small parts are well organized and labeled. The "screwdriver" they sent was pitiful, though - not that I needed it. It was like a key, and would have been impossible to use for this assembly. The resulting table looks very nice and is sturdy enough, even without the backing board that we chose to omit for style's sake. Not bad for about $120.

Soon after completing that task, we were off to the Stella Fish Fry. Just down our road about 2 miles is the place where the annual event takes place. It seemed to be a pretty good turnout, and the catfish and accompanying sides were very good. A guy named Al walked around the dining tent with a tray full of hot fish for anyone wanting more. We had more, twice. Dessert was a piece of home-made apple pie and a piece of home-made chess pie. We each ate half of each piece and agreed that they were delicious. $1 each. Here comes the cliché commercial...

All-you-can-eat catfish, hush puppies, fries and slaw (and drink)... $9
A slice of home-made apple pie... $1
Meeting the kindest people in America who are also your neighbors... Priceless

We'll be back next year, for sure.

Freeze-Dried Day

2009-09-23T21:15:00.007-05:00

Today was a big appliance-type day. Not only did the propane-plumber-man return to finish the conversion of our gas dryer, we plugged in the chest freezer so the mega-batch of food JoAnna cooked today could be kept as frozen. At first, the freezer did not respond to being switched on, and the light in the lid didn't light up. I checked the power outlet and it was good. Then I looked at the wiring under the freezer and saw the problem. At some point during the moves (Glendale, CA to Murfreesboro, TN to Prospect, TN) the main power cord was stressed to the point that it pulled out of a little plastic splitter/distributor part. After a quick snip-strip job, I used one big wire nut to twist the 3 wires together and it was good to go. Time to chill.

Last night I took my first practice shots with my recurve bow. I used a judo point on a single arrow, and did pretty well overall. The cardboard box that was my target had just enough resistance to keep the arrow from shooting all of the way through. Deer season opens Saturday, so I'll be out there early - and we have seen deer on our property. I have to figure out how to keep Trixie the Dog from joining me on my expeditions. I know she'd love to "help", but she has a thing about chasing deer away.
I was really glad to learn that hunters are allowed to take up to 3 deer... every day! That's not likely to happen on my 10-acre plot, but I was expecting to be limited to one deer for the entire season. It will be quite an adventure if/when I do get one, because I have never dressed one out on my own. We are planning to butcher it on our own, too. At least we have lots of knives.

We are seeing the return of many birds; swallows and finches that were around a lot in early summer. Unfortunately, as they fly about, some of them crash into our windows. If anyone has a recommendation for preventing this, please post in the comments.

Stella Fish Fry on September 26, 2009

2009-09-23T09:11:00.006-05:00

This Saturday is the big Stella Fish Fry here in Prospect. I'm excited that I'm not working (there was a tentative gig but it fell through) so I'm able to go! It's apparently THE big social event of the local area.

When we first moved in, and got our moving truck stuck, blocking the street, it was a happy accident because we got to meet a few of the neighbors as they drove past. Mrs. Eubank was one of those people, and she stopped by later and introduced herself, and mentioned the fish fry and told us to make sure we could come out. This was in JUNE!

Also, when we went to see Terry Jernigan at his workshop (he's going to build that masterpiece of furniture that will be the pass-through cabinet between the living room and dining room) his daughter noticed we lived on Stella Rd. and immediately mentioned the fish fry and that she was looking forward to going. Terry said the fish is better than what's served at Johnson's Bluebird Cafe, and even better than Sarge's Shack! That is a serious fish-fight throwdown.

There's been much anticipation in the county for this event. I've never looked forward to eating catfish this much! Can you imagine? An all-you-can-eat fish-fry, served with all the trimmings for only $9 (plus $1 if you want dessert, and oh my god i hope there's pie) All the food is prepared by the women of this church, and i can't wait to see for myself.

I'm going to ask Kelly if he'll drive, so that I'm not taking the chefmobile there. Sometimes I don't like talking about being a chef, and one of those times is when someone else is doing the cooking.

I'm also looking forward to meeting more of my neighbors. We know that people are aware new folks moved in, because we've got the mailbox down on the street, but we've only met a few people. I'm eager to make friends with people my age. It seems that everyone our age has kids, and since we don't*, we don't usually have much to talk about.

Everyone's been very friendly, but I haven't made any real connections here. No, I don't include all the guys at Home Depot. It also doesn't count if we hired them to come to our house and work.

*By the way, feel free to send your offspring here, but note that they will be classified as farmhand apprentices and will be sent out to repair fences, pull weeds, clean the chicken coop and chop wood. They will get blisters, callouses and cuts. They will become intimate with ticks, mosquitoes and possibly chiggers. ... and they'll know it was you who sent them here!

Today I learned:Our electric meter-reader is a sadist. Kelly and I woke up to an explosion of dog barking because the guy drove all the way up to the house at 7:30am. I mean he pulled up along side the meter on the side of the house to read it without getting out if his car. This is an evil thing.

High Pressure - Pressure Cooker

2009-09-18T20:51:00.002-05:00

We've been "living" here now for a while, and we have always been a bit underwhelmed by the water pressure that reaches the homesite. Some mornings - before 7am - the pressure would be near normal by city-life standards. But usually, the water would have just enough force to trigger the on-demand tankless water heater to fire and make hot water. Three days ago, I woke up and... ________, then flushed the toilet. The sound of the water refilling the toilet tank was way louder, like something was wrong. When I went to the sink to wash my hands, I was amazed at the force of the water coming out. It was unbelievable! The pressure was at least double what it had been ever before. Now, I didn't want to jinx it by blogging about it right away, but I think it is safe to say it's not a fluke. Something must have been upgraded along the way or something. We are at the end of the line and at the top of the ridge, so I never expected it would improve. I'm hoping it stays this way.

JoAnna cooked a Beef Pot Roast in the pressure cooker tonight. Yum. Pressure good.

Rain, rain, don't go away...

2009-09-17T14:44:00.002-05:00

After spending 14 years in Los Angeles, I'm still getting used to having frequent rainstorms here in Tennessee. I'm always surprised at the accumulation I find in buckets, jars and the like that are open to catch the falling drops. Rain means much more now that we have planted our orchard (8 fruit trees) and the garden. It also keeps my car from looking dusty. The chickens don't seem to mind, as long as it doesn't last all day long. Render would prefer to do without the associated thunder, but there's not much we can do about it. Luckily, Noodles has no fear (luckily?), so we only have to deal with one nervous dog.

When it REALLY comes down, the locals call it a "gullywasher". I like that word.

Gullywasher.

Working

2009-09-11T21:38:00.003-05:00

I just spent the past week working from home on the Sony project. So far, the lack of internet bandwidth has not been an issue, since I'm not pulling down large files. I have been clearing out the cobwebs in my head, remembering the workflows and processes that are part of making digital media files. It is all coming back, and it is exciting to be part of the process of building a system from the ground up. It is nice to work from home, though it is hard to keep from working on the things that we want to finish on the house. I don't know when I'll be traveling back to Los Angeles for another stint on site, but I was lucky enough to be well taken care of by my host employer. I also got to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen for nearly a year. After the previous 2-week visit, I was really ready to come home. It is really nice here, even if it is not done. LA has crows, TN has blue herons and woodpeckers. And chickens.

EGG-citing news!

2009-09-10T18:06:00.004-05:00

So much is going on lately, it's hard to keep up with writing about it. Here's a quick list so i don't forget:

Kelly has been working as a consultant with Sony for the past two weeks. first, on-site in Los Angeles, which meant it was just the 13 of us (well, then the 12 of us, since Halle Barely went on to that great big henhouse in the sky...) This week, he's been working here at the house, which means he's hogging the dialup access and the sofa.

Now, when i say 'here at the house', i mean at the homestead in Prospect. At the moment, i'm in the parking lot of the Country Kitchen restaurant, enjoying their free open wireless from the comfort (not) of my honda element. I guess i'll be driving into Pulaski more often until the second phone line is in. By the way, this was explained to me by a woman in the laundromat: "POO-LASS-KEE" is how the modern/younger locals pronounce it, and "PYOO-LASS-KEE" is how old-timer-locals say it. Apparently, PUH-LASS-KEY is how the out-of-towners say it. Do i change how i pronounce it, à la when in Rome? Today I caught myself saying "Y'all" to someone in a farewell, as in, "Y'all have a nice afternoon", in a totally sincere and non-ironic way. Cracked myself up.

My work's been steady; I seem to be picking up an extra dinner party each week, on top of the weekly Personal Chef work i do for the amazing N & S. I say they're amazing because not only do they let me make whatever i want to make, but they really seem to enjoy my cooking. I love cooking for them, too. Everyone should have clients like these two, no matter what your field.

I'm overzealous as an entrepreneur, and i want to market myself, but really, i can't pick up too much more extra work if kelly is going to be working in Los Angeles, it's too hard to deal with the dogs and the chickens. (did he or i mention that we no longer have any guinea keets? so sad...)

I wrote a guest blog post for Savory TV. Click here if you'd like to read it. It's my anti-snobbery slow-food rant. If it gets a good response, i'm sure i have a few more rants up my sleeve.

And finally, kelly and I ate the Most Expensive Fried Egg Ever. This was the actually the 3rd chicken egg we know of, however, the first two were found after kelly moved the chicken tractor, so we're not sure how long they were lying about. This third precious little egg was found by itself in the morning, so we deemed it safe to eat. I fried it up in a little sunflower oil, and it was delicious, rich, and perfect. We're looking forward to more!

As my battery is about to give out, I'll post this for now, and let y'all know more info about more stuff as it happens!

Today I learned:

Home finishing stage

2009-08-29T11:32:00.003-05:00

The publishing of the following entry was delayed by a week in order for it to be cleared by our legal team... actually, I was distracted and forgot to dial-up and "git-'er-done".

Nothing major to report at this time. We have had full power now for 2 weeks, so the air conditioning has been keeping us cool. We still have 9 1/2 chickens, but the guinea keets have all disappeared. We'll never know if they went off to find more pleasant surroundings or if the hawks and owls were well fed this year. Next year we will be better prepared if we try for guinea fowl again.

My parents returned for another 4-day work blitz, and they helped us get a bunch of things done. They painted the utility room a nice green color, and they also primer-coated the master bathroom. JoAnna painted two of the walls of the great room a deep blue color. My dad and I installed the sink in the guest bathroom and we all worked together to hang the french doors which separate the kitchen from the great room.

The biggest job was the installation of the flooring in the kitchen, pantry and utility room. Using my trailer, I picked up the 12-foot-wide roll of Armstrong fiberglass flooring from The Home Depot. It probably weighed 200 lbs. so it was not easy to manage at first. There was also some confusion about how many feet were on the roll. I thought we had ordered 50 feet but the paperwork said 66.67 units. I should have thought to calculate what 50-feet of a 12-foot roll is in square yards (it's 66.67). We ended up a little short in the utility room, but it looks OK. The material was easy to work with and we like it so far.

I have been working on getting the kitchen sink installed, but it's taking longer than I had hoped. Everything seems to be that way, taking twice as long as it should. I guess that's the way it goes since I'm not an expert at these things. The plumbing jobs are especially tricky with all the various parts and fittings and such. I'd swear the plumbers of the world all got together and made their trade as confusing as possible, just to dissuade DIYers from doing plumbing. Why can't it all be flexible pipes and hose clamps?

I finished painting the ceiling of the great room and bedroom and master bath. The vaulted ceiling made it tricky, but the extension pole on the roller made it possible to reach to the peak without the use of a ladder or the scaffolding. Now, the only painting left to do is the tan/beige of the great room, which I am hoping to get to tomorrow. I want to get the scaffolding out of the way and back to the generous man (Roger Daly) who is letting us borrow it.

The garden has been on auto-pilot for a while now. We have been getting good soaking rains often enough that we don't need to water at all. The tomato plants are producing well (and delicious), but a few of the varieties are splitting their skins. I'll have to figure out why. The okra, cucumbers and squash are all doing very well. The bean and pea plants never really got going, and the corn isn't looking like there will be much in the way of ears. It looks nice, though.

I guess there was a lot to report after all. I'm sure I am forgetting something.

Snakes on a driveway

2009-08-01T15:26:00.006-05:00

We have made some good progress on the house recently. The drywallers finished and the electricians returned to finish, as well. The HVAC man, Mr. McAfee, finished running ducts, poured a concrete pad and installed the heat pump unit. We painted primer on 75% of the house and ordered the flooring for the kitchen, pantry and utility room (all the same pattern). If we like the performance of the Armstrong brand fiberglass flooring, we will probably use it in more of the house.

The electrical inspector stopped by yesterday and signed off with his approval, so there is a chance that the light company will be here Monday or Tuesday to hook us up! Real power! Mwah hah hah!

So we are no longer relying on others to get us to the next step for progress like we were before. It's all up to us now.

We also had the Tim Harris Construction crew return to add soffit and facia to the roof. The next step on the exterior is to add siding. I'll be ordering the siding materials on Monday so I can start whenever I am ready. Once I know my schedule for the next few weeks, my parents will try to return to help us finish some of these final details.

I have been hired as a consultant for a new start-up in Los Angeles. The company is one of the television production giants, but they are adding some new technology to a newly-formed department. If all goes well, I may be able to continue consulting from home on the project after the initial 3 months.

Trixie the dog has, once again, earned her keep. In the past she helped me recover the guinea keets that wandered away from the garden area. Today she did one even better. I was in the house cleaning up scattered litter when I heard Trixie barking as if someone or something was coming toward the house. I thought it might be our Western neighbor who was cutting his lawn, but she knows him and probably wouldn't be barking. Then I thought maybe it was a dog or goat or sheep from the Eastern neighbor's property. when I got to the door, I saw Trixie barking at something under my car. I heard a hissing sound, so I thought it was another possum, but the hissing was different. More like a rattle. Croikey! It was a rattlesnake! Now, people we have met here have said that there are rattlesnakes in the area, but they have never seen one in 20 years. I guess I'm just lucky. After putting Trixie in the house for her own safety, I used a 10-foot PVC pipe to push the beast out from under my car. Then I used the garden hose to spray it, which caused it to move away from my car and into the short brush. But then it stopped. I had to decide at that moment if I should let the creature live or if I should protect myself, my wife and my critters from possible future encounters. I imagined the snake finding the crawlspace under my house to be a comfortable home, enjoying the occasional chicken as a snack. The snake had to go away for good. I won't go into the gory details, but it was quick and I was never in danger. I don't like to kill animals - even varmints - but that's the way it is out here in the country.

We have a big thunderstorm rolling thru right now, so I'm off the electric stuff ASAP.

Today I learned: Trixie is a good dog. Really, really good.

zomg drywall !!!

2009-07-19T20:16:00.001-05:00

zomg drywall!

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Not liking the fine sprinkle

2009-07-19T20:15:00.001-05:00

Not liking the fine sprinkle of drywall dust on every surface. :-( It's giving me a powdered sugar phobia.

good news: net access at

2009-07-18T22:36:00.001-05:00

good news: net access at the house. bad news: over dial-up. welcome to the 90s!

On Track

2009-07-17T08:53:00.001-05:00

The drywall (aka sheetrock, aka rock board, aka gypsum board) crew just left for the day. They expect to be finished with the job on Saturday. They have been so great, especially considering the fact that they have to move our stuff around whenever it gets in the way of where they need to work. They have been careful and really hard-working. I highly recommend this crew to anyone who needs drywall work done in south-middle Tennessee. They even brought us some vegetables from their garden this morning.

I am sitting in the house amidst the drone from two air circulators. An unusual weather system pushed in last night bringing rain and cool, moist air which does not help the drywall mud to dry quickly. I also have the portable propane heater running on high to help the drying process. We are staying in a local budget motel for the next week to avoid the noise, dust and - soon - paint fumes. I'll be turning the heater off before I leave.

BTW: If you ever think you can drywall your own home by yourself (and you are not a professional) you are crazy. JoAnna and I were crazy for 2 minutes a few weeks ago, until she perused a How-To book at the Home Depot. Believe me, it is best left to the pros.

The house is really starting to feel like a home now that we can no longer walk thru walls. The walk-thru closet that connects the bedroom to the utility room is jam-packed with our meager belongings, so we can't walk thru it at this time. I hung the drywall in the closet ahead of the real drywall crew so we would have a dust-free place to store stuff while work was in progress We have our tub set in place and hot water run to it via a potable water hose made for RV use. A fancy hose nozzle with multiple spray patterns and a lock-on feature makes it easy. A nice feature on our tankless water heater is that it allows us to set the temperature of the hot water, so we get a perfectly heated stream of water without having to mix the hot and cold together. I like 104º F.

JoAnna collected a nice bundle of veggies from our garden yesterday morning. It won't be long before we're overrun with squash. I have been encouraging the guinea keets to roam about the garden, hoping they will eat any pest bugs they find, but they rarely venture away from the fence line. The other night I found them all (3) outside the fence boundaries, down near the pond. I got behind them and herded them back toward the garden gate, and decided I wouldn't do that again. They're supposed to roam the property and eat the ticks, which is why we got them. But they are so timid, I doubt they will ever be of much use for that. I guess I'd be extra cautious too if I witnessed 18 of my crew disappear in a few short weeks.

The other flock of birds is doing well, except for one of the leghorn chickens. This one chicken - which I call Halle Birdie, JoAnna calls her Halle Barely - decided to fly up and perch on my half-lowered car window to get a better look at the giant furry beast inside, aka Render. Well, Render acted in self-defense and got a bite on Halle. She let her go after the brief altercation, and Halle limped away and under the house. She perched there for a while, and then made her way back to the chicken tractor (coop). She was limping at the time, so I thought she might be okay after a day or two. This took place about two weeks ago, and Halle is not quite better yet. She hasn't left the tractor without my help, but she has a good appetite and is showing signs of using her legs again to move around. She manages to scoot around the coop using her wings and beak, so she can get to the water and food. I probably should have killed her (it) after 3 days of idle behavior, but I am new at this and I have hope that she will recover.

Yesterday, the big rooster sneaked up behind Render as we headed out of the house for a potty break. We were just a few steps away from the house, and before I knew what happened, Render had the big bird in her jaws. I don't know if the rooster was being bold or just stupid. Anyway, the scuffle lasted 5 seconds, and the rooster was freed. Immediately after the incident, Render briefly growled at me like a psycho dog. I sometimes call her "Cujo" as a pet name, but I didn't think she had it in her. I calmed her down and led her out to the potty area and everything was okay. Even the dumb rooster is fine, if not a little more skittish when I'm around.

We got our land-line phone installed today. The ATT guy lives just down the way in Prospect proper. He was kind enough to wire the RJ-11 jack in the house since he had the tools and parts. Now we can enter the 90s and start connecting to the world using dial-up. 25kbps, here we come! Anyone remember Prodigy™?

There's a giant sink and a nice electric range currently in the side yard, waiting to join us in the house. I can't wait for JoAnna's la-bor-atory to be in working order. Even though she has been producing some really great meals and snacks under these rough conditions, I miss the glory that is her food. I think she is eager to start cooking at home again. She has been so patient, and patience isn't usually her thing. At least she can see the progress. This kitchen is so big, we're planning to install a monorail.

Progress Summary:

indoor hot water at sink - √
indoor hot water at tub/shower - √
reliable communication to the outside world - √
walls - √
food provisions grown organically in native soil - √

We are on track.

Y'all doin' allright? How's 'at house comin' along?

2009-07-10T16:20:00.001-05:00

Even tho it's july things 'round here are moving slow as molasses in january. Frankly it's hard to muster up the fortitude to type out the mundane details of things that come to pass on a daily basis, because to me, it feels like i'd be writing about the things that HAVEN'T happened. It's probably not too interesting for you to read, "well, still no walls" again and again ...and again. But enough little things do eventually accumulate and i submit them here for your reading pleasure.

Kelly's fine, I'm fine, both Render and Noodles are fine, the three remaining keets are fine -- although getting uglier by the minute -- and 9 out of 10 chickens are fine. (well, we technically still have 10 but only 9 are fine... Kelly owes you a story, and it's his story, so I'm not going to tell it. Please call him and remind him if you are in the mood.)

The house is inching along towards progress. Today, FINALLY, we had some professional drywallers actually show up and hang some drywall. Dwaine and Randy, twenty-something brothers who are just over a year apart in age, did half the bedroom ceiling and the guest bathroom. They're not twins, and don't even look alike, but they finish each others' sentences and will talk as long as you'll let them. they're fun, but I finally had to go outside, and put armour-all on my car just to be out of earshot. They're hard workers... when they're working, but get them on a topic, and next thing you know another half hour is gone -- but in that time they've offered to share their family's garden surplus, bring over some of last fall's venison, or let you have some of the bounty from a weekend of fishing. Dwaine loves to cook, so i told him if he brought anything, we could cook it together ....as soon as my kitchen's useful!

The past two weeks worth of delays feels like forever, and my patience is running really really thin. (have i said that before? yes? well, it's even thinner.) To avoid losing it completely, I've been driving into town and pulling my digital vagabond stunt for hours at a time: the free wifi at the library, in the parking lot of the Country Kitchen restaurant, in the funeral home parking lot, and -my new favorite - at the Subway Sandwich Shop . I used to go inside Country Kitchen and just order a sweet tea, but I always felt like i was taking up a booth as well as the servers' time. At Subway $1.60 gets you a fountain drink with unlimited refills, and no waitress expects a tip. Plus, they're very slow, so if anything, i'm helping the place not look deserted.

You might surmise that we haven't gotten Internet access at the house yet (you clever fox!) but even more depressing than that, we still don't have landline telephone service. I finally called AT&T and asked what's up, and four operators later, I discovered that they had the wrong phone number to try to reach me. wow. Anyway, I finally got things straightened out and then, as we came home from an errand the very next day, we found a huge truck with a HUGE drill was on our driveway, Two shirtless (eww) guys were operating this beast of a machine to bring us phone service! Alas, they didn't actually do the deed, so I still have impotent blue wires dangling from my office wall.

On a more positive note, I found a used 3-compartment professional sink, and got it pretty cheap. It's a gorgeous solid hunk of stainless steel that stretches over 8 feet long, with a built-in backsplash and gorgeous deep basins. It was pretty grimy when i bought it, but i cleaned it up really well and as soon as the plumbers return, they'll run the pipes to install it. Then, they get to figure out how to install my rigged up invention. I bought a 4" deep hard-plastic prep-table insert pan, in which I'm going to melt a hole (with my Crème Brûlée torch that has peformed many important tasks, but hasn't seen a real Crème Brûlée in a long, long time) so that i can attach a standard sink drain, so that it can mate with the plumbing under the house, in order to achieve the Dept of Health's required air-gap. I also want them to install a faucet similar to the one they installed for the washing machine, so that i can attach a potable-water hose, so i can attach an adjustable garden sprayer. I can't believe i get to trick out my kitchen this much... it will be my own custom designed food laboratory, with all the bells and whistles I want, as soon as i can afford them, (AHEM induction cooker) It's going to be so awesome!

I have been working more and more, with a weekly gig, and a couple more private cooking lessons booked. I have to say, with the economy in its current state, combined with the fact that i've lived here for less than a year, and the realization that so few people seem to know that they can hire someone to do what i do, I'm happily surprised with the amount of work I've been getting. Whenever I go to the Whole Foods in Cool Springs, I try to get a good parking space that will show off my car. I've even been approached a few times - right there in the parking lot - by women asking me "Are YOU Chef JoAnna?" We go inside the blissfully air-conditioned store and I give them a card, and we chat for a bit. Most of them want to hire me for the "in-home-fine-dining" thing, but they don't have anything planned at the moment, so i offer to send them a brochure, and get their e-mail address. I guess it's time to start up that monthly newsletter again.

I finally opened a local banking account for Chef JoAnna, Inc., which took about an hour, because the very nice young lady who was helping me is a foodie and we got to talking, and well, you know the rest. She was really excited to hear that someone's trying to open a place like we're planning, and was very eager to tell people about my chef business. I told her about the concept of food miles, and the garden, and how we can serve our hens' eggs but not any meat we raised, and why it was important to eat locally... she was totally into it.

Not much to add to the wildlife report. There is a mama and baby deer we see on the property all the time. They get up pretty close to the house, but no damage to the garden. Luckily, the Fort-Knox of fence we put up around the garden has kept all non-bug pests out, Kelly and I shared the result our first harvest the other night - a meager handful of green beans - and it was delicious. Today I picked a small yellow heirloom cucumber and a scalloped edge squash. I have dozens of tiny heirloom cherry tomatoes that are still bright green, the okra is starting to grow its little fuzzy fingers, and we have crooknecks and zucchini and pickling cukes and specialty bell peppers and whispers of all kinds of greens that are growing back after the bugs devoured the original foliage.

Even though the house is an empty shell right now (even more so because all our stuff is jammed floor-to-ceiling in the closet to keep the drywall dust off of it) I'm still having visions of what it could be like as a little cafe. The walls are painted, art is hung, tables are set, and music is playing. A threesome of 50'ish ladies is enjoying a plate of tea sandwiches and home-made sodas. A pair of 20'ish girls are sharing macaroons and madeleines over their lattes. A local couple, on their way to somewhere else, saw the sign on the corner. They had only stopped in for a coffee, but lingered for the strawberry tart and persimmon linzer torte when they discovered the fruit came from my garden. It's an idealized, technicolor fantasy, but if I keep focused, who knows what can happen?

Today I learned: Black nail polish applied to toes makes your toes resemble watermelon seeds, and therefore, chickens will peck at your feet if you are wearing flip-flops.

sub-standard sub-contractors

2009-06-27T12:40:00.004-05:00

I've been on my "drywall vacation" since Monday, visiting my in-laws and assorted family here in Orland Park, IL (south suburb of Chicago) It's been a lovely visit, and i enjoy their company very much, but sadly, this trip was in vain.

(For those of you who think all i write about is rainbows and butterflies, you might find a change of pace here. You want that mushy stuff, go look at some cute & cuddly creatures instead of read this particular post.)

The purpose of my absence was to avoid being underfoot while the subcontractors were at the house doing the plumbing and the drywall. For whatever reason, both the guys who offered bids for the plumbing and the drywall flaked out.

I thought that we were in a poor economy.
I thought that construction work was in decline.
I thought that subcontractors were drying for work.

... so i'm gobsmacked that these guys basically refused our money. I'm also frustrated that the things i wanted to avoid (noise/dust/mess) didn't happen while i was gone. I feel like I wasted all that gasoline. I wasted money on two nights' hotel stays (to break up the two 10 hour drives). Worst, I feel like I abandoned Kelly when I could have been there helping him do all the stuff he did while i was gone. It's just a sickening feeling.

On the bright side, i did get to spend some great quality time with Bob & Sue, the best in-laws a girl could ask for. I got to make them dinner a couple of times, which was nice. Since Sue & Caryn (Kelly's sister) went out tonight, I also got a chance to hang out with my niece (14) and nephew (13) for a bit, teaching them to shuffle cards, how to play blackjack, how to prep & peel asparagus, and then, how to make tuxedo strawberries! I made angelhair with marinara for dinner, which they loved, and then a lemon curd for dessert, to serve with the strawberries, so i had to run to 7-11 for a pint of half & half. I had a brainstorm while i was there - i thought I'd show them how to do tuxedo strawberries - but the only white chocolate was the hershey's "cookies & cream" candy bar. It was messy, but it worked out okay. Most important, they had fun, so I was glad. They're good kids.

The other thing i was looking forward to for this trip was buying kitchen furnishings at IKEA. I've been drawing out the layout of cabinets & shelving over and over, erasing, redrawing, and redrawing some more... and i thought i had a good setup. I went to ikea's website to make a shopping list of what i needed... and it seems that nearly everything i want is out of stock at both the bolingbrook and the schaumburg stores. PHOOEY!

So I get to go home to a still-unfinished house, with no hot running water or air conditioning, relatively empty-handed since i didn't buy what I'd hope to at IKEA. Except for seeing Kelly, who i missed a whole bunch, I'll have nothing to look forward to but a messy, dusty house that i still can't unpack and organize and several more hours of sticky, sweaty work in an un-airconditioned glorified shed.

ok, whining over. at least i got a chance to escape; poor Kelly was stuck there the whole time!

Today I learned: TRIXIE IS OKAY! Kelly said that he saw her in a dog fence/cage thing in a neighbor's yard. It's good news that she's healthy and safe, but I'm sad that she won't be able to visit any longer.

Thanks to my folks

2009-06-18T16:56:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I'm a little slow...

I meant to pay special thanks to my parents for their continued help in our home-building project. They were here for several days around Memorial Day, and, once again, they were a big help - especially as we moved our belongings from Murfreesboro to the new digs. I'm a lucky boy.

The Saga Continues

2009-06-16T13:52:00.004-05:00

Trixie the dog has been away for 5 or 6 days and we miss her. She has provided many laughs, as well as 3 rescued guinea keets. When the keets would manage to escape their fenced-in area, they would screech loudly as they tried to figure out how to get back in. If I would approach one to try to help, sometimes they would run off into the woods. If Trixie was nearby (which was almost always) she would pursue the bird and eventually either hold it down or gently bring it back to near where I would be standing.
Speaking of guinea keets, only 4 remain in our control. We started raising 21 of them in a large Rubbermaid bin, but when they outgrew that we had to set them up in a fenced enclosure within the garden confines. Many of them either squeezed their way through the fencing or they flew over the top. I also know that the predatory birds were thinning the flock, as well. One morning I heard the keets squawking, and saw a large hawk flying low over the garden. I ran down to chase it off, and found one keet in distress. The hawk had made a grab for this keet, but didn't get it good enough. The keet had claw marks on his head, but seemed to be alright. He is one of the four that remain.

Our "rough-in" electrical inspection was rejected because of a couple minor issues:
1. There is an outdoor recepticle wire that was supposed to be on a circuit that is separate from any indoor circuits.
2. Power run into the guest bath was supposed to be on its own circuit, but it was sharing a circuit with two dining room outlets.

Unfortunately, the inspector only works in this county on Wednesdays and Fridays, so we will have to wait 5 days for re-inspection. Once we are approved we can move forward with these projects:

insulation - walls
Kenny McAfee is a local contractor who does both insulation and heating/air conditioning. He has offered to let me help with the insulation of the walls for a reduced price. He is a really energetic character and I look forward to working with him.

plumbing
The plumber who was recommended will be available to start on Monday, June 22. He is currently in Montana plumbing on a mission with his church. We have to acquire a tub and ADA-compliant sink before he starts.

drywall
We are waiting for an estimate from a guy who hired JoAnna to serve breakfast to a group of drywall delivery drivers as a way to thank them for their good work. I'd like to save some money by doing the walls myself, but there's no way I would attempt the ceiling work.

electric - finish
The electrician will return to install fixtures once the drywall is finished. I am hoping the siding is done at that time so the outside light fixtures can be finished then.

insulation - attic
Kenny McAfee will probably be back to blow cellulose fibers up into the attic space.

HVAC
The full installation of a heat pump system will have to wait until we have more money. Until then, we will use window units for AC and propane for heat if it gets cold before we can afford the big system. Regardless, a woodstove will be installed before we reach the coldest months.

siding and soffit
The price quote I got from the building contractor was higher than we can afford, so I'll be attempting this work on my own. I plan to hire the builder for a few hours to try to learn the best way to do the work.

June is the first month in 15 years that no monthly rent payment was required. For 15 years we have been doing this, but no more. If I had bought a house when I was 12, the 30-year mortgage would be paid off now. But I didn't. I built forts back then. I am typing this from my most recent fort. It has been a rewarding challenge thus far, but easier than I thought it would be. I didn't expect to depend on outside contractors so much, but when it was time to add the roof trusses, it had to be. I'll learn as much as I can from these guys, and examine their techniques and such so when the time comes to build a cottage or other building, my work may only require a review by the pros.

The greenhouse roof plastic finally gave way under the weight of the recent rainwater. The plastic was never intended to be permanent, and the roof was poorly designed, too. Not enough slope. I'll add some height to the ridge with another 2x8 for next season, or maybe we'll use hard plastic corrugated sheets instead. The greenhouse did its job this year, so I guess it wasn't so bad.

We have been staying in our "house" for two weeks now, and we are both greatly looking forward to the upcoming improvements. What we have is like a shell of a house. Without soffits or ceilings, any type of flying or crawling creature could join us on the inside without too much trouble. This was not desired, so I cut 44 pieces from scrap foam insulation and jammed them into the openings. So far, only a couple needed to be reset in place after stormy weather or a careless bird. I think the incidents of bugs have been reduced, too.

Speaking of bugs, the ticks have been relentless. A local commented that they are especially bad this year, so there's hope for next year. I also heard that they usually subside after July, so let's hope again. Next year we'll start with 80 guinea keets. They eat ticks.

Back on moving day, we had a grand ol' adventure. I had spent the night in Murfreesboro with the full 26 foot truck and Render. In the morning, i returned our cable modem and headed home to Prospect. All was going well until I passed the last gas station and then remembered to check the gas gauge on the truck. Empty. But those gauges always give you some leeway, right? So I made it to our place, but had to pass our driveway to turn around for the eastbound approach. There is a sharp left at the start of our driveway, so it's best to swing in from the west. It is also quite steep at the start of the drive, so I approached with some speed to get up the slope. My biggest concern was managing to get the back wheels to not run off the pavement as I made the turn in, but I actually handled that part well. It was the overhang behind the truck wheels that got me. The back bumper and hitch scraped and dug into the pavement to the point where the back tires were nearly off the ground.

No traction to move forward or back. I was stuck. And blocking half of the road. We tried jamming rocks and wood under the drive tires, but to no avail. I started releasing air from the front driver's side tire which lessened the pinch of the back end to just the trailer hitch being on the road surface.

The U-Haul emergency road service phone guy told me that it wasn't an emergency, but he did find the number of a towing company for me. Luckily, a kind neighbor was passing by and offered to head home and return with his tractor. When he did return, we hooked some chain between us and he popped the truck loose in a jiffy.

Then he drove off before I could thank him. We had a busy day after that, unloading the truck - load by load - onto my car trailer, then hauling it uphill to the house. Later, the unloading was a shorter distance as the first stuff on the truck was destined for the shed which is just 20 steps from the road.

Moby Dick reference makes me seem literate!

2009-06-14T15:14:00.002-05:00

We got up early (again) and put more stuff in the ground (again) Other things have had a higher priority, and I find myself putting in 'seedlings' that already have lots of flower buds. Some even have blossoms! I'm trying to learn what the things are by looking at the leaves and the stems, getting to know the plants more intimately than just reading their nametags, but today, what i thought was cucumber, was actually okra.

One of the spots where we were digging resulted in a loud CLANG when Kelly struck it with this huge digging spike. The spike weighs about 25 lbs and is about 6 ft of solid iron. Kelly named Ishmael because it looks like a big harpoon. He used Ishmael to find the edge of the thing, then employed it as a lever, wedging it under the rock. A few grunts and groans later, he unearthed - literally - a huge, flat rock that was probably 6" thick, 18'' wide and 2.5 feet long. we didn't know what to do with it so we placed it in one of the paths. As he was wresting it from the ground, I said, "I bet nobody from your old job would picture you doing this!" With all the climbing and carrying and hammering and shoveling, and all the other heavy lifting that comes with building a house, Kelly's kinda ripped!

After a few hours, it started raining. First just a sprinkle, then a decent downpour with lightning and thunder. We went in for breakfast, and then Kelly took a nap while i picked over a few boxes to see if anything could be consolidated. Then i had to do some office-work for the two jobs i'm doing this week. It's weird to sit down at the computer and not be able to check e-mail!

We still haven't made our 'big purchase' at lowe's, but we'll have to do it soon... we need to get the lights so they can be installed, and we need the bathtub so the plumber can put it in. We allotted space for an extra-long tub, and Kelly seems to be considering upgrading the bathtub to one with whirlpool jets. A guy at the local kitchen & bath fixtures store showed us the difference between a traditional jacuzzi-jet type tub, and one with whirlpool style jets, and the difference was night and day.

We also have to figure out what to do with all our stuff that's scattered all over here while the drywall goes in. Kelly mentioned he might rent a uhaul truck for 3 days and park it up here, just for the waterproof storage ability. He's encouraging me to go on a "Drywall Vacation" since -- in his words -- there's no reason that both of us have to suffer. The major stipulation is have to take Noodles with me, so I can't fly anywhere, but I can drive up to 8 hours. Where should I go? If we were still in L.A. I'd choose Las Vegas - only 5 hrs away and plenty of cheap places that would not only accept pets but would also have kitchenette units.

When the "Drywall Vacation" can start, tho, depends on a lot of factors. The first one being that the electrician we hired made a couple bonehead mistakes and we didn't pass the inspection. One of the mistakes was that there were too many wires being run to one switchbox, and the other is that it's against code to have an outdoor outlet and an indoor outlet run to the same breaker. For someone who made such a big deal of the almighty "CODE" and how many outlets had to be on a wall and whatnot, that one seems like a no-brainer, so i'm especially disappointed with that.

So the electrician has to come in and make the adjustments, and then HE has to buy another permit for re-inspection, and then we have to wait another week before the inspector will come out again. Until we pass the rough-in inspection, we can't do the wall insulation, or plumbing, or drywall, and then the roof insulation, and THEN the electrician comes back to finalize his work, and then the inspector has to come another time.

Kelly's found professionals to do all those other things, gratefully. He wanted to do more himself, but he admitted that he just doesn't have the experience to do it right the first time. Luckily he can be nearby and watch, and a couple of them have made it clear that they wouldn't mind him actively helping and learning.

I've still been making all our food in this makeshift little kitchen, using only electricity indoors. (We haven't fired up the grill in a while, but I probably will later tonight) We have a toaster oven, a microwave, and an electric 'burner'. It's working out okay. I baked a couple dozen cookies to give to Tom Merritt, the guy who brought his big red farm tractor to our driveway, pulled the uhaul out of the rut in the road, and saved the day. I used an electric skillet to make pancakes the other day, which was a nice break from monotonous mornings of cold cereal. Kelly attached the tankless hot-water heater to the wall today, but our propane tank doesn't arrive until tomorrow, so i've been heating water for washing dishes (and showers!) in a 60-cup electric coffeemaker. I also have a rice cooker, a deep fryer, a waffle iron, and even a george foreman grill... none of which have been recruited for active duty. Now that we have reliable electricity, i haven't been using those butane stoves. They were awesome to heat up food when we were eating lunch in the shed, but the fuel is costly and hard to come by, so if we can avoid using them, we will.

It's weird being hyper-attentive to cash these days. I mean, we always were -- which is how we were able to save up to move out here and buy land. We haven't had the guaranteed promise of Kelly' weekly paycheck since September of last year. We're still using our savings and have taken a relatively small loan from Kelly's parents, but within 6 weeks, this house will be finished! Best of all, the land it's on is paid for. No rent. No mortgage. Just utilities, cellphones, groceries, dog- and chicken-food, and an amazingly low annual property tax assessment. Things are looking good.

A bunch of miscellaneous things about the fauna of Mockingbird Acres:
-- we're down to four keets. Despite our best efforts, they rest have either escaped or been attacked. It's sad, but as i've said before, they're not the smartest birds. Not by a long shot.
-- our chickens love watermelon seeds, and then they will peck at the rinds (after we've finished) until nothing's left but the hard green shell. They also love the cracked-corn and wheat berries we bought for them. The maker called it 'scratch' but we call it 'crack'. The most fun i have all day is when I put some in a can and rattle it and call out "CRAAAAAAACK!" and all ten chickens come running full-speed-ahead from wherever they were and look at me expectantly. running chickens are gut-bustingly funny.
-- We are surrounded by critters here! So far we've seen a box turtle, a HUGE snapping turtle the size of a dinner-plate (OMG that thing was FAST and SCARY when it went in for a snap at you! Kelly rescued it from the goat farmer's barking dogs and took it way back past our property line) salamanders, squirrels, and SO MANY kinds of birds of every shape, color and size. We've seen at least two groundhogs, but no other large pests since the possum.
-- there are catfish - and maybe some other kind of fish - in our pond. I couldn't believe it when i saw it but there they were, dozens of them, sunning just below the surface.
-- we have all kinds of frogs, including a big baritone bullfrog whose voice carries forever, and a few toads, too.
-- there are hummingbirds!!! I was really going to miss the hummingbirds that came to our feeders in Glendale, and I'm so thrilled to be able to enjoy them again.
-- butterflies are abundant here, too. Like the birds, all sizes and colors. They're everwhere, all the time. It's like an animated Disney movie: there's a certain kind that seem extra 'friendly' and will come right up and land on you! Sadly, they don't seem to realize that they have two too many legs for me to be okay with them near me and I still freak out.
-- Trixie hasn't been seen for days. I really miss her. I hope that someone just decided that she was as awesome as we thought she was (She never even chased the chickens!) and decided to keep her in their house, but in the back of my mind i fear for the worst. Come back, Trixie!

Kelly's writing his own post, too... so you'll get a double dose, and hopefully not too many repeats.

Don't forget! new photos are uploaded on Flickr. click on the mosaic in the right margin.

Today I learned: did you know that you can spend as much as $1600 on a bathtub faucet? That's more than twice what i spent on the whirlpool tub!

Gardening, Catering and my life as a Bandwidth Vagabond

2009-06-07T20:52:00.003-05:00

Sunday, June 7, 2009 2:06 PM

Kelly got up before me today, and went to rescue the remaining keets. We're down to nine that are in the garden enclosure -- which is about what we expected. Everyone keeps saying that guineas are dumb, and they're right. I'm sad that we lost so many, but they're probably around the property somewhere.

We spent the rest of the morning working on the plants: I watered the herbs I'm keeping in the greenhouse (herbs like it hot & need to get dry between waterings) and as Kelly clears weeds, I'm transplanting seedlings the garden. They're hardly seedlings anymore, but we've had to push back the transplanting as other priorities got in the way. As i write this, it's gorgeously sunny and 90ºF, which is just too hot to be outside in full sun on your hands and knees. The other day, when we were out there, Kelly took off his shirt to cool off, and since there's nobody around to see, i took off my shirt too! I couldn't believe what a difference it made. Topless gardening from now on! (well, except for my fear of sunburn...)

We realize that it's not going to get any cooler 'round these parts, so we've interviewed a couple of heating & cooling professionals. the first guy was pricey, but the second guy's estimate came in a lot lower. Kelly may even help him with the work in exchange for a discount. Before we sign off anything with anyone, we're waiting to hear from Kelly's dad's friend to find out what we should expect to spend. We're probably going with a unit that's entirely pre-fab and the major piece of it is outside, then ductwork throughout the house. In the meantime, we've got a couple of fans and lots of cold water to drink. Thankfully, it cools off at night.

How about some good news? I've been getting more inquiries about chef work! I'm glad that the website's been attracting people, and that people seem to like what they see. I'm on track for a gig a week, which is a pretty good start. The jobs are in Nashville, so it's good that I'll have a reason to drive up there and get some of the more esoteric groceries i want to shop for for myself, like good olive oil and cheeses and such.

Despite the lack of decent cellphone service and the total dearth of Internet access here at the homesite, I've been able to do what i need to do as a bandwidth vagabond, getting open signals from the local funeral home, from the Country Kitchen restaurant, and from the library. I go in the library when it's open, but otherwise, i park outside and soak up some wi-fi. Still trying to figure out whether to just suck it up and get a satellite or hold out for local DSL. Not having connectivity is really a pain in the butt.

Off to get screens for the windows shortly... Kelly's been finding a couple mud-wasp tubes on his things... in the house!

Hope you're enjoying reading our stories, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Today I learned: gardening gloves from the dollar-store are cute but useless. Also, 'investing' in the more expensive vigoro brand gardening tools was totally worth it!

book review: The Food of a Younger Land

2009-06-04T20:35:00.001-05:00

On my old blog, ChefBlog, I would review books from time to time. Usually, of course, these books were about cooking (duh/lol). I recently read a book that was about the history of food in America. I found it especially interesting to read since I'm discovering a whole new culture and cuisine here in Tennessee. (Heads up, Los Angeles, you can find fried pickle chips just about anywhere here, not just at Pure Luck, but I've yet to find jackfruit carnitas in the South, so I will still have to come back every so often.)

The book is "The Food of a Younger Land" by Mark Kurlansky.

How this book came to be is a really fascinating story: In the late 1930s, the government in Washington created an agency called the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was charged with finding work for millions of unemployed Americans, in every imaginable field. One branch of this was the Federal Writers Project (FWP), managed by Katherine Kellock, which produced hundreds of guidebooks on America. It was Kellock who came up with the idea of an anthology of stories and recipes from all over the United States.

This is when Americans primarily ate 'home cooking', which is to say, what you ate when you were 'out' was probably similar to what you ate at home. The authors of each section describe the way people ate before the boom of industrialized fast-food, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anything as refined as what customers expect when going to today's restaurants.

This isn't a recipe book -- although a few recipes are included -- the focus is on the stories regions and foods discussed , including:

Rhode Island Jonny Cakes
Minnesota Lutefisk
Indiana Persimmon Pudding
Florida Conch
New York City Oyster Stew
Georgia Possum & Taters
Nebraska Lamb Fries
North Carolina Chitterlings

In the author's own words (somewhat condensed by me), he offers this disclaimer:

This book is not an attempt to produce what America Eats might have been if it had been edited and pieces selected. Instead, it is a sampling of the broad and rich mountain of copy that the dying Federal Writers Project generated for this, their final effort... The reader can experience the archaeologists adventure that I had sifting through these unedited and unpublished manuscripts with all their blemishes, including misspellings, bad English, bad Spanish, and chaotic recipes... In the process, forgotten cuisines and a vanished world are unearthed. This is the fun of finding a seventy-year-old manuscript.

And what fun it was to read! Each section had its own chorus of contributors, and each individual writer had a distinct voice.

Some writers were more well known than others. Remembering that the FWP was created to give the unemployed an opportunity to work, these stories were written by authors of various skill. Some were already well-known writers, others were unknown and remained so, while still others became novelists of some renown. Kurlansky's preface of each anecdote includes any accolades and distinctions received by its writer.

While I happily recommend reading "The Food of a Younger Land", I can't decide whether I should suggest this is a good bedside book... Anthologies, by nature, are good for reading in self-limiting portions, but this was such a fun read that I kept turning the pages long after I should have been asleep!

Disclaimer: received from the publisher as a review copy

keets, curtains and electric codes

2009-06-03T20:37:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 10:30 AM

Day 3 of being a full-time resident of Prospect, TN. So far the biggest battle has been against the Daddy Longlegs spiders. They seem to love to come inside the house and find wherever I want to be and stake a claim to that space. Kelly won't smash them; instead, he picks them up and throws them outside. ::shiver:: The house is still wide open, because the window screens haven't haven't been delivered yet and the soffits haven't been closed in... so if you've got legs or wings and you want to get in, there's nothing stopping you.

At this very moment, there are two men working on the electricity of the house: Toby, the owner, and his assistant. Here's a photo of the outlet/light plan I did with the electrician.
click to enlarge He has to adhere to certain codes, so there must be an outlet every "X" feet, with "X" varying depending on what room it is. This means that there are going to be more outlets than I originally wanted, which is no big deal, but there are going to be WAY MORE lightswitches than i thought there would be! I guess lightswitches are just something you take for granted. The layout of this place means that we're going to have one at each entrance of the kitchen, each end of the closet, both entrances to the dining room, and so on.

We still haven't figured out how we are going to close off the bedroom. If we had a normal door and a normal wall, we could put a switch at the bedroom door like normal people. We'd like to have it closed off by a curtain, so we can open it during extreme weather, so that the temperature will be steady through the house. Instead, we've got to put it where there IS a wall... so because of the ceiling fan, the outdoor light, and the switched-outlet he has to put there to maintain "code", there's going to be a three-switch plate by the exterior door of the bedroom. BOOOOOO!

And, as far as the code goes... Toby said that it'll be a problem if the inspector comes out and finds out that we've been living here, in the condition that the house is currently in. There are extension cords running from the Temporary Service Pole to the house which powered the saws and drills and such during the construction. Now that we've moved out of the Murfreesboro apartment, those cords are supplying power for running our lights, fans & appliances (only the fridge & microwave). That's probably dangerous. . (We also had 500ft of extension cords running to the greenhouse, when we had the chicks and keets living there!) In order to pass the first inspection, we may have to pretend to not live here for a week. Kind of a drag.

The electric installation is approved in two stages. First, there's the "rough-in", which means that the inspector comes out and makes sure that the X outlets per Y feet standard is met, the GFCI plugs are in place, and whatever else. Then, after the drywall (which we haven't yet subcontracted) is installed and the fixtures & appliances (which we haven't yet purchased) have been put in place, the electrician comes back to put in switches and faceplates and such. Then, at last, the inspector approves the final installation.

I know I must sound like I'm whining, but Those of you that talk to me over the phone or through Instant Messenger are all probably sick of me saying, "wait until you see it" but I am really excited that everything that i was hoping for (design-wise, anyway) is working out just right.

Last night, two of the neighbor's goats jumped the fence onto our property. This wouldn't be a problem except that we have been unloading the greenhouse, and Kelly's trailer was full of our seedlings! We had to load them back into my truck overnight, and now there are gossamer spider webs clinging to every surface. ::shiver:: I must have been suffering from delusions when i agreed to move out here.

Another interesting development has been with the keets. on our 2nd day here, we moved them from their cramped box in the greenhouse to a corner of the garden. It's a good thing that i barricaded the bottom 18" of the perimeter with 1" chicken wire, because those little boogers could squeeze right through the 2x4" welded wire! I guess their feathers are really thick, because they look fatter than they really are. They waddle around like a big feathered amoeba, and if one get separated from the pack, she'll let you know! They sound like an alarm clock: "EEEEE! EEEEE! EEEEE! EEEEE! EEEEE!"

The next morning, (yesterday) we got up at 6am to avoid the heat and planted some of the seedlings. The ground is very rich, because when the weather was cooler, you couldn't turn over a rock without finding a worm, but it hasn't been broken by shovel or spade for a long, long time. I hacked away with the pick-axe, while Kelly used a hoe to break up the weeds. I have three blisters, and Kelly got at least one, too. By 11am, it was too hot to think so we quit for the day. Plenty to do in the house, where even if it wasn't much cooler, at least it was shaded.

That brings us to today. More wood shavings on the floor from Toby drilling through studs for wiring. Everything still in boxes all over... but there's nowhere to unpack it anyway!

Today I learned: +

Get 'em up, move 'em out, Rawhide!

2009-05-30T20:31:00.002-05:00

Kelly arranged to pick up a moving truck on Thursday morning. We didn't have to be moved out until 5/31, but his parents, Bob & Sue, have been here a couple of days, and they were willing (if not eager!) to help us, so we took them up on the offer. We spent all day on Thursday loading up the truck. First Kelly and his folks loaded up all my catering stuff and our major appliances from the garage, while i packed the house. Then we loaded up the house stuff into my car, the in-laws' car, and the few spaces left in the truck.

You know that logic puzzle with the farmer, a goat, a wolf, and a cabbage? That's kind of what it felt like trying to get this move done. Kelly opted to keep the truck an extra day, so we could get some rest, and start fresh in the morning. That muddied up logistics a bit, since the chickens and guineas needed attention (The keets, in particular, need about 30 minutes of fussing twice a day, but we'd been away from Prospect for nearly 24 hours!) Here's how it worked out:

I volunteered to drive back to Prospect to manage the critters, but I had to be back there by 6:30pm so i could work in daylight. His parents would spend the night at the new house (we have an extra air mattress) so they had to drive back from Murfreesboro to Prospect. Kelly was going to spend the night in Murfreesboro. I think he slept on the floor of the now rather empty apartment. When i drove back, i took Noodles with me, since both dog crates were in Prospect; Kelly kept Render with him... but since Noodles isn't feeling well, she'd cry and need to be let out at least once in the middle of the night. This would wake Kelly's dad up (he's a super-light sleeper), which would wake Kelly's mom up, and since they were being such an awesome help to us, I didn't want to interrupt their much-needed sleep...so Noodles and I slept in my car. Wouldn't you know it, this was the first time in a couple weeks she slept through the night, so i believe that by sleeping in the car, I had the best night's sleep in a couple weeks!

I'm going to let Kelly tell the second part of this story: getting that 26-foot truck from the apartment to the house.

I will close with this: This time, i finally can say with great conviction,this is the last time i'm ever moving!

Today I ~~learned~~ was reminded: I'm really lucky to have Bob & Sue as family. I can see how a couple as wonderful as they are turned out a guy as wonderful as Kelly, and I hope that when he and I have been together for 50 years, we'll be just like them. (yeah, mushy, i know, but deal with it!)

WALLS!

2009-05-27T23:23:00.009-05:00

Things are moving right along. It's hard to believe that the place where our house now sits was a totally virgin forest when we bought it. Kelly's mom & dad are here again, helping where they can and giving moral support. His mom reminded me that even though we've got so much to do yet, we have to step back and see how much we've done since January!

Accomplishments since the last blog entry:

GARDEN: Secured the entire perimeter of our garden! Since it's just going to be a potager for us (the restaurant's got to wait) it's 25ft by 70ft. It's surrounded by a 5-foot high fence of 2"x4" welded wire, which I've reinforced at the bottom with 2-foot chicken wire. I attached it so that 6" lays against the ground on the outside of the fence, and the remaining 18" is wired up against the welded wire. We're also piling rocks on top of the flat 6" to keep critters from digging. The last step will be to put the electric fence on the outside of that. We'll do at least two wires, one at 2ft and the other at 5ft. Several people have told us that if you bait the fence with peanut-butter covered bits of aluminum foil, the deer will lick the foil, shock their tongues, and stay away. Let's hope so!
HOUSE: All the interior walls are framed... except for the bedroom, because Kelly and I can't agree on what we want to do with it! It will probably involve something like a half-wall and/or a curtain. Maybe. It's so amazing to see it turning into a house!
All the exterior doors & windows are installed, and I put the knobs in today. My front door is so pretty! We wanted to have a really 'grand entrance' but since the house is going to look kind of humble with its wood siding and metal roof, having a huge double-door entry with sidelights and a transom would have been way too grand. Since it's midnight as I'm typing this, I'll have to put the photos up tomorrow.
CRITTERS: Somehow these two city-folk from "loase ann-juh-lees" have managed to keep 31 birds alive. The chickens are really just beautiful, their voices maturing from peeps to contented clucks. They're pretty friendly...all but the three leghorns, which seem like they'll never lose their skittishness. The guinea keets, which used to be only as big as a plum, have grown up to plump orange-sized birds. Still have their baby-colors, but they're feathering out well. We handle them about twice a day so they're becoming tame, too.
MOVING: We're going to pick up a moving truck tomorrow. U-haul's biggest model. First we load up the garage, and if there's room, we load up some stuff from the house. We'll put everything else in my car and in Kelly's parents' car. I can't wait for it to be over.

Once we're moved out of Murfreesboro, the benefits of technology are going to be coming fast and furious to Prospect! I'll have my dishwasher, my full-size fridge (Darth refrige-RATOR) and the hot water heater will be installed. Soon I won't have to wash dishes with water heated in my 60-cup coffeemaker! (The toilet's been temporarily installed in a tarp-enclosed area for now, but it'll be brought into the house and set into the bathroom soon!)

There are still lots of decisions to make yet, but the most important will be bathtub, range, oven, flooring, and the sinks (2 kitchen, 2 bathroom). I wonder if I can sell plasma, or a kidney, or something. I'm not looking forward to shopping for these things, but at least I have this month's Consumer Reports "Kitchen Issue".

By the way -- I've been describing the color that I'd like to stain the wood of the board & batten siding to Kelly by saying stuff like, "Hey, you see that cloud up there, not the darkest one, but the medium blue-gray one? THAT'S what I'd like for the color of our house." Tonight he found a photo of blue-gray wood siding against lush green trees.
This photo captures it!
(minus the stuff growing all over it!)
Click to enlarge

Today I learned: Our chickens have grown tame enough to eat directly from my cupped hand.

Tha ROOF! Tha ROOF! Tha roof is in PROSPECT!

2009-05-20T10:49:00.001-05:00

We've been working a lot again, and Kelly mentioned before, that means that by the time we have had supper (that's dinner to most of you folks, LOL) we're plum tuckered out.

Here's what we've done lately:

We finally found a guy to sell us guinea keets. "Keet" is the word for chick when referring to guinea fowl. We got 20 of them, and he threw in an extra. They're cute now, but give them time, and they'll become as ugly as this:
adult guinea Everyone we tell that we got some guineas always make two comments "they're good for keeping the ticks down" and "boy they sure are loud, aren't they?" When they're eating and just hanging out, they peep like little sparrows. When they're being held, or when they're disturbed, or sometimes, just out of the blue....SQUAWK~ SQUAWK~ SQUAWK! It's ear piercing.

The chickens are doing great in their home-made tractor. I'm typing this in a word processor so i don't remember if I said this already, but we have only two roosters out of the 10 I picked! Not bad for a first-time chick-picker! I also don't remember if i identified the breeds: One rooster and two hens are silver laced wyandotte one rooster and three hens are buff orpingtons and the last three hens are solid white, so it's likely they're Leghorn (colloquially pronounced LEG-urn)

Noodles and Trixie got into a little scuffle, but i managed to settle it for them. Sometimes i want to wring her neck, but usually Noodles is pretty mellow. The past two days she was acting ill. She seemed to not have a good sense of balance, she wouldn't jump up on the car tailgate as eagerly as she had before, and wouldn't do that whip-around head-shaking thing things dogs do when they get wet. Also, she spontaneously makes this pained noise that sounds like she was being crushed. She has always been very vocal, but this was different. She'd also be shivering, even when she was warm. I manipulated her legs and poked her a bunch: no reaction. I thought i narrowed it down to her head, so I gave her a chew stick and she went at it like normal: no toothache. I looked in her ears thinking maybe she had an earache, but besides the usual dog ear-gunk, i didn't find ticks or anything unusual. Finally, deciding i couldn't figure out what's wrong with her, and being concerned it wasn't passing, I decided I'd take her to the vet this morning. Therefore, today, she seems back to normal. Go figure. $300 and a couple prescriptions later... I hope she feels better soon.

Tha roof! Tha roof! Tha roof is in Prospect!
Right now there are two men walking along the new roof of my house, wielding an impact hammer that drives nails in with compressed air. What an amazing machine. They're wearing t-shirts and shorts and gym shoes, no safety glasses and they're being lifted up and down on a forklift that has an articulating arm. I can scarcely watch.

Kelly said it would be a nice gesture if I would make dinner (lunch) for them, and I was happy to cook. I made burgers yesterday, served with grilled corn-on-the-cob and coleslaw, and (sadly, instant) chocolate pudding with bananas for dessert. Today I'm doing apple & chipotle glazed pork chops, with potato salad, and sliced cucumbers & tomatoes, and chocolate chip cookies (store bought. I want to cook!).

Today I learned: No matter how nicely you ask for a ride on a big green extension forklift, you won't be allowed to ride.

Photos, as before, are up on flickr: Click here!

cattle auction

2009-05-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

8:36 PM Another two-day stint at Mockingbird Acres. Tuesday is the day of the weekly livestock auction in Pulaski, so we went yesterday to find goats. We didn't know what time it all started (and it's not so easy to find these things out!) and while we missed out on the goat part, we arrived just in time for the cattle auction (which included a few pigs, too)

We parked in the lot among the many pickup trucks and trailers, and Kelly noted how conscientious everyone was about leaving room for everyone else.

I'm not exaggerating when say that i felt that I'd entered into a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. Baseball caps outnumbered cowboy hats, but there were plenty of overalls. The men who arrived early got the "good" seats, squeaky old office chairs arranged in the first two rows, and they had the best view of the pen. Behind them, and to the sides, there was sturdy wooden stadium seating. There was a lot of visiting going on, and Kelly wondered how many of these guys had been coming to this place since they were teenagers. I was one of only three women in the seating area, but I'm not used to the feeling. I can accept that i may stick out a bit, and I'm fine with it, but I'm just not used to it yet.

The smell was strong, but not horrible. It smelled like going to the zoo, inasmuch as you could tell there were animals there, but it didn't have an intolerable strong stench of manure.

After a little bit, the auction started. The yeller (guy who calls the auction) kept up a steady chatter -- we could barely understand him -- and we marveled at how difficult it would be if we really wanted to bid on a cow! I didn't realize that a yeller's chatter was so much nonsense. What's the purpose of this? "herewehavetwoheifersandonesteer twoheifersandonesteer openingbidonehundreddoihearonehundred beedeebeedeebeededoihearoneten beedeebeedeebeedeeonetenoverhere onetwentybeedeebeedeebeedeeonethirty beedeebeedeebeedeeonethirty beedeebeedeebeedeeonethirty beedeebeedeebeedeeonethirty" I always thought that a yeller was actually SAYING something during that unintelligible part, but it's really just gibberish.

There was a well-orchestrated arrangement where the livestock would enter from stage right: a man pulled a rope to open the door from the pens. He and two other men wielded electrified plastic paddles, which they used to keep the critters moving in the pen while they were being auctioned. Each of the three guys had their own area sectioned off by a strong metal gate. They'd retreat behind these before any animal was let in the pen, and then come out to jostle the animals, or to guide them out the exit door, stage left.

Incredibly, there was an onsite restaurant: The Stockyard Cafe, serving up fried pork chops, greens, and other rib-sticking fare. I didn't go in, and i only saw one person eating food from a sectioned Styrofoam tray. I said before that the animal smell was bearable, but it certainly killed my appetite.

My Chicago family has told me that they have a hard time reading the blog when there are too many photographs uploaded here (they've got an old computer & (gasp!) dialup, so please click here to see the most recent batch of photos!

Oh hai. did we menshun dat we wuz bildin a haus?

2009-05-08T00:35:00.004-05:00

We stayed in Prospect for three days and two nights this time. I am horribly behind on e-mail and I owe a bunch of you phonecalls, too. This is going to be a rather epic post, because things are moving fast around here, and everything's kind of blending together from one day to the next.

This was the longest stretch of staying overnight so far. I am happy to report that Kelly and I are both alive and well (meaning we haven't killed each other) as are Render and Noodles, and Trixie, and all 10 chickens.

Wait, what about the ducklings? I gave the ducklings away to a French-Canadian farmer now residing in middle TN. They were getting too big and too loud for me to keep hiding them in the apartment, plus, they were really messy. They were very cute, but somehow I managed to not get too attached to them.

Kelly's doing the construction of the walls right now. In fact, as of 6:05 PM on 05/07/09, 2009 he's got half of the wall studs up!

I've been spending most of my time planting seeds and caring for our seedlings; more on that later.

Building materials can range from very expensive (my tastes) to downright cheap (my budget) and we're trying to compromise and find something in-between. We've found some great deals on CraigsList, including the casement windows and two different batches of windows we'll be using to build the kitchen greenhouse (as opposed to the shed's greenhouse where I spend most of my time). Kelly found a CraigsList ad for a company that was consolidating its warehouses from 5 locations down to 3, and had some exterior doors they were selling below cost. Kelly went there first, saw some he liked, and then sent me over to have a peek. I liked the one with the transom & sidelights, for only $120 but it was too big. Then I saw they also had one with just the sidelights, for $100, and some others. We were both excited to find such a great deal, so we both went there yesterday, on our way to Prospect, to go get them. Luckily, Kelly noticed that ALL doors we liked best opened the wrong way. If we mounted that right-handed door as our front door, it would block access to the room. It would have been one of those things that we'd quickly find annoying. We decided that we didn't want to mess around with that - we have enough on our plate as it is! - and opted to pass. It's not a bargain if you have to spend more time and/or money to make it work the way you want it to. So we were back to square one.

We had to buy the doors sooner than later, so Kelly can build the walls, so we can get the roof on. Last night, we went to Home Depot to pick out what we needed. I really wanted to do a nice front-entry door, with the transom and the sidelights and custom glass. Joey the Door Guy at Home Depot typed it all into the computer, and just that one door came out to $1300. WHOOPS! Sorry, try again. In the end, we picked out three exterior doors, a sliding-glass patio door, and the French doors that go from the Great Room to the Kitchen. Luckily it was the last day of their 20% off sale, so we got everything for about $3k including tax. Everything was considered a special order except for the patio doors, so we didn't really do too badly. And I still got a nice-looking front door.

Yesterday I took a drive into Columbia, TN to go pick out the color of the roof. The fabricator represented four companies, and each had about 25 colors to choose from... but the funny thing is that all 4 companies used the exact same 25 colors. We went with charcoal, as we plan to stain the wood of the board and batten facade a kind of a muted blue/gray.

ROOF COLOR

SIDING COLOR

The dogs are holding up well, both Render and Noodles are adapting. I put Advantage on them both, but Render still seems to attract a lot of ticks. Trixie has completely adopted us, and we thing she's really sweet so it's become mutual. The first night we stayed over, she barked nearly all night. We didn't know what to do besides put in earplugs. Recently, she did the same thing, barking for what seemed to be HOURS. This time, tho, she was closer to the house. After an eternity, I asked Kelly if we could drive somewhere to sleep. He went outside and saw that Trixie had cornered an opossum. It was a standoff, with Trixie barking and the possum hissing and neither gaining ground on the other. Kelly grabbed a 2x4 and whacked at the possum. Trixie saw her opportunity and went in for the kill. The possum was dead. Trixie was quiet. We went back to bed.

We decided that if she was going to keep barking at every critter she found all night, maybe we could keep her inside the shed with us. The next night we stayed over, we put our dogs in their respective crates, and gave Trixie a sheet to sleep on. She was quiet all night. The next time we stayed over, Kelly fed Render and Noodles... but since we were basically kidnapping Trixie by keeping her closed up with us, I told him that it would be rude to not give her food too! Trixie got a paper plate of kibble and snuggled into her blanket and we all enjoyed another quiet night.

I've been keeping very busy with food production. Four meals a day for Kelly, plus the long-term production of planting seeds for our garden. I've got all the heirloom seeds I've bought, plus seeds from the beans, peas, peppers, melons, tomatoes and winter squash that I've saved. I've also sprouted out lemongrass stalks. A million little containers, a few bags of potting soil, and a hand-pump pressure-sprayer for misting the tiny seedlings. I can put on my iPod and listen to all the NPR podcasts for hours as I sift dirt, fill pots, plant seeds & mist them. I really love spending time in my greenhouse. I get so excited over every teensy little leaf that comes up!

One thing that doesn't seem to have any trouble growing is poison ivy. I've never experienced it before, but I was nervous about it and looked up photos on the web. Oh yeah, we got it. I bought the special Roundup for Poison Ivy because I'm not screwing around with that nonsense. I also bought several pairs of yellow dishwashing gloves for pulling it out. The most important purchase was a bottle of TECNU, a special cleansing cream that gets rid of the urushiol chemical before it can bind to your skin. I hope we never have to use it, but I know I'd feel like an idiot if we needed it and I didn't have it. It's pretty cheap insurance.

The chickens getting big. So big, we can't even refer to them as chicks anymore. In addition to the grow-ration, we're feeding them food scraps: trimmings from green beans and broccoli, strawberry stems and corncobs. They're in competition with the composting worms for food now! They really seem to love their "tractor" since they get sunshine and fresh air and grass to scratch at. Fresh eggs are just around the corner!

We can't wait to share this place with our friends (and hopefully paying guests!) but we want to do more than simply encourage people to visit us; we want to remove as many obstacles as possible so that everyone can come and enjoy the place. We want to create a safe environment and make our home accessible to the elderly and people who have a disability or use a wheelchair. In the short run, this will add to the multitude of things to consider. We already purchased an extra-high-seat toilet, but we'll also need a wall mounted sink in the guest bathroom, ramps instead of stairs, wide doorways... and eventually handrails and special shower seats when we build the bathroom in at least one of the cottages. It would be great if we could just do what logically makes sense, but there are laws in place for this kind of thing. Some people consider them foolish, but want to do it right the first time, because it'll cost more to retrofit than it will to just build it according to code.

So that's the story at this point. I'll upload photos from the library in the morning (it's 12:22 AM right now) but right now I'm going to bed. If you have any question for us, please leave a comment and I'll answer in the next post.

Photo Essay - House Progress Report

2009-05-01T19:19:00.008-05:00

The following photos show the progress that we have made on the house construction to date. Last week, my parents - Bob and Sue - drove down from Illinois to help us out for 4 days. We all accomplished a great deal, and they plan to return in a couple weeks for more! JoAnna and I are extremely grateful for their generosity, and we are glad that we get to spend time with them.

Beams
This photo shows the inner beams that tie the posts together. The next step is to add 2 x 6 floor joists.

Joists Have Begun
The first of four rows of floor joists is in place.

JoAnna at Rest
You can see some of the subfloor decking has been added to the north edge of the house.

Floor Joists Halfway Complete

Dad Rests After Day 4
We made good progress with the help from the additional crew. Everybody kept busy doing something or other the whole time. There was drillin', measurin', carryin', hammerin', adhesivatin', and drill drivin'. It was a good time. You can see the first of the 18 wall sections that we put up to work out the bugs before Bob left.

JoAnna Builds the Chicken Tractor
Since the chicks were outgrowing their Rubbermaid® Tub House, we decided to spend our "day off" building a chicken tractor. A chicken tractor is simply a moveable coop. Nothing's getting in or out of this structure.

Chicks in the Tractor
Here they are in their new digs, complete with disco heat lamps and modern art thermometer.

Subfloor Progress

Subfloor - 2 Rows To Go

Subfloor Completed
It is a beautiful thing. A flat, smooth, level surface - perfect for rollerskates! Mind the 6-foot drop-offs.

Render Celebrates with a Smile
After a long week of security detail, Render is ready for some R & R.

**** JoAnna also uploaded a whole bunch of new photos to the flickr account:
**** You can see them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mockingbirdacres/

Today I learned: Using roof trusses doesn't necessarily result in flat interior ceilings. They can be made to produce a vaulted ceiling. This is the new plan.

The one where JoAnna reenacts an episode of Friends (*)

2009-04-15T22:34:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Kelly and I erected the last of the 18 perimeter beams of the house. For the sake of efficiency, please go to FLICKR to see the most recent batch of photos.

As we left the homesite, we stopped at the Marathon station to dump the day's trash and to gas up the chefmobile. When Kelly went in to pay, the attendant, Neil, asked whether the worm guy had ever contacted me. (they sell nightcrawlers for fishing, so I'd inquired about worms for composting a couple weeks ago) Kelly didn't know, which he told Neil, but then mentioned it to me when he got back in the car, and i said that yes, the worm guy DID in fact call me... so I went back inside to tell Neil.

I spent a few minutes talking with him, telling him that we were hoping to get all kinds of critters for the farm, but that i had no contacts. He said that they were selling chicks and rabbits at the Tractor Supply as well as letting me know about the Mennonites and their farmers' markets, where they also sold animals.

Kelly and I stopped by the Tractor Supply, and saw a whole bunch of teensy little fluffy chicks. The employee working there told us that they were going to sell out soon, since it was after easter, and that they'd only get one more shipment of chicks, but no bunnies, and that would be it. We decided we'd get some the next day (which was today) because we didn't want to miss the window of opportunity to buy chicks.

well, to tell you the truth, i'd talked myself out of it at some point on the ride home, but then we listed to a podcast. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders, by Stanford's tech school, featured Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVidia. He said something that really struck a chord with me -- so much so that I noted the timecode and remembered to re-listen to it and transcribe it:
Innovation requires a little bit of experimentation; Experimentation requires exploration; Exploration will result in failure.

Unless you have a tolerance for failure you would never experiment, and if you don't ever experiment, you will never innovate; If you don't innovate, you don't succeed.

You'll just be a dweeb.
So Jensen Huang talked me into getting chicks.

When we got home, I put together the box of food I'd make the next day, and decided to make Pad Thai. We were out of eggs, so I made a note to wake up early to get some before we left for Prospect in the morning.

This morning, I woke up before the alarm and headed to the grocery store. I bought eggs and potatoes and onions and a few other things we were running low on. As i left the parking lot, i remembered that there was another Tractor Supply right in the area, so i detoured. I was hoping that they might still have some rabbits, since the Pulaski location was out. They were also out of bunnies, but they had ducklings instead. So I picked out 10 chicks (doing this hold-them-by-the-neck-between-your-fingers thing to see if they fuss and fight. The ones that fuss the least are more likely to be hens.) I also picked out 6 ducklings (which, i understand, have no discernible reaction to the fussing test). I wasn't exactly planning on getting ducklings, but there they were, and there i was, and they were marked down to half-price because they were getting "too big". Just then, the new shipment of chicks arrived, and since I'd already selected from the older batch, my chicks were marked down to half-price, too! I still spent a small fortune on the setup of lights and feeders and waterers and food and grit and antibiotic and wood-shavings for bedding... but I'd have to buy those anyway, and much of it will be used again next year.

I drove home with my stomach in a knot, wondering what the hell i just did. I brought them in the apartment (GASP! Don't tell!) and started to set up the lights and the food and the litter and realized that the plastic containers i thought would fit them ...didn't... so i went right back out to Target and bought two of the biggest storage containers they had.

Then, back at home, Kelly kissed me goodbye and left me to be a poultry-mama for the day while he went to the homesite to work. I set the new containers up, and realized that I'd have to split the ducks up into two batches, and put the chicks in one of the original containers. So... Back out to Tractor Supply, to buy a small waterer and a small feeder, plus another heatlamp setup, so i could put the chicks back into the original, smaller container.

I come home again, and begin to get everyone situated, and I notice that the ducks are a MESS. The food and water and poop are everywhere, including all over the ducklings. I mean, I knew they were crowded, but they pooped everywhere, and walked all over everything, and all over each other. I started to set up the chicks, so i could divide the ducks between the two big containers, but i realized that the light fixture would only accommodate 150 watt bulb, but I bought another 250. SO... I moved the other light, moved the chicks into clean bedding with their new food & water, gave the ducks a bath (which they seemed to really enjoy, and it was HILARIOUS to watch them discover water!) and then dried them off a little bit with a towel (which they didn't appear to enjoy quite as much) and put them all on fresh bedding with the other 250 watt bulb, fresh water and fresh food, then BACK OUT to Tractor Supply AGAIN, to trade out the light fixture.

Finally, everyone's clean, fed, watered, happy, and not stepping on each others' heads. I can't wait to take them with us to the farm so they can get settled and be happy.

Today I learned: Experience is a great teacher, and I anticipate learning LOTS of lessons with my batch of 16 adorable peeping fluff-balls.

(*) If you didn't know it, all the episodes of friends were titled something like "The One with the East German Laundry Detergent" or "The One with the Evil Orthodontist" ...this one is "The One with the Chick and the Duck" (Props to Kathryn for reminding me of it.)

Early Construction Photos

2009-04-04T22:13:00.003-05:00

The following photos show the work completed to date. Nine of the eighteen perimeter posts are up. Seven of them are 12ft posts which aren't too difficult to manage. The 16ft posts are real beasts. They are really heavy which means it is complicated to adjust their position once they are standing on end. For the remaining 16ft posts, I am planning to try to build a guide that will help direct the post base to the desired position in its designated footing hole - something with tapering sides that will funnel the post into place as it is stood up. Only the perimeter posts are left near full-length (footing-to-ceiling). I'll be trimming the tops off of these once the perimeter walls are up. The 12 interior posts are cut at floor level, so they are only 5 foot long on average.

These opposing views were taken just after sunset:

Someday soon, there is going to be a house standing here.

Today I learned: When using a hammer, it is possible to smash a finger on the same hand that is swinging the hammer.

"If a man smashes his finger in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does he make a sound?

Yes. I said "ouch" and a few other 4-letter words.

Our Own Bailout and Scoring Windows

2009-04-03T22:50:00.007-05:00

Long lapses in blogging are either due to nothing going on or lots going on. This case is the latter.

Progress in the Purple Greenhouse

We have the greenhouse in working order now, and it really heats up on sunny days. Our $1 thermometer said 90 degrees F just the other day when it was maybe 65 outside. It is still too soon to trust that we can leave any sensitive plants in there overnight. The forecast is calling for 28 degrees in a couple of nights ahead. Here is a pic of JoAnna standing in the doorway with the yet-to-be-finished, recycled craigslist door in place. It works like a charm:

I missed the most recent rainstorm on Thursday, but it must have been a doozy. In the past, we used a broom from below to push off the rainwater that had collected in the roof plastic. But today, this is what I discovered:

Those bulges were caused by probably 20 gallons of water in those sections. I had to climb up alongside the greenhouse and bail out the roof with a bucket. Three cheers for 6mil plastic. It stretched, but it did not give way. I guess I won't use plastic in this way on the real house roof.

Our First Post

We officially started construction of the house. This is a pic of the first of many (30) pressure-treated posts that the house will be built upon. These posts are very heavy. We are dealing with 8ft, 12ft & 16ft posts, depending on the slope of the land.
I estimate the 12ft posts to weigh 150lbs. I can only carry one under each arm. This pic shows the first post standing. Only 29 more to go.

Bargain Windows
After a long April 1 work day, I decided to check craigslist for the usual items we need: windows (casement style preferably), doors, woodburning stove, and general construction materials. And there it was. An ad for 4 new casement windows - $250 for all. No dimensions were provided, and the photo was vague at best:

It took me a minute to realize that a person was standing next to the boxed window, so as long as the lovely model wasn't a troll, the windows could be expected to be 4 to 5 feet high. It was late when I saw the ad, but JoAnna used her mad skillz to contact the poster (a text message, maybe?) and he called her back soon after. I spoke with the guy who said he was just posting the ad for his friend Becky, and that I could call her even though it was late. So I did and we made plans to meet at 9am.

The garage storing the windows was conveniently located halfway between our apartment and the home site, just an hour drive. I got to the address and Becky arrived a few minutes later. After brushing off 8 years worth of dust, spiders and a mouse nest, the windows appeared to be in very good condition. I paid the $250 and loaded them into the ChefMobile with Becky's help. They barely fit. There are 2 windows size 48W"x48H" - double opening, and 2 windows size 48W"x41H" - double opening. If purchased new from Home Depot, these 4 windows would have cost around $1400 total. Now that's a craigslist $core! After driving to the home site, I unloaded the windows into the shed (not easy - Becky wasn't there to help this time) and then headed back to the apartment to drive JoAnna to the airport.

Today I learned: once again, that procrastination isn't always bad. We planned to order our windows through Home Depot, and almost stopped there on Tuesday night to do just that. We would have paid much more and opted for the single-opening type to save money.

A few words about "Saint Alice"

2009-03-21T10:24:00.003-05:00

Tyler Florence posted this link to a YouTube video of the Alice Waters 60-minutes piece. It's less than 15 minutes long, so go ahead and check it out, I'll wait.

I can't see Alice Waters being called out for being "too green", but I do fall on the side of thinking that her philosophy is out of touch with the reality that most people deal with. The fact is, when you use good ingredients, and good technique, you can get good flavors. This should not be a revelation. The disparity between Waters' world and the one that the rest of us live in is how difficult it is for most people to be able to locate and/or afford those foods and ingredients. is another story.

She's making a breakfast that most people wouldn't make unless it was for a special occasion. Nevermind the fact that most people lack the know-how or the inclination to make such a breakfast...most people lack an open fire in their homes over which to poach eggs in olive oil. Leslie Stahl hit the nail on the head when she said that most moms aren't going to make that breakfast for their kids. By cooking what she did, the way she did, Waters gives the impression that unless you have harvested the eggs from beneath your own free-range chickens, unless you have built the fire from sustainably-raised and ecologically-harvested firewood , and unless you've had your importer arrange delivery of Italy's best olive oil, you're failing your family, and you might as well be serving dog food straight out of the can.

YES, Alice, I agree with you when you say that eating healthy food shouldn't be a luxury but a right. When you are taking things to the extreme that you do -- or at least, as you did in that video clip -- you're making it seem so much more complicated than it needs to be.

I don't think you can change the way the world looks at food without making some concessions. It's analogous to what they say when you're dieting: "You didn't gain all that weight in 2 months, so you're not going to lose it in 2 months." In the United States, we're only a few generations from a largely agricultural lifestyle. We didn't get into this food crisis overnight. I'll refer you to Mark Bittman's TED talk:

To me, It's all about choices. The epiphany comes when you realize that by making alternative choices, you can dramatically increase the quality of your meals without sacrificing your standard of living. Sometimes I buy organic and/or pasture-raised products, and other times my purchase decisions are based on costs. I can make that choice every time i open my wallet.

Today for example, Kelly and i get in the car to drive down to Prospect, as we do on all days where the weather is good enough to work outside. We could stop off at the McDonald's near our apartment complex and get breakfast, but instead, I put 'real' oatmeal in some thermos containers, pour in some boiling water, tighten the lids, and we eat that on the road as we drive in. We could stop off and get lunch at some fast-food drive thru place, but instead we bring containers of meals that I've previously cooked and frozen, and reheat them over a butane stove. I'm not saying we don't eat fast food, but I try to keep us from being in a position where that's our only alternative.

We eat meat. More than Mark Bittman says we should, but less than the average American eats. I absolutely love a good steak, but we can split a NY Strip steak and have a lot of veggie sides, and still feel that we've enjoyed a wonderful meal. A whole chicken on sale at the regular grocery store is about $4 where an organic chicken from Whole Foods can cost over $15. The fact remains that I will still stretch that chicken to about 8 servings, regardless of how much it costs. Can I afford a per-serving cost that's over three times the standard? Does the flavor of a free-range chicken make a difference to me? Does how the chicken lived matter to me?

Here's another example: Organic eggs taste fantastic, and can be nutritionally superior to grocery-store eggs, but they're very expensive if you're just using them to make fritters, cornbread, cake or to make breadcrumbs stick to chicken. Again, it's choices. If you're going to make an egg 'sunny side up" or poached, and if you notice and appreciate a difference, and if you can afford it, my suggestion would be to buy the good eggs. If you're baking, I'd say spend $1.50 (instead of $4.50) to get the regular eggs.

Teaching young people to cook is very important. Especially when their moms' idea of cooking is adding a packet of salt- and sugar-laden seasoning mix to ground chuck, or pouring a can of condensed cream of whatever soup over chicken legs and minute rice. Now, when i shop, it's 80% produce, 10% meat, 10% pasta, beans & grains, and just a few condiments & seasonings. I drive the checkout clerks crazy because they have to look up all the produce codes. They almost always comment on it or ask what I'm making.

I believe that teaching kids to grow food is a useful life skill. My dad was a machinist by trade, but always kept a large garden. He'd plant it, my brothers would weed it, I'd help pick it, stemming the strawberries, shelling the peas, and picking the ends from the beans...and mom would cook it. We ate from it all summer. Canning and freezing took us into the winter. Even though there were 5 kids, and even though mom worked a full-time job, we always sat down together and ate dinner as a family. Mom still bought fish sticks, canned soup, hot dogs, cookies, soda pop, chips, ice cream and frozen pizza, so it wasn't like we were "perfect", but for the most part, growing up, we ate healthy, whole food.

I'd like to see more people eat that way more often.

That's why I'm doing what I'm doing.

P. S. The first meal I ever made for Kelly was cream of celery soup with chicken and (real) rice. I was 21 and living in my own apartment at the time, and this was the height of my culinary expertise, because that is what my mom made. He married me anyway.

Today I ~~learned~~ realized: when Kelly and i get home from a long day of working on the greenhouse, we can't wait to close the blinds, take off all our clothes...and check each other for ticks.

Greenhouse stage 2 complete!

2009-03-18T23:45:00.004-05:00

so over due for a post -- also, so tired right now -- but if i don't post right this minute, I'll never get this up and i wanted to capture what a great day today was!

I took a bunch of photos, but I'll upload them tomorrow, it's just too late to mess with the camera tonight.

Kelly woke me up at the crack of "are you serious?" so we could get an early start today. One thing about living here that i'm not handling well is how much more i sleep. I could sleep until noon every day, no matter what time i go to bed. You also have to know that I dislike the very idea of sleeping, because there's always so much to be done, so I'm suffering a weird dichotomy of stay-in-my-amazing-warm-cozy-bed vs. carpe-diem-and-build/grow-stuff-already!

Also, according to Mr. Sunshine, i wake up grumpy, so he tries to wake me up gently, and I try to remember that he's not intentionally being evil by waking me up in the first place.

We have coffee, collect things to eat during the day and load up the car with tools, food, drinking water and cookware. We often listen to "The Naked Scientists" podcasts during the drive. I try to stay awake and keep Kelly company, but once in a while, I have "car-colepsy" (i love neologisms like that!) and doze off.

After the 90 minute drive, we arrive at the homesite. I have to awaken all over again. We unload the car and start arranging stuff for our day's work. Today's plan was to finish the greenhouse attachment to the shed. Last week, we leveled the ground and built a perimeter, and a 4" thick concrete floor was poured Monday. It cured Tuesday while we went to the dentist for routine exams & cleanings (Once again, I have no cavities!)and then we took advantage of the lovely weather to have lunch outside at Cafe Coco in the Vanderbilt University neighborhood.

So today, Wednesday, we are greeted by a surprisingly shiny and gloriously FLAT concrete pad. I must have stared at it for 15 minutes, just admiring how nicely it turned out. I'd never worked with concrete before, but it was kind of like frosting a cake without first using a crumb-coat: HUGE rocks are trying to pop to the surface all over the place, but if you fuss with it and smooth it carefully, you can get a relatively clear, flat layer. So imagine frosting a cake that's 15' by 10', sitting directly on the floor, with a garden hoe and a putty knife, and not using a crumb-coat.

We had to be there early today as we were expecting the delivery of our house-building wood. While we waited, I start painting primer on 20 2x4s as Kelly put together the saw horses. The weather was lovely, but as the day became warmer, these enormous, reddish-brown pterodactyl-wasps seemed to be attracted to the white paint. Gratefully, they dissipated in the afternoon, although I'm not sure if it was because i switched to the purple paint or if they were just done with being out. During this time, 2 of the 3 batches of lumber and other wood products were delivered. Kelly dealt with all that.

We had planted some bolts in the wet concrete, to anchor 2x4s to the pad's perimeter in order to build the frame for the greenhouse. Since we couldn't be precise in placing them, we had to drill holes to match the bolts. the first two sides, we marked with a pencil, the third side, i had the bright idea of trying to let the bolts do their own marking, and i dabbed some lip gloss on the bolts before setting the plank of wood down on it.

We opted to NOT have electricity installed at the shed, so everything there is hand tools or the electric drill. Kelly didn't charge the drill, so we didn't even have that. We measured, we re-measured, we checked, we double-checked... and then loaded the wood and Kelly's new bad-ass drill in the car to take it all up to where the Temporary Service Pole is. Once again i serve as a human sawhorse, holding one side of the wood, while the other end is balanced on the tailgate of the Element. He likes his new drill. :-)

So we go down to the shed again, and try to match up the holes with the bolts. Side 1 goes on pretty well, with a minimum of hammering into place, if you put the wood on upside-down from the way we marked it. (ROFL) The short end, which was the 2nd piece, was off by a full 1/2" in the middle, and a near-miss at one end. The board marked with the lipgloss technique was spot on. (go me!!) Clearly, that 2nd piece had to be re-drilled. Instead of loading it back into the car and going back to where the power was, Kelly tried to use the power converter i keep in my car for charging my computer and all the other electronics i use. He assured me that the drill wouldn't short it, but it did, instantly, and he still had to drive the truck back up to the top of the hill and re-drill it. Now I'm without my awesome Targus Mobile Power Inverter, just in time for me to not be able to use it on the plane when i go back to L.A. Grr!

BTW, I'm flying back to L.A. to fulfill a cooking-lesson gift certificate in early April. So far my only plan (besides the lesson) is to go to Golden Farms in Glendale to buy all the nuts and dried fruit i can carry...so if you want to get together, let me know.

Kelly was painting primer on the shed door while I made dinner, and after we ate, he did the last bits of painting while I held a light for him. We loaded up the car, made (yet another) Home Depot run, and headed for home. Kelly said he doesn't mind that i fall asleep in the car, but i try to stay awake and watch for deer until we get on the interstate.

We managed to get a lot done, but alas, we didn't finish the greenhouse. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but with luck we'll still get it done, and on Friday i can bring all my seedlings and get them into more dirt and keep them outside.

Right now, though, technically, it IS tomorrow, so I'm going to rest up and try not to have nightmares about sparrow-sized wasps.

P. S. today, for the first time ever, a salesman discussing building/planning/purchasing with us shook MY hand as well as Kelly's! Usually i don't even get eye contact from the guy in question, but Joey the Window Guy from Home Depot spoke to both of us, and offered a handshake to BOTH of us as we left. I was flummoxed!

Today I learned: Not knowing the 'right' way to do something allows you to be be inventive and try something new. Because of this, i discovered that lipgloss can be an effective way to mark holes to be drilled.

The Greenhouse Floor

2009-03-11T22:46:00.009-05:00

Our First (Uninvited) Guests

Over the 3 days that we did not go to our new home, some birds decided to move into the shed before we were ready to accept guests. They chose a nice spot, in the middle of a shelf that we use to store tools. Here is a picture of the nest:

Fruit Trees

Of the 9 fruit trees we have ready to plant, the recent warm weather seems to have awakened our plum from its winter slumber:

Greenhouse Floor

The earth has been moved to allow a level concrete pad to be poured as an extension from the existing shed. As soon as the weather looks dry enough, we will place an order for 2 yards of concrete - maybe more if we add any other concrete projects to the list. Here are some pics from different angles:

This was my audience for the day; Trixie and Render.

Today, I picked up 60 carriage bolts and 2500 screws for the start of the house construction. I also bought 50 lbs of Fescue Seed and 5 lbs of Dutch White Clover Seed from the local Farmers Co-Op. The seed was scattered by hand across the areas of the property where work from the driveway construction had turned the soil over. The rain that we are expecting in the next few days should get that seed started.

One last pic: this is a view of the grid of foundation holes

TSP is live and foundation footings are poured

2009-03-05T19:40:00.004-06:00

When we arrived at the site this morning (the whole family made the trip today), there were 3 PES trucks on the property working on our electricity installation. They replaced a very old pole with a brand new one, then added the transformer and other wirey stuff to it, and then installed another pole close to our home site. They connected the power line to it, then connected that to the TSP. Here's a picture of the glory that is power:

We didn't test it, but we are pretty sure there are 4 live outlets up there, ready for action. I plan to bring the Skilsaw™ tomorrow as well as a few other power tools.

We were asked by one of the power guys if we wanted the old pole for fenceposts, so I said "Sure, thanks". I think that was the right answer. We'll see.

Over the past few days, I have been preparing the foundation footer holes for the concrete. Unfortunately, I had the holes dug last Wednesday and the rain on Thursday washed in a lot of loose dirt from the interior sides of the holes. So, I had to clean out each hole manually. It was extra cold over these past days, so I had layers of mud to deal with; frozen layer, crumbly clay layer, and gloppy muck clay layer.

The gloppy muck layer was the worst part because it was difficult to clear from the shovel. So it went; scoop, lift, shake shovel, smack shovel on rocks, swipe bottom of shovel across mud pile to clear it. There are only 30 holes, so it was only that much fun. I asked Freddie Byrd - the Bobcat/auger man - to return with the equipment to re-run the perimeter holes that he could reach without danger of falling into one of the holes. I think he did 13 and I did the rest. Even after he re-ran the holes, I still had to jump in and clear out the bottoms of the loose stuff.

With that done, I requested estimates from 2 companies for the concrete that would fill each hole 12 inches deep. One guy came by and said that he wouldn't be able to do the job until next Tuesday. I didn't want to wait that long, so I called the number of Mid-South Concrete which I got from one of their employees - Michael Tucker - who lives just down the road a few miles. He left a company business card in our mailbox one day, and then stopped to talk the next day when he saw me working on the fence near the road. The owner of the company came by to see the job, and he said they could deliver concrete the next day if I was ready. The best part is that his estimate for 5 yards of concrete delivered was less than the cost of buying ninety 80-pound bags from The Home Depot. Plus, I would have had to make several trips from the store with the trailer, and then mix all that concrete by hand in a wheelbarrow. I spent the second half of Wednesday preparing the steel reinforcements that were placed in the bottom of each hole. Again, by buying the sixty 24-inch long steel rebar lengths from Mid-South Concrete instead of The Home Depot, I saved about $50 (and I supported the local economy, too).

JoAnna and I were working this morning to try to have the greenhouse floor ready with concrete forms so we might add 2 yards to our order and save on the delivery charge. But, we were not fast enough, and I did not want to leave the footers for another day. Any rain could cause significant delay, mainly because the ground could get too soft for the big, heavy truck to get where it needs to go - not to mention the chance for more cave-ins in the holes. So I made the call and there was a truck coming up the driveway in 30 minutes or less. The driver was the one and only Michael Tucker, and he did a great job. I stood at each hole with my homemade measuring stick jammed to the bottom and he maneuvered the truck and chute. After about an hour we had all 30 holes filled at least 12 inches deep. He backed his truck all the way down the driveway and was on his way.

JoAnna and I continued working to prepare for the greenhouse floor until 5:30pm, at which time we took a break and sat for a while and listened to and watched the birds. There was a lot of traffic at this time of day (3 cars in 30 minutes), but I think we'll adjust.

Building a Greenhouse & Some Interesting Math

2009-02-27T19:47:00.005-06:00

The Greenhouse

We really need a place at home (I'm calling Prospect home from now on) that JoAnna can start seedlings and get them ready for transplanting over the next couple of months. So, we decided to set up a temporary greenhouse. After considering all possible locations on the property, we decided that the best place would be on the lower level, near the shed. This area is one of the few places with an eastern exposure for early sun in the springtime. Originally, we thought a free-standing frame that we wrap in plastic sheeting would be good, but then I decided to use the east side of the shed as a base from which to build. It will probably end up being more permanent than we planned, which is OK by me.

The Math

A few days ago, I decided to dig one of the 30 foundation footing holes to see how long I could expect it would take. After 90 minutes of digging/chopping/pick-axing, I had a hole that was 2 feet deep and 2 feet square. So, the math for 30 holes (not counting for extremely difficult rock obstructions) would be 45 hours of work. While the septic/water line crew was on the job, I asked their leader - Cleveland Byrd - what it would take for his crew to dig the foundation holes. Well, to make a long story short, Freddie Byrd showed up with his Bobcat with 24-inch auger attachment...

...and had the remaining 29 holes dug in less than 2 hours. And they charged me $125 for the work. That comes to about $4 per hole. So the hole I dug for 90 minutes was worth 4 dollars, which means I was making $2.67 per hour. Not bad for a guy who didn't finish college. Machines are our friends.

Speaking of awesome machines, the septic system is complete and has passed inspection, and the water line is done, too. They had to use the backhoe to dig the trench for the water line in a section of rocky/sloping terrain. There were rocks the size of a 12-inch-thick dining room table under the topsoil. There was no way I was going to get through that by hand or even by renting heavy machinery. Following the strong recommendations from my wife and father, I let the experts do it, and I'm sure glad I did.

Today I learned: DO NOT leave your gloves where Trixie can run off with them. She secretly took both of my gloves for a run down the street, killing them as best she could. I searched for 5 minutes and began to question my own sanity before spotting her thrashing one down the road.

Thoughs: Niman Ranch, Organic Gardening, Sustainability & Living Frugally

2009-02-23T23:06:00.001-06:00

Since at least two of you are reading this blog I'd like to share some thoughts about a few things that have been on my mind lately.

Niman Ranch

Kelly pointed me to this article about Niman Ranch. A couple of snips from the article:
Demand required that Niman form a network of like-minded ranchers and farmers.....Chicago's Natural Food Holdings came in as chief investor, taking four of the seven seats on the board of directors, Niman Ranch was losing somewhere close to $3 million......"I consciously deferred profitability to expand the brand,"....... "strategic error to defer profitability for as long as we did."
When it comes to working as a self-employed person I try to be careful to not bite off more than I can chew. I take pride in doing a job well, and if something doesn't go well, I'd hate for it to be because I wasn't able to manage a job of that size.

Organic Gardening

We're planning on raising a lot of our own food. According to the TN laws, we can use any plants from the garden in our restaurant, but no animals without jumping through hoops. That's fine, i can live with that. When it comes to the produce, people often see an "organic" label, and assume food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food, but its a myth. There are also "hoops" to jump through if you want be certified as organic. We're probably not going to deal with that either. To me, it's just a marketing buzzword. If you do things that give the plants the best care possible, as naturally as possible, while having the least impact on the land, then you're probably doing it right. Our farming plans include crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost, and mulching. The guineas and ducks will handle the insects, and I find pulling weeds to be very relaxing. Kelly and I are going to be eating most of this food, so of course, we want it to be pure and safe. The bottom line is I don't want to pay a certifying agency to permit me to use a label on my food. (Click here for additional reading.)

Sustainability

We're growing our own food and raising our own meat. We're building our own house with passive solar and in-floor radiant heat. We considered a lot of ways we could be ecologically conscious and do the whole 'tread lightly' thing. We're not going to go full-on Mennonite and live without electricity. This computer likes power, I'm not living without my cellphone, and I enjoy my cleaning robots and machines. We'll use solar power where its feasible, but to power the house, it's just not going to work.

And just think: how can you do better that "eating locally" than to eat the food you raised in your own backyard?

There's an old saying that goes
Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
or Do Without.
We discovered that we live by that saying, before we'd even heard it. Recycling, to us, is not putting stuff in a special bin. I saved green plastic berry containers, and lined them with plastic baggies. Filled with dirt, they're great for started my seedlings. Instead of plastic food containers, I prefer to use Mason jars to hold food in the fridge. If I decide a purse has lived its full life, I'll hack it up, saving the handles, zippers, fasteners, etc. for my sewing kit. I could have trashed my laptop bag when the handle broke, but I repaired it instead. My professional cooking utensils are stored in rolling plastic office supplies carts. One of them was weak, and didn't want to stay together when I'd move it from my car to the client's house. 15 minutes with a drill and $5 of bolts & wing-nuts, and now the thing is super-sturdy and works perfectly. That brings me to being cheap... in other words...

Living Frugally

We live pretty cheap, in general. That's how we managed to buy our land 'in cash' and still have money left to build a house. With our income being so sporadic these days, we're even more cost conscious. we've taken some "drastic" measures, too. (This is one of those things that might make you, Dear Reader, gasp in horror.) We canceled netflix. We buy store-brand dish soap. I needed some sturdy pants to do yard-work in, so we went to goodwill, where i bought 5 pairs of jeans for $35. Kelly is using an iBook G3 that's so old, it has a CD drive with a drawer and can't get past system 10.3. Mine is not quite as old: a G4, running 10.4.11. Yeah, I'd love a newer computer, but I don't really need it. We even gave each other haircuts this week. (He has often buzzed the back of my head [I wish I could remember who gave us hair clippers as a wedding gift!] but this was the first time I gave him a full-on haircut. It turned out pretty good, IMHO!)

Some things aren't worth cutting corners, and other things are corners we're simply not willing to cut. Kelly is a "Choosy Mother" so he only wants JIF peanut butter. I want good shampoo. The dogs are noticeably healthier when they eat decent dog food. Another old saying is, "I'm too poor to buy cheap shoes."

It's just a matter of priorities. We've wanted to own land for a long time. Not just some dirt that surrounds a house, but a decent parcel of LAND where we could build stuff, keep a little farm, and enjoy the luxuries of privacy and peace & quiet. We've made choices along the way that have enabled us to do that.

Right now, my priority is to go to bed. I did a Personal Chef gig today, so I'm beat, and we're both going to the property in the morning. Nighty-night!

Today I learned: People who want to put in their "two cents" in need to fork 'em over or give me a reason to waive the fee.

Can You Dig It?

2009-02-23T21:37:00.009-06:00

Backhoe digging the hole for the septic tank

Backhoe at rest, peering over the edge

The tank was delivered and then promptly buried up to its neck

A septic field line is laid into the trench

The trench for the water line runs westward from the home site

There's 5000 words.

Too tired to type more, so enjoy the images. If you'd like high-resolution prints of these fine phone-captured photos, send a SASE with $2.23 per copy to me.

The Road Home

2009-02-20T19:19:00.007-06:00

A few items to note in this post, with the spotlight being on a powerful subject.

A Small Victory

JoAnna and I added a gutter to one side of the shed to try to keep rainwater from running under the shed. It finally rained enough to test it out, so here is a picture of that small victory:

The Power Struggle

On Thursday, I drove to the site, hitched up the trailer, and headed into town to rent the TSP. In this case, TSP is not the abbreviation for teaspoon. It stands for Temporary Service Pole in regards to electricity. Once back at the site, I finished digging the 28-inch deep hole for the pole, and then set it in place. Once the pole was upright, I had to drive the ground rod into the earth. The ground rod is an 8-foot long narrow metal rod that must be fully driven into the ground. It required many, many hits from my 3-pound sledgehammer to get it flush with the final grade. Here is a picture of the final result:

Today (Friday), the electrical inspector showed up and approved the installation of the TSP. Now, we wait for the power company (or light company as they say here) to do their thing. They are going to replace the existing power pole that is on our property, add a transformer to it, and run the line to a new pole that will be close to our house. Then, they will connect a meter and the power line to the TSP. At that point, we will have power. It will be a momentous occasion.

The power company wanted to wait until we had a passable road or driveway in place before they brought in their crew to do their part. The driveway had been under construction since Feb. 10, but it is now ready for traffic. It will require some added stone/gravel to make it final, but I opted to get it done to this point which is good enough to drive cars on and will be fine for heavier vehicles once the earth dries out a bit. All of the rock was put down on Wednesday, just before the rain began for the night. Here is a pic of my car at the top of the drive...

...and a shot of the driveway looking down toward the shed:

This picture is of the bark of a Hackberry tree, with some barnacle-looking growths on it. They say it is normal.

Today I learned: that is is very important to secure the items on the trailer very well, and to put the smaller items inside the car.

Pricing Wood / Securing the Perimeter

2009-02-13T21:38:00.005-06:00

I spent a long day on the job today, leaving Mboro at 6:00am and returning around 7:30pm. To compare prices for lumber, I visited 3 stores in and around Pulaski; Pulaski Lumber, Covey Leaf Hardwoods & Home Depot.

Covey Leaf doesn't carry anything but hardwood lumber and plywood for cabinets and such. But they do offer to saw and/or kiln dry lumber that I would bring in to them. This may be a cost efficient way to acquire the longer, stronger beams using pine trees from our property. I would cut the trees into long lengths (20 feet) and then bring them to Covey Leaf for kiln-drying.

I only asked for prices on a few items at Pulaski Lumber, basically to measure against the Home Depot prices. It turns out that their prices are comparable, and it is likely that I could have large orders delivered for free. I may even be able to make arrangements with the owner to receive a contractor's discount. I'd rather spend our money at a locally-owned business, rather than the big chain - even though the service at Home Depot is outstanding. At least it is now that business is really slow.

When I got to 427 Stella, I finished the shed gutter by adding a 3-foot section to complete the south side. I'm hoping to keep water from running off the roof and then under the shed, making for damp conditions inside.

I went up to the home site with some wood stakes and the measuring tape to re-stake the house boundaries since the old ones had been lost in the clearing of the land. While up there, I saw this footprint in the tracks from the equipment:

This is a deer track, and just in time for Valentine's Day. It sort of looks like a heart, doesn't it? Happy Valentimes Day, JoAnna!

The rest of the day was spent repairing the fence along the road where many months ago a giant tree smashed it to the ground, taking the phone lines out, as well. As usual, Trixie the dog kept me company, sometimes curling up in the brush for a nap. Here she is in a stand of daffodils that appeared recently:

Today I learned: +

Who wears Kevlar Chaps and Wolverines on his feet?

2009-02-10T23:54:00.007-06:00

I do. Sorry there's no photo, but I thought it would make for a great title for this entry.

I have been doing a lot chainsawing over the past 2 days, and to protect my legs in case I slip with the chainsaw, I wear Kevlar™ chaps. Not too exciting.

The work boots I'm wearing are Wolverine™ brand. Not too exciting, but they are comfortable and have steel toes.

Here's a picture of a giant fallen tree that needs to be cleared from where it crossed the fence line, crushing the fence beneath it. You can see I already cut out a big chunk:

To get an idea of the girth of this tree, look at the glove I placed on the top:

I had to cut the tree into bits that were small enough to manhandle to move them away from the fence line so goats and sheep from the neighboring pasture don't use them to climb over onto our property.

As I walked past a pile of brush and small trees that the giant front-end loader/bulldozer machine had relocated, I saw this:

All I could think was that if this scene were in a movie, the big, tough burly good guy would see this shredded tree and say, "No man did this." Like there's a big scary something loose in the woods. And there is!

This is Trixie the dog. Here she is relaxing in the shed on a soft red bed. Usually she is tailing me wherever I go. She comes from a house just down the road where we assume there is nothing exciting going on during the day so she hangs out with us.

Groundbreaking news

2009-02-08T21:38:00.005-06:00

I went to work today, and there was a giant front-end loader parked on the lawn. Tomorrow morning the driveway will be started. (Hurray!)

The driveway will allow us to drive all the way up to the home site which means real construction on the house can soon begin. (Hurray!)

I spent most of the day repairing fence, except for a little demolition time. You see, this tree has been leaning over on another tree for a long time:

This photo shows how much of the outer wood had decayed, probably caused by termites. I bashed it with a steel fence post, chipping away at the edges until all that remained was the core. After a bit of sawing by hand (no chainsaws allowed when I am alone), I heard a "POP!" I knew that sound was a sign that it would be coming down soon, so I backed away and then gave it a few forceful jousts with the steel fence post. The tree finally succumbed to gravity with a thud.

Here's a picture of the result:

The reason I had to take this down, aside from the danger of a precariously balanced 1000 lbs., was that I was about to repair the fence directly below the tree. I definitely did not want to work under it, or get the fence all set up and then later find the fence crushed under the tree. So it was felled.

Today I learned: It is a good idea to create clear paths through the trees early on to avoid stepping over the same fallen limbs repeatedly.

3-day weekend: Share your best & worst experiences

2009-01-20T21:51:00.002-06:00

This is a preliminary question that I'm asking around to get ideas for a more formal survey... so... if you're reading this blog, and you'd like to help, please let me know! You can write to me directly (and anonymously) through this form

My Bed & Breakfast will open at the end of the summer, and I want to make it the best experience possible for my guests. If you have a moment, please post a reply:

What are the best and worst things about taking a long-weekend vacation? (whether at a B&B or standard hotel or wherever)

If you have any specific comments about a Bed & Breakfast, that's cool too. Thanks.
•••••••••• http://mockingbirdacres.com ••••••••••
Mockingbird Acres is a lace-doily and antique-free B&B

The style is decidedly contemporary. We want to attract people from late 20's to early 60's who just want to escape and relax. The ideal vibe would be "staying at the home of a friend of a friend".

Each cottage will have a full bathroom, private of course. (1 cottage will be finished by September, but we plan to have only 3 in total)

Also, each cottage has its own microwave, coffeepot, fridge. Each is a free-standing building, with a bedroom, bathroom, livingroom w/kitchenette, and a private porch. We're on 10 acres so there's plenty of privacy. There will also be wireless internet access available: I certainly couldn't live without it, wouldn't expect my guests to either.

The main house/building will have a commercial kitchen and full-service restaurant. We plan to open the restaurant to the public in the evenings on weekends only.
Like I said, I want this to be the most awesome 3-day weekend getaway. The perfect vacation is a different thing for different people.... so what's YOURS!?

It's day 2 of "Too

2009-01-16T12:00:00.001-06:00

It's day 2 of "Too cold to go to Prospect & repair fence. " Going to a *real* restaurant for b-day tonight!

what a long, cold day.

2009-01-15T01:15:00.001-06:00

what a long, cold day. everything we do takes much longer than we anticipate. at least science podcasts make driving less boring

A list of to-do lists

2009-01-14T00:12:00.004-06:00

JoAnna hereby extends her apologies for not posting more, but begs forgiveness since there's so much to do! I've decided to put up a few of my to-do lists here so you'll either have pity on me ...or so you'll come visit us and help!

"EVERYTHING HINGES ON" to-do list:

Driveway
dig the 12-foot wide path
lay the rock
Electricity
rent the pole
dig hole for the PVC line
bury the ground wire
run the wires
Water
~~get the water company to dig under the street and put the meter on our side of the street~~
get a trench dug to get water to our property line
dig another trench to get water to the building site
Propane
arrange for an account
get the tank delivered
get something that I can cook on
get something that will make us warm when camping out in the shed (NOTE: more on this later!)

VERY important to-do list:

Fix fencing
replace major holes with new fence & additional poles
fix minor holes with repair wire
cut up dead trees that have crushed fence
Reinforce Shed
~~put plastic over side window~~
~~build a ramp to the side door~~
figure out how to close/latch side door
repair shed's barn-door hinge
fill in assorted holes
get glass cut for big window & replace it
figure out what goes where
pick trees to cut down
select trees to leave alone
choose locations for fruit trees
select a style for the main house
factor in cost of building
figure out most eco-efficient energy/water resources
find out if there's any financial incentives for solar/wind/etc.

Gardening prep to-do list:

fix up the pond
cut the pine tree down
scoop up the pine needles
test the soil
find a decent soil-testing kit
build a spacing grid
build a frame
staple on some chicken wire
build a soil-sifter
build a frame
staple on some hardware cloth
build a potting bench
pick out some salvage lumber
build legs & cross-supports
build a box to hold giant loads of good dirt
sift out some dirt
build some seedling flats
pick out MORE salvage lumber
schedule plantings
Last Frost: April 20th
First Frost: October 8th

Marketing to-do

Website
more writing & more pictures
search engines: always a work in progress
Network with other Bed & Breakfast owners
join the Bed & Breakfast associations
Make local connections
bake some cookies & brownies for bribes
introduce myself to Pulaski & Prospect business owners

Stuff i don't want to forget to do:

put rocks along edge of pond to create an edge
order some ladybugs and mantids
build birdhouses
dig out a root cellar

Today I learned:
there's no such thing as a little too much sherry in the Brasilian Bean Stew.

Things are looking up.

2009-01-12T21:28:00.003-06:00

I met with the engineer from the electric company today to learn about getting power. His name was Bobby. That's Bob or Bobby number 5. There's:

Bobby Watkins - owns the property to the east, has goats and sheep on pasture there
Bob Bryant - Real Estate Agent from Pulaski, showed us 2 properties back a while ago
Bob McKeown - Real Estate Agent - met with him and that was the end
Bobby Something - Owner of The Restaurant Barn, sells new and refurb restaurant equipment
Bobby Pigg - Engineering Designer for Pulaski Electric

I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to the fact that everyone here is so helpful and patient with me. And everyone actually seems to enjoy their occupations. We discussed the options for getting power to our homesite for nearly 90 minutes. He even offered to return in the case that I change my mind on the location of the TSP (temporary service pole).

Yesterday, JoAnna and I replaced a long span of fencing on the northwest corner of the property. As usual, the first few attempts are slow-going, but we figure out better ways to do things and then pick up speed. We also added a ramp to the pedestrian entry of the shed which was about 24 inches above grade. The big barn doors are too heavy to mess with them every time we want in or out.

The Shed is Empty

2009-01-08T18:24:00.004-06:00

Technically, it's not empty because I put all of our tools and stuff in there once it was clear of the rotten wood piles. The termites have been working on that wood for so long that the pieces from of the bottom of the piles were completely disintegrating as I picked them up. Dragging them out to the junk pile worked best, which was probably easier on me anyway. I'm looking forward to doing some real work now - work that doesn't require a dust mask.

Today I learned... sometimes you can shovel wood.

Emptying the Shed

2009-01-07T20:09:00.007-06:00

I met with David Thurman this morning to get an estimate for having a driveway put in as well as having some other excavation-type work done. He seems to know exactly what we need, and it is going to be expensive. In order to access the upper level of our property - which is where we want to build everything - we basically need to run the driveway along the entire 3-acre north slope, about 600 feet. At least adding this feature will increase the value of the property. We really have no choice other than building a funiculare, which is like a train with a one track mind.

Once the meeting was over, I worked to empty the shed of the "lumber" that has been sitting in there for who knows how long - at least 25 years. We believe the lumber may have been cut from trees from the property, as it is all unusual widths and lengths. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll and the wood was not well stored, so a combination of bugs and dry rot and wet rot have rendered most of the wood unusable - even for firewood. But we want to use the shed for important things, so it must be emptied first. Here is a picture of the pile that has been stacked outside...

...and here is the mostly-emptied shed...

The worst part of this work is that I know I will have to move this stuff again someday, either into a burn-pile or a dumpster. Some of it may be salvaged for building a chicken coop or other outbuilding, but nothing fancy.

OK, my dog Render says it is time to end this blog post, so until next time...

The Deal Is Done

2008-12-22T23:38:00.005-06:00

The deal is done. We signed the final papers and gave the final check to the title company. We are the owners of 10.16 acres of land. I realized that this is the first thing I have ever owned that can't be lost, stolen, melted... it is REAL Estate. Now, I must build an estate.

It was suggested today by two completely unconnected parties that we consider hiring an Amish crew to build the first phase of the house. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe it's the new thing? We passed 4 Amish buggies on the road in the course of our driving today.

It looked something like this, but colder.

Now that the property is ours, I feel like I have been searching for a job and suddenly I have one - and I have a lot to do and 24 hours a day to do it. To make the most of the daylight, I'll be rising early.

Here's the math:

The sun rise = 6:53am
subtract 90 minutes for the commute = 5:23am
subtract 5 minutes to dress, brush teeth, chug 3 raw eggs (Rocky style), brush teeth again = 5:18am

I thank the decreased world demand for oil for the low gas prices ($1.53/gal) - I'll be burning 9 gallons per day for a while (there's no mass transit here).

We have until April 30 before our apartment lease expires, so we must have some livable dwelling ready by May 1. Even if we end up in a tent on an air mattress, the temperature should not be an issue:
May Average Temps: High = 78.0° F Low = 55.0° F

Even the dogs should be able to handle those temps. Well, maybe not Noodles so much.

She's undercover cause she's got not enough fur.

Clearance, Sale

2008-12-20T16:30:00.004-06:00

According to the bank's website, the check has cleared. I had no idea that our Tennessee bank would require 11 business days to clear an out-of-state check. When we closed our California account, they sent a check to us which we immediately deposited in our TN account. If it was cleared sooner, we could have closed the deal on the property sooner, and started building, digging, etc. Oh, well. As long as the seller returns the sale documents to the title company on Monday, we'll be pulling a cashier's check for the balance and closing on either Monday or Tuesday.

Then, our plans are to build this:

Happy Holidays!

On your mark, get set, WORK!

2008-12-20T15:27:00.008-06:00

Kelly discovered today that the money that we transferred from our Los Angeles bank account has arrived in our Murfreesboro bank account.

Don't blink, or you'll miss what i anticipate is the last time we'll have a five-figure bank account balance in a long, long time.

This means that we can do the closing paperwork on Monday. Kelly is still anxious that something's going to fall through. The boy is clearly paranoid, and driving me insane. Also, he's always got his tape measure in his hands, and he's constantly re-measuring the apartment to reaffirm his ideas of measurement.

Taken Dec 2, 2008

Taken EIGHTEEN days later: Dec 20, 2008

These are photographs, but as you can see they might as well be a live video feed. We are in HIGH research mode, reading everything we can get our hands on. Kelly's in charge of construction and design of everything but the kitchen, and I'm in charge of farming/gardening and animal husbandry. Typing that out makes me realize that it sounds like we've divided this up on a sexist basis...does it?

tangent rant: I grew up in a family of boys. When I was 6, Frank was 5 and Vito was 4. (Italian = catholic, if that clears things up...) I grew up hating that they'd get gifts you could actually play with, like drums/guitars or tomahawks or trucks and I'd get a put-on-the-shelf doll or a necklace. Why didn't my stupid relatives get all 3 of us the same thing, so we could play together? As we grew up, I was stuck in the house doing the inside chores, when the boys would be outside, working together. I did managed to convince my dad, once, to let us trade. I did fine pulling weeds and mowing the lawn (still by myself) but the boys did a really lousy job of washing dishes and mopping... and dad didn't like to eat off of dirty dishes and walk on a sticky floor, so that was the end of that. That baggage has persisted through my adulthood. One of the things that bugs me about networking groups and business associations that specifically focus on women is that by defining a difference, you make the differences that much more pronounced. Is that really productive? It makes women's networking like remedial P.E.: We'll all be nice and play easy games, we don't need to do anything complicated or strenuous. Whatever. Kelly has somehow managed to put up with me, and we put all that sexist division of labor stuff aside. I cook because i love it and I'm better at it. I'm in charge of the plants and critters because they're ultimately food. He's in charge of building because he's mathematically inclined, precise and methodical. Besides, if the measuring were left up to me, the house would look like Picasso was our general contractor...

Where was I...oh yeah: research! We've been checking books out of the library, but the ones that we can use as long-term reference books, we've been finding at thriftbooks.com and buying them for about $4 each including shipping.
Homework Textbooks
I've also been taking photos of stuff in the ones not worth buying and making an inspirational wish-list.
this is a very nice layout, I've cooked in one like this.

doors leading from kitchen to dining room

poured concrete island

roll-out breakfast table

kitchen pantry

range hood

privacy mailbox

I keep trying to focus on the end results, because this whole sinking-treated-posts-into-prepared-holes-with-concrete-footers is just not exciting to me. Kelly has said before that this is his ultimate fort so it's VERY exciting to him.

I'm trying to be motivated and patient at the same time. These two states of being are very difficult.

Today I learned: that everything from the Beatles is an excellent soundtrack for kneading bread. I'm making baguettes with wholewheat flour, one plain, one with fresh rosemary from tiny christmas tree i bought at Lowe's reject rack for $1.

We have an address.

2008-12-17T14:46:00.002-06:00

Last week, we contacted the E911 guy to request that he provide an address for our soon-to-be home. Based on the location of the driveway, he determined that our address is 427 Stella Road.

I don't know why, but 427 seems like a good number. I like it.

Chevy enthusiasts will likely remember the number easily.

5 days to closing. And counting. Then digging. Lots of digging.

How big is 10 acres? WITH PHOTOS!

2008-12-12T19:55:00.002-06:00

It's quite a lot of space, actually.

Every time people ask me if we have photos of the place, I joke, "well, have you ever seen a forest?" because there isn't much to take photos of: Tree. Tree. Tree. Pond. Tree. Tree....

Anyway, here are some pix with the future owner in for size perspective. (to see larger version, click on the image, and it will pop into a new window.

Today I learned: that i don't know how to hold my cameraphone to make the pictures come out straight without tinkering with them later.