Hello Everyone!
We got the land, Heroic friends, Waking before dawn, More gear cleaning, Another sulfur lime dip treatment & Other goings on!
Alright, I am running about an hour and ten minutes behind schedule... but that is mainly because I have been having a hard time curbing my excitement... and keep corresponding with folks to share the good news. Even though I could make everyone wait until the end of this entry for said news... I will not... because I am just too stoked.
Please understand that the deal is not finalized yet... because there is still about two weeks until what we refer to as 'closing' (when everything is finalized and all the paperwork is done) but they accepted our bid... and we got the land! I do not want to 'count my chickens before they hatch' but yeah everything lined up... and although we fully anticipated them dickering over the price... they did not and accepted our initial 'low ball' offer.
As much as that sounds like a super good deal and all... it is really due to a lot of factors with the property itself as I have noted before in previous entries. Also the price that we got it for would actually be more in line with what the place would be worth... if the real estate market was not so nuts (and downright overpriced) right now.
Like I have said before, it was a heroic effort on two of my friends part combined with me doing research, due diligence, communication and whatnot to find the right place. I cannot thank them both enough for everything that they have done in the scenario to help make it all happen... and the wild thing is that they are just so happy that I will finally have my own place.
Anyways, last night I did not have quite as much of a hard time falling asleep... but whoa my current trend of having intense dreams sure continued... yet I do not want to get sidetracked describing all of that stuff again like I have the last few days. The other thing that happened was that I finally woke up before dawn... and this time I even got up and about, brewed my morning espresso... and spent time just 'enjoying the stillness' as I am fond of doing.
In short it was an excellent way to start the day because I did not feel too stressed about time when I dove into my Hive engagement routine... or when the eventual correspondences (about the land purchase) began rolling in for the day. I was even able to catch up on what a few of the folks in the Homesteading Community have been up to... which is always nice in my perspective... and especially so since my focus has been elsewhere lately.
Once the morning correspondences began to lull I headed outdoors... and knocked out my routine chores in short order before diving into cleaning out the shop tent more. Not long into the shop tent project the wind died down a bit... and I was finally able to give my dog with the mites another treatment with the sulfur lime dip.
As I have stated before doing those treatments has been really challenging between the wind and chilly weather... and me not wanting to see her shivering afterwards. Now that things are warming up my plan is to keep doing the treatments as routinely and as consistently as possible... and hopefully get her in much better shape before the move.
The next thing that I tackled for the day was getting all the vines removed from the temporary dog yard... and clearing the brush back from it before it could begin growing in earnest with the rapidly arriving springtime. Since that temporary dog yard has worked so well in the past... I want to go ahead and get it all taken apart and prepped for use (at the next place) on the first day/night that I arrive there.
After all that jazz, I dove into cleaning out the shop tent with real gusto again... and this time my main objective was to empty out all the fabric tool bags (and any random plastic containers) and get them to soaking in that water barrel of bleach water that I washed the garden tools in. Honestly, it was a pretty gross project but not quite as bad as I thought that it would be... but whoa it was tedious to say the least.
In the end I decided to sort of group all the tools from the bags into some 'mostly clean' containers... so that once I get all the bags and such cleaned... I can then clean the tools themselves before repacking them. For what it is worth I will at the very least have re-familiarized myself with where everything is stored at... and have it all in a cleaner state than it has been in for years so that is good.
Late in the afternoon I made enough headway in the shop tent... that I could rake out under a sheet of plywood that I have on cinder blocks in there that I have stuff piled on to keep off of the ground. It was a task that I had begun weeks ago... but never quite had enough room to maneuver to get to it all (to rake out all the rat nests) but this time I managed to do just that.
Along with all kinds of tools and other doohickeys there was also a bunch of leaves and twigs... and since those were the bulk of what the nests were made with... I decided to burn it all instead of wasting space in the trashcan with it. Of course as soon as I got it all dumped into the fire-pit and lit on fire the wind picked up... and had I not been paying close attention to the fire it could have become really problematic.
Since the fire-pit was still full of partially burnt pine from my last fire (that I did not want to burn this time) I piled them all about a meter away from the fire. I had never seen anything like it happen before... but one of the partially burnt logs began smoking and then formed an ember... which I think occurred due to how strong the wind was blowing in that direction.
As a side note, I immediately doused that bugger with water and then got the water hose and dowsed the whole pile... so that it would not happen again. Like I have said many times before 'fire is no joke' and had I not been paying close attention things could have gotten out of hand really quickly... and especially so since that log was not in the fire-pit and things are quite dry around here at the moment.
By the end of the day I was absolutely wiped out but I was way too dirty from all my activities... so I once again timed being able to slide into a hot bath (in the outdoor tub) just as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. Taking so many baths is really outside the norm for me... but given how dusty and gross all the packing (and cleaning of the gear) has been I kind of have to bite the bullet... and just plan on doing it each day until all that stuff is done.
Over the coming weeks and months I really have my work cut out for me with everything here... and while I was looking around at stuff today I realized that I actually might have under gauged just how large the challenge ahead is. I mean dang I am really spread out here... and quite embedded like I have noted before... so I will just have to keep putting in the long hours until I have it all cleaned up and packed down.
I still have no idea what I am going to put everything in... which of course has me yet again thinking about getting some of those lidded pickle barrels. I have also been tossing around the idea of getting a small dumpster dropped off on site... so that I can dispose of some larger stuff that has gotten ruined by being stored inside the inadequate storage here.
If I can afford it I have actually been looking at trying to get a shipping container dropped off at the new place... so that I can avoid winding up in the same scenario that I am in now as far as the gear goes. Doing so would also make for a way to have 'immediate storage' onsite... so that I do not have to tie up the time of the folks who are going to help me with the move... by needing to setup my carport tent before we can fully unload the truck.
Apparently there is already a small shed on site... but both the shed itself, its condition and whether it has vermin in it has yet to be fully verified. My plan for the shed (if it exists and if it is in decent shape) is to put stuff like my clothes and such in it... so that I do not have to put them in the carport tent (the shipping container if I get one) or in the camping tent with me and the dogs.
Today I even did a bit more 'window shopping' for a camping tent but this time I focused on looking at canvas tents instead of the more flimsy tents that I was looking at before. Unfortunately the ones that were within my nonexistent budget (because I have yet to budget a tent) were a bit too small or they were the canvas tipi (cone shaped) ones that do not provide much space.
My other big consideration in regards to the tents is that I might want to get a small 'flimsy' one that will fit inside the temporary dog yard... and also get a larger canvas one that I can setup elsewhere to possibly winter in. I have yet to do a winter in a canvas tent with a stove-jack and wood stove... and a part of me just wants to do it to 'have the experience' of it.
I am sure that by the time winter rolls around that I will be rather 'over the camping thing' but I do like the idea... and having a nice tent setup for guests is not a bad idea. We will see how all of that works out... and how my budget looks over the coming months... given that I still have a good bit of things to acquire (before the move itself) and of course need to be able to pay for the rental truck, the fuel and all that jazz.
Well, I have once again meandered on here a good bit... and need to wrap this up so that I can unwind for the evening, get some rest and do it all again tomorrow. I hope that everyone is doing well... and equally knows that I damn sure am! Ta ta for now.
