Quitter

I quit smoking. There...I said it.

Funny, I had to take drugs to stop my addiction to a drug. Go figure...the universe is funny that way.

I have been a smoker for the last 12 years. It hasn't been easy being cool for that long, what with all the lung hacking and smelling. But I wore that badge with pride, and I will be completely honest with you. I miss smoking. I liked it. I just didn't like the way it made me feel when I woke up in the morning.

And I have every intention of taking up smoking again when I turn 50 (they say that by then, all the damage I have done will be reversed...it will be like starting over).

Of course, there are other benefits to quitting. For example, quitting now will prevent me from having to quit when I get pregnant and really hate the world because there will also be getting uncontrollably fat, ankles swelling, and breasts leaking... I'm just thinking ahead here, because that sounds like it might be a recipe for disaster.

So as part of quitting, I have to write a goodbye letter to cigarettes…as if they are the dark half of an abusive relationship…who am I to question therapy. Here is what I am supposed to talk about:

Memories:
Hmmm…the memories I have of cigarettes have to do with all of the self-righteous non-smokers telling me how bad smoking is…as if I was too stupid to know all of this already from the 1, 200,000 other non-smokers who must have a dire need to tell every smoker they see how bad it is for them. REALLY!?!?! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I DON’T KNOW!?!?!? You are stupider than you look. Please excuse me while I blow smoke in your face.

What smoking has cost me:
If I am going to be completely honest…smoking didn’t cost me anything that I obviously wasn’t already willing to give up…or else I wouldn’t have. Period.

Personal Reasons for Quitting:
Please see above

How my health may have improved since quitting:
Unfortunately, I can smell much more than before. This is not the blessing you might think it would be…and let’s just leave it at that.

There it is…my good-bye letter. So goodbye cigarettes, parting is such sweet sorrow. But in case your wondering...my 50th brithday party is going to ROCK!!

Progress...

Today the bulldozer downed the first trees. In a fit of spontaneity, we decided to drive out there this evening. I apologize for the quality of these photos. We were trying to beat the sunset out there, but didn't quite make it.

Here I am running out to see it...like a giddy school girl...
Here is a photo from the top corner looking down...

This picture is looking back up. The arrow is pointing to the spot where I was standing for the first picture.

Weekend Project

For a couple of months now we have been talking about putting up a compost bin and another raised bed (for fall planting). So I figured what better time that when Doug is already completely exhausted and sore from spending a few days out in the 100 degree weather? That's just how I am. Bet you wish you were married to me. Moving on...

Here are the instructions for a raised bed and compost bin:

Purchase from hardware store:
Lumber - 2 - 2"x10"x10'

3 - 2"x12"x10'

2 - 2"x2"x8'

2 - 1"x4"x12'
Nails (1 box each):2 1/2" deck screws, 3" deck screws

Because your husband is exhausted from all of the other work he did this weekend and you certainly don't feel like cutting these pieces yourself, bat your eyes at The Home Depot guy and ask him to cut the wood into the following pieces:

2 - 2"x10"x10' Cut both into 1x7' and 1x3' (so you will have 2x7' and 2x3')
3 - 2"x12"x10' Cut into 9x 3' pieces
2 - 2"x2"x12' Cut into 4x 3' pieces
2 - 1"x4"x12' Cut into 8x3' pieces

Raised Bed:

This is really almost to easy to write. Attached the 3' pieces perpendicular to a 7' piece. Then attach the other 7' piece to the other end of the 3' pieces (see completed picture).

Compost Bin:

Keep in mind, this is not a carpenter masterpiece. Which is exactly why I LOVE it!! Oddly enough, I greatly dislike anything that requires woodworking because it has to be so precise, but the wood that we have in the U.S. is never actually the size that it says it is (they call this "nominal" and suddenly it's okay to rip off the consumer). Anywho...this is not perfect, but that's why I love it. It was so easy, we got it put together in an hour and a half. The biggest time saver was having Home Depot cut the lumber. And as God is my witness, I will never cut another piece of wood myself when there is a Home Depot down the street that can do it with much faster equipment. I like to think of it as getting my money's worth for shorting me on the lumber.

Moving on...

1. Lay three 2"x12" pieces on the ground. Put a 1 1/2" space between each board. Attach one of the 2"x2" to the left hand side of the three 2"x12" pieces using 2 1/2" deck screws . Double check your measurements for the right hand side and attach another 2"x2" piece to that side. This is the back piece.

2. Take one 2"x"12 and lay it perpendicular to the ground. Attached it to the bottom 2"x12" board on the right hand side of the back piece using 3x 3", then use 2x 2 1/2" deck screws to attach the new piece to the 2"x2" piece also. Repeat this step for two more 2"x12" boards. Then attach three more 2"x12" pieces to the left hand side. You should now have a three sided box. Flip it to the upright position.

3. Now you need to attach the other 2"x2" boards to the left and right hand sides using 2 1/2" inch deck screws. You need to set these 2"x2" pieces back 1 1/2" from the front. This is so that we can create a channel to lay the slats in. Also, make sure that the gap is 1 1/2" between the 2"x12" boards (you have to have these gaps to keep air flowing through the compost). We used stakes set on their side to maintain the 1 1/2" gap while we nailed the boards.

4. Now take two 1"x4" pieces and attach them to the front of the compost bin using the 2 1/2" deck screws.

You will notice that you have create a channel for your slats to slide in. Now you have to think of a way to keep a gap between those slats. To create a stop we drilled holes into the 2 1"x4" pieces big enough for us to slide a metal peg into (we could not find the wood pegs, but either one would work). This way all we have to do is pull out the pegs and remove the slats so that the compost can be turned.

Well, that's it for today...now go out and build something!! Just remember to have fun with it!

Property Update

Two weekends ago we went out for a work weekend. Without fail, the cows showed up at nightfall. That's a few of 'em up there...

Last Friday Doug met with a man about having some bulldozer work done. Since we actually have a mesquite tree farm, we need help clearing some things out. We are having the internal fence lines cleared, so that we can finish up the permanent fencing, plus four acres so that we can get grass growing and get some cows of our own out there.

Things were great until the man with the bulldozer realized that he would not be able to get his equipment onto the property through our existing gate. So, Doug and Wolf had to put in a 20' gate on the other side of the property, that we were going to do at a later date.

Doesn't sound hard...but you forget we live in the 6th level of hell when it comes to heat and humidity. When the two combine like they do in Southeast Texas, it seems you would do things you would be ashamed of later, in order to cool off. I promise...try it some time.

At any rate, they were going to spend Friday and Saturday night on the property...I got a call at 4p.m. Saturday...they were coming home. They did get done what they wanted to, but were not interested in spending any more time than absolutely necessary. I don't blame them.

I will be heading out next weekend and will post pics of the gate. I can't wait to see it.

We've Been Working on the Property...

This weekend we will be heading out to the property to do some more fence work.

I'd like to take a minute to tell you the direction we are heading.

Originally, we were going to high fence the entire 31 acres once we closed on the property, currently it is low fenced. However, due to increased prices, the cost of fencing has gone up approximately 40%. This certainly put a damper on things as we had not budgeted that much to get the fence done and are not interested in going into debt up to our eyeballs.

We decided to go ahead and start putting up the low fence around the perimeter of our paddocks. That way we can at least get some cattle our there and start our grass-fed program.

That is what we have been doing the last three weekends.

Last Saturday afternoon we arrived...

and got camp set up...

It was too late to do anything so we went to bed after dinner only to be awakened to this...

I damn near soiled myself when one of them mooed. Stupid cow...good thing they are tasty.

The next day...we got up and started working. We've gotten about 1/3 of the paddock fencing done. It is a great feeling to finally be out there working on it. I just wish that gas prices would go down so that it wouldn't cost so much to get out there and the cost of materials would go down.

At any rate, I will post updates as they come along.

Now She Can Quit Complaining About It...

We closed on our property. I believe that hell hath finally frozen over.


We actually closed two weeks ago and have been pretty busy working. Last weekend we put in a gate and this weekend we laid in our first fence posts. Here are some pics.





This is the first fence post my mom and Doug put in. YEAH!!

God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise...

our confirmed closing date on the property is next Friday at 10am!!