What a whirlwind of a week! It's hard to know where to begin. We arrived at the property in good time, and as with every trip, our initial goal was to set up camp. Our wonderful neighbors, Michelle and Mariane (M & M for short), brought us dinner, and we enjoyed a lovely meal and fellowship. They truly go above and beyond, keeping an eye on our property and updating us on the weather. We were simply happy to get the tent and bed set up before crashing for the night.
Our first priority was preparing the area for the conex delivery later in the week. We had some mud holes from the earlier stump removal, so we called Glenn. He came out, assessed the situation, and offered practical solutions without pushing unnecessary purchases. Just another reason we love Landstruck so much. Ultimately, we ordered a load of chert for the driveway. Since it wouldn't arrive in time, Glenn generously brought his tractor, cleared the muck, filled the hole with gravel, and smoothed it out. It worked like a charm!
With that settled, we returned to felling trees. We needed to clear the trees that would be trapped between our current woodpiles and the future conex location. With our new strategy, it allowed us to clear trees faster and conserve space, as cutting them all up immediately would have overwhelmed us and we were on time constraints. Despite two days of intermittent rain, we worked diligently between showers and downpours, cutting as much as possible. We now have several stacks of logs, posts for the front porch, and some fence posts for our inner perimeter area. Our only strategic shift during the week was focusing on trees in the solar area, as the cabin area was already clear.
Now for some of the less pleasant aspects. We've always heard about Tennessee's mosquito problem, but for us, it was the ticks. Cat removed about 15 throughout the week, most requiring tweezers, and Rick had some as well. The heat and humidity were intense, and wearing pants to guard against ticks and briars made it worse. We washed down with cool water every night, followed by a thorough tick check. We were a bit disappointed not to have many fires due to the heat. The whippoorwills and tree frogs often perched above our tent, so Cat resorted to earplugs. No big deal, and once asleep, she was out. We were exhausted every night. We also encountered two huge spiders darting out at night, which Rick, who dislikes spiders even more than Cat does, promptly eliminated. Of course, two days of constant rain were a drag. Rick tried to get some drone footage of our progress, but unfortunately, he lost control, and it landed in a tree. After some stubborn persistence and about an hour, we devised a safe plan to retrieve it.
Let's shift to the good things. On clear nights, we enjoyed walks out of the wooded area to admire the moon and stars. Rick is eager to set up his telescope there. We installed our mailbox and notified the post office, so we'll be all set when we move. We planted our Crape myrtles and a lilac bush. Cat started cleaning up her flower garden. With all the weeds, vines and the uneven ground, she will have to rototill in the spring and reseed. We installed the solar light for our house numbers. Rick took on the massive task of weed-whipping most of the living area. We visited the spring for water, taking M & M along so they could fill their jugs. We treated them to breakfast. The breakfast was good, but the service not anything to brag about. Our neighbor Chad stopped by to chat, and we met a few other neighbors.
That last paragraph was getting a bit long. We also stopped by our local hardware/lumber yard. They were incredibly helpful, providing a quote for the remaining building materials. Rick brought the list home for price comparison. Ultimately, it will be much cheaper to order materials there and have them delivered rather than buying them here and dealing with storage and transport. We brought a small U-Haul trailer packed to the brim to lighten our load for September. This required building a temporary shelter to cover it until the conex arrived, which was easily done with a tarp over the wood stacks.
The conex arrived much later than we'd hoped. The driver was excellent, dropping and placing it in just over 11 minutes, narrowly missing the rain. It will serve as storage and a workshop. We put it to the test with all the rain, and unfortunately, it has a very small roof leak. Rick tarred it up, and Cat contacted the company. They are refunding us $100, which I'm happy with, as it wasn't a major issue.
Overall, it was a very productive trip, despite the bumps, hiccups, and frequent breaks due to the heat, rain and Rick's stamina. Personally, Cat felt we could have accomplished more. Rick sat her down and reminded her that we've cleared two-thirds of our area in just three weeks. Looking at it that way, we've done an amazing job. Due to the rain, we had to leave three downed trees, but they are limbed, and the area is tidy for our September move.
Remember Small Steps Get You Miles
Rick & Cat
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