06-28-15 My first chainsaw & setting up the pool!

I got my first chainsaw!!! I had been wanting it for a few weeks itching to trim up some neglected trees around the property. I needed affordable so I went electric so that I could get brand new and a warranty. I was honestly a bit scared to use it with nobody around to help me, warn me, school me SO I read the ENTIRE owner's manual! Then I changed from my normal summer yard work attire of a bathing suit and flip flops to jeans, a shirt, my boots and gloves! Safety first!!!

I set out to trim the pomegranate trees that are between the pergola and my car. I forgot to take a before picture but really it was just a little harder to see through it because half of the limbs were dead, brown limbs. So I cut those off so that the rest of each tree can thrive again.

Here is a before and during shot!

And a before and after! I LOVE the afters when the ground is all cleaned up and raked, makes me feel happy inside!

This is a before and after of the front of the front yard. By that I mean that of the front 2 acres of the property, there was a small front yard fenced in in front of the house. The front fence is under/behind that dead bamboo to the right (that is yellow). That fence isn't entirely enclosed now but nonetheless, this is what I consider the "front yard". There are 3 oddly placed trees (species undetermined) and then 1 tiny stump where one had died (originally there were 4). So I trimmed them up, pulled and raked up all the weeds! This is also an after shot of that lattice on the deck gone, yay! I hope to eventually put steps off the front of the deck because it looks odd to me that there aren't any there and there are only steps over on the side. So I want to add steps off the front center of the deck for visitors. And of course, plant lovely flowers and bushes along those already established flower beds!

While working on the trees I got ALMOST done with what I was planning to do and the chain came off the chainsaw. I freaked out for a minute because I realized I had no clue how to put it back on. So I brought it in and resolved to figure that out later...by myself!!!

We also did our first fire. It isn't like...a BIG deal or anything but I hadn't been around a trash fire in several years, since I was a kid. Living in the city the last 15 years, people don't burn their trash, only tree trimmings. I have had to make sure to sort out glass, certain plastics, cans, etc in the house and taking into consideration what goes in the trash CAN because that is what goes to the bin to be burned. This first fire we did was for all of our boxes from moving.

Riley, for some reason, enjoys fires. I'm not sure if that's a warning sign or what, haha! So he manned the fire while I was elsewhere trimming the above trees.

Then we had another fire to do that was a bunch of tumble weeds I had gathered from the backyard. There were too many to move to another location so I decided to just burn those in the yard and that went fast, which was great!

Second successful burn pile! And...I have since done some research on interesting uses for ashes so in the future I'll be saving these as well! #useandreuseeverything

That day, (I think you can tell we got a TON done outside) we also prepped the side of the backyard for the new above ground pool. I had wanted one as soon as we moved to the farm because I was raised either around water or with a pool and Riley has pretty much always had a pool to swim in, we just love it! So after doing some research on a good above ground pool we could put up this summer and leave up and maintain for 2-3 years, I found a good one a friend was selling at a yard sale. I got it for a good price and they also gifted me a bunch of accessories as well! Score!

So we had to rake and pull all the weeds so that the ground was flat. Then I got it wet and raked it again to try to level it out.

We put the pool up following the instructions on a YouTube video.

Riley was a big help, he was very excited!

I setup this cute thing outside on part of the pergola to hold towels and stuff for swimming. It's a fun and cute idea but something I learned over the coming weeks was how all the wind, monsoon storms and haboobs we have out here...towels can't stay out there in between each time we swim or else they end up in the yard.

Riley playing in the water hose while I'm standing in the shade taking pictures of the pool, lol!

We got the pool and pump all setup and the water hose in it to fill it up.

Some wrinkles in the bottom which honestly, I didn't think were that big of a deal. Come to find out (who would have thought!?!) that once  you add more water getting those wrinkles out is impossible. The wrinkles suck because they hold dirt and they make the pool look, imperfect. So that was a big lesson learned this summer!

I put up 3 solar yard lights around the edge of the pool so that in the evening  you could see your way to the pool and it just looked cute! I also took a 4 ft tall white plastic shelf I had in the shop and put it beside the pool, right up against it, with a cement block on the bottom shelf. The purpose of this was to have a surface to place items on while in the pool like drinks, cell phones, sunglasses, etc. That worked out great for that! The cement block in the bottom did succeed in keeping the light weight shelf in place during the storms.

Riley had to get in the pool when it didn't even have 2 feet to water in it! =)

Almost there....

Okay we couldn't wait any longer. At this point we both dove in, aired up the floaties and had some fun!

XoXo,

Elizabeth

06-13-15 Adapting to life in the country

As with any older home, especially one that has been through several remodels and then sat empty for a bit...you are bound to move in and then find problems just from living there and using everything. The first major problem we had was a water leak on the part of the water main that comes into the property.  Here we have city water AND a private well. The city water goes to the house and the well provides water to several water spigots throughout the property. In the future I'd like to have the well on the house as well to get rid of city water to try to go as off grid as possible BUT prior to that happening, the well will feed into a large irrigation system I plan to setup for our garden, fruit trees and many plants. But back to this story, we had a leak. I am an avid Do It Yourself-er so I began researching. I found numerous videos and articles online telling what this problem was and how to fix it.

The dogs liked the water leak, although it made a mud puddle they would still run over there everyday to lap it up.

After going to the store and buying a couple of different wrenches I couldn't even get the damn nut off of it. It was so tight and I was afraid if I used all my force I might break or crack something since it is aged metal that has been in the sun...for forever. Not to say that I have he man strength but when you're pushing something so hard that the whole thing is moving...I'd rather leave a problem then make a problem worse. So I relented and after a week and a half and 4 failed attempts to fix it myself, I called the seller. Within a week or so he had someone out who promptly fixed it...awesome! #thatwaseasy At least I tried!

Riley made fun of me when I bought a little Home Depot apron like this for him and me because in our adventures to try to fix that water main and work on the front gate we'd get all the way out there with the tools in our hands and if I wasn't wearing jeans to stuff my pockets full...one or both of us would end up having to walk back to the house or shop just to get 1 tool we had forgotten or didn't have room to carry. So, these did serve as useful and I snapped up 1 quick shot of him wearing his because he said "You better not tell anyone I ever wore this thing!" hahahahaha!

Our dogs! Our fur babies and the loves of our lives! Max is on the left, he's our baby boy. Although he's older than Bella and almost 5 or 6, we call him baby boy because he is scarred of everything and he's smaller than Bella. He is a mix between Pitbul and Calhouta Leopard dog...which is a breed I had never even heard of prior to adopting him. He basically is built like a pit but has shorter legs, has a hunting dogs tail (like a pointer) and his coat looks like gray camo! He also has grayish eyes! He's gorgeous!!!!

Bella Marie is our golden lab that my ex and I adopted while together because he wanted a female dog and one he could train to go hunting with him. So we found her and rescued her and she is THE love of MY life! I call her big girl just because she's bigger than Max and probably the biggest dog I've had since I was a kid because small dogs have seemed to find their way into my life although I much prefer larger breeds. She is the most gorgeous color of blonde and also has these yellow or honey colored eyes that just...melt my heart. Her looks wouldn't be so stunning if it weren't for her personality of being the sweetest, most gentle dog. She listens well, is very grateful for being rescued,  absolutely adores affection and she likes to "slap hands" and give you her paw...all the time! <3 Some days she even wakes me up by giving me a "slap hands" on my face, haha! But most, this big girl loves to be outside! She's a true lab at heart with that love of the outdoors and she'll just run and run and run and run until she can't breath anymore and sometimes even then we have to make her come in so she will lay down. She is my girl and sleeps on her camo bed at the foot of my bed although I do invite her in my bed when I just feel like it because...why not.

Max is Riley's BFF and has been from Day 1. We got Max maybe about 6 months after my younger son Konnor moved to his Dad's in Arkansas so Riley was really needing some sort of companion around because he wasn't used to be without that little brother that followed him around everywhere and got into everything he was doing. So Mr. Max sleeps IN bed with Riley, EVERY night, without fail. It can be 8pm or 10pm and I tell Max "Time to go to bed" and he will run to Riley's room and jump on the edge of the bed. Riley has a twin size bed now and he himself is almost as tall as me, although he's only 11. He is about 5 foot 2 inches and so that twin bed WITH  Max in it...they are close to running out of room, lol!

My lovely Bella!

One way I began adapting or reverting back to country life is that I knew I had to start stocking up on tools, all varieties. This jig saw I found at a yard sale and once I got home I realized I had just bought MY FIRST POWER TOOL, EVER!!!! I immediately told my Mom, because I knew she'd be proud of her baby girl. Then I took this ADORABLE selfie and posted it on facebook! My Facebook friends were just as happy for me, haha! I've yet to use this for any project but I have several in mind where I'll need it so I'm so glad I got it!

One thing I realized about myself a couple of years ago was just how much I enjoy doing things myself. Sometimes I'll do something because it is cheaper than buying it or paying someone but other times I do it just because it makes me feel good. It is something about feeling capable and able to do something that really makes me feel like the most useful human being. It was one Christmas maybe 4 years ago when my Mom and I were discovering Pinterest and found a homemade facial sugar scrub and that, with the help of Pinterest, led to endless ideas of DIY heaven!!! So, after we were settled in the new house I had been wanting to try this DIY homemade Febreeze! First, let me say, I love Febreeze. It is probably a daily ritual with a son and 2 dogs for me to go through the house every morning and spray the furniture, bedding, dog beds and curtains. So...when I found this recipe I just had to try it. Honestly it is so super easy, that after the first time I didn't even need the instructions to make it again. I will share the link to the blog with the instructions I followed:

http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/2011/07/fake-febreeze.html

In pulling up recipes of my homemade sugar facial scrub to send to a friend who had asked for it I came across a recipe for a DIY Sugar Shave Cream. It is all the same stuff you use for the sugar scrub but a different consistency and  you use this in place of shaving cream or soap and it is great to shave with while also giving you a light exfoliation! So of course, you skin feels amazing after! And FYI, you can never have too many mason jars on a farm or homestead! 

And here is a shot of the shave cream on the left and the facial scrub on the right, you can see how the consistency is different. These two I didn't even put any scents or essential oils in because I didn't have any at the time and smell is more for aromatherapy benefits. But typically I'll do a coconut scent and then around the holidays I'll do a peppermint scent because I love peppermint! But if you have certain things that you use aromatherapy for go with that. For example, citrus smells are mood boosters and help to reduce anxiety and the blues. If you need calming and relaxation, go with lavender. Just research which one would be best for you. Here is the link to the sugar scrub that I use most often:

http://www.jacolynmurphy.com/2011/12/oh-sugar-secrets-of-scrub.html

In case you don't know yet, you will soon learn I am a lover of Coconut Oil! It is one of the very few things I'll use on my face. In fact all I put on my face is make-up, sugar scrub, coconut oil and Shea butter. I don't buy any make-up remover, face wash, face scrub, moisturizer, etc. I use all natural and people often compliment me on my complexion and I'm quick to tell them how easy, cheap and simple it is to go all natural on your face. I think it really is the "secret" to youthful skin! Here is a good article!

http://everydayroots.com/coconut-oil-uses?pp=1

So in June that is where we were on adapting to life in the country! And finding it pretty splendid, if I do say so myself! =)

XoXo,

Elizabeth