July 29 2018 Update Moody Girl Farm

I don't particularly like day-trips up to Moody Girl Farm; driving up in the morning, staying a few hours, and then driving home later that afternoon makes for a really long day.  However, that's what I did this past Sunday just so I could check on my little homestead.  It's been a month since I was last here.

 

Again, I was expecting more progress (I obviously wasn't graced with much patience, but it seems God is determined to help me learn it!), nonetheless I did see a few changes.

 

I now have a covering over the cistern.  When I was working on the little kitchen window, had to be extremely careful not to step back onto the old piece of plywood that covered the opening to the cistern.  There were 2x6s laid across the opening and the plywood was on top of that, but it wasn't something I would have voluntarily stood on.  My handyman, Jesse, had been telling me that W.T. was going to build a low platform to cover the opening, something that might double as a seat if I was so inclined to sit.  When I first saw this I couldn't help but smile.  As cheesy as it looks, I actually like it and it protects the cistern.  Everything except the 1x12 siding pieces came from the materials from the back room demo.  He used leftover metal roofing pieces, and he even installed a pulley and a bucket.   I still need to place some stones on the ground around it to cover the parts of the opening not covered by the structure.

As you can see, there is still no siding on the back of the house.  Surprisingly though, when I arrived at 11:30am and went inside it wasn't that hot.  Yes, it was 85 degrees, but it was cooler than outside.  Before the back room was removed, when I came up here and opened the front door the living room was quite a bit cooler.  I suppose all of that space in the back room created an insulating barrier between the old back wall and the current back wall.  Anyway, the two new air conditioners cooled it down to 81 before I had to leave at 2:30

Jesse did buy the siding and stacked it on the porch.  During the month of July, eighteen days have been 100 degrees or hotter; it was 110 on July 23rd.  And as much as I would like to have the siding installed quickly, I couldn't expect Jesse or W.T. to work in that heat.  I've told him all along that there was no rush.  I guess I need to keep telling myself, too.

I purchased a twin bed frame ($35 on Google Marketplace) before Christmas to give to my grandson's roommate, but he ended up not needing it.  So I brought it up to MGF.  You can see the old roll-away frame on the left.  It was really bouncy.  I wasn't sure if the mattress was actually twin bed width - 39 inches- so I also brought some 1x6s to lay across the frame if necessary.  But it fit just fine.  Before I come up to stay overnight again I want to get a couple of those carpet samples to put beside the beds.  I still won't step on the carpet barefooted so I keep my slippers on the desk/cabinet next to the bed.  It would be a wee bit more convenient to have them on the floor.

 

In May, when Jesse was still dismantling the back room, I noticed an old wood burning stove on the trailer he was using to haul away the debris.  I asked him about it, but it was already promised to someone.  He told me he had access to another one, in better condition, if I was interested.  So, sight unseen, I paid $150 for the other stove.  He finally delivered it.  It'll need a lot of cleaning up.  It looks to have a new handle to open the front, and the damper looks like it'll work ok.  It's not in the photos, but I also got the little handle to lift the 'burners'.  The Vogelzang company is still in business but they don't sell this style stove anymore.  As much as I would love to use this for my heating and cooking, I plan to get a new propane tank installed behind the house and use gas. In the meantime, I haven't figured out exactly where in the house this will go. 

  

 

 

 
I don't know what this screen is for.

                        

 

I took the photo below to show the two trees to the right of the house, near the railroad tracks.  I didn't realize just how dry it's been until I saw how brown everything looks.  The county's burn ban is still in effect.

                           

 

 

 

The trees are just outside my property line, they're on the railroad right-of-way, but I'm eventually going to create a sitting area under them, and plant roses around them.  My mother always had roses wherever we lived, even down on the barrier island along Alabama's coast.  I have eight rose bushes that were salvaged from the museum where I work when the gardeners brought in the new 'spring color' this past May. They're still in the one-gallon pots they stuck them in for me and all I've done is water them.  A couple of them have bloomed, so I guess they really want to live!   

 

I also have some trees in pots in San Antonio: two Mexican Olive trees, three avocado trees, and a pecan tree, plus the blackberry vines.  They're all in large pots for now but they'll end up here eventually, just not anytime real soon.  The problem, of course, is that I can't be here often enough to be able to water them enough for them to survive.  Another lesson in patience, thank you Lord.

 

And speaking of San Antonio, I harvested my carrots last week since the tops were beginning to turn brown.  I think there were a dozen little orange squirts.  I was able to clean up three to take with my lunch.  They tasted good, like...carrots.

 

I'm planning my next trip up to Moody Girl Farm in two weeks, I'll probably stay two nights.  I need to walk around the yard and figure out where the gardens will go, and the chickens, and my trees, and the greenhouse.  I should take some short wooden stakes to put in the ground, spray paint them bright green and pink and orange so I can step back and visualize everything.

 

Until then, never surrender, never give up, and may all your dreams come true.