Happy New Year

We had such high hopes for this week.  Chris' company shuts down this week so we thought we'd get so much done in the woods.  Last night we got another inch of snow, so we won't be heading out there again this week.  The view to the left is of our stream.

We did get out one day.  While most of last weeks 20 in snow was gone, there was still a significant amount still in the woods.  We saw so many animal tracks.  They were everywhere.  I think that re-sparked Chris' interest in going hunting.

We moved some stuff from the house to the burn pile.  There is finally enough space on the front porch to stand.  I am a little concerned about the number of snake skins we have found.  Yikes.  The boys helped out and did actually make a difference.  I wonder at what point are they going to ask for wages. Right now they are working for found 'treasures'.  Cooper's favorite is a complete deer skull that he likes to keep in his bedroom.  Jackson just set aside an old sample book containing marble tile samples. 

We spent the bulk of our time gathering wood.  We filled Chris Truck bed and the trailer.  When we got home we stacked the wood and had just over 1/3 cord.  However that was 3 days ago and we have already burned about 1/2.  This heating with wood business could be a lot of work.

Chris mentioned that his goal is to get everything cleaned up in one year.  To say the least,  I am very doubtful,  but maybe by 12/31/2010 we will have it cleaned up.  How's that for a New Year's Challenge? 

Happy New Year!

White Christmas

With 20 inches of snow last week,  we have not been able to go out and work in the woods.  We did gather wood the day before the snow storm.  We have been burning wood from downed trees and wood we hauled out of the basement of the old house. 

Chris is getting really handy with the chainsaw.  He does all the cutting and I do the hauling.

The new Jøtel (wood stove) is keeping our home at 70.  If anything this Watermark Woods adventure will help out with our propane bill!

Dumpster

The dumpster came today!!  WooHOOO  The truck was two hours early and I was at school helping when they called so I had to make a mad dash out to Hamilton.  The truck made a mess of the driveway, but no worries,  I did some mud-cutting of my own and drove Chris' truck over the ruts and smoothed them out...(sort of).  :)

I spent about two hours and cleared one pile of junk.  No snakes or spiders to report.  Thank goodness.  With all this work, I am feeling my muscles.  Hopefully in a few months I will be really buff! 

I know it is a short post, but I am just so happy to have the dumpster, I had to share.

12/14

We had sort of a crummy weekend. 

Chris tried hunting on Friday, but didn't see a thing.  Saturday we went out to cut up some of the wood in the house so we could burn it in the fireplace.  As soon we got there he got sick.  We are pretty sure he ate some bad mayo at lunch.  Oops!  Sunday it rained all day.

I did get a bit done today.  I went out by myself donning my orange hat and wielding a pruning saw.  I cut away branches that were overhanging the driveway so that we can get the big truck with a dumpster in there.  I made a huge burn pile and have a few branches I could not drag away alone.  It felt so wrong to be pruning away branches that were bigger than the biggest tree in my yard at home. 

Apparently sawing branches must sound like a deer in rut as I had a buck come check me out.  Of course I screamed and he stopped dead in his tracks then ran away.  He did come back later but I still was no friendlier.

Good News!  Chris got me a dumpster!!!  It will be here on Tuesday.  I can't wait, what a nice Christmas present.

Friday-12/4: Wood gathering

Tomorrow we are expecting our first snowstorm of the season.  It is a little early for northern VA, but I am excited to have a real fire in the fireplace at home.  I need to get new tires today and I have a 1pm Dr appt. but I think I have enough time to gather some wood.  I decided to hook up my little trailer and head out to the woods and gather firewood so that we can be toasty warm this weekend. 

When I arrive the gate is locked and there is not enough space for both car and trailer so I have to leave the car on the road in the traffic lane,  run open the gate, dash back to the car and get into the driveway.  There is so much wood laying around that I barely have to wander far from the driveway before I have a full trailer.  I head back by the house to turn around, but there is not much space so I do some backing up and when I think I am ready to pull out, I stray barely onto the grass and somehow, I am stuck in the mud! 

Well,  I can not call Chris until I am unstuck, this would just be too fun for him.   Besides,  I have so many resources on this property I should be able to get myself out.  With a trailer full of wood I decide to stick some of the branches under the tires and use that as traction.  No luck, just spinning wheels and flying mud.  Next I wander around and I find some flat cinder blocks.  Perfect, just like a road!  No luck,  I think it just shaved more rubber off my already bald tires.  Gravel!  We have a couple of gravel piles and hundreds of buckets.  Oh wait, I know we had a shovel out here last week.  I find the shovel in the shed and dig out some trenches under my tires,  throw a few buckets of gravel in and voila!  Nope.  Still spinning tires. 

Well,  I text Chris.  "I am stuck in the mud.  I have tried sticks rocks and gravel, any suggestions?"  He replies "Try 4WD"  Duh,  why didn't I think of that?  Maybe because when we bought the car we saved a few bucks and opted not to get 4WD!  Chris thinks this is so funny and leaves work to come 'haul his hillbilly wife out of the mud'.  Just what I was trying to avoid.

While I am waiting, the land surveyors show up in a 4WD pick up.  Insert some alleluia song here.  They hook up some old tire chains and pull me out of the mud!  WOOHOO!  I call Chris to tell him I am free, but he is almost home and decides to spend the rest of the afternoon at home.

I was 10 mins late for the dr, and no new tires yet.  Guess that will wait until next week!

Background

August 2009 -

• Chris and I (Julie) have had some discussions about building an environmentally friendly and self sustaining home.
• We began to look for a nice 10 acre property in Northern VA.
• We found a very charming 30 acre property with a lot of junk on it.
• We were perplexed by the concrete cylinders all over the property. We think more than 20 thousand of them.
• The existing house is framed and roofed, but no siding of any type. The house is so full of junk we can not even get into it.

September 2009-

• We put in an offer.
• Our great realtor got an estimate to haul away the junk and unfinished house/ $75,000 Yikes.
• Our offer was rejected.
• We decided one day we want chickens.
• We consulted both of our parents for advice. One set said 'no way' the other said 'go for it or you'll regret it' So I guess we have to make the final decision.

October 2009-

• After several re-offers, we finally agreed on a price.
• We had perc testing done and have at least 3 sites where homes could be built.
• We found a headstone from the 1800's laying among the junk.  ??
• Our fab realtor had a construction guy verify that the house foundation was sound and only needs a bit of tuck pointing.
• We walked the property with our friend who is a professional forester and got some great ideas for the property. We saw loads of dear evidence.
• After finding 30 shower doors, Chris thinks it would be a good idea to build a greenhouse out of shower doors. hmmmmm
• We are both finding it hard to sleep and the first things we discuss in the morning are always about the property. Where to put the chickens, the garden, the guest cabin. How to lay out the house.

November 2009-

• We removed all contingencies on the contract and settled on Nov 23 as our closing date.
• We purchased a used Ford 6410 tractor with a bucket, bush hog, auger and blade. Neither of us has ever driven a tractor before.
• Nov. 23 we closed. The seller (age 87) did not like the idea of the wire transfer and wanted to see the money.
• After closing we felt a little daunted and overwhelmed at the magnitude of the project we are taking on.

We agreed on the name Watermark Woods for our property. We all love the water and the stream on the property was a big selling point for us. A watermark on paper is a faint impression which is how we hope our carbon footprint appears on this earth.

Our first weekend in the woods

After closing on the property less than a week ago we spent our first weekend working in the woods.

Friday- Our friends Jim and Irene gave us a tour of their farm. We got some great ideas for raising chickens and turkeys. We decided that sheep were a little out of our league. Then we took them to our property. Mostly they laughed at all of our junk, but we got some great ideas about where to put the green house and kitchen garden as well as a larger garden.  Today for the first time, we were able to climb on the porch and look in the window of the house.  As suspected it is full of junk, but we did see a huge fireplace in center of the house.

Saturday - Our first task was to move the new tractor away from the road and back by the house. Chris got stuck in the mud and the ignition key fell out. After we hunted and found the key in the grass, Chris was able to free the tractor. We also tried to hook up a generator to get the existing well pump working, but no luck. We will have to call a well person to come out and get it working which means we will also need to get power out there. While we were busy, Jackson and Cooper collected old ceramic tiles to shoot at. By the end of the morning they had a whole bucket full! We decided we really need a dumpster to get into the cleaning out phase so we decided to take a hike instead. The four of us hiked for a couple of hours then as dusk came we headed home.

Sunday -we purchased a new 5x10 trailer to haul junk with as well as a new gate for the entrance. Our first task was to set up a little shooting range for the boys to use their 22s. Our good friends Chris and Cheryl came out to help us use the auger on the tractor and dig post holes for the new gate. We located two good telephone poles and cleared away the brush to get them out. As Chris and I were rolling an old hot water heater out of the way, a mouse jumped out and was so dizzy, he ran around in circles for a couple of minutes before he was able to hide. By the time we got the big poles to the front of the property, it was dusk and we never did get those post holes dug.  Jackson and Jackson had a blast shooting the ceramic tiles.  Pieces flew everywhere!  Cooper found a complete deer skull,  antlers, teeth and all.  He brought it home and wants to clean it up and put it in his room.