Concrete

I know - aren't these titles exciting!
Last week the concrete portions of the walls were poured.

Pretty much this will be the progress of the building till about the first of June. In the mean time, John hopes (weather & time permitting) to get the dirt graded and seeded. Next weekend we're heading back to Macedonia to help my parents plant their new windbreak. Here's hoping the first part of May is dry!
Cheers - Hillary

Dirt

On Saturday, John wrangled a couple of dump trucks from Witters in addition to the old green nursery dump to haul fill dirt to the farm. John ran the loader, while Dwight, Tom, and Aaron drove the trucks.

Building

Footings!!

I know I haven't posted yet about the building - but there is one in the works! Earlier this week Schrader Excavating dug footings and first part of the concrete side wall was poured.

Next week we hope the sidewalls will be finished. However, actual construction on the building will not start for another month and a half.

Barn Work

As part of the dirt work, the lean-to on the barn was removed. The structure didn’t appear to be original and needed lots of repair – it also didn’t need much coaxing to come down. John was out at the farm on a daily basis to monitor the process. He also took the opportunity to trench power from the pole to the barn. Since then, he has created a master electrical plan with friend Tom Manternach of (Electrical Concepts)

Dirt work

A couple weeks after painting the house, Shane Schrader’s crew (Schrader Excavating) showed up with a dozer and backhoe. They dug two large pits to the north and east of the barn. In it the place the corncrib, chicken coops, and extra out buildings.

The timing was a race between the end of good weather and the fact that we hadn’t officially closed on the property yet. In the last week of November, we were pushing our attorney (to push the sellers’) to hurry up closing, as we had taken position on a hand shake to make minor improvements. Three days before closing, John called me to tell me he had started one of two burn permits. I passed the information along to our attorney, who started working much harder to push closing.

By the end of the week, John had burned both pits, the driveway was regarded, there was a rock circle drive around the barn, and a building pad for a machine shed. We closed on a Thursday evening, and it rained the next morning.

 

Landscaping

Obviously landscaping is something John is highly proficient with. After painting the house, he quickly regarded the yard around the foundation to prevent water from running into the basement. In the process he also added some small shrubs and rock for an extra fine touch.

Thanks to Derek Miller for helping out!

A couple of weeks ago while feeding the cat I discovered that something doesn't appreciate John's landscaping and sealing off of the basement as much as I do.

My guess is John will be serving it an eviction notice pretty soon!

M.I.A

Missing In Action....

As I've promised many people I'd send them links to this blog (months ago) - I'm only finally now getting on with it. Y

ou'll notice that I'm not a very diligent blogger as several post are missing.... Items I need to get around sharing with you are: 1) John's fabulous landscaping and re-grading around the house, 2) the newly graded Farmstead, 3) the Building - coming soon!!!

Also I'm very sad to report that our cat Beau Beau (see the cat post) has been missing since the beginning of the year. John and I have been out to the farm on a regular basis (along with Deb when we're gone - thanks!) to feed Beau and Stubby. We were told that he had disappeared for weeks at a time before, but this time he hasn't returned. Stubby (his mama) is still out at the Farmstead and very affectionate when we visit.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Weekend!
He has Risen!

Cheers - Hillary