Our view

Our view

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year's Eve!  I hope this one will be a fun and exciting one but also a safe one too!  Tim and I will be apart this New Year's Eve for the first time since we have been together.  It will be different but we will still bring in the New Year together over the phone!  Now quite the same but we will still be together.  I am staying in Florida a bit longer and Tim is up in Tennessee battling the elements and working on replacing our refrigerator that decided to quit working.  We are going to replace it with a regular refrigerator instead of an RV one.  It will save us over $1000 by doing so.  This should also allow us to get a bigger refrigerator which I am excited about. Look for the refrigerator blogs to start soon.  It will all be shared!  Happy New Year's Eve!

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Tim Is Cold!

I will be extending my visit in Florida for a couple more weeks and so Tim decided he would head back to the farm earlier than planned but for a very good reason, it is getting bitter cold and he was concerned about our water pipes freezing and creating a mess when thawed.  He drove home yesterday and was greeted with 27 degree temperatures.  Of course, I know it is winter and it does get cold in Tennessee so we should expect the cold.  Luckily the trip back to Tennessee was not a bad one and he got in just after dark.  The RV warmed up quickly and the pipes are all good.  Stay warm Tim and Shadow!

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

It's Christmas At The Farm

Lisa & George celebrated Christmas just a day late but they did it for a reason; to be able to celebrate with their kids!  Kaitlyn drove up from Jacksonville and Travis came over from Greeneville and the celebrated their Christmas all together.  I have not heard how it was but I know Lisa was thrilled to celebrate all together as a family.  It is never too late to have a family Christmas!

Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas

We here at the farm are wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.  George & Lisa are at the farm celebrating Christmas with their kids and we are in Florida celebrating Christmas with our kids and granddaughter.  Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 22, 2017

Mail Box Decor

During the Christmas season even the mail boxes get decorated.  Lisa took over to make them look festive and unfortunately since I was not there my box did not get the reindeer head but Lisa got hers up.  She also added some garland and snowman heads to up the decor even more.  It looks great and very festive too!  Thanks Lisa!

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Outdoor Christmas Tree

With a new kitten a Christmas tree was going to be a problem for Lisa & George.  After all, the cat, Chance, has not seen a tree and with the lights and shiny ornaments who knows what kind of fun would be had by Chance and, of course, George & Lisa.  So they decided to set up an outdoor Christmas tree this year. This way they still have a tree, they can still decorate it and can enjoy it outside and kitty free.  They placed it in the middle of their circular drive along with some other Christmas decorations.  From the pictures sent, it looks great!  At night it is even prettier!

Monday, December 18, 2017

The Fence Is Festive For Christmas

There have been a few other things happening at the farm other than the projects that George has been sharing with us and one it the fence.  You know we like to decorate it for seasons or holidays and Lisa and Cheryl have taken care of the fence for Christmas.  They used some decorations from last year but added some new ones too. It looks great.  Nice job Lisa!

Sunday, December 17, 2017

More Reporting From George

The Clean up has begun....

After spending eight days working on the major pieces of the "Last infrastructure project ", the clean-up phase has begun.

Yesterday, Tim and I went down to where Cory (backhoe operator ) had cleared trees and brush down near the orchard and cut up and hauled off the two large trees Cory was able to knock down but were too big for him to move. One more tree in that same area needs to be cut down and hauled off and that will happen today.

I also spent part of the day under the house sun deck getting started on making electrical junctions and connections for the garage and new light in go into the driveway entrance.

Next on the agenda was getting the water and electrical connections started for the barn.  The electrical conduit was extended to inside the barn along with the new water line and secured in place.  More work needs to be done to complete the :barn work" but at least another step has been made towards that end.

Today is Sunday which is Jaquar Football Day.  So after cutting down the one tree mentioned earlier and some low hanging branches on the widen section of Quail Way, probably not much will happen. But hey, who knows??? Stay tuned. ....

Thanks George!  Jenny and Nate will be attending the game today!

Friday, December 15, 2017

It Is Finished - Sort Of!

Drainage /Electrical /Moat Project-Day #8.

It is FINISHED!!!!  Well mostly finished.   I still have probably a month of work left to do to take everything Cory, Tim and I did and complete them in total but the biggest parts of the items on the  "last infrastructure project " list are done.

Today we wrapped up moving the remaining Irrigation pipes to the outside of the garden bed.  I also had Cory trench from the Pavilion to the barn for running an electrical conduit and wire for future solar power to the barn.

There WAS going to be one more item for Cory and I to tackle but after reviewing the Item it was decided bigger equipment was needed and a longer period of time scheduled.  The item was to regrade/slope Turkey Trot which is the road which goes around the outside of our farm.  It has rutted out over the years and nears to be sloped and graded to make it better for the future.  But,,,, that will be a project for another day.

So.....tomorrow starts the finishing of all the items.  Making  new electrical connections, raking and grading the front yard, cutting little roots in the expanded Quail Way, etc.  There's still a lot to do.......Maybe I should take a day off and go eat ribs  instead.......yeah...great idea!!!!

Thank you George, your contributions to the blog have been great. You deserve the ribs!

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Day 7 - Almost Done

Drainage/Electrical/Moat Project-Day #7

     I spent the morning being a sub on Lisa' s bowling team.  Have to say.....we kicked.......

      Upon returning to the mountain and farm, Cory was nearing completion of a major item on the "last infrastructure project " list, clearing the triangle of trees and brush down at the bottom of our house site near the orchard.  This area will "open" up our view a little more, but more importantly will give us an unrestricted view of our entire Orchard.  The project was expanded to clear more area along the side of the Orchard which should allow more sunlight to the fruit trees and bottom of the large garden bed.

     After finishing that item completely, we went back to moving Irrigation lines to the outside of the garden beds.  One more bed remains to finish.  Which means.......we will finish that one bed tomorrow and do some additional clean up items before tackling ONE LAST item which I just added today.  It's a major item but I have no reservation Cory will be able to finish it in record time.

Thank you George and I can't wait to see the improvements.  Lisa will be returning to the farm after her "week long" sun bathing in Florida, according to George, we know the truth!  Safe travels Lisa!

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Day Six! Thanks George!

Drainage/Electrical/Moat Project-Day #6

Day #6 was about cleaning up some of the many pieces of this multi-part project.

Cory once again went immediately to work and starting removing the tree stumps Tim and I left on Quail Way   after cutting down those two large trees.  Once the stumps were removed, Cory then graded and leveled Quail Way  out.  The road still has a long way to go before becoming "clean" again but it's a start.  Smaller roots still need to be cut out and gravel spread but that's a project for another day.

     After Quail Way, Cory went to the front of the house site and pushed off and cleaned up the rock and debris leftover from a drainage project of two weeks ago.  That project tied the house down spouts into a master drain pipe and runs all the water off into the woods.  This will help the grass on the front lawn from getting washed out as it had started to be.

     Moving right along, Cory went and cleaned.up and removed the pile.of tree stumps down along the property line along with grading the area for future mowing.

     After all that, with the temperature dropping and the winds starting to blow, we started on the last of two items on the list of this "last infrastructure project".  Moving Irrigation lines to the outside of the garden beds.  Once again, Cory ran my tail into the ground.  Several times he had to wait on me to cut and glue pipe together before he could proceed.  But.....the cold finally got to Cory. (Not me!!!)  He was frozen and stopped work early for the day.  After Cory left, it allowed me to pre-make all the irrigation lines for the last bed we need to do.  Once Cory digs the trenches, all that needs to be done is to drop in the pre-made unit.  I will be waiting on Cory!!!   That's a change.

    Cory will start the last item on the list this morning by himself as I have to spend the morning subbing on my wife's bowling team since she is still sun bathing on the beach in warm and sunny Florida.

An editor's note: one again the writer got a little dillusional about sun bathing in Florida!  The cold must be getting to him! It was sunny in Florida but the winds were blowing at about 25 mph!

   

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Day 5 More Work On The Farm

I am enjoying having a contributing editor at the farm.  Here is day 5.  Thanks George!

Drainage/Electrical/Moat Project-Day #5

Day #5 was a day of accomplishments.

My backhoe operator (Cory) had returned (early as usual) and work began almost immediately.  This guy doesn't waste time chit-chatting.  He's polite, says good morning and gets to work.  Folks like Cory are hard to come by.

He started digging the last trench for electrical service for our garage as well as one more french drain across our driveway.  With the trenches dug, Cory was off to the next part of this last "infrastructure project ".
   
     The road which goes by our driveway is a private road the residents on Quail Way must improve and maintain themselves.  This road has always been narrow from our driveway down to our Orchard.  Not any more.  Cory went to work removing trees, stumps, rocks and other debris and widened  the road considerably.  Once again, before I could even finish filling in the trenches he dug with gravel and grading/finishing and cleaning up the area around the house site, Cory was finished with Quail Way.

    So, I send him down to the bottom of the orchard where years ago I had removed a number.of trees but never got back to removing the stumps.  Once again, before I could finish up the final clean up around the house site, Cory was finished.  Thank God he was out of fuel thus stopped for the day.  He was working me to death trying to stay caught up to him.

     The were two trees too large for Cory to remove with the backhoe on Quail Way so Tim and I spent the last remaining minutes of daylight cutting them down and hauling the trunks away for splitting later.

     Day #6 will have some clean up items to do before moving on to one of the two last items on the project list........unless I die first trying to keep up with Cory.



   

Monday, December 11, 2017

Day 4 From George

Drainage /Electrical/Moat Project-Day #4

Only one task needed to be achieved on day four of the project, but quite frankly, success wasn't really being counted on.

Years ago, during construction on the driveway to the house site,  empty electrical conduit was run down the driveway edge in case one day it might be needed.

Yesterday, it was needed.

The plan is to install new outdoor lights at the far end of the driveway to light up that area during Roxie's and my Perimeter Patrols . (Potty Walks)  The major issue with this idea was it's about 250 feet away from the house and would require pulling that much wire thru conduit laid in the driveway edge so many years ago.

The sun was out so my volunteer was able to receive his solar power and thus the project began.

Pulling 250 feet of wire is hard enough by itself, pulling it thru a inch and a half wide pipe sunk into the ground under a sun deck is even harder.  But........Success! !!

After pulling and grunting, pulling and grunting some more the wire was successfully pulled thru the conduit.  Lights will soon be turning on at the end.of the driveway.

Today is day #5 and hopefully my backhoe operator returns so the last pieces of the project around the house will be finished and then it's off to the Orchard.......

By the way, the volunteer is Tim!  Tim also supplied the pictures!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Day 3 From Contributing Editor George

Drainage/Electrical/Moat Project-Day #3

Day three of the project started like most other days here on the Francisco Farm. The "Roxie-Alarm Clock" announcing at 5 am it was time to make our first Perimeter Patrol (aka-Potty Walk) of the day together . With the snow still falling from the day before and temperatures still brisk, the walk was completed rather quickly by both parties.

After reviewing the financials, local and national news of the morning, the sun had risen, the snow had stop falling and it was time for the work of the day to begin.

   First on the agenda was the repair of the second and final "issue" from day one of the project.  This was completely quickly and without any problem.  With the repair made, the remaining electrical wire, conduit and drain pipe were cut, glued and put in place.  Lastly, gravel was hauled load by load and dumped into the trenches to fill them in.  By 11:30 am, all work which could be done was complete.

Although day three work was finished  much more work remains to de done on this "last infrastructure project."  Work has been interrupted by the snow and the weekend as my employee (backhoe operator) has been at home watching children due to the cancellation of school and doesn't work on weekends.   A small part of the project remains to be completed tomorrow if my "volunteer" comes out of his abode.  As long as the sun is shining, my volunteer, (who is solar powered) and I should complete this small task and I should be ready for my employee to return so we can continue to proceed towards final project completion.

  With Lisa away sunbathing on the beaches of sunny Florida, I remain here working, doing Perimeter Patrols, cat feedings and keeping my wood stove burning so I don't freeze to death here on the frozen tundra of East Tennessee.

Day three ended as it had began, the "Roxie Alarm clock" announcing it was time for our last Perimeter Patrol of the day as the snow started falling once again.........

As George mentioned theY got snow and Tim was good enough to supply some pictures and to correct an error in this post Lisa is not basking in the sun in Florida because Florida is cold and rainy. High this morning 29 degrees! That is very cold for Florida!

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Day Two From The Contributing Editor

The Drainage/Electrical/Moat Project-Day #2

Day two of this massive project started the same as day one-cold.....but with a twist.....snow.  an early winter snow had started falling on the Francisco Farm
   As the snow fell though out the day and the cold going no where, work continued to move forward.
   One of the "minor issues" from day one was repaired.  All the electrical wires for new the electric connections were run in their underground conduits.  About half of  drainage pipes were installed and gravel dumped to cover the completed sections of trenches.
       After six hours of cold and falling snow and increasingly muddy conditions , this frozen soul had had his fill for the day.  A warm and cozy wood stove waited inside and could no longer be ignored.  So day two ends with more worked to be completed.....
Thanks George!..

Friday, December 8, 2017

Things ARE Happening At The Farm

After a week hiatus Just Another Day At The Farm is back and starting with a contributing editor, George Francisco.  I received post below this morning and will add pictures as soon as my ipad stops acting up.  Here is today's post:

The "Moat (err....Drainage) Project" has begun!!!

With the start of another day , (chilly,  I might add) the last "infrastructure project " had began.

The first part of the project was the grading of the RV pad along with the installation of the new split rail posts which will surround the pad.

Step two of the project was the removal of a number of old tree stumps from an area alongside of Quail Way so the area can be graded and prepared for future mowing.

On to one of the biggest parts of the project- the digging of the "moat" around the house.  Actually, the digging is for the installation of new French drains to redirect water away from the house along with installation of new electrical service/connections in various places around the house site.  I am happy to report that only minor damage was created with the digging even though the digging crossed major septic lines, electric lines and water lines.
Day two of the project starts today.......

Thanks George, we look forward to further updates from you.  I did visit with Lisa; she is in Jacksonville visiting for a week. She came by Jenny's house to pick up something and give me my Birthday present.  I will report on my gift tomorrow as it is really cool and deserves it's own post. Thanks Lisa, it was great to see you after two months and to get caught up with all that is going on.
Check back tomorrow!