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End of the Road Farm
Hopalong:
--- Quote ---I've GOT to get one side of the barn graded
--- End quote ---
The only word that gave me pause in your entire post was this...I've. :D
Y'all are such JOCKS! So...errr...manly! (In the best way.)
Said with deep jealousy by fluffy Hops, sitting in her puddle of pudge, contemplating how she's reaped the fair reward of living from the collarbone up for too many years now.
OOF. To get myself back in minimal shape is going to take a year or two. And I can't tell you what an inspiration it is to read about you real Amazons believing, unintimidated, that you've GOT to do some phenomenally concrete, real-world, quite challenging physical thing. What IS that?
I'm feeling faint. Pass me a Mimosa. But, seriously, thank youse!
Yours in awe,
Hops
Hopalong:
PS, Amber-- Is this about age or about being female, or both?
You ain't going gently into that good night, I can tell ya that.
I so like your feisty.
Same time, really REALLY hope you guess well and with positive acceptance about the natural thresholds of sensible self-restricting ability compromise that do come, just part of nature, etc. etc. Live long and prosper, please! Do not be killed by a Bobcat, 'mkay?
xxoo
sKePTiKal:
Hopsy, did you know I rode my own motorcycle - in Baltimore and surrounding areas - for 3 years? LOL. I did quit riding while I was accident-free. Other things I wanted to do.
It's my competitive streak (and that spark of feminism that says skills aren't male/female), that makes me determined to conquer these so-called "manly" things. It's my living alone - sans the compromises of adding a man to the equation - and my age that requires I use the proper tools for the jobs that need doing. It's not all that intimidating a piece of machinery; less so for me than a tractor - but equally as useful in my up and down terrain (very very few actual "flat" places Lighter).
And it's the "I can'ts" in my head that make me figure out a way to do these things. I had to essentially cull through the manual - which is encyclopedic - and highlight pertinant information to create my own "order of operations" and task-related controls (applying the info to what I wanted the machine to DO) cheatsheet. It fits on an index card. The manual was disorganized too. The actual starting up procedure was 100 pages in. Who thought that made sense??
I still had one issue yesterday which required a trip back to the house for the manual I forgot to take out with me. And it turned out the instructions/photo were useless anyway. But I figured out what I needed to... got the bucket securely re-attached, scooped a little dirt, raised the arms and dumped it... and I was going to back up and make another pass. SUCCESS. When it wouldn't go anywhere.
The cab/seat restraints (for safety I get that) are such that I can barely SEE what the machine is doing. The operator needs to rely on "feel" instead. I was spinning the wheels and burying the machine in the mud. But I went the opposite direction, got it in front of the barn, shut it down and am now waiting the for monsoon to stop and the ground to dry out enough that I can get back on this task. So my frustration/patience thresholds are in inverse correlation to each other right now.
But yesterday's session gets me over the hump, I think. I'm functional for now. I need to go slow. I DO need hours on this machine, to really get used to it and to see the ROI in concrete terms of work completed. But I also have other things on the "list"... and a lot of days deal with being torn over which one is more time-sensitive or important.
Lighter - all I'm trying to do is create a grade AWAY from and lower from the barn, to direct the runoff that's been coming down for two months away from the building. Right now, anyway. So, a swale that's lower than the dirt/slab at the barn to channel these downpours somewhere else. Probably end up needing some drain pipe too. Once that's down... I'll level room for a drive up to the the big doors and terraces for actual garden beds.
This is a bigger project than could be done in a timely fashion by hand tools. So that's why the bobcat. This much rain is highly unusual here even this time of year. (We're 5 in above normal so far; flooding is a problem now too.) But the silver lining is that I can SEE with my own eyes, where I'm going to need to plan to direct the water around the beds (so they don't wash away) to take advantage of what rain we do get in dry years... and let the beds drain well enough that my garden doesn't drown.
I'm earth scupting. My first really big 3-D art project... that has to function well, too. Haven't studied a blessed thing except the dirt right there and am following the basic principle that water seeks the lowest point to travel to... and my intuition. I DID miss the elevation change when I sited the concrete slab. Big mistake, too - and since the house we built in the 90s was in the same kind of situation I really should've noticed this. But I was in a big hurry. Hence the mistake that needs to be fixed.
With this much acreage, I'll get my use out of the bobcat over the years for various ideas that play around in my imaginative mind. But I'm still going to need actual men to come cut trees for me. The bobcat has an attachment that will load the logs on a trailer or truck... get it to my wood splitter/storage area. Two main elements I'm trying to design this place for -- the inevitable aging issue on my part, and self-sufficiency off grid - just in case. I'm not so acsetic that I'll forgo the basic modern conveniences until I have to. The wood stoves help me manage the propane usage (high cost) too. They're modern stoves and efficient in several important ways.
Timing is still everything. When the monsoon woke me up this morning, I realize I was REALLY glad I did the window/door replacement LAST YEAR. The guys would barely find a day they could work in this mess - and the rain is slowing down the power to the barn project even. I've even had to carefully time my online shopping because my road/driveway have taken a hit from all this rain. (But I'm glad I got new beefier tires on the Cherokee before it started.) Driveway part 1 is done; but I need to stay on it and find a window to start getting it gravelled. Flooring downstairs is supposed to happen in July; I don't have a tentative date for that yet...but I'm clearing stuff out of that space in-between other stuff that has to happen when it's NOT raining.
Hopalong:
Day-YUM.
I am poleaxed with awe. And respect.
Overwhelming drive, creativity, determination and RESULTS.
Truly Amazonian, and inspiring..
Wowzers, profound wowzers.
Wheesh.
So enjoyed this, Amber.
(I missed competitive genes entirely but love hearing how they work!)
Hugs
Hops
lighter:
Hops:
When you think of becoming more active, think in terms of getting your heart rate up for 20 seconds... however you do this.... then rest for a minute, then up for 20 seconds, then rest for a minute, then up for 20 seconds, then call if done till you do it again 2 more times in a week.
What is that? Less than 10 minutes a week, for sure.
Also, if you do it an hour before you eat anything it will rev up the hormone production... growth hormones, etc.
You might find that eating twice a day, whatever calories you take in, suits. Or three, or one, but not more than that since it drives up insulin and keeps you burning what you're eating.
If you let insulin levels drop off, you're body switches to burning your stored energy reserves, and this is the key to keeping off the weight, and not gaining it back.
Fewer meals, no snacking is how cavemen lived. It can work for us.
Amber:
You motor cycle driving Amazon, you: )
Fearless in so many ways.... of course you can master this Bobcat.
Lighter
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