Snow Day

What a great extended weekend! We were off work this past Friday and I had Monday off for the MLK Holiday. I woke Monday morning and the computer models indicated the likelihood of a nice snow storm Monday night into Tuesday which verified. Snow fell hard from early Tuesday morning through 1 pm or so. Our storm totals here, just south of Raleigh, ended up being the greatest in the whole state at around 6 inches. It also worked out nicely that we were able to watch the inauguration!

Here are some pics of the house during the storm.





Our dogs had a snow day as well. Since roads were closed for the most part and there was no worry about them running out to the main road, they were allowed to run free in the neighborhood for several hours.





I worked hard all weekend and Monday, and achieved my goal of putting all the posts in the ground for our back lot fence. My neighbor Greg Petersen has the fence left over from his effort a few years ago, so once the cement sets this week, I'll be able to stretch the fence. He's selling me the the fence for $100. I spent $150 on posts and required tools like post hole diggers, spade and fence pliers. That puts the costs of the fence at less the $300.

Here is the fence line along the very back part of the lot as indicated by the red line in the previous blog entry.




Here is the fence line closest to the house. This was my first ever shot at setting fence posts, so you'll notice it's not perfect.



Here are some pretty pictures of the snow in our little patch of forest and the neighbors farm.

New Year!

As the new year arrived, new ideas followed. First of all, we had a great Holiday season. I say Holiday to include both Thanksgiving and Christmas since it's been some time since the last life-update. I traveled without Cecilia to Marion for Thanksgiving and to Ormond Beach for Christmas. It was a blessing to see all of you during those trips. I tell you what, the time I spent with Family really sparked a sense of wellness and purpose; it's really hard to put in words. It was a joy to see all my nieces and nephews. My trip to Florida was excellent. I got to spend three days with Grandma Meader, visit with Aunt Joanne and Uncle Charlie and had a wonderful lunch with Kristen, Caitlyn and her boyfriend and Bryan in 85 degree heat. The following week I had off work, so I decided to start working on some of my new ideas for the new year.



Our main, or maybe I should say my main goal for the new year is to fully utilize our land. When I first moved in with Cecilia, it was quickly realized that the property was much larger than I expected, but most of the area was forested, with a large part of that being a mass of briers, bramble and bamboo. We has a small part of it cleared and fenced in (shown as existing fence in figure) . However, we still have a relatively large area of around 1 acre that is still wooded. For years I've been interested in fully utilizing this area, so once my neighbor fenced in his back yard, it created a great opportunity to fully fence in our unused forest area since his fence, the neighbor next to him and a neighbor on the backside already had fence lines along my property. In the area photo you'll see several red lines along the property which indicate the only property line I need to install fencing to fully enclose our property. That is my goal this winter and using craigslist I've been able to find plenty of fence material for cheap.

Once this is complete I'll be able to start on several other projects. 1) I want to clean our forest area, so that it's easy to walk around without having to dodge briers or scrub brush. There are also a number of dead trees and smaller trees growing underneath some of the larger trees. I bought my first chainsaw to help with this chore. 2) There is a nice area in the center of the reclaimed land that is open. I want to raise a few free range hens for eggs. This open area (where1735 is in the image) seems like a great location. This are is loaded with bugs, so I'm sure the food supply is unlimited. I'd like to have this ready by spring.

These photos are of the back lot. You'll notice the people behind out lot have a nice farm-like setup. They have goats and a small horse that always come when I'm back there working. I'll pick off a few was myrtle greenage to feed them, so we're friends :-)

A third idea is another expansion of the garden. I have several other spots in the back yard, once I cut down a few trees, that will support crops. I'll end up doubling the number of raised beds which will basically be three more 3'x20' beds. I'll probably stick with this through the summer to see if it's enough to support our produce needs, but if not, I still have some more suitable land. Anyhow, these are my "green" goals for the new year.

Cecilia is going through a program that has a cornerstone based on nutrition and not drugs. A comprehensive blood and urine test indicates that she's deficient in several main vitamins and at least part of her problem is a digestive track yeast infection. We're in a great situation because many of the veggies we have now are high in B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals. Over the last few weeks she's been feeling much better, so we're going to continue a strict nutrient dense diet.

Here are some recent pics of the garden.