The past two weeks have been continued financial challenges. The tax bill rolled in for the farm~ went up threefold because of our purchase and because we cannot claim the homestead tax exemption. On the bright side, it is not due until mid-September. That gives me a little while to pile on more work and more projects to make some more money.
Luckily we were able to spend a full day on the farm on July 3rd. It was a holiday for my full time pet job and I was not scheduled for any hours at Pier 1, I did squeeze in a secret shop assignment on Thursday night before we left.
The mosquitos were a’plenty out there! We had to dip ourselves in DEET to keep from getting eaten alive! I am hoping to find a not so chemical solution to my horrible attraction for bitey bugs. If anyone has suggestions please let me know!
I dug a nice fire pit for our cooking fire and some heat at night- it did cool down a bit. We set up camp at midnight again, seems to be the norm, arriving in the middle of the night. The dogs of course just love being out there no matter what time of day it is! There is so much for them to explore and sniff. I think they really like to sleep in the tent with us too. It’s very cuddly.
The first fire pit
So, as far as farm work goes, we have about half of the open field mowed. One of our great neighbors is helping us to get that accomplished. We also love to visit our neighborhood hardware ( or as Doug Landers would call it, Easyware) store- Lander’s Hardware in Bangor. They are really great there and Mark, the manager, lives around the corner- he’s always offering to help us out. He even came by in the evening to pick up the rental equipment for us! Then he stayed and chatted for about an hour. I love learning new things and history from the folks who live by us. Many of them have lived here for years and their families established farms a hundred years ago!
When I dug the fire pit I was very happy to see that the good topsoil went down about 12 inches and there were lots of worms! I dug way down so I could save as many as I could from the perils of the fire we were going to build there. I built up a little berm with the removed soil and Jody sprinkled some pepper seeds on it just to see what would happen.
I had to get back to work in the city on Saturday so we were up and packing early on Independence Day. Too bad, because we never seem to have enough time out there to really get things going.
One day soon we will, I am confident.
July 12, 2009 at 3:05 pm |
I understand you plight over mosquito bites. In the late fifties we lived in Minnesota for a while, the mosquitoes looked like part of the Minnesota Air National Guard. Jedd presently lives in a rural part of Georgia and spends a lot of time outdoors. He swears by a product call Off Clip-on. I on the other hand, try not to go out after the sun goes down because bugs gravitate to me.
We wish you and Jody the best on BigHead Farm and continue to monitor your progress over you sites. Wish Jody our best on his trip to California to fight forest fires.
Best of luck from Jacksonville, FL.
Jack and Monique