~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[debilorrah]

Chairs from the old place - your house is your home. I LOVE that wall lamp!!!

 

[gryeyes]

My metal sign came yesterday! This is what I am going to have hung over an entrance gate, and I just love it!

Lowe's called, wanting to deliver my appliances today. Uhhh, no, I am not at my property. Today was the day to contact me to SCHEDULE it for later. Turns out delivering it on Sunday (isn't that Father's Day?) is good for them, so it will be good for me.

Monday, I'll take the paperwork to the County Planning & Building Department to get the permit for the propane work to be done. (It's my every other Monday off.)

The well digging guy called yesterday, too, and said I'd sent him the wrong plot map for my property. Uhhh, that's what was in my purchase package.... and I sure couldn't make heads nor tails of it. Well, given that it's actually NOT my property plot, that's not too surprising. So the well guy is gonna search for the correct one in the county records, because he HAS to have it for the permit for the well work.

I took a few things Up The Hill last night and had dinner with my friends before I headed back Down The Hill. Big, nearly full moon - LOVELY drive. For most of the drive, I was the only vehicle on the road. Well, until I hit the night-time construction on the highway, involving one lane closures and pilot cars, so I didn't get home until nearly 1 a.m.

Since this is the 15th of June, I am beginning to feel I might actually be able to SERIOUSLY move in shortly after the first of July!

 

[SuziQ991]

That metal sign will look Wonderful over your gate!!! I'm so excited for you!

 

[Carols Clucks]

Love it!

 

[Kansaseq]

Great sign; may I ask where you got it?

 

[dmccann]

I am happy 4 u !

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Found it on eBay. The original sales items were various circles with various things inside, like a big buck, or a John Deere tractor, or a trio of pine trees, and the offerings were for the last name on the top and "WELCOME" on the bottom. I contacted the vendor and asked about special order with "HOMESTEAD" replacing "WELCOME." The seller said it could be done for the regular price of the Welcome signs but would take a bit longer for the fabrication time.

I am at work right now, or I would pull up the specific seller on eBay to display here. (eBay is a an even worse no-no to surf at work than BYC.) Tonight I'll update this post with the link to the vendor. That sign only cost me $40.00 and it's a very nice weight of metal, not flimsy at all. I am extremely pleased with it.

 

[Kansaseq]

Wow, that's very reasonably priced! I thought you paid much more for it. Thanks very much for the information

 

[HHandbasket]

I know we will be happy when you're up here full time!

 

[gryeyes]

I left work Friday and headed straight Up The Hill to my house. As I pulled around the circular driveway, I saw this:

Is that cool, or what?!?!?!?!

Here's what it looks like with the people door open:

Here's what it looks like from the inside looking out:

That wall is SO well constructed, the entire, flimsy garage is never gonna fall down, now.

Saturday morning, I put together this solar fountain. The solar collector is off the porch in the sun at the side of the house.

I've had that fountain in the box for more than two years, just waiting for the perfect place to set it up.

The contractor showed up around 9:30 and presented his bill with receipt for materials. Then we walked around and he showed me the work he'd done inside, replacing all of the Romex cable and installing three new junction boxes. The light fixture on the outside is going to be very nice and will come on at dusk and go off at dawn.

I'd already said I would paint the wall, so he said he would be back Monday morning to dig the trench for the underground conduit to hook up the electricity, cut a hole in one of the garage side walls, install the automatic chicken door, and secure the hardware cloth. MY "homework" is to prime the new wall and all exposed edges before he puts up the hardware cloth and trim.

The tree I need to have taken down is right next to the garage. I guessed it was 80-100 feet tall. He said, "You know, there's a way to calculate the height of that tree." "Ahhh, the Pythagorean theorem?" I responded, pleased that I remembered something from High School geometry. "You run up the tree with a measuring tape," he said, with a perfectly straight face.

He cracked a smile when I whapped him on the upper arm. I'm not in the habit of striking folks, but I thought that set-up deserved a gentle whap. (And he said the tree was a good 100 feet tall.) He said he "knew a good tree man." I blurted one of those doltish "Really?" reponses (like he would lie about it??) and he said, nodding, "Linda, everybody up here has to know a good tree man."

The tree will be felled, the branches "chipped" (I cannot help but think of the movie "Fargo" any time somebody refers to a wood chipper), the trunk cut into usable chunks and donated to the nearby community church for firewood. An appointment with "the good tree man" has been made for Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. - I don't have to be there. He'll relay the estimate prices to me.

I had to come down the hill to load more stuff in my car, do laundry, and check on my flock, of course. I'll return Sunday morning, MAYBE by 9:30. HHandbasket is going to help me paint the "Chicken Wall." (That's how it's listed on the contractor's itemized bill!) I'll spend Sunday night there; gotta go to the El Dorado County Planning and Building Department for the propane permit on Monday morning.

Back in West Sacramento, the flock was doing just fine. The new gosling boy is now named "Angus." Nobody minds his presence, he waddles around all over the place unmolested.

This is Angus doing what geese do: grooming the grass very closely.

And here he is following some of the roosters. Bartholomew, to the far right, is a HUGE BJG.