I finally bought a house in Cave Country! W00T!!!

[The Chairman]

Cats are cool....

Silt is the opposite of Ma~. She is afraid of everything and it's shadow. A silt sighting is rare and she only comes out when I feed here if others are around. If it's just me, she likes to cuddle on my feet.

 

[divad]

If it's just me, she likes to cuddle on my feet.

Must be the aromatic bouquet...?

 

[The Chairman]

This will be the final entry for this year. Don't worry, I'll be adding to it next year!

It's been kind of cold and rainy this past week or so. Not much got done until today and as usual, I pulled more posts: about a dozen of them. I got here as the weeds were the highest, and there was a lot of fencing all over. Here's a pic from back then:

Now, most of the fence posts and fencing in this picture are gone. Of course, it's also winter, so there's not as much green grass either!

Currently, I have three fences down on the ground. I'll get around to rolling them up next year. Here's a view from the other direction. I've already moved the fences over and mowed the fence line and it really, really opens up the place. I still have a 150 ft after the corner and another 75 ft on the South Eastern border. I will start the New Year finishing this up. I'm tired of pulling all these fences up: I want to get back to the shop as I have a router lift to install and other fun plans. Here's a pic from the other end:

Happy New Year, Y'all! Find and live your passion. Life's too short to just spin your wheels.

 

[The Chairman]

It rained all night and there's a hard freeze warning for tonight. I wonder what I have to do to protect myself for this? A light bulb by the outside faucets? I want to bring in the New Year by doing something here on the Silt Out, so I'm going to brave the wet nasty (39F) and do something. Maybe I need to do something in the workshop. I do need to install that router lift.

 

[tbone1004]

@The Chairman do you have a manifold somewhere from the well that you can isolate certain water lines inside and blow them out? If not, just leave the faucet cracked a little bit so it is dripping out with a couple drips per second. That will keep the faucet from freezing up and building pressure

 

[Akimbo]

... A light bulb by the outside faucets?...

It is simple to just install these, especially if you are off diving when freezing weather hits -- a good part of any dive plan.

0865-040NL - Boshart 0865-040NL - 4", 1/2" MIP x 1/2 Sweat Frost-Free Anti Siphon Sillcock (Lead Free)

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks guys! I'll head up to the Depot and see what I can see!

I got on the homestead by 11:00am and got a couple of hours of work in. I learned a couple of things. Gloves should be stored inside when it's getting cold. Cold wet gloves are horrible to put on. However, 15 seconds in the microwave really warms them up! Also, when it gets nasty out there, keep your friends close, but your gloves even closer. Stuff them in your jacket if you have to take them off (to take pics) and DON'T leave them on a post to get colder. Here are some before and after shots.

So what's with the numbered nail? They're on the top of most of the smaller posts and have L 91 stamped on them and are only about 3/8" long. I take out them and any staples like that. No, they're not holding on any fencing, but I don't want a bunch of staples and nails puncturing tires either. I try to keep track of every single one I pull and put it in my bucket. I've got a half dozen or so posts to pull staples out of and then out of the ground. But baby, it's cold outside.

I guess it's time to put the gloves in the microwave. I want this done.

 

[The Chairman]

Another hour and I was finished. I left 15 ft at the end to facilitate when I put in the fence later this year. I only have about 25 yds of fence between the SE perimeter fence and the SE corner of the corral. Part of it is gone already, and there's a lot of growth on and around it, so it will be messy. Needs to be done, though.

I removed all the staples, pulled the last five posts and rolled up the fence. It's all stacked by the corner on the way in. I also mowed the old fence line so it melds in pretty well. @Moose liked the fact that I mowed at least three Hercules Club trees while doing that. The lighting is horrible with the gray skies, but here's a panorama standing at the far west of the property and almost dead center N/S of the main ten acres which is a 600yd by 600 yd square. The 0.82 acre is just North of the left big oak in this picture. Each picture overlaps the next by a couple of feet.

Left (North), towards the road...

Straight ahead (East), towards the North fields...

Right (South), towards the South Fields. You can see the corral to the left of the house and workshop. FWIW, the house sits almost dead center E/W and all the way to the South portion of the property.​

Tomorrow, I'll start the final cleanup. I have @ 250 yds of fence still to roll up and pull behind the shed, 25/30 posts to gather, and that last bit of fence to remove. I also want to start getting all the cutdown trees gone so that I'll be able to plant grass seed in the Spring and not look back. Of course, I have a large gate to install on the dirt road just North of that oak. I also have the corral to finish repair. I want a large and a small gate in there. I have a gate at the road entrance that will work well for the corral gate, I also have the small gate, so I'll just have to find one more for the main entrance.

To say this has been cathartic would be an understatement. I've lost @45 pounds and feel very healthy. I'm in a great place mentally as well right now. However, I find I'm not as cold tolerant with the weight loss, so I'll have to deal with exposure protection so I can dive this winter. I still have a lot to do here, but I finally feel "moved in".

 

[The Chairman]

Close-up of the fence and posts I pulled today along with the mowed fence line.
I really, really like the way this place looks right now. I do.​

 

[Snoweman]

It is simple to just install these, especially if you are off diving when freezing weather hits -- a good part of any dive plan.
View attachment 440622
0865-040NL - Boshart 0865-040NL - 4", 1/2" MIP x 1/2 Sweat Frost-Free Anti Siphon Sillcock (Lead Free)

That would work well if the crawl space has some heat

It rained all night and there's a hard freeze warning for tonight. I wonder what I have to do to protect myself for this? A light bulb by the outside faucets? I want to bring in the New Year by doing something here on the Silt Out, so I'm going to brave the wet nasty (39F) and do something. Maybe I need to do something in the workshop. I do need to install that router lift.

Just let the faucet drip a little bit when it's below 32 degrees. It doesn't have to drip a lot, about a drop a second - maybe two seconds. That will keep the outdoor lines from freezing.