Hello Everyone!
Zonking out mid-writing, Stocking up on supplies, Cleaning buckets, Driveway progress & Farm pond thoughts!
Alright, I am running ninety minutes behind schedule... because I devoted my writing time to correspondences as I am wont to do. It has also been an incredibly long day so bear with me... or not.
Last night I fell asleep around one in the morning again... and for some reason I just cannot seem to fall asleep any earlier than that on the days that I take a nap or two. I did wind up waking rather early in the day... and in many ways I am glad that I got the deep sleep that I did... because whoa simply doing what all that I did today... burned like two weeks of calories.
With that in mind I forgot the dinner that I got for myself... and should probably take a break from writing and get some food in my belly. Whoa! I wound up eating my dinner and immediately zonking out to sleep for six hours straight... which yup put me waking up well before sunrise.
I guess that it was just 'that kind of day' yesterday and although I missed getting this entry written (or posted) on time... it is okay given how much other stuff that I achieved. Currently, I am still sipping my morning espresso and waking up all the way... so bear with me as I spell things out.
Since I had a trip to town planned for the day... I was up rather early, got the outdoor tub pumped out and filled with hot water... so that I could get cleaned up before heading into civilization. This time I also took my time to get a good soak in... so that when I had to haul and carry stuff later in the day... my leg would not bother me so much.
Basically, I had to go to several different stores in order to not only stock up on food... but also get the packing supplies and a bunch of random items to help complete my 'kit' for starting off from scratch at the new place. I also got stocked up on dog food which is always good to stay ahead on... and not to need to stress over when I first arrive somewhere new.
One of the stores that I went to was a thrift store and although it was a very big store... they did not have much variety when it comes to totes and luggage which (aside from a good thick blanket) was the main reason that I went there. They did have several large totes but as I have said before.... I am trying to pack everything down into the smallest containers that I can to make carrying them easier.
The next store was of course the building supply store... and although I looked for heavy mil black plastic in the garden department... all that they had was permeable vegetation barriers. I wound up finding some six mil polyethylene (which was as thick as they had) near the painting supplies... and got a twenty by one hundred foot roll of it... which should be plenty for my needs!
While I was there I also got ten more buckets with lids... so that I can finally pack down my journals and the remainder of my books into them... which by far is usually the heaviest items that I own. I probably could have gotten even more buckets... but just getting the ones that I did made for quite the load in the shopping cart.
It is kind of a side note... but after going to the grocery store I would up using a bunch of the buckets to toss my groceries into to make hauling them easier... only to realize later on that it would leave the scent of food in them all. After considering and discarding the idea of rinsing them out with water... I decided to thoroughly wipe them all out with rubbing alcohol before storing them in the attic near all the journals.
Considering that my entire camp is going to be 'bear bait' (and a massive rodent attractor) I figured it best not to make a bunch of stuff that I have stored be even more attractive than it already will be. One of the big things that I have learned the last few years dealing with rodents... is that the less food scent that gets left on stuff the less inclined they are to chew on it!
Anyways, during my trip I also got the money orders sent to the electrician... so if all goes according to plan... my RV power pole will get installed on Monday. Later in the day I also talked to that fella about the driveway... and got something worked out for around the price that I was expecting to pay.
Not to get too sidetracked on that topic... but essentially he is going to extend that existing driveway and put in three small corrugated drainage tubes (stacked as a triangle) in that low spot between the power line easement and the flat area where I want to unload the moving truck. We did discuss putting in a short driveway directly off the main road there... in either of the places where it is possible to do so... but it would have doubled the cost.
Now that I know that I can get a driveway in there before my arrival... I can start looking at sheds again... but at this point (after shelling out for a driveway) I am thinking that I should just build a shed instead. My other option is to do the monthly rental option for a shed... and then have them pick it up in a few months when I no longer need it... which would work well to avoid getting stuck with a long-term monthly bill.
This whole endeavor with the new land has been an expensive one... but at this point... I am in pretty good shape to have all my bases covered to have some breathing room while I am first getting setup there. Even though I did not overdue it on overly stocking up on my food supply... I do have enough dog food for the first few months... as well as plenty of rice and flour as a backup food source.
As I have stated before, I want to take it pretty slow when I first get there... and although I will need to stay focused to get moved into something warm by the winter... I also want to simply relax for a little while. The only true stumbling block that I will be facing (for not needing anything from the outside world for the first several months) is the water scenario there.
Part of what I am hoping to achieve with installing those three small diameter drainage tubes... is to have a way to easily harvest surface water. My thinking is that as long it is not a super heavy rain... then I can hook onto one or all of the drainage tubes with more tubing... and then direct the water downhill to a holding tank, a small reservoir or farm pond.
For utility water and irrigation purposes that one area of land (if the water is captured well enough) would be more than sufficient to suit my needs... and stepping the tubing down in size as it runs downhill... could provide me with a good amount of water pressure. Ideally I guess that I would want to keep as much of the surface water that I can (each time that it rains) as close to the top of the property as possible for later use.
Okay, I could ramble on for quite a bit more here about not just everything that was achieved yesterday... plus the gear and supplies that I got... and my ideas for the place... but I think that I need to get to wrapping this entry up... and get outdoors now that the sun is crawling up over the horizon. There are going to be a lot more rainy days ahead... and I only have a bare fifteen days to get everything packed down here before the big move.
On that note... I hope that everyone is doing well. Ta ta for now.
what a great and consistent journey, am inspired by what you do daily, it has motivated me to begin my homesteading daily journal, i hope to be consistent as you have. thanks so much for the spirit. more grace to you.
It looks like things are coming in place for you, it is good to read about it.