Progress Report #7

August 16, 2008...If we had WANTED this tree to fall precisely between these two other trees, displacing and disorganizing our neatly stacked wood, it never would've happened, right?

Bright side...it made the tree easier to cut, not being flat on the ground after it fell.

Here's a shot looking up the future driveway...notice the RE-STACKED wood on the left.

More wood photos...are you bored yet? I do find stacked wood a thing of beauty...I know, I'm weird.

In other news, hubby talked to Mr. W about removing stumps for us...a job that is proving to be a lot more time consuming than we envisioned. While our machine has done a fine job of digging trenches and hauling shale, stump removal has us a bit "stumped." Time to call in the reinforcements! He has assured us that 8-10 hours should be plenty to clear the driveway and building site, then we can begin digging for the footers...Lord willing the second or third week of September!

A bit of irony...Mr. W thought the turn in the driveway might be a bit sharp for the larger trucks, so he recommended...can you believe it?...removing the two trees in the photos above...hence, we will have to move all that wood, AGAIN!!! Talk about a Sisyphean task!

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #6

August 18, 2008...Got stone delivered...we are finally able to cross the culvert, which will make our work a bit easier, as we can get the Magnatrac and the 4-wheeler across to do a lot of the work that we were previously doing by hand. We'll be able to cut and move lumber with much less effort, and plow down those rose bushes right as you cross the culvert.

I'm having trouble uploading photos...sorry for the "blank" post.

House-sitting is over, and we're back at Mom's. Saturday, August 23rd will find us back at the land...working hard to drop more trees and get the home-site cleared. We really hope to start the framing some time in September...time will tell.

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #5

August 16, 2008...Water is still flowing through the culvert pipe...WHEW! So thankful that worked out well. I had a few moments when I actually thought, "Why on earth did we think we could do all this?" Followed by the exhilaration of realizing, "Wow, we actually DID this!" Which only gets us into more trouble because then I tell my hubby, "But we were able to do THAT...(referring to some crazy past project)...we should be able to do THIS"...(referring to some crazy FUTURE project that I've dreamed up). Fortunately, I think I'm winning him over to my ways...judging by our present circumstances, I think he's given up hopes of leading an "ordinary" life, perhaps he's even embracing the excitement of it all. (Let's just let him think it's all been HIS idea, shall we? It will be our secret). On to today's update...

The photo below is looking towards the property as if you've just turned into our driveway. The mass of green in the middle of the photo is wild rose bushes that will be removed as soon as we can move the Magnatrac across the culvert...which should happen sometime after Monday, when we hope to have stone delivered.

In this photo, you can see in the middle, an area that is lighter...that is where we've cleared a lot of brush and will be laying stone down for the driveway. It will bear to the left a bit around some trees, then to the right and straight up towards the house.

Here, Hubby is preparing to fell his largest tree to date. He is making the wedge-shaped cut on the downhill-side of the tree...hopefully it will fall in that direction.

Another view to see the size of the tree:

TIMBER-R-R-R-R-R-R-R!!!

Success!!! Now, on to cutting and stacking...

In one of the trees we cut today, I noticed this interesting pattern. What do you think it looks like? (I'm thinking of a forest creature here, folks!)
A (very) small portion of the wood we've cut this week:

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #4

August 12, 2008...Met with Amish cabinet makers. Got a very good quote - will probably get our kitchen cabinets from them. Need to make final decision on stain and countertop colors. No granite for us...Formica will do nicely, thank you!

Ran around looking for the elusive culvert pipe. The owner of our storage facility made a suggestion that turned out to be very helpful, so pipe was ordered.

August 13, 2008...Culvert pipe delivered! (Never thought I'd write a sentence like that with such enthusiasm). We also purchased a second culvert pipe to accommodate what looks like a possible second small stream at the bottom of property.

Received letter from Centre County Conservation District that our application for a GP-7 small stream crossing was approved...so we can finally begin work on that.

Received replacement cylinder from the Struck Company for our Magnatrac.

August 14, 2008...Hubby and J-Bird replaced cylinder on dipper arm of Magnatrac. Works fine now.

Felled several trees. Cutting and stacking wood as we go. Only got the chainsaw pinched once!

Began work on the culvert installation. Here's the stream that has caused us great inconvenience:
Water flows from upper left corner to lower right corner. Water is just a few inches deep and about 18-20" wide.

Following the stream:

August 15, 2008...Here we are hand-digging some of the shallow areas, after trying to place the pipe and realizing we hadn't gone deep enough:

J-Bird pulling large rocks out of creek bed. (Notice the shadows looking on from the bank...SOMEONE has to supervise, ya know!)

Okay...let's try this AGAIN...third time's a charm? Fourth time's a charm??? (We lost count). J-Bird is directing his Dad, who couldn't see in front of the pipe.

WE DID IT!!! Looks like water is flowing through...Hubby dams up the water along the sides to help it through the culvert. Success at last.

I-Bird and T-Bird looking on:

I-Bird and T-Bird on their never-ending search for new and exotic forest creatures:

Looking from the future driveway towards the property, you can see the top of the culvert pipe in the ditch. After several hours of hot, muddy exertion, it is truly a thing of beauty.

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #3

August 10, 2008...Hubby and J-Bird attaching grouser shoes to the crawler tracks of the Magnatrac. 36 shoes on each side equals 72 shoes times 3 nuts and bolts per shoe equals A LOT of work! Just another time I'm so grateful to be a woman!


Had a setback this week...one of the hydraulic cylinders on the dipper arm seems to be defective...a phone call to the Struck Co. in Wisconsin got excellent results...they are shipping a new cylinder today. (Just another reason to buy in the USA!) We are using the down time to do some other things...meeting with an Amish carpenter about kitchen cabinets tomorrow. And trying to locate the culvert pipe we'll need when our stream permit comes through later this week (Lord willing!)

Finally submitted building permit papers today. Should have it in 15 days. We have enough work on the land to keep us plenty busy until then!

Thanks for dropping by. If you haven't left us a comment, please do so. We'd like to know who's visiting.

Stay tuned,
Kris

Some great things about living in the woods...Part 1

Parenting 3 boys definitely influenced our decision to move to the woods. Some things we've been enjoying during our brief stint as amateur house-sitters:

Who needs a car when a 4-wheeler will do? (Picture quality is poor - taken through the window on a very bumpy road)


Who needs lawn furniture when tree stumps are plentiful? (These will sit around our fire pit...we found them like this during our initial clearing. Cool, huh?)


How about one of the best tree swings in Centre County? (The red blur in the middle of the photo is T-Bird...he would live on this swing, and always wants to go higher, no matter how hard we push him! BTW, it is very hard to push AND photograph at the same time. My apologies.)


Here's I-Bird...guess where?


And, because they ALL have to have a turn...J-Bird trying a few acrobatics:


(Parenting boys is assuredly not for the faint of heart! But, they bring fun and adventure to our lives and we cherish each day with them!)

And, a few more fun shots:

The boys ready to take a trail ride: (Yes, we know that this is technically not an approved way to ride, but we're parenting boys, remember? They love danger and getting dirty...and I don't have the heart to say "No.")


Going...


Going...

GONE!!!

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #2

August 5th...Rainy...no work on the land.

August 6th...went back to continue road work. I am grateful for 2 things this day: First, my hubby is no wimp!; Second, my hubby is NOT allergic to hornet stings! Apparently, hornets sometimes make their nests on the ground. (I think hubby told me this once, but it wasn't information that I needed at the time, so I relegated it to the deep recesses of my mind). Apparently, when hornets make their nests on the ground, they do not like humans who are trying to weed-whack in their peaceful hornet environment, and will defend their football-shaped nest (which can also resemble a large rock) with nasty stings on the legs of the offender. (Sorry - hubby said NO pictures!) Once the pain subsided, work continued and we got a large path cut down to the small stream where we need to install the culvert. Need to check Monday on the status of the culvert permit.

August 7th...took truck for brake work...no work on the land.

August 8th...returned to the land armed with fire power to remove hornet threat, only to find that someone had beat us to it. Was it the neighbors? Had they heard hubby's cries of pain and come (albeit the next day...) to investigate? Or an animal? It is a mystery, but I am thankful.

August 9th...we rented a dual-axle trailer to move our Magnatrac to the land. It took most of the day, needing 2 trips in total to move the machine and all the attachments, plus picking up and dropping off the trailer. I'll post pictures of the machine in a future post.

This coming week will be our big push to get as much clearing done as possible. Hubby's on vacation, so all efforts will be concentrated on road work and building site preparation. More pictures to come!

Stay tuned,
Kris

Progress Report #1

August 4th, 2008...We started clearing for the road. The terrain is difficult to assess with all the summer growth that has taken place, so we're going in with weed-whackers and blazing a trail. Great news (for me) - the lower part of our land is loaded with wild blackberry brambles!!! We picked several pints just from along the path. Bad news (for hubby) - the lower part of our land is loaded with wild blackberry brambles! He was getting snagged and caught in the thorns as he made his way through. He didn't even threaten to uproot them all, but I know it crossed his mind. I love wild berries ALMOST as much as I love him, so he kept his cool. We'll be working on this trail for the rest of this week, at least. Hubby took vacation next week, so we will hopefully make some progress at clearing the home site and taking down some trees.

Some pictures of work day #1:

Who knew that this:


would lead to this:


that would lead to this:


that would lead to this:


that would finally lead to this:


All in all, a productive, and delicious, day.

Stay tuned,
Kris

Where are we?

The last few weeks of July were a whirlwind of activity and hard work. We're so grateful for our friends: Jeanne, Jeff, Jacob, Mary, Bob, Joe, and Luke, for their help in moving and packing, and pushing us when we were just plain tired. These people aren't afraid of hard work and have sweat buckets on our behalf. And to our family: my Mom for taking the 6 of us into her home... also for helping us pack, sort, and organize for months prior to the move, for cooking for us when we were in the thick of moving, and for supporting and encouraging us through this whole process. We love you! And to our grandmother, Nana, who has done more laundry than should be humanly possible...central PA would be a much stinkier place if not for her. Not bad for an 88-year-old woman, huh? We love you, Nana!

We truly do not deserve such blessings...thank you all more than words can say!

Here's what we've been up to...

July 31st...closed (sold) our home in Zion.
July 31st...closed (purchased) our acreage in Port Matilda
August 1st...attended I-Bird's performance from week-long Drama camp
August 2nd...packed belongings (again) and headed over to the "G" family homestead to house-sit while they're away. They live just 2 minutes from our new property, and asked us to live there while they're gone...we can tend their chickens and cats, keep an eye on things, and be very close to work on our new parcel. It is truly amazing how God continues to orchestrate things. He IS amazing!

Stay tuned,
Kris