Water.

I didn't do much during the week, I went to visit Tim at one point, but no work.  Yesterday though, the storms that caused the big floods in KY finally got here.  I had to dodge a couple of tree branches in the road on my way into work this morning.  While I didn't flood (if my lot floods all of southwestern NH is gone), the rain was still obnoxious.  We only got a little over a half inch, but it all came down in 5 minutes.  

I did have some washout, but it isn't bad.  I can easily repair it in a morning.  The darker stuff is the mulch that washed all the way down.  The drainage system worked though, the yard was walkable this morning to take the pictures.

While the level has risen a bit, my creek is still not flowing though.

Looking at the projects, I think several of them are getting postponed.  Some, like the building permit assumed I was doing the house this year, which I have decided not to. Same thing with the garage.  I am also considering postponing some of the largely inconsequential lot improvements, like the bridge over the creek.  If I don't do that this year, it really isn't a big deal.

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Level the yard.
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• 
  

Candidates to postpone:

• Build a bridge over the creek
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Clear walking trails on lot.
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  

Roasty toasty weekend.

This weekend was miserably hot, so I stayed inside more than usual.  Saturday I started off with my routine chores.  Despite starting by 8AM, it was already toasty.  One thing I noticed as I was spraying my weed killer is that despite getting several inches of rain the last week, my creek is still not running.

One other thing that I noticed is that some of the stalks that I had previously killed are seemingly springing back to life.  This stalk was all brown all the way to the ground last week.  Given that there were a lot more sprouted stalks than I have seen in weeks (I just got down to only needing one fill of my 2.5 gallon sprayer last week), this is disappointing and makes me wonder if the lack of rain is hurting them more than the chemical warfare.  Either way, I am out of glyphosate again, so I will be making a Tractor Supply run this week.

While I was down at the bottom, I checked to make sure that the rain hadn't washed out or eroded the smoothing I did in the front.  It all looks good.  I also saw some rather odd deer tracks.  The fawn was really good at stepping where his mother stepped apparently.  I saw a half dozen that were perfectly overlaid like this one.  

They have been down there quite a bit.  Which makes me wonder: do deer eat grass seed?  Most of the grass seed I put out this year mysteriously vanishes and never sprouted.  A little bit in the back is all that sprouted.  The rest vanished.

At that point I was roasted.  After the sun went behind the trees, I did some mowing.  I have managed to get my mowing down to a hour and a half.  I am now mowing it as fast as I used to with the Cub, despite this only having a 42" deck., which is a good testament to how effective the yard leveling and smoothing work is helping.  I also pulled the tractor out afterwards, but only got a couple loads of dirt spread out in the back before I called it a night.  

Sunday I finished up the smoothing in the back in the morning.

Like Saturday, I spent most of the hot part of the day inside.  I did get a little restless after running out of indoor things to do (more on those in a minute) so I did some other smoothing and leveling in the afternoon in short bursts.  I did notice that apparently my woodchuck isn't afraid of the tractor.

I got the back corner all leveled (or at least it is a constant grade now).  This didn't take nearly as much dirt as I was expecting.  

While I was using the tractor to compact all the dirt, I may have "accidentally" ran over the dead smaller trees that were in there, and the bucket "accidentally" ripped them out of the ground.  This area is slated to be cleared eventually and become part of the back yard.

I decided to do that corner instead of this area, where I have been putting the spare gravel, since I am reasonably sure that this area would require more materials than I have on hand to complete.  I might still put the rest of the dirt in there though, since I am running out of quick hitters and have more dirt left than I expected.  I paid a lot for the dirt, so I am going to use it.  

I also did a few other smaller spots up by the septic tank.  I might take a couple of buckets and just redo this whole area.  Maybe re-bury my septic tank lid as well.  

The steep slope on the far side of the septic tank had a channel carved in it, which is now filled in.  I found out two weeks ago that if you don't straddle the channel perfectly (easier said than done when the depression was as wide as the tractor) the deck hits rocks.  I didn't plant any grass seed up here, but I am still considering redoing the whole area.  I am actually running low on grass seed too, but I don't plan on buying more.  I am also considering letting the lawn naturally spread back into it, since my yard is mostly clover which is (in my opinion) superior to grass.  It doesn't grow as tall (I only have to mow every other week),  looks nice, and it gives the honey bees (I have a lot of them around) something to eat.  The back and far side of the front are mostly just weeds, which is why I have been planting grass there.

While I was inside during the hotter portions of the day, I finally got around to installing and trying out a little clip on drawer that I picked up for the camper.  This one isn't very big (they came in various sizes), but it is just a clip on to the shelf already in the fridge.  While I clearly don't need it in my fridge at home (thus the empty shelf above above it), it would have been useful on the last trip for storing things that I don't want jostled around while towing, or more importantly stuff like eggs you don't want drinks and whatnot jostled on top of.  

I apparently forgot to bring my sketch pad in to work to scan it, but I also toyed around with a few ideas about building something in the back of my truck.  While gas prices have started to recede, I am still toying around with the idea of building something into the back of the new truck as an alternative to buying a camper when Dad retires.  With an 8' bed, it should be better suited for that purpose.  A not-quite 6.5' bed just wasn't long enough.  I got everything to fit, but it will be tight. 

I have spent a few thought cycles on the future methods of travelling so I guess that technically is has begun.  It is kind of a "when I don't feel like doing anything" task at the moment.  I called the guy at La Valley on Saturday, but he never called back.  I need to run to Tractor Supply anyways to get more weed killer, so I will stop in.  I think at this point though, I would definitely use a different location when I get the garage put up though; the Walpole location is apparently staffed by an unreliable noob.  There are others in the area though.

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  
• Level the yard.
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Get building permit
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• Come up with garage plans
• Clear walking trails on lot.  
• Build a bridge over the creek

Crazy storms and some heat.

It has been really hot and muggy this week.  With our lack of AC at work, I haven't really felt like doing anything when I get home.  Yesterday we got some crazy storms.  The pink cell hit right after I got home.  

The wind was rather impressive.  I didn't lose any trees, but the tree leaning on the shed is now on the ground.  

The widow-maker in the back came down as well.  That will make Barry's job a lot easier when he comes up to do the tree work.

One other comment: with the bed out of the way, the AC hasn't had to work as hard.  I am now seeing the problems when your AC is oversized.  It hasn't been running enough to pull the humidity out of the air (even when running my AC is below average at removing moisture).  It was unfortunately the smallest one that had enough heat for the winter though.  Oh well.  I think I can manage it being being humid inside when I can easily maintain 68-70 when it is over 90 outside.

My truck is in the shop for an annoying TPMS sensor today and this weekend is supposed to be hot and miserable, so I might only play around on the tractor a little this weekend.  I do intend to call the guy at La Valley back today as well to get that closed out. 

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  
• Level the yard.
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Get building permit
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• Come up with garage plans
• Clear walking trails on lot.  
• Build a bridge over the creek

Tractor puttering.

The rest of the week was mostly thinking about the transition from the tiny when the shell gets put up, and I think I have a plan for that doesn't involve me buying a camper.  When they go to do the slab work, I will empty the slab into the portable garage I bought for emptying the shed to do the floor.  I will pull the tiny home off the slab, and drag it to the parking spot at the bottom.  From there, I will live in the tiny home.  I intend to use the power center to run the tiny home through the generator plug (my only 240V is the heat pump and the water pump).  Should I need heat, use a space heater.  Should I want AC, use a window unit (I have one in the shed).  For water, I will have to bring it in.  I think I can get potable water for free at work (there is a spicket on the outside of the building by the door), though having to buy water for a few weeks wouldn't hurt too bad.  I can get a portable storage black tank for RVs to catch the water, and just bring in water to work with.  Likewise, use a portable toilet.  The slab should be complete before either the toilet or the portable gray water tank are full so they can be dumped, and worst case the lid for my septic tank is exposed and I can dump them that way (it wasn't buried properly).  

Once the garage is installed (should only take a couple of days), the first thing is to build the utility room.  I will also need to install the electric panel at this time.  I am not 100% clear what will be required for the electric (like will I have to run the wire to the pole), but once I have mains coming into the building, I can do the rest.  I might see if have the electric company do it as a second 200A drop so they will get the power to the building.  This means I will have dual 200A meters, one for the future detached garage and shed, and one for the house.  I expect my portion of the work will not be the critical path for this (I only need to do some rough-in for a couple of electric circuits and some framing and subflooring), it will probably be the electric company or the water company to come and hook up the pressure tank and all that.  I expect that this will take a week or so before I can call the other guys in, then a couple of weeks waiting for them.  During this time, I can also empty the tiny home out into one of the garage bays, so I will end up living in the garage.  From there, I can install the utility room sink and have running water in the utility room.  From there, it is just a matter of finishing the house.  

Once the weekend rolled around, I got around to doing some work.  It was overcast (hard to see the smoke since I don't have a burn permit) and calm and for whatever reason I woke up early Saturday (despite being out late Friday night) so I lit the burn barrel.

As that was burning down, I went out back and looked.  I finally have some grass germinating in the back, the little green specks.  Tractor Supply claimed this was fast germinating, but I don't think several weeks is fast.  

After that I did some driveway work until Sam arrived for a visit.  After he left, I got the rest of the driveway complete.  

I took almost 9 buckets of gravel out of the driveway.  That is a lot.  If I had a desperate need for more, I could easily have taken another bucket or two without degrading the quality of the driveway as well.  I really really overdid it when I put the gravel down last year.  And after that, you almost can't tell that I took probably over 2 ton of rock out of it.  It still looks nice and is still nice and smooth.

I used a couple buckets down in the front where I was leveling, the rest I put in the back yard where I am trying to raise the yard so I can mow it without having to go up and down.

Sunday was pretty toasty.  When I got up, I checked the burn barrel.  I was surprised the pile of newspapers and whatnot at the bottom didn't burn up.  

I got the burn barrel reloaded for the next round.  I typically just load it and light it, watch it until the fire is completely contained within the barrel, and then go on to other stuff.  I don't continuously feed it throughout the day.  

The pile of wood to burn is getting quite small.  I waited so long to run the burn barrel this year though that some of the wood on the right has actually started biodegrading though.  Oops.  

After that I played with my tractor a little bit.  I discovered that I have been adjusting the three point hitch incorrectly.  I had been dropping the blade off to tighten the pivot.  Turns out you can just spin it while it is on the tractor.  I will need to drop it to correct it at some point, but at least for now I can actually raise the blade enough to drive on non-flat ground with the tractor again.  

I got the front completely done and leveled.  I also planted more grass seed.  

Turns out there were a few hidden large rocks in the front.

After that I went out to play some games, and it rained while we were there, so I didn't rush home to play in the mud.  The driveway is complete for this year.  I might do a little bit more driveway smoothing before winter, but that will be done in the late fall when there is no chance of it being screwed up before the ground freezes.  Since the guy from La Valley never called me back, I am not marking the plan as complete, but I think at this point final number from them is all that is left on that.

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  
• Level the yard.
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Get building permit
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• Come up with garage plans
• Clear walking trails on lot.  
• Build a bridge over the creek

Front yard work. Short update.

I was feeling kind of restless when I got home from work yesterday, so I decided to go do some more work on the front yard.  I started by cutting out the remaining conduit that was sticking up.  I cut them off several inches below the surface, so hopefully they won't pop back up when things settle.

I still had a bit of daylight left, so I took the tractor and put some gravel over there to start the leveling and smoothing process.  I was nearly out of daylight by that point, so I didn't get the dirt down, but it is a good start.  

No movement on the checklist.  Hopefully the guy from LaValley calls me back today, so I can complete the house plans.  I am still looking at living quarters while the slab and structure is going up though.  I am beginning to think that there are more projects here than I can complete this year though.  I haven't been quite as diligent about the projects as I have in past years.  I am enjoying the summer more this way.

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  
• Level the yard.
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Get building permit
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• Come up with garage plans
• Clear walking trails on lot.  
• Build a bridge over the creek

Yard weekend.

Most of the week wasn't notably productive.  The utility trailer is gone.  I did get a few notable things though.  My new ottoman came in.  It is the size I was looking for, but it is a (lot) bit shorter than I expected.  Apparently I didn't check that before I bought it.  Oops.

Friday I went out shopping I got to catch part of the sunset as I was leaving Hannaford and filling up the truck.

Saturday I started off by heading to La Valley's.  They are actually quite a large place with a lot more stuff than Home Depot, but unfortunately the guy who deals with the garages wasn't there.  I didn't see a catalog though, so I am not anticipating that I will be using them as a supplier.  They list nothing on their website, are a little over half hour away, and have very limited hours.  

I did get some information though: putting in more windows would not be a problem, nor would extra doors or anything like that.  The "garage" windows are actually multi-pane insulated singly hung vinyl windows, and I could pay to upgrade them to double hung if I really cared (which I don't).  Their garage guy didn't really sound like he knew what he was talking about, but I should at least be able to get prices and stuff from him, he is supposed to call me back this week with how much it costs to get it set up.  

After that I went and smoothed the tire tracks in the driveway.  This is the first part of the driveway work for the year.  I will have to remove a bunch of material though.  In the places where the ruts are the worst I put down several inches of gravel (which makes it feel like driving on marbles since this isn't crushed stone) with anticipation that most of it would get pressed into the mud this spring, at which point the resultant raised sides and center I could just rake into the tire ruts.  That never happened though, since apparently my driveway is finally at the point where it isn't soup in the spring.  As a result I still have upwards of 4-6" drop offs at the edges.  Now that the tire tracks are smooth, I can just go around with a shovel and remove the extra material.  

My wild raspberries are coming in.

While I was working on the driveway, I started to formulate a plan for what I am going to do down here.  This area has been basically unmaintained since I bought the place; even the push mower can't get through most of it.  

While I was taking a break after all the raking, some turkeys decided to come through.  I happily watched them go through.  Turkeys eat ticks, so I just let them be.  Perhaps coincidentally I didn't see any ticks this weekend.  This year at least (they have been a lot worse than normal this year) I typically pick a few up over the weekend.  

After they passed through, it was mowing time.  I hadn't mowed in a couple of weeks.  This time of year I am thankful that clover tends to take over the yard, choking out the grass.  It doesn't grow tall and still looks nice, so even though it has been two weeks I was still able to mow at full speed.  A good thing too, since I was out of gas.  Last time I was at Sunoco they were out of the ethanol-free gas.  I mowed it a bit differently this time, basically merging a couple of the sections I used to mow separately.  It worked out good; I had the place mowed in under two hours.  I also know that I can mow it with just under a half tank of fuel, though there was literally nothing left when I pulled it back into the carport.

The back yard is a lot easier to mow.  It still needs work and more dirt, but I was able to mow it as a loop for the first time in years.

The floormat on the mower came off.  I put down as many of the plastic clips as I could find, but there are still a couple missing now.  Not sure I am going to care.  

The only other thing I did on Saturday was my typical round of weed killer.

Sunday I decided it was time to hang up the other set of shelves in the carport.  The carport has been getting full of stuff (most of which was removed from my truck).  I originally hung it over here, but didn't like it.  It was in the way of the snow blower, and would likely be in the way of the push mower come winter.

I ended up moving it to the other side.  I don't like it here either, but it at least isn't in the way of getting equipment in and out over here unless I am driving the tractor in with the bucket fully raised.

A lot of the stuff is now on the shelving.  It is nice to be able to walk around in the carport without tripping over stuff.

I also went out and decided to start on the front corner.  I originally thought this was the conduit, but it just turned out to be trash (part of a frisbee) that finally bubbled up to the surface.

Then it was time to take the tractor out and rip out the crap down in the front corner.  I originally put three screws in the conduit and then took my tow strap and pulled with the tractor.  I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, I half expected the tow strap to break and come whipping back, but it held.

It for the most part worked, though unfortunately one of  the screws got ripped out at one point, which almost assuredly means that they will find a tire eventually.  Even though I used construction screws, they got bent too.

But the big conduit with the power lines is now out.  At this point the tractor was due for some greasing so I did that as well.

I tried to get the other two down there as well, but they were smaller conduit and weren't strong enough to be pulled by the tractor, they just broke.  I will probably just dig these down a bit and cut them off.  They don't have any visible wires left in them, and there are no more power wires over by the meter, so I think these are empty.  

One of them did snap back when the conduit broke.  Thankfully the bucket took the brunt of the blow. The yard got a bit more torn up than I was hoping while I was doing it. 

Yanking the conduit out revealed a couple of large rocks.  They have been remanded to my pile of rocks.

I took a few buckets of dirt over and smoothed it some.  This should be smooth enough to mow now, though I still need to finish it.  I only got a few more feet turned back into yard; there is still another 10-15 feet that needs to be cleaned up.  

The driveway is now in progress, and I got more of the yard leveling done, though neither is complete.  If I get motivated, hopefully I can finish the driveway during the week.  I was also thinking I might use the spare brown pressboard I have for the shed doors, so I don't have to buy siding for them.  It won't hold up to water that well, but it allows me to kick the can down the road for a few years.  They are at least painted, which is more than I can say for the current underlay that is on them.  

Summer projects:

• Prep truck for trade in
• Determine house plans (modular vs mobile vs stick)
• Get my power service upgraded
• Shed floor
• Shed doors
• Concrete shed supports
• Anti-mouse the shed (seal it, maybe spray with pepper spray or something)
• Eliminate pile of crap in the back yard.  
• Level the yard.
• Investigate retaining wall construction. 
• Install windows in the shed.
• Fix/sell the utility trailer.
• Driveway round 5
• Get building permit
• Determine the future method of travel.  Build prototype?
• Come up with garage plans
• Clear walking trails on lot.  
• Build a bridge over the creek