Update on Jack

Well, July flew by and drug me with it whimpering and whining.  We had lots of grand plans but how does that saying go? -- "Life's what happens when you're making other plans.".  Never truer than here, my friends.

When I last left you on the cliff hanger (moving into the store on Main Street), it was the final week of June.  Bob & Sandy were here and so was summer.  We emptied the two trailers and 1.5 storage rooms, and felt pretty damn good about ourselves.  We were looking forward to having a 3 day weekend over July 4th and getting tons done.  So much for planning.  Roger's Mom went into the hospital on July 4th with a mysterious debilitating ailment, then on the 6th was transferred to ICU.  On the 7th, the hospital called Roger and asked what her resuscitation orders were.  Her kidneys were shutting down, one lung had collapsed and her heart was working at 35%.  It was time to call the family.  Connie (sister) and her family had come down and Rick (big bro) & Janet flew in from New Orleans (they brought funeral attire).  We were praying she would hold on until Rick got here.

Well, she did hold on and started gaining ground slowly.  Cutting to the chase - she was released from the hospital into a rehab facility somewhere around the 12th.  She was not yet able to stand (hence the rehab) but her prognosis was good.  At this posting, she's still in rehab but is scheduled to be released this Wednesday the 28th to go home.  Trust me - I don't think they could have kept her one more day.  She's going stir crazy.  But she's a new woman.

So - I guess I told you that to tell you this.  July is gone but August is a brand new month.  We moved the tentative open date for The Jack of Arts back to late September, but no firm date yet.  We have a giant amount of stuff to do before then.

Hunnyman has had a grand time building our first commission windows (Dave's) in the new place.  It's a perfect set-up (if I didn't tell you that in the previous posting) as it has a nice sized cave-like room in the back that seems to be made for a production studio.  HM is one happy camper.  We have a Facebook page "The Jack of Arts" with a few photos.  We already have our second stained glass commission on order.  OK - it's Dave's Dad, but it's Safford; everyone is related.

When Farmhouse Arts is a thriving enterprise, it's really wonderful to know that we will have an established retail outlet for all its' artistic by-products.

As I've said before, this isn't exactly the way I thought things would go with Farmhouse Arts but since I generally trust this sort of thing to the Universe, I'll just hold on and follow where I'm led.  Timing has actually worked out perfectly.  So even though July flew by, I guess that was how it was supposed to go.

I have the floor plan layout done and all taped off at the store and that helps me visualize.  'Cuz I'm that sort of gal -- visual, you know?  The store is about 18' wide and about 80' deep, not including the production room, which is about 20' deep.  So when I drew the floor plan, Roger took one look at it and thought we may just want to go ahead and put some bowling lanes in.  No worries - everything fits.  We have a bunch of old metal sash windows out at the farm that Roger scrounged from some lady in Globe.  We're going to use them to build my office.  It's right smack in the middle of the store.  But it's glass.  So, no throwing rocks, OK?  Lots of pretty things to look at will take the bowling alley visual down a notch, I'm thinkin'.

As you enter the store, the front area is tiled for about 15 feet and the rest is commercial carpet.  I would have rather had nice cement to work with but the carpet is fairly new and newly glued.  The consignment stuff will mostly be in the tiled area.  The glass supplies will be in the back of the store and the fabric will be in the middle (be still my heart).  Bet you didn't know there would be fabric, right?  Not a lot, and not right away but it will be the good stuff, you can bet.  This is my inspiration for the fabric shelving.  For you glass folks - it's not a quilting store, rest assured.  It is all my loves under one roof, though.  I believe I'm in good company on this one.

There actually won't be a lot of glass to start either.  After all, we need to test the retail waters in this little burg.  We will have small classes and really encourage anyone that reads this (because I know you all) that if you have something you'd like to consign, please let me know.  I'm focusing on hand made items, but I'm pretty sure we will have a red metal flake vintage Pearl drum kit (double bass pedal) and some quirky furniture pieces on consignment, too.  So - obviously we are keeping our options open, so check your storage areas.  Quilters - any quilts you made that you're just not in love with?   Send them my way.


I will be better about posting what's happening at Jack's place complete with photos.  Not much at the Farmhouse right now - except there's not so much junk in the store rooms.  Yay! We're staying focused on Jack but we are out at the farm lots.  We're currently enjoying some great monsoons so God is doing my watering.

Baby Logan (most current approved name for #3) should be here on October 5th.  All activities will be scheduled accordingly, FYI.  You all have a nice day now, 'Ya hear?

The Jack of Arts

Hello!

So much to tell you (a few of you already know) that I wanted to get it posted!!  As I told Lynnie, I'm so damn jazzed about all this I'm in danger of wetting my britches (she got that).

Here's the skinny - You know the plans for the Farmhouse, right?  The education and workshop center - wonderful days of extended classes in all thing glass, fabric, wood, clay, etc.  Come sit on the porch, yada, yada, yada.  Not to belittle this monumental project, but really, the resource pool is finite. 

So - we have two trailers FULL of retail and teaching supplies sitting out at the farm plus all the equipment Hunnyman and I kept when we sold Artistry (again - just sitting out there) and all these great ideas.  We also are fortunate enough to have an interest (read:  part owners) in an 1800 sq foot store front on Main Street here in our little town.  The last renters vacated in September, but we still have property taxes and insurance so it's costing us to own it.  HELLLLOOO!  Let's drag the trailers downtown, set up shop and sell some stuff!  We have buildings (seriously, buildings) full of STUFF out at the farm.  Remember the big belt sander?  All the casting billets?  4' x 8' tables that we built windows on at #25?  Etc., etc., etc.  What do we have to loose?  Some time and a few quarts of sweat?  I can deal with that.

The Jack of Arts.  That's the name of the new store.  Roger is working on a killer logo (I love it) that will translate gloriously into an art piece that lots of you will help to build.  It will be fused, stained, torched and painted.  To borrow Deuce's phrase, "he'll be a vision".  We want to mosaic the butt-ugly awning in the front of the building, too - Karen will lead the troops.  We will fuse and mosaic tiles to dress up the facade - Lynnie, me, Sandy, Barbara - calling all kilns!  It will be a magnet for curious passers by.  How cool is this?

We will need your consignment pieces, for sure.  If you didn't know; the average annual income in this little valley is below poverty level, so we won't sell many $500 fused bowls, but I predict things like single layer slumped dishes will be popular, as will simple torch work beads.  And of course, the ever popular stained glass sun catchers - but GOOD ones - done the right way.  This place hasn't been introduced to fusing, or torch work as far as I've seen.  Fresh meat.  However, there are 5 - 6 filled stained glass classes taught at the college every semester here.  And all those folks have to drive to Tucson or Phoenix for supplies.  Duh.

Classes will be scheduled in September and we will be creative about how we teach them.  We're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.  It's a whole different ballgame here.  But getting finished pieces in the window now will start to generate interest.  So - classes in all the glass arts, consignment gifts, and hopefully some quilting art and supplies, who knows what else we'll throw in the mix.  We're just starting with this idea and will let Jack tell us where he needs to go.

We do have a domain name and I'm shopping for a good, cheap web designer.  I have a few names that I will check out, but if you have someone, let me know. - www.thejackofarts.com.  I know - it's a gas.

I promise to keep you posted (pun).  I'll take pics of the store this weekend and post them.  Sorry, I guess this is my first naked posting.  As always, I'm open to suggestions and welcome your excitement.

Keep a good thought!

Kathi

Wah Wah Wah

My apologies, friends, for being a whiny butt.  Life IS GOOD!

I saw my longest-dearest-wonderful friend Nancy over the weekend and she is ALWAYS honest with me.  It's sort of our deal.  She said, "I read your blog."  That was all I needed to hear.  I knew she meant the one I just posted.  I thought I sounded desperate cry-baby on the last posting.  Nancy did not argue with me.  So I seriously considered just deleting it, but will leave it on while I contemplate my frame of mind and flog myself just a little.

AND... since I spent a little time with Nancy and her oh-so-hunky husband, Mark, I have been simply TINGLING with anticipation and I don't know why.  It was like a battery re-charge for me.  I don't know what's coming - but something big and amazing.  Seriously - I don't get feelings this strong for nothing.  Something ALWAYS happens.  Something wonderful.

Stay tuned.

What's a girl to do?

Forgive me Blog, for I have stalled.  It's been 2 weeks since my last post.

Stalled is a perfect word.  Roger and I are (once again) wrestling with the decision about what to do with the Big House.  We agree on most everything about it.  It's old, it needs beau coup bucks invested to make it safe, comfortable and efficient.  It's not our dream house (not to say I don't dream about the old gal).  There is very little in the house that doesn't require attention, and the majority requires immediate attention.  We both agree that we don't see a feasible way to manifest said beau coup bucks any time soon.  For you 'Secret' fans, I realize I'm not supposed to worry about the 'how', just focus on the end result.  But really.  We're talking mucho dinero.

On my first blog I mentioned all the buildings at the farm and said I would get into more detail about each.  Well, following are the pertinent facts on the Big House.

The floor boards in parts of the house are broken, so the floor sort of just sinks in spots, and the entire south side of the house actually leans.  So we need to pull up the floors (wood, in some rooms) and replace the joists.  Hunnyman wants to lift up the entire house and pour a solid cement foundation.  My mind cannot even get close to that.  But hold this thought because it links to the plumbing... you'll soon see a domino theme unfolding.

The plumbing is old and very very full of the icky red stuff, which leaves a pinhole of passage for water in some joints.  I know this because - remember - that's what we found at the water heater (which hasn't gone any further to date, FYI).  We figure the plumbing in most of the house is pre-WWII.  Ya think it all needs to go?  So do we.  If we poured a new foundation, HM said he would include the new plumbing in it.  I supposed if we didn't, the plumbing would go through the attic (?).  That's not something I like to think about - water in pipes overhead.

And now we come to the #1 safety issue:  The electrical is knob and post.  Which means that if you ever disturb it (within the walls), you better be ready to do the whole house.  Which desperately needs to be done.  There's lots of  electrical running on the outside of the house without conduit, too.  At some point, it used to have some sort of felt wrapped around it, but it's pretty much exposed wires now.  Again, really?

Now the interior walls aren't a big issue, except that they are lathe and plaster and to re-do the electrical will require big long deep gouging trenches, so rather than patch that (they're all textured, too), Hunnyman will require all the walls come down and replace with drywall (cha-ching).  My man will NOT consciously do anything half-assed or even quarter-assed.

The windows are all the old wooden sash windows.  The putty is pretty non-existent now.  They look really cool from afar, but the only thing they block is an errant mosquito or two.  All the panes are loose and the wood is completely deteriorated. Spiders, wind, dust and rain all seem to come and go freely.  OK - the rain only comes in one window (that I've noticed).  Let's not blame all that dust and cold air on just the windows - you can see/feel it emanating from a few electrical outlets, too.  If you're thinking, "Just replace the windows one at a time, Drama Queen!".  Well, that whole leaning thing on the south side of the house prohibits us from replacing any windows because if we level the house, the new ones would probably break during the process.  Besides, a new window  wouldn't fit in these tweaked openings at this point.  Two summers ago, I went around all the windows in our bedroom with that expanding foam to seal out the dust, cold, and critters.  It now looks like some evil yellow oozing sludge is trying to escape from the inside.  But hey - it worked.  Needless to say, my aesthetic tolerance has been significantly adjusted since we've lived in that house. Yes, we could caulk all the windows, but I'm not sure how well the wood will even hold the caulk.  Again - lots of scraping.

There is gas (propane) in the house for the heater and water heater.  There is gas for a stove, but we have electric right now.  The heater has never had a place for filters, so who knows how inefficiently it runs - It's only about 10 years old.  I don't think there is any safety issue with the propane now that the water heater is out.  The house doesn't get unbearably hot in the summer but the monthly A/C bills can still top $300.  The heating bills in the winter can be $500 a month (mostly propane); we have as many rooms closed off as possible and we still huddle under blankets to watch TV at night.  There is no insulation in any of the walls, and plenty of cold comes up through the floors (a new floor foundation would take care of that, I know).  So between the window, floor, doors and walls - the winter can be pretty brutal even while it's costing you an arm and a leg.

The exterior badly needs paint, but first needs to be scraped.  Easy, right?  Wrong - some of the siding needs to be completely replaced and we would need to take it all off to put a vapor barrier and insulation on before we painted.  It's had termites in parts.  The wood is so sun damaged, it may be too late.  I vote for wrapping it in vinyl -- but again; the first domino to fall has to be solving the floor issues.  Get the house level and everything else goes from there.  Having said all that - I would feel so much better if she had a new coat of paint on her. Good money after bad?  Dunno.

So here we are.  Again.  Discussing the same issues for the past two years.  Six months ago, we had decided we needed to tear her down and rebuild.  Here's my hang-up; every time I walk in the front door, it's like walking into a hug.  How can I ignore that?

And, in that vein, there are many GOOD things about the house:  We absolutely love it -- warts and all.  We is the collective of Roger and me, and almost everyone who has ever visited us.  I have been enamored with that house since the early 70's.  I have ALWAYS wanted to live there.  If not for the issue of heat and cool leaving and entering, resulting in scathing bills, we would probably be a little lax in attending the rest of the issues because we do love it so much.  And truthfully, 3/4 of the year, it's comfortable.  It has a good, solid metal roof and for it's age and cracks and crevices, when these gale-force winds kick up here, all we can hear is the wind. The house stands firm.  OK - the windows rattle and the dust comes in, but the house is solid.  We sleep really well there.

The front porch is on the leaning side of the house but it's pretty sweet to sit out there during the summer rains or sit on a Saturday and watch the hummingbird wars over the sugar feeders.  The kids love to be there when it's raining.  There's something about the monsoons on the farm - you just want to get out there in it.  This is Madi in her finest rain togs two years ago.

There are tons of cabinets and drawers through out the kitchen and halls.  It has a cedar closet in the hall!  There are two fire places.  One is older and probably needs to be re-lined, but I think they've been used throughout the life of the house (we haven't tried them).  All three bedrooms are quite large with lots of windows.

The original part of the house was a red brick school house that was built in the late 1800s.  That's my sewing studio.  I absolutely love that room.  All the ceilings throughout the house are 9 feet high and all the interior doors are solid wood with brass knobs (and a few coats of paint).  Troy designed and Ruperto built us a beautiful stained glass insert for one of the doors.

The kitchen is filled with beautiful pine cupboards with black iron strap hinges.  It has a great little dining area at the south end that looks onto the porch and the front yard.  Two walls of windows surround the dining table.

For all my pissing and moaning about what's wrong -- there's a feeling this house has that may not be there with a new house.  I would love your emails (if you know me, you have it) or your comments and thoughts on this posting.  Every time Roger and I talk about this, we waffle again on whatever our last decision was.  So, weigh in.  If you're reading this, you care about us so we value your input.

Lest you think I'm living in a hopeless situation, here are a few photos of the house we're currently in.  It's Bridgette's house and we are certainly enjoying our stay there.  While we figure out what we are going to be when we grow up.

Big hugs to all of you -- please write soon!

Kat

Miss me?

I know I have missed writing this blog!  Roger and I have both been so busy that we haven't had time to work at the farm the past two weeks.  I'm just going out to water a few times a week.  We haven't even walked as often as we like!

So -- that means no changes at the farm....unless you count the fact that I have FIVE apricots on my little tree!!! Except for the poor excuse for tomatoes I tried to grow in a trash can last summer, these little apricots are the first fruit from the farm - yeah!  I have two little citrus trees up on the hill where we live right now but the damn wind blew all my blossoms off.  Fear not - I think I have three Cara Cara oranges (about the size of my thumb nail right now) and maybe 20 MEYER lemons (pinky nail size).  I will be exceedingly happy if they grow up and become edible.  Meyer lemons are one of my new obsessions.  Deuce gave me the trees earlier this year and I planted them in pots so I can move then under shelter when it freezes next winter.  Mom says I absolutely cannot grow citrus here.  I plan to prove her wrong.

Are you positively bored yet?  (I'm filling space again.)  If not - read on.  If so - I will try my best to make the next post more substantial!

Something about living here has awakened a culinary spirit in me.  I seem to have a NEED to cook or bake.  I just love it - and nothing from mixes!  I'm making pizza from scratch (including the sauce), tons of different pies and desserts, some really good green chili and eating lots of fresh stuff from Barbara & Jay's and Mom & John's gardens and farm.  Asparagus, beets, broccoli and fresh eggs - to name a few.  I'm growing my own spices and have become quite enamored with basil.  I planted lavender and chocolate mint.  MMMM.  If you've ever rubbed lavender flowers in your hands to release the scent - you know what I'm talking about.

I have one more story to share and it does tie to the farmhouse.  When we owned Artistry and we were in the old location on Rural, a woman brought in a stained glass lamp wrapped in a hand pieced quilt, circa 1933 (educated guess).  The lamp and it's protective packing (the quilt) had been rolling around in her trunk for a few months.  That did neither item any good.  The quilt was filthy and the lamp was just in too many pieces to repair.  The only story I remember is that the lamp belonged to a relative that had died that year (father in law?).  The lamp was his and clearly she wasn't attached to it but had promised to check into getting it repaired.  I explained to her it was just too far gone, but gave her a bid anyway (to rebuild it).  Predictably, she was horrified and declined.  I asked her about the quilt.  She said she didn't know anything about it except that it "had come from the house" and had been used to wrap stuff in for years.  It made me heart sick.  To me, it was the most beautiful quilt I had ever seen.  I asked her if she would consider selling it to me.  She looked shocked (again) and said something to the effect of "It's a filthy rag!".  I explained I was a quilter and it really spoke to me.  She said to throw the lamp away and I could keep the quilt if I wanted.  So I took the quilt home and put it in my washer and let it soak for a few days, agitating it every once and a while by hand.  It washed beautifully.  It is one of my favorite things. When I look at it, I think of the months and months of some woman's life it represented while she was making it.  There's lots of love in that quilt.

No worries - there is a point to this.  The quilt is all hand pieced and hand quilted with 30's fabrics and lots of white.  It has a few wear spots and the binding has separated on one edge.  Other than that, it's in great shape for it's age.  At almost 80 years old, the threads have begun to get brittle.  It needs to be handled with love but it makes me so happy to look at it.  I decided to make one just like it so I can throw it on a bed or curl up in it or cuddle with a kid in it.  That's my project at the farm these days when I go out in the evening to water.  I have never seen the pattern before so I'm really winging it.  Deuce is going out in her RV later this month and I'm sending fabric swatches with her in the hopes that she can be on the lookout for more 30's retros to add to my quilt (although she doesn't know yet).  The fabrics need to be just right.  To maintain the joy the original quilt has - it really does have to be just right.

Famous last words:  The picture just doesn't do her justice.

I'm looking forward to Memorial Day weekend.  I heard a rumor that part of the Posse may ride in.  It's always a good time.  If you're not doing anything - come join us.  There's plenty to get in to at the farm!

Hammered, Nailed and Screwed

What?  That's what we did this weekend -- removed nails and screws from a pile of 2 x 4s.  What were you thinking?

This will be a short post, I promise because the wind hasn't let up.  Hunnyman came home on Saturday and said "What are Gale Force winds?".  I didn't know.  I guessed it's any wind over 50 MPH.  He wondered if it's some guy in the weather service that got to name a wind.  This, I do know:  Gale Force wind(s) will lift the lid off a plastic trash bucket that was securely snapped in place;  it (they?) will blow heavy steel sawhorses over.  I know it will knock down any yard implement neatly stacked at the side of your house.  And it will make a tin roof that was previously flat look like someone just used a giant curling iron on it.  I know Gale Force winds suck.  GF winds.  I'd use different words for those initials -- first word is Giant......

We went out to the farm on Sunday after a nice breakfast at Mom's with Dale and Janet (Bro and Superhero).  We intended to build the little room that will go around the new water heater, which is outside the house (or will be).

Roger came upon a pile of 2 x 4s of varying lengths that someone had thrown at the side of the road a few months back.  In our never ending effort to be green (and make progress sans cash), he hauled them home.  We're going to use them to build the water heater house.  Before we used them, however, we had to remove 17  4" nails and 527 drywall screws - some which were really bent and had to be hammered straight first.  Hence the title of this post.

It wasn't really blowing much when we started but after about an hour, Gale Force showed up and it got pretty miserable.  So we finished the pile and decided it was a good time to break for lunch.  We left the water on the trees and went to have some lunch.  Hman was going come back after lunch and get on the ladder to fix the tin roof on two of the buildings but I vetoed that.  It was all he could do to get out and get the water turned off -- seriously.  He had to wear a dust mask just to make it to the two faucets.

Like I said - a short post, and I forgot my camera on Sunday.  But I took one this evening when we went out to walk and Hunnyman doctored it just a little so you could see us in action in GALE force winds on Sunday.   My man - full of many things.  I'm just glad one of them is talent.

Is this Chicago?

Holy Tornados, Batman!  What's with all this wind?  We haven't been out to work at the farm this week because it's so windy and dusty right now.  Then there was the fire on the river yesterday.  I didn't get a picture, but it was only a few miles from the farm, blowing our direction so everyone in town smelled like Smokey the Bear.  I still don't know what was burning, but I hope is was all the stinkin' foxtails that are growing knee high around here.

Sorry -- didn't mean to sound like a bummer.  I do love weather, but some weather I particularly enjoy while I'm doing a specific activity.  For example:  It is delightful to quilt when it's raining or windy.  It's fabulous to go to bed at night during a thunderstorm.  Curled up reading when anything wet is coming down outside is great.  However, this Arizona native does NOT enjoy being outside when it's windy or lightening.  I don't mind being in the rain if I'm not on my way somewhere and I need NOT to look like a drowned rat.

Oh right - this is supposed to be a blog about our farmhouse.  Well, since there hasn't been much happen since the Posse came for the Great Muck-Out Weekend (#1).  We've only been back to water, weed and walk.  The photo at the end of this posting is our favorite path.  We have four Lady Banks yellow rose bushes right near the front gate of the Big House, then along the fence in the front yard we have two honeysuckle bushes.  We also have an almond tree I planted last summer and a new little apricot tree that's all by itself in the back yard.  So I try to water twice a week.

Since Hunnyman works so many hours, it has fallen to me to do yard maintenance.  I'm mostly OK with that, but I won't be out there once it gets hot.  Hot makes me grouchy.  So I need to capitalize on this weather (when the wind's not blowing).  I would rather pull weeds than poison them.  My most long time friend Nancy put it very eloquently when she offered one day to come pull the weeds in my front yard when we lived in Tempe.  It was more of a request.  It wasn't that she was a neighbor fearing her property values were shrinking due to the heinous nature of my yard; she really just likes to pull weeds.  She said there is something very gratifying about grabbing a weed right close to the ground, getting a fist full and feeling it slide out roots and all.  She's right -- it is extremely satisfying.  I figure that's why I would rather pull than poison.

A curious thing about the little apricot tree in the back - as I watered it last summer, I turned the hose on and let it run slowly.  When I went out an hour (or maybe six - I might have been quilting) later, an area about five feet square was now about 6 inches lower than it was before I watered.  It was most curious and unsettling.  We had developed sinkhole - a big one.  Then I saw the tail end of a snake slipping down into the chasm.  Yes, besides the newly lower real estate area, it appeared the sinking still may not be done.  I deduced that area of the back yard is basically a shelf about 6" thick and who knows how far back it goes before it becomes solid?  Seriously -- CREEPY.  Half of the well around the apricot tree had sunk, so I had to make it much smaller.  And, I don't leave the water running back there very long any more or walk on the iffy area.

So, back to snakes and weeds.  Well, last weekend while I was watering, I was pulling some weeds.  Hunnyman always kills them with poison but part of the yard is off limits because Sandy (Deuce) wants to put in a big garden in the fall.  I'm pretty sure Hman stays within his allowable kill zone, but the wind does it's own thing with the weed killer.  So, there are plenty of weeds at the farm should ever Nancy run out in Tempe.

On my first blog, I listed all the structures and promised to give more detail later.  So it's a good time to start.  I estimate that the front yard of the Big House is about 60' deep and maybe 100' wide.  With the exception of the plants growing near the fence and a few heirloom hollyhocks in one far corner, it's all Arizona native ground cover (dirt).  Wind + rain + dirt = weeds.  That's the prevailing formula for the farm yard right now.  When we were living out there, I was trying to work in little pockets to prettify the place (that's a Safford word).  But as much time as I spent on it, it's still a big dirt yard with a few things growing at the perimeters.  This picture was taken two summers ago.  I know that because the big tree behind the house is gone.  It had some rather disturbing problems, so, sadly, we had to take it down.  That's another story for another time.  Anyway, if I took a picture today, except for that tree, it would look much the same.  That's Wyatt in the yard.


Oh yeah - The Snake.  I had been out tromping in the tall weeds in the backyard in my shorts and flipflops pulling the tallest weeds.  That's sort of a mind game I play with myself -- I have to pull at least 30 weeds before I can do what I really want to do, which is plant something or paint something or sew something -- and I always pull the tallest ones first.  So I pulled about a 15 gallon bucket full of weeds and walked around to the front of the big house.  I still had a hand full of weeds because I'd filled the bucket (I'm waaaay past my 30 quota at this point).  In the front of the big house, I keyed in on the biggest, greenest weed and thought I would get rid of it.  So I reached down and just before my hand got about 1" from the ground I saw the snake.  SCARED THE *@#! OUTTA ME!  I remember saying, "Holy Crap, that's a snake!" (or something like that).  There was no one there to hear me but I felt the need to vocalize what I saw.  I didn't know what kind of snake it was, but it was coiled and apparently, sleeping.  It didn't move (yeah!).  I dropped my weeds and backed up.  I stared at it from all angles and then went and got my camera phone.  Those suck.  You can't tell what you're really taking a picture of.  I wanted to try and let Hunnyman see the markings.  I didn't want it to be a rattlesnake.  I decided I'd just leave him alone.  So I moved the hose to the next thirsty recipient and went back in the house and did a little more sewing while I continued to water.  I was there for a good 3 hours longer and every time I went outside, I checked and that snake was still there.  Asleep.  (maybe he's dead...)

So when I got home I looked him up on the internet.  It wasn't a king snake or a bull snake.  It wasn't a coral snake or a garter snake.  Yep - it was a rattler.  So, Hunnyman went out before he went to work the next morning and he was gone.  You know what that means?  He wasn't dead after all.

The morale of this long and winding story is that I will no longer pull weeds in my flip flops and dishwashing gloves.  I will have my steel toed rubber boots, my long leather gloves and a shovel close by.  I knew Hman would ask why I didn't kill that snake, but I didn't want to kill a good snake.  A rattlesnake, on the other hand is a different story.  Besides, I don't know if I could drive a shovel down into a snake if he wasn't bothering me.  My favorite sister-in-law Janet can -- she whacks rats and frogs (and snakes) that have the misfortune of getting caught in her back yard.  And she does it in her flip flops.  She's like a superhero.  I should make her a cape.  

I hope you have a groovy weekend full of gentle breezes, maybe a little rain and a lot of whatever toots your horn.

Love to you all!

Posse vs Poop - Part Deux

OK - it's Thursday and I'm just now finishing up on last weekend.  My apologies -- it's been a busy week. 

Yesterday Hunnyman (Roger) had a day off in mid- week, which is rare.  We had the load in this picture ready to go to the landfill from Sunday.  I played hookie from work for the morning and we kicked BUTT on the trash.  It's all gone now!  We took this load  including filling the bed of the Dodge Dominator (it's a U of A thing).  Then we took two more loads!!!  What this picture doesn't show is the HUGE pile of mesquite trimmings to the left of the trash bags.  BTW - those bags may look innocent, but bags of sticks, twigs and Ratatouie (sp) poo ain't light.  Plus, there's all sort of broken glass and things waiting to puncture you.  Can you say tetanus shot?  Hunnyman did step on a rusty nail (everything's rusty out there), but it didn't go through his foot, just his shoe.  I had to go to work at 1 PM just to get some rest!

We hauled off the rest of the old corrals and all the RR ties (old, and termite ridden), 20 foot 2 x 12s (no worries - too rotten to use), and then raked the ground and filled 4 more 40 gal trash cans with sticks.  I think it may be time to invest in a chipper - that's some really good mulch, according to Kevin the Dump Dude.  So, that was all Wednesday.

OK - now jump back a few days with me.  All that trash and trimmings came from the hard work the Posse did on Sunday.  Remember -- Sandy burned up her chainsaw and we had to get Roger's out!  So on Sunday, Sandy, Bob, Deuce, Ace (Barbara S), Karen, Hunnyman and Yours Truly rocked on that shed and surrounding overgrowth.  Sandy had to wrestle bed springs and an entire chicken wire fence out of mesquite trees during the trimming.  There was so much debris out behind the shed that you couldn't even see the bed spring or wire!  It's like we gained 12" of  vertical real estate!  This picture is the before of all the brush.

We were so tired by the time we quit that I'm not sure we have a great picture of the after, but that area next to the shed is where Sandy unearthed the mattress springs and fence.

Now all that stuff you see in the picture is gone except the camper shells and the railroad tressels.  The tressels are a story in themselves.  A friend of my Dad's had a contract with the railroad and they cleaned up and replaced bridges for the trains.  Dad mentioned to him that we could use any spare RR ties he might come across (although I'm not sure why).  So he drags out five friggin pieces that are each 40 ft long and weigh about a million tons!  There's no way we can move them.  Then the guy died so I can't even call him up tell him to come take them back.  (No, he didn't die moving them, but I about did when I saw them.)  So I'm stuck with them.  If we can find someone to dig a trench and drop them down and use them as part of the road I will be happy.  But I won't hold my breath on that one.

So the culmination of the weekend was a fabulous dinner al fresco (I used to think that meant you ate naked but it just means eat outside).   We couldn't get a picture of everyone because Wyatt doesn't have thumbs and he can't operate a camera.  So Sandy took one picture and Karen took the other.  I know Karen.  She would rather I use the picture she took.  We all have full bellies and smiles of satisfaction.  The sore muscles came the next day.  For some reason, I look like Randy Jackson without a tan.

We did have some fun in the evenings, playing Rummikub or Cranium and even managed to get a little quilting in.  That's what we usually do when we get together.  We give Bob and Roger a 'to do' list and the girls sew (and eat).

I am truly blessed to be surrounded (and loved) by extraordinary people.  All of these souls came ready to work because they  knew what we were going to do and they still showed up, respirators and work gloves in hand.  The amount we were able to accomplish was pretty amazing.  It would have taken Roger and I two months of weekends just to get to this point.  And I know they will be back.  I love them all fiercely.  I will try not to  make it two workdays in a row, though.  One day of work and one of fun - that should be the reward.

I can actually see our glass studio coming true....

Posse vs Poop - Part ONE

I have started this post about four times.  It just never went anywhere.  How interesting can you make bags of pack rat poop?  So, I just decided to start and hopefully it will make sense.  It's in 2 parts to accommodate all the photos.

If you've read last week's update, you know that the Farmhouse Posse was riding in to help us start to clear out the big tin shed so we can start to build our first studio, which happens to be glass!  Well, let me tell you that we made a serious dent in the mess.

So, this is where we started.  The shed has two sides and one was full of old business records that packrats had been having their way with for a very long time.  We found cancelled checks and sales receipts from 1969 stuffed inside the drip pans of gas stoves circa 1940 - 1950.  Nests of twigs, pieces of mattress and lots of paperwork stuffed in every nook and cranny in old appliances.  Yum.  Believe it or not, I hope to restore one of these old beauties and put it to use.  Really!

Anyway, we only concentrated on the bigger part of the shed.  Among the more interesting things we found were my Dad's first lighted sign from a business, two car axles, about 25 windows of various sizes and styles and a spider egg sack the size of a golf ball.  I thought Hunnyman was going to shiver right out of his britches when I showed it to him.  Spiders like him.  He does not like spiders.  Most especially BIG spiders.  Thankfully it's inhabitants appear to have grown up and moved away long ago.  Still, it was pretty creepy.

So we decided to start making separate piles as we removed things. We didn't move any of the appliances because those old ones are unbelievably heavy and we don't yet have a plan for them.  We did make a pile of scrap metal that the junk guy will pick up -- mostly rusty stuff.  We are going to try and be as green as we can on re-using, re-purposing and re-cycling all these old found objects.  That being said, don't be surprised if you see my collection of Bullseye frit stored in an old propane refrigerator in the near future!  I credit Deuce (Sandy S) with that suggestion.  Brilliant!  Two camper shells may just become mosaic covered gazebos.  That's white trash art at it's finest.  I suspect some cool treasures in the side we didn't get into yet.

So here are Bob, Sandy R and Barbara all dressed up and ready to rumble.  Which they did, indeed!  Bob and I ended up putting on coveralls but Sandy R and Barbara just braved the piles of poop and spiderwebs, jumped in and got busy.

It was a nice day for shoveling what we were shoveling - overcast at times and breezy.  We were all very careful to wear our masks and even Karen wore hers while she manned the trailer and packed our landfill bound booty.  We pitched and she caught.  Karen and I have been doing that together for over 10 years at Artistry.  I sort of miss that, even though no one really thought unloading glass was fun.  That was because I had not yet shoved, bagged and loaded rat poop.

 

Here's Bob in his Bunny suit.  Sadly, there are no picture of me in mine (it was a lovely shade of cobweb vs. navy blue).   That's Barbara in the back clearing some brush from the old corrals.  Once upon another lifetime, I lived out here and have always loved it.  I had a horse in that old corral and chickens in the coop.  I hate roosters, but we had one.  Until we didn't.  I think he knew I was scared of him.  I don't like things that jump and fly unexpectedly, which is what roosters are prone to do.  That SOB would hide and wait for me to come gather the eggs.  He must have thought my legs didn't have enough texture because he would jump on me and rake those nasty talons down my legs and one day I had just had enough.  I waited for him.  ...With a 2 x 4 that was about 4 feet long.  I figured that was a good length because I wouldn't have to get too close, but I could still have excellent control of my swing and swat.  That's just what I did.  I swatted that rooster like a great big fly.  Then he just disappeared.  I told the other half that the coyotes must have got 'im.  You know what?  Chickens don't need a rooster to lay eggs.  Imagine that.

On Saturday we spent lots of time in the shed just cleaning.  As I said, we didn't move any of the appliances.  We're doing our research on what the best thing to do with them -- I'll keep you posted on that progress in a later entry.  Sandy shoveled, swept and bagged.  Barbara and Karen loaded boxes and bags until the trailer and truck bed were full.  Then Bob, Barbara and I headed off to the landfill and emptied our load.  Roger had to work on Saturday but he made up for it Sunday.

Once the inside was clear of everything except old propane refrigerators and stoves, most of us moved outside and continued clearing brush and trimming or removing trees.  Sandy R brought her own chainsaw.  You gotta love a gal with her own power tools.  She ended up burning that saw up on Saturday.  Luckily, Roger had a backup so there was no time lost! 

Continued on Part Two!

Showdown at the Tin Shed

A hale and hearty hello to you all! This blog will be brief, but hopefully I can convey my excitement about the upcoming weekend !! The Farmhouse Posse is riding in on Friday to help us clear some clutter. Now when I say clutter, I'm talking refrigerator size items that have been holding the same spot of the floor down for 20 - 30 years. When you have stationary items, some of which were once made of paper or fiber in a dark, unused, undisturbed building out in the middle of 100 acres of cotton, with a large water source close by -- what do you suppose you get? CRITTERS! Critters that aren't even cute when they're babies. That many critters over that many years in that big an area means that you can't even see whether the floor is dirt or cement. Soooooo, we're gloving up, doning our coveralls and bandanas (respirators) and will commence to pitching, tossing, shoveling, sweeping and finally, hosing down the big tin shed.

Then it will become the first (of many) studios at the Farm -- Glass Arts -- yeah!! We can finally get set up and start playing with glass again (after 2 long years). I see cutting tables, glass racks, kilns, soldering irons, Tiffany lamps, bandaids.....

This is a great random picture from last summer - just one of the views from behind the houses.  Cotton looks to be about July - August height.

I will take some fresh photos and if we live to tell, I'll post our progress next week. Just by way of introduction, the Posse coming in will be Builder Bob and his lovely bride Sandy (my usual partner in crime), Barbara I, Sandy II (aka Deuce), and Karen (she's the wild one of the bunch). Then, of course, yours truly and Hunnyman.  There's an extra bonus because all next week is free dump days at the local landfill - WAHOO!

So - check back next week!

Easter Weekend at the Farm

Pre-Note:  Our server at work went down (as I was writing this) on Monday about 5:30 and it wasn't repaired until just before 5 on Wednesday.

Well, Guys and Dolls, I'm back after a weekend filled with groans, grunts, dust, mud and (finally) smiles of satisfaction.  OK, most of the grunting and groaning were coming from Sandy and me.  We decided that while Bob and Roger were working on the water heater issue, we would start getting some of the rooms squared away.

For those of you who may not know, Roger and I moved into the Farmhouse in September of 2007.  We moved OUT of the farmhouse in August of 2009 when we decided that the sinking water heater issue was just too dangerous to chance.  Our daughter happened to have an empty house here that was about 3/4 finished and even that sounded good.  We asked if we could move in there and finished it for them (rent free of course).  Sounded like a win-win for everyone, so we are now squatters.  However, everyone seems to be happy.  When we left the Farmhouse, we weren't very nice to it.  We just left it a mess (as my friend BjB says, "Because you could".)  It was August, it was HOT and I had moved more in the past few years than I had in my entire life.  I was DONE.

So I have a huge attack of guilt every time I go back in there.  But even with the mess outside and the mess inside, that old house still feels like home.  Anyway – I digress – I’ll get back to this weekend.

The guys had a lot of work to do.  As I suspected, when they removed the 1" pipe going to the water heater, it only had a pinhole of light showing through it.  The rest of the interior of the pipe was rock hard with what I suspect at one time was the "rust colored oozy matter".

The boys discovered that the foundation of the floors consisted of (going on memory here) 2 x 12 planks laid diagonal to the floor boards with another row of planks (2 x 6?) laid at a 90 degree angle to the floor boards.  As luck would have it, there was a knot in the bottom plank directly under the water heater (where else would one put it?).  The nature of knots is not nice.  It probably started cracking 30 years ago. Anyway, without going into too much detail (Bob's going to tell me where I went wrong describing this), they were in and out of that hole in the floor all day Saturday with drills and hammers and saws-alls trying to get to what they needed.

When they weren't in the hole in the house, they were in the hole outside playing moles and digging further under the house from the back yard to try and get closer to the plumbing in the water heater closet -- which happens to be smack dab in the middle of the house.  So after hours of drilling, sawing, digging and shoveling both inside and out, they came to a stopping place.  It was time to pour some cement.

We had poured a small slab for a new water heater outside last summer when we originally started this repair and that’s when we discovered that we couldn’t go any further with the plumbing until we could get the old one out.  That's when we also discovered there was no crawlspace big enough for a human-type mammal.  Squirrels can run amok under there, but Hunnyman couldn't get under the house far enough to get near the water heater.  So he started digging a crawl space.  Well, after days of digging (like Andy digging out of Shawshank) he finally stopped.  That's where it has been since we just packed up like the Beverly Hillbillies and moved on up the road.

So the slab that we poured last summer just needed to be bigger so we can enclose the water heater.  So that's what Handy Hunny and Builder Bob proceeded to do.  Once it was poured, the weekend was pretty much done and we said 'adios' to the old gal until next weekend.

Thanks for reading this far - and sorry it took until Wednesday to get this blog out.  I included a few pictures of our worker bees from the project.  I didn't include any of the rooms that Sandy and I groaned over because they still need a few little things and then I'll post some before and afters.

Thank you a zillion times to our most faithful sidekicks, Bob and Sandy R.  They always are so generous with their time and talent.  I do not know why we deserve friends like we have.  But I'm sure glad we do.

In closing - Roger and I walked the fields last night but didn't work on the house.  It was windy but nice.  It takes about 40 minutes to go a mile but in our conversation, we went lots farther planning what will happen with the Farm.

Hugs to all!

Fallen Soldier

Good morning!  As promised, here are the pictures of the truly grody closet the water heater lived in for the past how ever many years.  The "fallen soldier" is laying off the front porch and looks to be pretty much drained of water.  I took a picture of the floor and one from the hall standing as far back at the wall will allow so you can see the "whole" space inside that door -- complete with the peek-a-boo plumbing wall.

I think you'll agree that Hunnyman will have a little issue trying to get any range for swinging a hammer when he takes that wall down.  Our most faithful friends, Bob and Sandy are coming up to help us this weekend.  Bob may be able to get around in there a little better.  He doesn't take up as much room as Roger does.  Bob always gets (stuck with) the tight jobs - he's such a trooper.  I suspect we will need to do something under the floor to hold the heater up (ya think?) while we (they) remove the bad parts of the floor.  Oh - I guess that would be ALL of the floor.  Not quite sure how this will happen, but have no fear because the brain trust that is Roger and Bob have always figured out how to make things work out.  It's just better that Sandy and I aren't hovering and putting our two cents in, what with them having hammers and crowbars and other heavy tools of mass destruction.

So, Sandy and I will play Vanna I and II by hauling out the debris, mopping their foreheads and if required, selling them a vowel. (They may need them with the words they will be using).  Or we could just pull weeds or vacuum icky corners or clean the porch.  It's good to have choices.  We work really well together - and I haven't seen her in months.  Fun will be had by all.

BTW - I did cruise around the cotton field last night.  It was really nice.  I took my phone in case a giant rattlesnake bit me or Nessie came up out of the swamp but it was dead (the phone, not Nessie) anyway and the walk was peacefully uneventful.

OK - I'll close for now.  Hugs to you all and thanks for reading.

Big House - first strike

The true first task was removing the collapsing, leaking, molding water heater out of the big house last night!!!  Or I should say Roger got it out, I just mopped up after wards.  You see, it was completely full of water and sinking into the rotting floor.  He couldn't get a hose to attach to the nasty, rusty valve in order to drain the 40+ gallons of water, so he just muscled it up and out, tipped that grody thing down and wheeled it out on an appliance dolly, sloshing and splashing all the way.  That's my man.  We figured 40 gals x 8 lbs per is 320 lbs of water plus the weight of the sediment and the water heater.  By the time it was done, it was too dark for a photo op but I'll try and get one tonight.  Wait till you see the closet it came out of - YUCK!!!

The water heater was the reason we decided to move out while we ruminated on what to do with the big house.  It's a gas water heater and when we noticed it was sinking into the floor and the boards under it were getting white and powdery (mold), we knew it wasn't a good situation.  I was afraid of the gas pigtail starting to leak if the water heater sank and there's just no good ending to that story.  Then when we got the water heater out and discovered the nest of pipes DIRECTLY under it, we would have had one hell of a catastrophy.

This weekend we will start taking down the plumbing wall so we (a term that will be used loosely throughout this adventure, but it's mostly "he") can replace the plumbing that was installed somewhere between 1938 and 1950.  I figure there's a little more than a string's width of water coursing through those 1" pipes -- the rest is occupied by the red, oozy matter. 

The walls are lathe and plaster - oh joy.  There's not even enough room in that "closet" to swing a sledge hammer so I don't know how fast/slow the demo will go on that.  I do know it's not like breaking drywall.  The heater (which is slightly smaller than a Volkswagen) also lives in there with the water heater.  The master bedroom closet is on the backside of the plumbing wall.  Hmmmm.  Maybe the closet will need to get a little smaller.  A nice armoire could suffice in lieu of, right?

The floor is a completely different matter.  Wood with a dirt lining and no crawl space --- oh, and Roger says most of the water lines for the house all run under the water heater.  He will probably have to re-plumb everything.  Notice I did not say 'we' this time.  My friend Lynnie says she wanted to be a plumber, but she's an internationally known fusing and bead artist.  Be still your heart because she will be teaching here at some point, she promises.  Still, I may call on her to come assist on plumbing matters from time to time.  It's always good to have a fall back vocation and she should keep those skills sharp.

Roger has a meeting at work tonight, so I will go back out and take some pics to document the 'before'.  Those 'befores' are going to be really important so we can all be reminded of just how far we've come.

I also hope to take a walk around the cotton fields tonight before it gets dark.  I miss that.  I think we figured the perimeters of two fields is about a mile.

Until later, Gators...

The official Start

It's official - we have started the improvement of the Big House. I've decided to track our progress on a blog, as I told my friend Steve, for a few reasons, the most important of which is to keep us motivated.

We have so many wonderful friends from our former life in Tempe that keep tabs on our progress. It's our hope that with everyone's well wishes and encouragement -- we will reach our ultimate goal sooner rather than later. Oh, and feel free to come up and see us yourself. Bring your work gloves.

FarmHouse Arts wants very much to be a place of laughter, creativity, peace and prosperity for all who get involved. We don't have a grand plan beyond that so we are tackling the obvious. Now, of course to get to where we want to be will involve lots and lots (and lots) of hard work. Here's the shortlist of our opportunity:

1 large brick barn - technically off limits because that's where my Dad keeps his stuff
1 large farm house (in this picture) 3 bdrm 2 bath. I'll go into the history of the place later.
1 small house (not currently livable)
1 - 3 room adobe storage building
1 - large tin barn
7 acres of potential.

I'll give the details of each building as we start to work on it. Some will probably come down, some will be shored up and some we will gut and go from there. This place has some history, for sure. I started a 'To Do' list once last year and got so depressed I had to toss it. As my good friend Cindy says "Baby Steps". OK - Baby steps will do just fine.

So, I'd love your comments and observations.