License and Registration, Please

The commute from Columbus to Charlotte is brutal. Google Maps says 105 miles...each way. That's almost four hours of "me" time in the car five days a week, and about 54,600 miles per year. I know, ridiculous. Factor in fuel (even though prices have dropped to about $1.60 per gallon) and it's ludicrous. Can you tell how committed I am to farm and family? So, I woke up a bit later than usual this morning and was trying to make up some time on the Highway 74 near Mill Spring when I saw the flashing lights in the rearview mirror of my rental 2008 Mazda 6. I switched lanes, but when the State Trooper mimicked my maneuver I knew I'd been busted. The trooper said he clocked me doing 80 in a 65, and seemed rightfully surprised when he found out I was commuting to Charlotte. My punishment was a $151 speeding ticket, and I can't wait to see how this might affect my insurance, which has quadrupled already due to the longer daily commute. Yea!

"Geeeeetttt Ouuuuuutttttttt...."

After three days of no water at Rose Cottage, the landlord had the well pump replaced. Not only was the initial service man a bit slow getting out to respond, but it turns out he was not really a well specialist. The result? Water came back on, but was so terribly discolored that we didn't dare use it anyway. It began to clear up a little bit, but then the water stopped once again on the following Friday. Something wasn't installed correctly and the new pump burnt out. So, we suffered another few days without water and ended up bathing at our new garage apartment despite not actually having a certificate of occupancy. It was weird. We felt like squatters in our own house! We recommended Pittman Well Boring to our landlord; this was the company we used for our own well at the construction site and were pleased with their work. They came to our rescue pretty quickly and installed another new pump (same model we went with actually) but, because it was an old well, we ended up having more discolored water due to the rust and corroded metals (so they say).

Seeing such dirty water coming from the pipes is a disturbing image...as if this possessed old cottage was trying to get us to move out faster. Believe us, we're trying!

The Importance of Water

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface and yet it remains a precious resource, especially when you're not on the city water system. When I returned home to Rose Cottage last night, Dionne sent me right back out into the cold night to find out why we had no water pressure. We thought we heard a "running water" sound, which might have meant a broken pipe, but it turned out to be the water boiling in the water heater because it wasn't refilling. Armed with flashlights, FRS radios, and our winter coats, we determined that the well pump had quit working causing water pressure to drop at both our cottage and the neighboring rental house. After resetting the electrical breakers and finding no apparent leaky pipes, we went ahead and alerted our landlord who called his plumber (personally, I think it's a mechanical well pump issue vs. a "plumbing" problem). It's only a matter of time before the clothes in the washing machine sour, the unflushed toilet stench overwhelms us, the dirty dishes fill the sink and my coworkers take notice of an unusual amount of mousse in my unwashed hair. Fortunately, the kids were just bathed and we had enough bottled drinking water to make it through the night (we don't trust well water from the tap). On a side note, the first thing I did when I got to work this morning was wash my hands in the company bathroom and it felt wonderful.

Gas Crisis

During the construction of our new home, I've been commuting from Charlotte to the homesite each weekend. It's a respectable drive and one that I'm not particularly fond of. To make matters worse, the current gas crisis makes the weekly trek an expensive one. While I was born in the 1970s, I've never witnessed this absurdity in my adult life. Last night, for example, I drove around two states (I live near the NC/SC border) looking for gas and was able to find it in only three places, all of which had ridiculously long lines. Even the local Sam's Club ran dry. Prices are hovering around $4 per gallon in Charlotte, if you can find gas at all. Many stations are simply out of fuel, and sometimes lines form at gas stations that are expecting to have a fuel delivery. To combat the madness, I've been carpooling to work during the week with a coworker who happens to live the same apartment complex. On a related note, I've rented an economy car until our mortgage is approved and I can buy a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. Needless to say, we are not driving the 14/16 mpg Suburban much.

No Traction Means Need for Tractor

We've been getting more rain recently. It serves to replenish underground water sources, rejuvenate flora, reduce dust and generally cool things off (Dionne read 107 degrees Fahrenheit in the Suburban's thermometer the other day!). But it also creates a serious lack of traction for construction vehicles on our home site. The ground quickly turns to a slippery red mud and we've had several victims so far including the siding installers and their trailer, and then our project leader John. It sounded as if another party that got stuck (two vehicles besides John's yesterday), I think it may have been the roofer or possibly the siding material delivery truck. On a side note, the structural engineer with his 4 wheel drive Isuzu Trooper made it through just fine. We may want to consider 4 wheel drive for our next vehicle. Anyway, in some cases, we've been able to use spare wood to wedge under the tires. In the case of larger vehicles, we've twice had to call upon our neighbor, Tom Black, who owns a tractor. For his assistance in towing out stranded vehicles, Tom earned himself a case of Milwaukee's Best and a promise to donate some crush-and-run to his back driveway (which is scheduled to be installed tomorrow). Never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait to get my own tractor! Concrete pour scheduled for today has been delayed until Friday or Monday depending on driveway completion.

Super Genius

(Sample photo)

Just a quick post that we had a coyote visit this past weekend. We heard the chickens squawking loudly outside and I peered out the window toward the coop and saw what looked like a medium-sized dog about 15-20 feet into the woods behind Rose Cottage. We've had stray/lost/feral dogs come around a few times before, but then I saw the bigger ears and thinner face of a coyote. Before I could get outside, it did a double-take at the chickens and rather calmly walked back into the trees. It was either confused by the loud chicken alarm calls or simply on a reconnaissance mission. While we worry about the flock, we also realize that free-ranging has its price and there will be predation.

4 and 5 Didn't Thrive

Hatchlings 4 and 5 were born this morning, but sadly did not stay with us. One was found lifeless in the nest, possibly crushed or born with some sort of internal defects. The other was born with its yolk sac on the outside of its body, having failed to draw it back within itself before finally hatching (they do this so as to feed off of the nutrients for the first few days of life outside the shell). After some attempts to remedy the fatal oddity, the chick was euthanized. There are three eggs remaining and they've been moved to our incubator in the garage. If they don't hatch within the next few days, we'll probably end up burying them.

Snakes Like Eggs

Today, Foster was looking out the back sliding glass doors of Rose Cottage when he spotted a 4.5-foot-long Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta). These are non-venomous and generally avoid humans, but they do eat eggs. With Danna's help and a large cooler, Dionne decided to transport it down the road and into the woods near a creek and far away from our hen fruit.



If it were a King Snake (Lampropeltis getula), we would have released it on our 13-acre property since King Snakes will eat other, more dangerous snakes.

A Sick Chick

This morning when we let out the chickens, Chewhair (an Araucana) stayed silently on her roost*, looking rather sleepy and weak. Dionne had to actually place her on the ground, and then help her back up into a nesting box when she continued her lethargic behavior. Dionne's mom provided us with some worming medicine (which means we have to take her out of production and discard her eggs), but this is worth the small price to pay to possibly save her life. We really don't know what's wrong with her at this point, so we've put Chewhair into quarantine just in case. The rest of the flock is being treated with Diatomaceous Earth and Apple Cider Vinegar as a precaution. We were planning on building a separate area for the broody hens this 4th of July weekend anyway, guess now we have a head start!

*I just thought of something while writing this post. Does the word "rooster" mean something that roosts?

Nobuko-san MIA

On Friday the 13th we lost another hen. This time it was an Araucana named Nobuko-san who did not return at dusk after a day of free-ranging. Predation or simply on vacation? Frankly, we're still surprised we haven't lost more chickens after a year's time. We are considering adding a few new chicks to the flock to make sure egg production remains steady.

We've Been Framed!

Well, technically it's the garage that has been framed. Dionne stands where the garage doors will be and you can see a future window in the back wall behind her, which will be the laundry/utility room below the staircase.

From the view above, you can see what looks like double doors in the northeast corner. Both of these doors will open to a covered breezeway which leads to the main house, but the far door leads to the stairwell going up to the living area, the other to the garage. True, you will not be able to pull into the garage, park, and walk upstairs without first going back out of the garage...but the concept is to ensure that the parking area on the first floor is sealed against fumes that might make their way up into the apartment. You will also notice three holes dug into the gravel. These will be filled with concrete and will serve as the footers for three main columns to support the main floor beam for the second floor. It certainly seems the traditional stick-built work goes much faster than the ICFs and cinderblocks. On an unrelated note, the well-drilling company did hit water this afternoon, but it had a poor flow rate so they are going to go to 700 feet now. Should've hired a dowser.

Anything But Boring

Today, with all the appropriate paperwork in order, the well-drilling company (Pittman Well Boring) came early at 7:30 am and began drilling to tap into our water source. The lava-like substance (which we thought was silt from the earth below) is actually a chlorine and detergent mixture that periodically flushes the equipment. This strange foam is supposed to neutralize itself quickly, and we had a good rain that helped.

We had budgeted for 400 feet of drilling, but they ended up going to 485 feet until a thunderstorm threatened (big metal drill makes a good lightning rod) and they called it quits until Thursday. If they don't hit water by 600 feet, they will stop and "re-evaluate" which might mean a new spot to drill and, of course, more expense. The well will be located on the South side of the house and we'll want to build a little structure to cover the pump for aesthetic reasons and to protect it from the elements (insulation during winter, etc.). Just say "no" to cheesy plastic boulders!


Today was also the day that cement trucks came to pour concrete into the ICFs. An inspector and our structural engineer came by and required additional vertical rebar (6 inches apart) in the west wall to adequately support the force of the backfilled earth behind it. Other walls that are not fully subterranean have the vertical rebar at various increments tapering off to up to about 3 feet apart. The ICFs had been sured up on all sides (with Dionne's "supervision") and a hole for the basement wood-burning stove was cut and framed prior to filling the walls with cement. The trucks will come again another day to pour the basement and garage slab. Lastly, the initial moisture barrier coating was applied to the outer wall of the basement...

And some framework was started on the garage apartment...

Clownie Has Gone AWOL

As of last Monday, May 12, one of our Black Star hens has disappeared. We do a nightly count and came up one short at dusk just before closing up the coop. We weren't sure which hen it was, so we called 8-year-old Maya to do a chicken-check (she's the only one who can identify all 26 simply by looks). The verdict was that Clownie did not come in for the night and she has been missing since. While we are worried that she might be a casualty of predation, we have seen no signs of a stuggle nor carcass, and remain hopeful that Clownie is hiding out somewhere on the property sitting on some eggs. The typical gestation period for a chicken egg is 21 days, so we'll be keeping an eye out for Clownie and chicks around June 2 just in case. I suppose that situations like this are simply a part of the free range practice.

It Huffed and It Puffed...

Some surprise weather came through the southeast this past weekend and a lot of the preliminary arrangement of our basement ICF panels was undone by the winds of Mother Nature.




We were luckier, however, than other areas of North Carolina that were stricken by full-blown tornadoes and even fatalities. By Tuesday, Chris and Richard were able to rebuild the basement walls and reinforce them with the wood planks across the top edges. Note: The only wall that remained after the strong winds was the one that was already braced. All windows in the basement have been temporarily framed and next up is the pouring of cement into the ICFs starting at the corners since the 90-degree angle can be a problem for adequate concrete flow.

Like Building with LEGOs

The rebar was set in the footers of the main house and the ICF assembly has begun. Each ICF panel is essentially styrofoam (which accounts for their high efficiency rating) with some plastic, so they are very lightweight. The edges are modular and they connect to each other like LEGO bricks, and then they are easily cut for doorways and windows. A rebar framework reinforces the panels and holds them in the correct position while concrete is poured into them resulting in a solid concrete wall.



Now you can really see the home taking shape as the walls are put into place. The wide opening you see in the photo above is the french doors that open to the back patio. With the ICFs to help us envision the layout, we've begun to think about furniture placement and where to put the wood-burning stove and 52" plasma TV (I wish!). One problem we ran into with the basement is that the ceilings need to be taller than we expected due to the steep grade of the hillside where we placed the main house. We are now expecting 10' ceilings in the basement to accommodate any Wookiee visitors.

As is evident from the photos, the kids are loving the construction site and refer to it as their "playground." What is somewhat less evident is that the children no longer have any clean white socks.

R.I.P. Dalmation Temptation

Sad news. Our one and only Silver Laced Wyandotte died. Dionne went out to collect eggs around 2pm on April 4th and she was laying there in the coop. She was fine in the morning, but had been dead for a little while because rigormortis had begun to set in. Dionne checked the inside of her mouth and it wasn't black, so we don't think it was worms or coccidiosis or anything harmful to the rest of the flock (who have been absolutely fine). Her lower abdomen was swollen and her oviduct was slightly expanded, so we think Dalmation was eggbound...this can cause a quick death if not caught early. Maya was pretty upset, of course, and Dalmation (whose was named for her black and white Dalmation-style spots and a word that rhymed with "dalmation") was buried in the backyard of the cottage complete with stones and flowers to mark the grave. We initially referred to this hen as "mystery chick" since she was of a different breed than the rest. Dalmation is pictured above with wildflowers sprinkled on her back's "bald spot" courtesy of the kids.

Attack of the Hawk

A few weekends ago, we witnessed a hawk take down a dove on our back patio at the rental cottage. A lot of feathers and squawking, but also a reminder of the predator/prey circle of life. Just two days ago, we experienced our first hawk air raid on the chickens. It was the early afternoon when we heard a commotion outside and we caught a glimpse of the chickens scurrying into the safety of their coop. Maya exclaimed "Hawk in the chicken coop!" and the sound of nearby panicking crows confirmed the danger. I ran outside still in my socks, clapping my hands to make as much noise as possible. By the time I got to the chicken run the chickens were all in their coop and clucking in alarm mode---no sign of the hawk, but two kinds of feathers scattered around. I counted the chickens (no easy feat when they are weaving around each other), then counted them two or three more times. 27 sounded like the right number but I asked Maya if she noticed any missing hens (she can identify them better than any of us). The feathers belonged to a random buff orpington survivor and to our lead Araucana rooster, Fluffy. Maya was shaken by the near-death experience but I reassured her that Fluffy was a hero, having protected his hens from the predator at the cost of a few feathers (which were then taped to a sheet of paper in honor of his courage). For several hours, the chickens stayed in their coop unless a human was nearby, and then we decided to add a barrier to the exposed top of the chicken run by stringing some twine back and forth like a loose web roof.



This won't stop a hawk, but it will hopefully serve as a deterrent to buy the chickens a few seconds to escape to safety should there be another attack. Despite our efforts to protect the chickens, we must accept natural attrition and predation if we intend to go fully free-range with these egg-layers in the future. One solution, I'm told, is to get goats mixed into the flock.

Some Kind of Houdini

Over the past week, one of our Araucanas (which 8-year-old Maya tells us is "Gloria") had figured out how to escape the 10-foot-tall fencing surrounding our chicken run. Fortunately, she doesn't go far, but it has been a problem since we're not quite ready to go completely free-range. Yesterday, we were able to observe Gloria in action making a completely vertical flight to the top of the fencing where Maya promptly pushed her back into the chicken run with the handle-end of a nearby shovel. My theory is that this hen is smaller and therefore lighter than the rest of the chickens. Maya's theory is that she is simply smarter. As it turns out, Gloria does seem to have some sort of motivation.



While bringing in some firewood, we noticed a small nest of three Araucana eggs behind the woodpile and Dionne had mentioned seeing her back there during one of her escapades. It appears that Gloria was trying to find a way to keep her eggs from their breakfast plate fate, and it also explains our recent fluctuating egg count. A for Effort, Gloria.

Here Comes Winter (Like It or Not)

Being the Floridians that we are, we've been looking forward to some real winter weather since we moved up to the Carolinas in 2005. There was a dusting of snow last year, but we still felt kind of cheated out of the whole winter experience. Dionne's weather alert radio (every good survivalist should have one) went off this morning with the following report:

Statement as of 4:52 AM EST on January 16, 2008

...Winter weather will affect the region Wednesday night and
Thursday...

...Winter Storm Warning in effect from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Thursday...Winter Storm Watch no longer in effect...

The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg has upgraded the Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning...which is in effect from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Thursday.

A band of moderate to heavy snow and sleet is forecast to move north over the mountains and foothills late this evening into the early morning hours of Thursday. This band will likely result in a quick accumulation of one to two inches of snow and sleet across eastern slopes of the mountains and adjacent foothills. A rapid transition to sleet and freezing rain will then follow during the early morning hours Thursday. An additional inch or two of snow is possible...mainly at higher elevations in and near the mountains. Freezing rain will then fall for much of the morning before temperatures warm to a few degrees above freezing. Where temperatures stay below freezing the longest...up to a quarter inch of ice accumulation is possible.

The timing of the wintry precipitation will likely lead to significant travel problems across the warned area Thursday morning. Ice accumulations around a quarter of an inch may result in some trees and power lines to fall...blocking roads and leading to scattered power outages.

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow...sleet...and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.

The rest of the day will be spent running around like ants before a rainstorm, making sure we've got supplies for both us and the animals in case there is a power outage and icy roads make travel (escape) too hazardous.

C-I-L-L...My Landlord

Some would say that one of the benefits of being a renter versus a homeowner is that the landlord is responsible for things that need fixing. Tub won't drain? Call the landlord. Light fixture broken? Call the landlord. Missing window glass, broken dishwasher, foul sewer odor? Don't call our landlord. Granted, we jumped on the opportunity to get this rental cottage in Columbus without a thorough inspection, and we are only paying a very reasonable $625 per month, but what started as a pleasant, almost fatherly relationship with Mr. Phillips (where he even invited us to dinner), has turned sour due to his reluctance to admit to and rectify some serious issues with his rental property...plus he's gotten downright ornery as of late. I like to think we're reasonable people, but perhaps you should decide based upon this list of grievances:

Well Pump: Shortly after move-in, mechanism which draws well water blew a circuit resulting in no water for almost 2 days
Dishwasher: Noticed dishwasher wasn't getting water. Plumber determined this was not related to the broken well, but rather a mechanical issue with the motor. A dishwasher specialist came to fix the water line and motor, then we learned the hard way that it wasn't draining properly (suds all over the kitchen floor during a test-run with no soap). At this point, repairman advised new dishwasher, which took two months (and multiple measuring attempts) to source. Old dishwasher has not been removed from property and still sits under our carport lending wonderful curb appeal to the cottage.
Washing Machine: Hot water supply had a leak. Luckily dishwasher repairman was able to fix while attending other issue.
Sewer Line: There is an overwhelming stench of human waste near the downstairs air return that permeates the entire premises from time to time. After a month and a half of disbelief, landlord finally agrees to investigate the problem. To his surprise, we are not imagining the odor when it is revealed that a main sewer pipe from the upstairs bathroom has a hole literally drilled through it (presumably from a botched telephone line installation).

Raw sewage has been leaking into the wall for who knows how long and this could have ultimately led to considerable structural damage or health-related problems. We found a friend who was contracted to fix the problem. Not even a "thank you" from the landlord, just grief about having to invest more money into the property.
Sliding Glass Window: Perhaps the least of our problems, the upstairs master bedroom sliding glass door window is discovered (unbeknownst to the landlord) to have one side of the double-paned glass completely broken out from a previous tenant. As a result, condensation forms on the glass and the cottage's already-poor energy efficiency suffers. At this point, the glass door opening has been measured four times, and an incorrectly-sized replacement window (versus sliding door) was purchased from salvage and sits in our garage.

Aside from the above, we recently discovered that our landlord misled our neighbor (also a tenant in a smaller adjacent cottage) into thinking the property was sold, thereby forcing her to move. His motive remains unknown, but this certainly feels unscrupulous.

Special thanks to Tyrone Green for the headline of this post.