Thursday, June 9, 2016

An Update! (Picture Heavy)

Didn't realize it had been almost a month since I posted! I've been in the country taking care of a few things. We went up over Memorial Day & got a lot of stuff done on the apartment. We got the appliances placed in the kitchen & the shop pretty well cleaned up. I stayed the following week to get the baseboards finished painting & the gas hooked up to the stove.


Here's an updated pic of the kitchen. Still have to put the panels on the island & the countertops ordered & installed, but it's coming along.


The best news of all ......... We got the pantry started. One side is done & just need additional pins to hold the shelves for the other side. Now all I need to do is fill it up!




These are the shelves that I got at the World Market going out of business sale in January 2015 ($15 each). Three & 1/2 on each side. Greg had to cut the 1/2 one & fabricate the shelves but as usual, he did a great job. Once the shelves were up we decided that we needed a top in order to make full use of the space. There is no way we could have purchase wood to make this shelving for $105. It would have cost twice or maybe even three times that much. I can't wait to get it finished & start moving stuff in!

We got the grass mowed & everything cleaned up around the yards. Also had these for dinner one night, along with some potato salad.


The following weekend I hosted a small cousins get together to swap recipes for a family cookbook that I agreed to coordinate. We'll see how that turns out. Everyone is so eager to get one done but only a few actually take action to make it happen. I've got until the end of the year to use the software to get it finished for printing in January. So far, myself & only a couple of cousins have added 75 recipes, 50 of which are mine (or friends & MIL). Oh well, I'm not going to stress about it, if they don't contribute by the deadline then it's their loss.

Anyway, it was a lovely week, even if it was a bit HOT & no rain ALL week. It did cool down enough at night that it wasn't unbearable like it is in July & August. The mornings were nice until around 10:00a then you definitely wanted to find shade. I watered trees most every day, all the established ones are doing good. The ones I planted last October are struggling but I'm crossing my fingers. TS Colin brought some much needed rain to the area the day after I left.

Each morning as I was enjoying my cup of coffee, this guy showed up to spray the surrounding fields.


I have seen them do this before but not so many days in a row. The only thing that is different is that the field is planted in corn instead of squash, melons, cotton, etc. The fields behind my Dad's place & directly behind our lot are pretty small so it was pretty impressive to see his skills in getting to those. I'm sure it's pesticide he was spraying but there was no wind & he was very precise. Most mornings on his direct approaches I could see his face, he was that low.



He flew & sprayed a different direction each day. Although I don't like pesticides being sprayed, it must be an awesome job to get to get paid to fly each day.


In othere news, the Crepe Myrtles are doing great!


And Nelly enjoyed her time in the country as well.


I'll end with this parting shot. Thought it was pretty cool & shows that the property is not all completely flat. This is looking from the barn down the driveway through the branch.


15 comments:

Mike Yukon said...

Looking very good!

DFW said...

Thanks Mike!

HotFlashHomestead said...

May I just say that stove is amazing. Absolutely gorgeous.

DFW said...

Thank you Hot Flash. It was a floor model, 1/2 price.

1st Man said...

Oh, 2nd Man is ten kinds of jealous of that stove. BEAUTIFUL! I love what y'all are doing it's going to be amazing!!!

1st Man said...

One more note, I've been thinking of crape myrtle for the farm, did you amend the holes? Do y'all have clay soil or something else? Crapes grow well here in Houston, so the weather is fine, I just worry about the soil...

Mama Pea said...

I have serious kitchen stove envy. That's a gem! And half price . . . so sweet! Also you're right about those shelves. Lumber is so expensive these days and when you think about the time it takes to build anything . . . well, that was a real deal also.

Lots of hard work going into your place. So interesting to see it from this end.

DFW said...

Thank you! Tell 2nd he is always welcome to come by (you too of course!).

DFW said...

Yes we do have clay soil. We supplemented with leaf compost when we put them in. Watered regularly the first 6 months & haven't done anything, except a bit of 10-10-10 fertilizer, since then. They seem to thrive on neglect.

DFW said...

Thanks Mama Pea. We've always wanted a commercial style stove & this is as close as we could get.

Gail said...

Great progress.

kymber said...

DFW - the progress is fantastic...and the planes awesome...and blah-blah-blah! i am soooo GREEEEN with envy over that FANTASTICALLY BEAUTIFUL RED STOVE!!!! can you let me know where you got it, howmuch it was, delivery, etc.

you can send me a pm at kymberzmail@gmail.com

i NEED more info about that GORGEOUSLY AWESOME RED STOVE!!!! sending much love. your friend,
kymber

DFW said...

Thank you Gail.

DFW said...

Thank Kymber! Just sent you an email.

1st Man said...

Thank you so much, now I'm planning where to plant crapes!!! (if 2nd Man gets mad and me for "buying more trees" at some point, I'm sending him your direction, LOL!!!!!!)

Thanks again!!!