The World Got Crazy

So much has happened in the last few weeks, I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I will backtrack with events, then I’ll go over some of the progress we’ve made.

First off — Chicken Disaster

I had about 9 roosters and 85 hens. They were all so loving and tame, and so many different breeds since I have almost had a chicken rescue. I now have about 14 hens and 4 roosters. We were invaded by rogue dogs, coyotes and a few grey fox.

We, at first, couldn’t figure out what was going wrong. Sometimes I would just find a pile of feathers. I was frantic. My two pot-belly pigs had scratches and bite marks, and they were skittish and never left each other’s side, always ready to declare war on anything but me. Jim decided to stand stood watch one evening with his rifle and discovered what was causing the havoc.

These predators had found a hole in our fencing that is now fixed, but in early evening they were having themselves a feast. No more! After a week of peace the chickens and pigs have settled down and are mellow again, but it was crazy for a few nights.

Second Disaster — Theft at our House

We don’t maintain a schedule of when we went to our house to work — sometimes it was every day, sometimes we stayed overnight, sometimes we would not go for a week. Every time we go we load up either vehicles Jim is working on (his hobby is repairing/restoring vehicles), towing our other vehicles down, or loading up materials, tools and packed boxes.

About a month ago we drove down in two vehicles — our pick-up truck loaded with stuff and Jim’s white Jeep Wrangler with black soft top. He had just finished fixing it up with new tires, stereo system, rebuilt motor, etc. We had plans to use it in the near future to take a fishing/camping trip and were excited that it was finally ready to roll. This picture was taken just before the new tires and hubs were put on – Jim put on some heavy-duty black hubs when replacing the tires.

Well, one night when we were not there, someone cut the fence, drove over the fence posts (pretty much destroying them), and towed the Jeep away! They had to have destroyed the steering column in order to allow the wheels to turn because the wheels froze when not started, and the thief certainly did not have the key. We are crushed! After years of working on it and slowly saving up money for parts, etc., we were actually going to be able to use it.

So, obviously, if anyone sees it, I ask that the Socorro Sheriff’s office be called immediately (575-835-0941).

Household Progress

I’ve been painting, Jim’s been working on improving the lighting in the house.

This is the new fixture in the bedroom! The ceiling is a pastel mint green, the trim is mint green and the walls are white. It has turned into my favorite room at this point!

In the kitchen, there was one very dark corner — not any more! This hanging light is now going to grace what will one day be my “Coffee Corner.”

Then outside, we decided something had to be done before winter hits to try to save as much of the wood as possible. So, I tested the blue we acquired for the trim. What do you think?

Then with a simple white base coat I started to paint the wooden ristras (see the dark brown, weatherworn wood above the window?). The blue trim paint will be done later.

Last bit of progress — the alternate section of the kitchen was equally dark, so I painted the door of the pantry. Its amazing how a little bit of paint brightened everything up! Here’s the before and after:

Invasion!

Rather than continue the almost endless saga of rebuilding and fixing walls (I think its boring to keep talking about it), I haven’t written anything for a while.

In late spring I planted a bunch of veggies from seeds and had high hopes — squashes, pumpkins, chili (hatch, poblano), tomatoes, just a nice variety. The plan was to let the plants grow big enough to show off and to share my dreams of what the harvest would be like. I took plans and precautions to ward off every bug imaginable. I developed a watering system to ensure my beloved greenery would never lack. The soil was mixed with all my mulch that had been carefully developed and mixed with the local soil. Well, reality check.

When not looking my beautiful, little plants were invaded by mice and squirrels. I mean, not just nibbled or chewed on, but munched down to the soil!!! I now have three tomato plants left.

They are in pots, on top of a table that would be hard for the critters to reach, and the area around the table is booby-trapped! I was pleased and hopeful that I will now at least have some tomatoes. And — these are heirloom purple tomatoes, so I’m excited.

There was one consideration I overlooked, however. Although I did not want all of what was left being decimated, I did not wish harm to the critters. I did not realize that I inadvertently created a deadly booby-trap. Next to the house I had blue barrels in which I collect rain water. One of the barrels was almost full.

It appears that one pair of squirrels tried to climb onto the roof to try to take a lizard leap onto the table and fell into the barrel. They were unable to get out and drowned. They left a little squirrel behind, so now I have another mouth to feed. Egads, I almost feel like I’m responsible for two innocent deaths. If it weren’t for the fact that they destroyed all my other plants, I might feel guilty.

Let There Be Light!

We have been focusing on finishing up the base coat of paint on anything that doesn’t need patching. Just the blah-white base coat is brightening things so much.

Corner of kitchen — OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This is one corner in the kitchen. You can see where we’ve put down the base coat — the vomit violet is still visible around the area that needs patching. Behind this wall was the busted water heater we took out. As soon as the wall is done drying out, we will be able to patch it.

While I was putting base coat down, Jim got busy with the wiring. A lot of the wiring was done wrong, so he redid the wiring in the kitchen ceiling, installed a huge light fixture, and set it up so it has an on-off switch instead of a pull cord hanging off a light bulb. Wow — talk about a major difference! The fixture has wood trim, but it’s hard to see against the ceiling (which will be completely replaced one day).

Soon the piping for the stove will be redone so it will be against the back wall instead, and then, we will repair the wall by the wood-burning oven.

We have also temporarily set up the bedroom with a cot and a few amenities. This way we can come in to work, spend one night, and the following day work until late afternoon. We have animals to feed, so we can’t be gone that long!

Jim has also been rewiring everything in the bedroom. There were light switches that didn’t work, exposed wires hanging from the ceiling, and a bare bulb with a pull chain in one corner.

He’s installed an old hanging lamp he had in storage that works with a dimmer switch! It’s perfect for us in the bedroom. And, yes, we still have newspaper taped to the windows. We haven’t finished painting yet, so there was no point in removing the paper.

My seedlings should be ready to plant next week, so we’ll probably focus a little on rototilling the garden plot next time we are there. I’m so excited to start on our crop of veggies!

Progress & Problems

We finally got the main cabinets in the kitchen installed. The sink and plumbing proved to be a challenge. The stainless steel sink was a little too big for the cabinets, so Jim had to trim the wood a little. The faucet set fit perfectly, but the plumbing under the sink required extra effort and attention because the old pipes were not correct. Jim redid the plumbing and the overall results have me smiling.

We had planned that I continue painting base coat on various walls while Jim removed the water heater. Last year we purchased one of those tankless water heaters and set it aside to install later. It was decided that to celebrate our first set of cabinets in the kitchen we would install the tankless heater. And so the next nightmare began — although the discovery explained why one of the livingroom walls was in such bad shape and continuing to worsen.

We opened the water closet and discovered water all over the floor. It looked like the tank was leaking near the front, but it seemed odd that there would be so much water from that one drip. So, the water was turned off at the main hook-up and the work to remove the tank began. First, disconnection of the pipes leading into the tank and looping them together. The tank was drained and Jim dragged it outside. The water pipes were secured and the main hook-up was turned back on. Then, the fun began.

When the tank had been disconnected, the main pipe leading into the tank had snapped apart just under the ground, so when the water was turned back on it looked like a geyser! Panic to turn the water off….

Jim had to literally dig for a while to find that the pipes had rusted completely apart, so when jostled, they snapped apart. He dug a sizable pit to find the first joint down, removed the remains of the useless pipe, investigated whether the remaining pipe was usable, and then he capped it. Then it was time to turn the water back on. Hallelujah — the geyser was gone!

The next challenge… when the water had last been turned off, dirt and mud fell into the line before the broken pipe was exposed, so all that yuck fell in and plugged everything! When we tried to run the water in the bathroom sink or bathtub, nothing came out! Turn the water off again….

Poor Jim’s simple project of removing that huge, antiquated water heater turned into an all day nightmare! He now had to remove the piping in the sink in order to flush out the mud and debris. Of course, the shut-off valve under the sink didn’t turn in order to accomplish the mission. Oh no, it had to snap off and come apart.

Bottom Line: Jim flushed out the lines, the sink and tub work, as does the toilet and kitchen sink. Hurray!

Behind the water closet is one wall of the living room, which is in nightmarish condition and kept getting worse. We assumed it was a leaky roof, but it didn’t make sense that the deteriorating adobe was happening from the bottom up. We know now! As you can see from the picture, this is a problem that has been going on for years. The ground under the house was completely saturated from years of leaking due to rusted out pipes, there is mold in the water closet and it was destroying two other walls. So, we are going to let that area completely dry out and we’ll treat the mold to eliminate it — all before being able to install the tankless water heater. Guess its cold showers for a while!

Beginning New Year’s Efforts

About a week ago we had a major wind storm blow through. Anything loose was flying all over the llano (desert plains), including people that were silly enough to be out there. Well, your’s truly was out there to feed the hooligans. Couldn’t believe the chickens braved those winds — hunkered down, but out of the hen house and following behind me as best they could in anticipation of food and treats.

While out there, I kept hearing this loud chirping but couldn’t see them from inside the chicken run. After feeding and watering the pigs and chickens, I went to investigate. A few feet outside the chicken run were seven two-legged cotton balls being blown by the wind so hard they were being rolled across the yard! Felt so sorry for those little buggers. I chased around and stuck them in the feed bucket as I caught them. They were so traumatized, they just sat and huffed without making a sound!

Those puff balls are now in a dog crate in my living room. They are some happy little buggers and each eat enough to feed two chickens. Can’t believe I have chicks already. Wasn’t planning on having any until the end of this month or middle of next month. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

With the weather warming we’ve started working on the house again While Jim was patching and plumbing, I started painting. I managed to do all the cutting in of the bedroom windows and the last two walls. The first two walls were done when my Mom was out visiting. It was time to finish up!

You get an idea here of how dark the colors were. The windows had been painted a real dark brick red with the dark yellowish walls, dark brick red ceiling and black painted press wood flooring.

The one corner of the bedroom has a small wood-burning stove. Near the ceiling, behind the stovepipe, the wall was almost gone. So Jim patched that huge hole. We won’t tackle the ceiling until the roof is repaired, so for now it stays the brooding brick color.

The work has begun — and one of my goals for this month is to rototill the section where my future garden will be going. Am starting seeds and have high hopes!

Temporary Hiatus

With the weather having been so cold, then wet, then cold, then super windy, then rain… we took a break from working on the house. Doesn’t mean we quit working altogether though.

We’ve been planning how to do things, what things to focus on, what materials are going to be needed and in some cases, pre-buying the materials as we have the money. It can be overwhelming sometimes when we consider our To-Do list.

One day when we were in town we stopped by a thrift store to take a break from appointments. Thrift stores are wonderful — its amazing some of the things we have been able to find. There have been new appliances, electrical fixtures, kitchen utensils, and, of course, the occasional “I can’t believe this!” type of find in the clothing section. On this particular day I found something that made my jaw drop.

For those who don’t know me — I collect frogs. Have been doing so since my teens, but I look for the rare and unusual. The mass-produced clay frogs found at every department store will not please me, but the weird always will

On this particular day I found the ugliest frog item that I’ve seen in a long time. I loved it! Had to have it!! And I even justified the purchase by having the perfect use for it. What do you think?

So what am I gonna use it for? This rare, exotic vase is going to hold my wooden spoons in the kitchen

With the weather warming up next week, we plan on starting on the garden so while Jim is doing the heavy construction stuff in the house, I can putter in the dirt. Am digging through seed catalogs now, so I’ll report back on what I hope to plant in my next update.

Encouraging Touches

Despite the cold weather (to us in New Mexico, anything lower than 50 degrees is cold), we have tried to continue our work at wall repair. Unfortunately, the cold means the fresh adobe we’re using to repair the walls does not dry very quickly, not to mention the fact that mixing up the raw adobe outside in the wind and rain is challenging. Firing up the woodburning stoves help, but we needed something that is a little more consistent and less labor intensive. So, Jim went on-line to hunt for a propane heater that we could use.

We found one, but its going to require some work. Needless to say, Jim has a new project that he’s working on and it is taking priority over all else. He’s ordered some parts for it, and now we wait.

We’ve been firing up the wood-burning stoves as usual, continue to work on patching and repairing walls, and decided we needed a moral boost. So we started painting.

After several coats of white primer, we painted one wall in the kitchen. Mom had visited last month and this is the color she suggested for the kitchen. We taped paper on everything that was not to be painted and got to work. What do you think?

This is the window above the sink area — first taped up, then painted.

This is the area around the door. Again, first taped up, then painted.

What do you think?

We were “on a roll,” so we attacked the dungeon room (to one day be the dining room). The walls need repair and had been painted with a dark brown brick color and dark brown trim. The room has a tiny window that is obstructed by a swamp cooler making it oppressive.

This was the room we had most of the tools in with a work table. As you can see from the pictures, the walls will need a lot of work, but with the white primer, the room looks so different!

Yes, some of the original color is still bleeding through. Yes, the dull white is boring. However, now we can even see what we’re doing in there now!

This has us really fired up. Instead of just making adobe, dragging the buckets in, then patching and patching and patching, then waiting for the patches to dry (which takes forever in the cold). Now we are starting to really see some progress. Yes, there’s still a lot of work to do. But there’s hope!!

Holiday Hiatus

We had thought to finish most of the kitchen before the holidays. Included in the plans was moving the propane stove out of the dark corner. After disconnecting the propane lines and moving the stove away from the wall, we found that wall and flooring was also in awful condition. So, Jim patched and filled in the holes in the wall and put in cement on the floor. Now we wait for everything to dry.

My Mom also came out to visit for Christmas, so we enlisted her help in priming a few walls in the bedroom. The walls were a dark brick red with black ceiling and black floor — depressing! So, focusing on two walls that don’t require much attention other than painting, Mom and I accomplished great feats! Jim fired up the spray painter and we’ve discovered Mom loved that gizmo!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After these accomplishments, we decided to let the house rest so we could enjoy Mom’s company to go shopping, watching movies, story telling, cooking and laughing. Mom made some of her infamous Apple Bread and Death by Chocolate Cake. Jim ate so much cake he made himself sick, but that hasn’t stopped any of us from appreciating Mom’s culinary delights!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I absolutely hated to see Mom leave to go home, but we plan on making a trip this year to see her. So, I guess a temporary separation isn’t too bad.

One Wall Almost Done!

Jim has pretty much finished the one kitchen wall and is working on the flooring in front of the wall now. Turns out the flooring was put directly on dirt, so some of the flooring is horribly warped or rotted. Jim plans on putting down cement on the area below the area where the long kitchen cabinet will be placed, then cover with tongue-in-grove planks. The final step will be installing the cabinet and hooking up the plumbing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We also started working on the living room. On one wall there was a huge area above a small window that was in horrible shape. It was possible to see the great outdoors through the wall! Jim has filled in the gaps with that new cement-adobe mixture and a huge draft is now gone!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Once the large cabinet in the kitchen is in place (with plumbing hooked up), we’ll finish off the livingroom wall.

When not working on the two walls, focus has been made to patch the roof. Whenever it rained, water gushed into the house and the walls at the gush melted down and made huge mud puddles in the house. Most of the puddles were in the sun room and bedroom.

I’d show pictures of the roof’s progress, but it would take some major event for me to mount those ladders just to take pictures! Egads, how does Jim do it? For that matter, how do roofers do it? I’d need two-three well-secured safety harnesses and a case of Depends….

Drippy Weather Brings Us Inside

It looks like the warm weather is pretty much over, and now that the sky has become a constant cold shower (I prefer hot baths), concentrated work has begun on the inside of the house. As reported in the last post, the kitchen had to be the first room to start on.

We took down the old counter and cleaned up the one wall to start work. Jim found out about a type of adobe-mortar that is recommended for an adobe-style rammed earth mix. Basically the adobe mix includes 10% of cement, and when it dries it looks like the typical adobe but is waterproof. Jim mixes everything in a wheelbarrow outside and rolls it in when filled with the thick, damp goo. It kind of looks like a very dark bread dough.

Here’s the result of 10 days work in repairing the one wall in the kitchen. Its a little hard to see some of the deep holes in the first picture, but trust me — some of those holes made it possible to see the great outdoors when sitting on the floor. Now its all filled in and smooth and we are preparing to begin working on the flooring in front of that wall. We just have to let the wall finish drying.

We’re debating whether to paint the whole wall before installing the counter and sink or leaving the wall looking raw because the counter will be covering it. The paint is going to be a plain, flat white to serve as a base coat for future painting. At the present the walls are an awful shade of purple and the ceiling is made of sheets of plywood that are painted a very dark brown.

We have another week before we can install the counter, so if you get a chance, give me your opinion! We are really torn and we continue to debate paint or no paint with no solid decision.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Tomorrow we are going to try an experiment. We will be bringing our cat (Chamako) with us. He absolutely loves hunting, stalking and catching mice. There are plenty of prey for him and although he’s never been here, we are hopeful that within a few minutes of exploration that he will begin the hunt. Crossing our fingers!

LeeFran Homestead

Surviving & Thriving in the Country

The World Got Crazy

Invasion!

Let There Be Light!

Progress & Problems

Beginning New Year’s Efforts

Temporary Hiatus

Encouraging Touches

Holiday Hiatus

One Wall Almost Done!

Drippy Weather Brings Us Inside