Spiritual Foundations

Yesterday I realized that I am already feeling the spiritual foundations of Tranquil Moon. Restless, and somewhat "off center" but not really in a funk, I suggested lunch at our campsite. Fifteen minutes after arriving, I felt calmer and pre-serene.

One of my objectives as we move on is to design a "decompression chamber" where I can go and drop off all my baggage when I arrive home from school . . . I want to keep the rest of Tranquil Moon just that . . . tranquil. I want to preserve that quietness, that sereneness, that connectedness to the planet I feel when I'm there.

Spiritually, I feel connected to the goddess again. I have a place that's mine. A place where the goddess and I can be who we are and a place I can share with Jay and be who we are. It seems like a long walk in the desert has ended, finally.

I do worry about the financial part of getting everything done, but I know it will come as it is supposed to and in that I find peace and comfort. Having the campsite makes me feel attached to the land already . . . the bond will only strengthen as we progress on our list of things which need to be done.

Until next time . . .

Clearing the brush...

Flickr Tags: clearing, brush, rose bushes, Cara, Clear Pasture, front of property, electric, utilities, creek bed, tree

Yesterday Cara and I went out to the property to have lunch and begin working with our new purchase, Clear Pasture. This product is supposed to kill anything so we've mixed it with diesel and we're applying it to all the rose bushes. With luck we'll be able to kill out most of the bushes and get ready for the skid steer to clear them.

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I now have pics of the front of the property. You can see the daunting task we have ahead of us. The entire area is a mass of thickets, rose briars, and yaupon trees. If you look really hard, at the center of the pic, you can see the creek bed that flows through part of the property. Okay, you can't really see it, but it's there. One day it will be clear and you'll be able to see a beautifully landscaped creek bed.

Here's another beauty. Hidden in this mess of yaupon and briar is a really nice tree. The one Cara is spraying at the top photo has already been cleared; it looked like this one. This one is at the opening of the creek bed at the front of the property and will have to be cleared as well. I'll tackle it when I start working on the creek bed.

I've talked before about the roses, at the front right of the property, that'll have to be cleared out to make way for the electric utilities, well here they are. We're using the Clear Pasture mix to kill off this set of bushes and, hopefully, I'll be able to use the skid steer in a couple of weeks to clear the brush for the electric pole.

One step at a time!!

Dreamin'

Flickr Tags: Clear Pasture, rose bushes, clearing, briars, birthday, picnic table, spraying

Jay is off to a meeting this morning . . . his 55th birthday!  Yesterday I had set aside money for a gift, although we keep telling each other that our three acres is all we want.  Then I promptly lost $75 in cash!  After slapping myself about a dozen times, I realized the Goddess was, again, at work.  Someone needed that money more than we did.  So, I blessed it off on its journey to wherever and whomever.  When I told Jay, he said he agreed and appeared to not be disappointed in the least.  The Goddess seems to be opening doors that have been closed to us for these last seven years.  I feel like our saga has turned a crucial corner and we are finally beginning to mark progress again.

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When Jay returns today, we're going to Lowe's to get the materials for building a picnic table.  We plan to carve our initials and the date in it when it's finished . . . just like teenagers!  It will be a much welcome addition to our campsite . . . no longer balancing plates on our laps etc.  Everything requires me to bend over!  I'm pooped.

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We've also found this chemical called Clear Pasture which will totally destroy the briars.  It takes a few weeks to get to the roots, but it will render them dead!  Then the skid-steer will just push them into a HUGE pile for burning.  I've read the contents and cautions; it has minimal short-term residual effects and isn't dangerous to us or our babies.  I prefer natural substances, but to use an out-dated expression from the 60's "better living through chemistry" sometimes!

Till next time . . .

The Briars Fought . . . But I Won!

Flickr Tags: camping, camp site, front of property, drainage pipe

Jay will be soooooo proud that I'm finally doing an entry! I pretty much am ready to retire, so I have time to do the FUN things I WANT to do instead of the teaching things I no longer want to do! One more year until retirement . . . maybe. A new administrator would certainly help change my viewpoint.

Christmas Day was my first work day on Tranquil Moon. In the area where we plan to put the RV (and later put a house or mobile home), I tackled the wild roses/briars. I'm scratched from head to foot, had to pick stickers out of my boobs, but I destroyed two of the big ones. Jay can now turn the truck into the end of the lot, although the drainage pipe appears to be too unstable for him to drive over as yet. We've discussed getting someone to dig it out and replacing it. $$$$$ but better done by a professional than us probably.

I think we've decided to put the front-to-back road in on the other side of the property, near the neighbors. Will have to do some measuring and planning, but I think it will work. Right now, I think I will probably put a full line of giant arbor vitae trees along their fence for privacy when those awful wild roses are gone. The trees will spread about 10 feet around, so I need to measure and see if there will be enough room between the trees and the new electrical installation for a driveway. I'm getting uncomfortable going on the other neighbors' land to access our campsite.

I want to clean out the area across the front that faces the road. It looks like there are two or three really nice trees in there, but the rest just looks like junk. Not the first impression I want to make! I'm thinking about putting huge pampas grass in the open spots between the trees after the clean-up is finished. Privacy, but a neat, care-for look.

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We've gotten a "permanent" campsite set up so we have a place to literally hang our hats when we're working. A bright yellow tent is the "supply house" for dry goods, clothes, and tools on-site. The gray tent, my ol' buddy from LOR days!, provides us a place to nap and eat. I really enjoy being there. I do love that cold Sam at the end of a work day. Can hardly wait for the outdoor shower to come!!!!

Yesterday we took the riding mower and push mower out to the site. Jay left them chained. I used the riding mower to cut a walking path from the RV site to our camp site. It looks good and will make walking easier. We also got a glimpse of our first feral kitten . . . Jay named him/her Wood Chip!

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This morning Dusty when for her "clip, clip, clip" at Adopt-A-Pet. I checked and they will do neutering from a live-trap. When we stopped at this cool feed store to price the spray killer for the rest of those rose bushes, I found that a live-trap will only cost about $60.00. I'm determined to be a TNR woman! The wife of the well man said something about 60 cats . . . they are clearly taming and not neutering! AGH! GNASH! I will spend a fortune over time to trap, neuter, and release the little lovelies, but I am determined to be a "responsible" person where they clearly haven't been.

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Talked to Beverly at New First yesterday about the well money. Looks like the lower appraisal is going to hit us in the head. 90% of the appraisal amount is the loan amount. Now we need $600 for the electric installation and another $600 as our share of the well installation. We can't move the RV until those two are on-site and ready to use. At first I was very disappointed, but then I realized the land isn't going anywhere . . . it really is ours! . . . and I can handle the $110/month payments and still afford rent to Cynthia. We'll enjoy having somewhere to go and work and be together; we'll still get that "good tired; we dun it" feeling. Next big cost project . . . a day of skid-steer around $250 to see if we can level those bloody wild roses/briars! One way or the other, they are doomed!

We also need to find the sunny spot for Jay's salsa garden and outdoor kitchen. He announced this morning that he plans to put plants in the ground this spring.

Until next time . . .

Camping & Clearing on Yule

Flickr Tags: Tranquil Moon, woods, clearing, wood chipper, Yule, Christmas, burn pile, camping

The day after the Christian holiday, Christmas - Dec. 26, 2007.  Our celebration is Yule and we got to celebrate it with a beautiful full moon camping out on our new property.  What a feat, but Cara and I had a great time though we realized we're getting a bit too old for the cold mornings.

This is our campsite on Tranquil Moon.  A good tent, a storage tent and plenty of things to keep us warm and comfortable - including Beer.  Cara and I have taken a liking to Sam Adams Brown Ale, so we treat ourselves when the work is done for the day. 

 

 

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For the last couple of days we've worked with wood chipper I rented at Home Depot for $100/day. It took a day to figure out the best way to use the wood chipper and how to use it safely. I finally learned that large limbs - roughly 2" thick and over 4' long - were too dangerous for our experience level.  Running those branches through created havoc with a swinging stick sticking out of the mouth of the monster.   Small branches worked very well, as did the rose limbs.  The large stuff we'll save for burning.  This is just one of the piles I've managed to scrape up.  This pile is up where our homesite is planned.  There's going to be a lot to burn so I may have to wait till we have water. 

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We figured out where the appraiser got stuck.  He had actually made it farther than I had when I got stuck.  That was when the Goddess intervened and convinced him of the need to appraise the property.  Here Cara is marking the area with orange tape to prevent anyone else from entering this area.  We've decided to make this area a water feature. Our goal is to dig out the area, put in a plastic tarp to cover the area, and add water type plants and a sitting area for our relaxation.  Don't know when that will happen, but it's way down the road from everything else we've got to do.

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Tranquil Moon is ours...

Flickr Tags: Watermark Moon, Tranquil Moon, well, electric, Phase 2, Phase 3, camping

Yesterday we made the closing.  After all the turmoil the land is ours.  We had turned the matter over to the Goddess after the last appraiser wouldn't give the land any value. 

To bring us up to date, the latest appraiser went onto the property and, at first, was also not going to give a value for the property.  This may have been the Goddess' intervention, but the appraiser got stuck.  And while waiting on someone to pull him out, he decided to go ahead and appraise the property anyway.  We were disappointed to learn that he only appraised the property for $6000; $3000 less than the requested price.  Unable to get the loan now for $9000 we thought the land was lost once again.  However, in a surprise turn of events, when the realtor presented the bid to the land owner, he accepted the $6000 offer.  Holly crap!!!!  We got it!!!  And at only $6000 which was actually our original offer for the land.

So now it's 12/19/07, one day after the closing.  We, and especially I, have a ton of work to do to prepare us for moving.  Today I'll get in touch with the Well guy and perhaps rent a skid-steer for this weekend.  I've got to clear out some wild rose bushes at the front of the property to get ready for the electric service.  Hopefully in a week or two we should have water and electric.

We hope to spend some time on the property camping out until we have services and are able to move the RV.  For now, I'm clearing an area for our tent and camping gear.  The area I'm working on is at the back of the property where I had originally planned for Phase 2 of the development.