Two years ago, I put up a post called "Ten directions at once" in which Don expressed frustration that he was getting scatterbrained because there were so many house and farm projects that needed doing.
As I said in the blog post, "He was pulled in so many different directions that he would do just a bit of this and a bit of that, without bringing a particular project to completion. ... The trouble is, accomplishing one thing was often hinged on first accomplishing another thing first, which in turn was hinged on accomplishing yet another thing ... and so it went, until he felt like he was a hamster spinning on a wheel, unable to focus and accomplish anything at all."
To overcome this issue, we sat down and hammered out a list of things to accomplish:
• Build deck for Older Daughter’s suite (finished, but never put up a blog post on it)
• Build storage platform above shop
• Organize a yard sale
• Fence the pasture
• Build chicken coop
• Build more garden beds
• Build wood shed
• Order drip irrigation supplies
• Install hand pump for well
• Build loft above shop
• Cut firewood
• Make a well house
• Re-plumb pressure tank
• Coat decks with sealant
• Install sunshade on western wall
• Build deck storage room
• Clean gutters (Don does this every year; no photos, sorry)
• Build cattle infrastructure in barn (he built feed boxes, but that's it)
• Clean out shed (I've done this several times)
• Buy cows
I wrote out this blog post and then forgot all about it. But when I stumbled across it a couple days ago, I was impressed with how many of these projects were already completed.
Don was less impressed, feeling like he should have done more. (How??) But then as he put it, slow progress is still progress.
The next project he plans to do is to install a 1500-gallon water storage tank under the deck. We have the tank; the issue has been finding the time to install it. Once the cows are moved onto the larger pasture, we hope to tackle the water tank.
Slow progress is still progress!
We've been working on greenhouses (actually I guess high tunnels) to make gardening easier for us as we age. (We are around you & Don's age.). But then there is the weeding between the greenhouses. So my husband is building decking (getting used lumber off facebook marketplace). We've also put some raised bed in that area for herbs. We just keep adding & changing until we finally finish it. It is always a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteDebbie in MA
Same problem here. This year I've done two new things to mitigate frustrations.
ReplyDeleteOne is my to do list, which is a little different and has a different purpose.
Getting older has slowed me down and almost stopped completion of any chore at time started. Arthritic joints, straining muscles and so forth. So now, the to do list( daily) is very long and includes about all chores. For example, weed eating. Doing it at once means I can't use my hands for days. Now I weed eat maybe 5 minutes a day. You would be surprised how quickly it adds up. Same with a push mower. Everything is sectioned off into doable sections. By not allowing myself to overdo anything, much more is getting accomplished indoors and out. Plus, I check all those tasks off every day and it's almost like getting gold stars by each one.
The other thing I've been doing is what I call redneck hardscaping. It's temporary but very effective. Most of my gardening is in large pots and raised areas. Having the pots on the deck proved not good because heavy rain floods the pots and dirt would overflow onto the deck and increase wear and tear plus constant clean up. So it all got moved to a back area of yard, which brought more pest problems, not to mention extra problems with grass cutting, weed eating, and mud. In a moment of frustration, while folding up a heavy duty tarp to put away, I decided to put it out in the pot area instead. OMG!!!
That relatively small space became quickly organized. No more weedeating around pots, no more mud, pests drasticly decreased, and No More baby snakes in the grass to look out for. In fact, I haven't seen any snakes at all back there since starting this. They would be easy to see.
I know some people use landscaping fabric and mulch or rocks. But baby snakes pop out of mulch when you least expect it. Rocks are not good if you ever have high winds or tornadoes ( we do), because the wind can pick them up and break out your windows.
Anyway, my use of tarps for now is increasing back there.
There are lots of people using a dry pour for cement projects on you tube, and I think that method may work well for me too. Some of these tarped sections will wind up being cement. And others will probably turn into artificial turf. But for now, it has organized and improved .my gardening area, and helped me expand it as well.
I am not sure the 'why' to installing a tank under your decking. Unless it is to protect it from freezing during the winters in your area. Which I have lived through and understand when we resided in Montana.
ReplyDeleteIf it is for a water back up for the home or livestock. Please look into a way of installing a jet pump, which sets beside the water tank. It will stabilize your water pressure coming out of that tank
This property's well sets below the house and this unit keeps the water pressure stable for the home and up to the pasture. Believe the one on this holding tank is a low horsepower unit (.5).
If you have a hillside where you can pump water into a storage tank. For a gravity fed water source not only to your home and the animals. It will be well worth the additional expense and time to set one up. A 1500-gallon tank set on a bed of sand will work. Especially during the spring and summer months, it is well worth the time and expense. Along with the peace of mind during those times when that water will be a necessary item.
Well, I"M impressed. :) I love reading about your projects and progress. Thanks for sharing these parts of your life with us. May God continue to grant strength for more "slow" progress. :)
ReplyDeleteOops, that was me just now commenting about how I"M impressed. :)
ReplyDeleteThe small steady improvements are what separates between a struggling dirt farmer always too near starvation and a successful farmer.
ReplyDeleteThe daily efforts to select the best chickens to keep and breed vs eating the largest bird for dinner and the scrawny ones continue to be in the flock.
The better stronger shelter to keep the 2 and 4 legged predators away from the harvested crops and livestock.
It took me years of failure to "Fix" that ratty hen house and losses before I bit the bullet and build a STRONG Hen House. Results decades later are still rustling up bugs in the yard right now.
Thanks for reminding us of the real struggles of too many projects.
Aaaahhhh, the joys of rural, far away from the urbos, living. My list is 2x that long, and everyday something new pops up that needs to be attended to. Kinda has a tendency to keep us old folks active and in reasonably good health. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBtw, I didn't see a B/U generator on the list...