In our endless attempts to collect and reuse water, BIF has come up with a very creative way to capture the most water wasteful item in any house. The washer or maybe the shower. In our case it is the washer as the Planner is constantly reminding; ever so gently; to turn off the water between soaping. His current thinking is that 2.5 gallons of water per people is too much. We need to reduce, reduce, reduce. With the exception…
Owning a business whose parts are delivered on pallets and building a structure/homestead/compound whose waste cannot be tossed in the local weekly trash collection results in a messiness everywhere. Even when attempting to contain said mess it spills out and ends up taking over the whole property. It happens slowly so that the mess almost goes by unnoticed. Almost. It drives me crazy. I have to see it, mow around it, and be reminded by it that we are living…
Out of the steps in getting electricity, pulling cable is the worst. Too many bends in the PVC, too many pieces of cable for the PVC size, too thick of cable to bend and pull at such long distances. As with all other electrical pulls, we started with a kite string attached to a tiny piece of plastic that was sucked through the PVC with a shop vac. When the tiny kite string and plastic snippet doesn’t want to pull…
I don’t know how you feel about it, but to me ever since The Hole to Nowhere BIF is forever digging holes and shoveling trenches. Planner dug holes, Kid dug holes, and Doggo dug holes. Holes for fun, holes for poles, holes for water. Tractor dug trenches, hand dug trenches, Kid dug trenches. Trenches for electrical, trenches for water/sewer, and trenches for internet. There are so many trenches crisscrossing the property that last year I created a cheat sheet showing…
Time flies. We all know this rationally but mentally is a different story. Day to day living is just busy with the day to day living responsibilities. Two floor shellac test samples were done way back in March when with Bathroom Ceiling Shellac. Three full months have come and gone. Sure there were materials orders, plans laid out, and procedures to procedure. But still! Needing a major step completed to make me feel as though time is not slipping away…
Here it is the of June 2023, just over a year since the Dwelling Box footing #1 hole was dug. A year since the Dwelling boxes were Adjoined and Joined creating one singular living residence. Six months since it was Electrically Watered connecting it to the world as none of the boxes are off the grid. Fourteen months of electrical cords running this way, that way, and always getting in the way. Fourteen months of dragging electrical cords here and…
Trim boards and paint. That was plan for the week. Nothing is ever as it seems. Nothing ever really goes as planned. Nothing. Before trim could be installed windows had to be cleaned of rubber gasket materials encompassing every corner. I guess the manufacturer thinks all window trims are placed at the windows opening but I like the look of trim, window base, then glass. Removing this material was so, so time consuming. Chemicals could not be used as the…
Don’t start I know the above and below pictures are not bead board, they are ceiling boards. Specifically pantry ceiling. Way back in May under the Bantry Rocked and Ceiled, I lead to believe that both the bathroom and the pantry ceilings were completed. And they were with exception to one very little board. See that dark gray flat portion of metal that is not the corrugated wall? That is the mounting bracket running the entire length of the ceiling….
Weather may be warmer than normal for April and May but the rains have been steady and the wildflowers are abundant. Now if Boxes in Fields could just figure out how to remove the biting bugs from the beautiful bugs, everything would be perfect. If pictures are worth a thousand words what are movies worth?
Ooh-wee, tiling the shower took some major time and effort. Or maybe it was effort and time. Either way it was a learning process with trail and errors. Starting on March 23 and ending on April 27, there were times when the Planner thought the job would never be finished (day 1) and there were times that the process proceeded too quickly resulting in more work. Major work. Let is be said, after having every major mistake occur, I feel…
Weeks after having discovered a crack in the second water tank, it was finally that settled the company would compensate $500 towards the purchase of a new tank. $500 would just about cover the costs to drive the five hours, one direction mind you, for the replacement tank. And since it has been a rainy spring meaning thousands of gallons of water had been lost due, there was no time like the present to get the tank. Rain was a…
After hours of reading old home building catalogs, fine craftsman journals, musical instrument repair websites, and of course watching hours of YouTube on the debate, the Planner finally decided upon dewaxed shellac for sealing the ceilings. Since the durability nor the high gloss provided by wax shellac was wanted, Dewaxed Platina Shellac Flakes were purchased. A light amber shade was chosen as to highlight the color of the ceiling without trying to hide that the ceiling is standard yellow southern…
According to silly weather sayings, March is supposed to be “windy”, or “in like a lion out like a lamb” “or if you prefer the quote by Ralph Waldo Emmerson instead “….savage and serene in one hour” which is really about life and nothing really to do with the weather. Whatever cute little saying you like, March is supposed to be the gateway to spring, not the dead of summer. But I guess straight up summer is to be excepted…
Shellac. According to Wikipedia is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odor-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. With that first paragraph, Wiki tells you everything you need to know about shellac. Wiki tells you the facts about shellac. It does tell you the differences between shellac buttons (waxed) and shellac…
Poor Planner. He had his plans all laid out for when the Doubter came so that there was no wasted helper time. Helper time is hard to come by right now as I have taken a part time job for extra income. This part-time job, while it just helping out a veterinary friend in need, does limit my help to after 4pm during the week. Then there are all the other household duties that require everyday attention such as meals,…
Before insulation and sheetrock could be installed there were some last minute tidying up and finalizing steps. Since the Doubter was coming to help in a few days, the Planner wanted all these little things completed along with all the insulation and sheetrock on hand before his arrival so there was no wasted helper time. More insulation was removed from various locations. First there were electrical wires still covered in plastic and foamed into place. These electrical lines run between…
Two weeks we’ve been waiting for the spray foam crew to arrive thinking we had everything ready. They show up and were like “oh, the electrical wires have to be tucked into the outlets, windows and metal walls that are remaining visible need plastic coverings, and the floors need to be covered.” What! If this had been said at time of quote, it could have been done already. Electrical wires at outlets were left long for ease of working later…
Having all the electrical and water lines, sewer outlets and vents, and metal junction boxes in place the next step is clean up work in preparation for spray foam work. Once the spray foam is installed it will be difficult to make changes. This applies not only to the electrical and water lines but to the location of wall junctions, framework, and any other elements buried. Using the outdoor propane burner, a four foot 2″ PVC was formed into the…
Planning, planning, and planning. When building a home, no matter the size, shape, or materials, the builder needs to plan (or draw) out every single room. This drawing should include the substructure, the framework, the inner and outer wall materials, window to floor height requirements, door easements and trim/molding style around the door, electrical outlets, water sources, washer/dryers/oven/fridge location, appliance loads, a general lay out of where furniture will reside. Essentially the entire home should have a blue print schematic….
Too fast. Another year. Where does the time go? Do you ever feel like time moves too slow to too fast? Or maybe you just need time to stop. What about time travel? Would you go travel back or forward in time? Time is never what you want or need. Let us take a trip. A trip require you travel back in time. Back to a time in elementary school to solve a simple math problem. I know for some…
The Kid has experienced some major changes over the last year. Some good, some bad. Changes that marked the beginning of the new and the end of the old. Changes made by him, changes made by others affecting him. Planned and unplanned changes. Changes occurring so slow it went unnoticed, others that happened in the blink of an eye. At first the year seamed to start out the same as every other year. You ate, you made silly faces, you…
Last year it was decided for me that we (by we I mean me) needed a vacation for sanity reason. So harkening back to days before the Kid, dogs, marriage, the Planner took me camping. An even though last year was cold in the mornings with frost on the tent, the days were beautiful and the hiking was great. With such pleasant memories, Boxes in Fields decided we would take another camping trip over the Thanksgiving holidays. Last year it…
I know I finished the last post by stating how much work gets done when the Doubter is here to help the Planner but words do not always give adequate description. Pictures, are as they say, are worth a thousand words. Last week Tuesday, just shortly after breakfast, the Doubter arrived ready to start the day. By late Tuesday evening, the windows were installed. This would be the last time for a few days the two men actually worked together….
Ever since COVID, construction materials have been difficult to come by. Some more so than others like PVC, framing lumber, and windows. Knowing and planning accordingly are two different things. I knew it would take longer to order windows from a quality window supplier versus off the shelf windows at the local hardware store. Having nothing but water leakage issues on the windows in the Work Box, I decided having to wait for better quality windows was worth the delay….
Six months. It has been six months since the garden was removed and the Dwelling was started. Footings were erected, windows were framed, electrical and water lines were dug, boxes were placed, and inner walls were installed. Six months! For the last two months since the boxes were Adjoined and Joined, entrance into the boxes has been by climbing inside, standing on a chair, or usage of a ladder either through the front door or through the double back doors….
There is something about fall that I just love and this year it seems Texas is going to have a real fall. A real Texas fall but fall all the same. Where the days are warm and the nights are cool. Ok, where the days can still be hot but the wind has cooled making the 90℉ degrees feel much, much cooler. With all the recent rains, the grass is green, the sand has settled, and everything is vibrant in…
RUST! Been living in the coastal environment for over 10 years, six of those here at Boxes in Fields and I am still amazed at how quickly rust appears. Not wanting to chance rust on these freshly installed interior panel walls, the Dwelling was prepped for blasting and painting. Raw steel today, rust tomorrow. Seriously. Bright early Monday morning while discussing the plans for the week, the Planner decided there was one additional step to complete before we could blast…
Where does the time go? It has been a week since the pantry walls were built and ready for install. A week. Yes, I know logically the time was spent on the driveway, roof supports, and other odds and ends that did not get mentioned, but still. From reading this blog, it would seem Boxes in Fields does a lot of nothing. Lest you forget we both work jobs and while those jobs are not the typical 8-5 they do…
Rain, rain, rain. We need it to rain, yet when it rains, we complain. As humans, we just like to complain. Some of the reasons we complain when it rains cannot be easily solved, like the rain on our heads inside the Rainstream. Others can be easily rectified if we would just a lot the small amount of time from all the other projects. Trying to work around the rain can be difficult, especially depending on the amount of rain….
And to think, the inner paneled walls for the pantry and utility rooms were moving along so well. Even with the disassembly of the pantry wall to reinforce the doorway, both walls were done with enough time left in the day to install. Maybe not fully installed but at least one could have been bolted into place. With the forklift ready to carry over the pantry wall, the Planner stopped mid drive to mumble something about holding the roof. Grumble,…
Fueled by the success of the erected bathroom wall, the pantry wall with doorway was started the very same day the bathroom wall was installed. A second salvaged panel was brought over using the forklift sling, edges were trimmed to correct length, framework built, panel installed, and ta-da one pantry wall. Well, sort of. Framework for the pantry was a modified bathroom wall. Square tubing on the bottom, angle across the top. Unlike the bathroom wall, there a small portion…
Last week was a first of many firsts for Boxes in Fields with the Almost a Room. In fact the first thing I did today was take another picture of the almost room. Isn’t it fabulous! Well today was another first. A hatched wall. Fabrication is similar to a window or door hatch, the wall is just larger with combined angle and tubing framework instead of just tubing. The top will be angle, the bottom square tubing, and the sides…
After taking the weekend off for family time, again, and having to actually work for a paying job for a few days, we were back on our heads with door work. Today was the last time an inner wall portion would ever be cut from a box. Today was the day the bathroom door wall would be removed, door frame built, and framework installed. Today marks a first for Boxes in Fields. Removing this last bit of wall was very…
Five years ago this week, Boxes in Fields was forever changed. What started out as a planned, once in a lifetime adventure ended up as an unplanned, hopefully, once in a lifetime experience. On Monday, Aug 21 at 11:42 AM GMT, Boxes in Fields was soaking up the full solar eclipse experience. It was amazing, all consuming, and to date, was one of the best things I have participated in. By Friday, Aug 25 at 11:42 pm CST, Boxes in…
Sweet, sweet rain. Who cares that it rained inside the Rainstream on both ends of myside of the bed, from the roof vent onto the living room floor onto my head when sitting at the table, from a light fixture in the bathroom that collected straight into the toilet, and from three of the five openable windows? Not me. Who cares that the area between the Dwelling front door and the Work Box front door flooded and all inhabitants of…
Don’t you love the English language? How words can sound the same yet are spelled differently: bear/bare, deer/dear, hi/high? How words are spelled the same yet have different definitions: mean, foot, pet? Let me not even get started on is red/read or maybe read/read. Over the last two weeks, the Planner welded the roofs together, boxes corners to the framework, the framework uprights and their transfer points to the boxes bottoms, windows and door frames, and the base layer of…
Above all other lessons learned over the five years, the most critical is paint. Paint now, not later. Not tomorrow, or next week. RIGHT NOW. If the project doesn’t get painted right now in a heavy coat of primer, it may never get painted. Primer will help ward off the rust for sometime but raw metal is doomed from day one. The Shop Box windows and doors were painted red rust primer five years ago and have never been repainted….
Think back, way back, to another time but in the same place. A time before flooding, hurricanes, freezes, and dumpster fires. A time when Boxes in Fields was more of an idea than an actual living and breathing place of peace and tranquility. Peace and tranquility. Ha! That’s funny. There is nothing peaceful or tranquil at Boxes in Fields. Ok, that is not true. If you eliminate all things human, then the birds and bees, wildflowers and trees, sunrises and…
It is never good to start out a work day when your work partner is already this contemplative at the start of the day. Poor Planner. He must have stood there 25 minutes trying to decide what went wrong. He measured, measured, and remeasured and still there was an error. The last window out of 15 of the same size and shape and grief was given. This was not even an one inch measuring error that has been known to…
Moving the Dwelling Boxes will be both easier and harder than any previous boxes. The Dwelling framework to have the correct floor elevation is lower than the Shop Box and Work Box as the location sits higher on the property. It is only a foot or so less but it will make a huge difference when moving a 40′ shipping container into the air. However, unlike the previous boxes, the footings are located against the tree line on the east…
How many windows should one home have? Guess it depends. The house I grew up in was a 1940’s rock home built on pier and beams. It was a three bedroom, two bath both with shower and tub, with an open floor plan living room, dining room, and foyer. There was a front door at the foyer that was only used by unknown visitors, a side door with additional screen door in the third bedroom that opened onto the full…
Before you dig, call 411. In the case of Boxes in Fields, before you dig check the PVC chart. Well, check the PVC chart when its completed. When it is completed next year or the year after that. Right now the chart is more like a series of pictures showing where electrical, internet, sewer, and water lines crisscross the property and how deep the lines are buried. And let me tell you these pictures have come in handy more than…
City water is just down the street. Literally can see the connection point from the end of our driveway. In the five years of living without access to city water, city water has come down the side street to a rental house less than 200′ feet away. The water is still on the wrong side of the street and was not offered to the three residences on our side of the street. Not that BIF would have paid for the…
Let’s play a game. When I say a word you say the first word that pops into your head. The first word is done for you.Hot: ColdCat:Down:Brakes: Let’s play a different game. When I say a word you describe the image that comes to your mind. Again, the first word is described for you.Beach: Warm sands, gentle breezes, salty airCairn:Elephant:Home: These games are as old as time and they are great tools for teaching in elementary school. If tested your…
Can’t believe the year is flying by so quickly. On the day to day basis it seems as though nothing ever gets accomplished and it is a good thing I have this blog and my daily calendar as my reminders of all the work being completed. March was busy with work, busy with moving the Doubter, but most certainly not busy with BIF. April on the other hand was busy with BIF, busy with moving the Doubter, but most certainly…
Compared to all previous boxes, the Dwelling Box and all its various iterations have been drawn in CAD. But before the very first cut from a torch will take place, the Dwelling had to be drawn out to ensure our plans, wishes, and desires would actually work. If not, our plans, wishes, and desires had to be modified to fit accordingly. For example, I wanted NOT to be able to see the toilet from the doorway and I wanted a…
Do you know the yearly season dates? I know the longest/shortest day of the year. I know summer starts on May 26 at 1:10pm and that fall comes earlier this year at August 10 at 8:30am. I know March brings gusty winds, July humid weather, August hurricanes, and October cooler evenings. I know there is always a bitter cold snap around Spring Break no matter how late in the year it is and sometimes there is even a cold snap…
Poor chickees. They have been living the life luxury these last few years in their pent house coop. State of the art design, high tech circulation, and plenty of natural light. Almost five years ago, the first round of flufferbottoms were given the boot from their plastic bucket in the Rainstream to their newly finished 8×4 chicken coop. Then a month later they were allowed to roam free in their newly finished 8×20 chicken run. This lovely bright green coop…
Water. Water. Water. When we started Boxes in Fields, it was not our intention to be obsessed with water. First it was the salt water, then it was the collection of water, now it is the collection of potable water. Two Septembers’ ago, Blinded By The White was the first step to collecting drinkable water. Up until this point all the water collected was simply for showers, gardening, etc… Water collected was not drinkable as the roof was not sealed…
Finally, the fireworks, wind, and, rain (mostly) have stopped. Fireworks banged banged into the wee hours of the morning on New Years Day. Winds howled in the upper 20’s until midday New Years Day and then laid low all the rest of the week. Rain abated for one solid week allowing for all type of work to be done. Late to start the day, once Boxes in Fields was up and moving, the first two weeks of the New Year…
As the saying goes, when it rains it pours cats and dogs. A typical year is about 30″ inches of rain with the heaviest month being June. With this here climate change, 2020 was not a very wet year. In fact, it was recorded as a drier than average year. This year, on the other hand, is being recorded as a wetter than an average year by almost double. Yes, double. To have double the amount of rain is a…
Before the roof can be coated for water collection it must repaired for rust damage. Of all the shipping containers at Boxes in Fields, the first two bought were also the best in quality. They were bought during a slow time in the shipping container market when sales were in the buyers favor and the quantities to choose from were endless. The third and fourth boxes (the Storage and Tractor Boxes) were almost as good but the Work Box boxes…
Sometimes a project comes about in a rash decision and is implemented immediately. Most of these rash decision implemented projects are the result of an immediate need. IE: holes in the ceiling, new chicken door, new water pump lines. Some projects are thought out in advance and done over a relatively short period of time. IE: storage boxes, work desk, outside shower. Sometimes a project is years in the making. Way back in October 2017 when we were building out…
After a very rough start to the fall garden, one box has been salvaged with a row of carrots and two rows of mustard greens and few mounds of rainbow swiss chard. The second box was supposed to be spinach and more chard but between the bugs and the weather it could never get a good footing and the third box was left dormant for prosperity. Ok, not really. Healthy garden box management states all gardens should follow a box…
It has been a busy year but I did not realize how busy until I went to compile the yearly collection of Kid pictures for his birthday post and came to the realization there are months with only one or two pictures containing the Kid himself. Understandably this is due to his lack of presence at Boxes in Fields as he is required to attend school it still saddened my heart I have less pictures to note his changes in…
Home schooling was my choice of education for the Kid for many years. It was flexible, challenging, rewarding. It was yelling matches, planed activities gone wrong, and time consuming. By the time the Kid went back to school halfway through his fifth grade year, he was reading at high school level and working out of a college level pre-algebra book. If he hadn’t been home schooled we never would have been able to travel for the Solar Eclipse in Aug…
With the Work Box fully completed back in August and four years since anything was done to the Shop Box, the Shop Box has now become the focus for repair work. First and foremost, the 18″x40′ beam. During Beam Me Up Outside the W14x22 flange was installed way back in May 2017 and has been sitting as raw steel on top of the Shop Box ever since. Raw metal in the salty, salty air. It was never out intention to…
A few days after the threat of Hurricane Nicholas had passed, a little home maintenance work was done. First there was the never ending road maintenance. Rain plus tires equals potholes. Potholes in the truck is not an issue, just drive slowly. Potholes in the car causes the airflow shield to drag. Shield replacement is expensive especially when the gravel has already been paid for. Potholes are a never ending chore, one shovelful at a time. Or one bucketful at…
If 2020 was the year of the Dumpster Fire, 2021 at Boxes in Fields will be the year of Climate Change. I’m sure it is just the first of many years for climate change, but climate change it will be. Boxes in Fields started off with rain, then tried to freeze in February, then tried to float away in May and June and July. If climate change is bringing this much rain one year and then no rain the next…
Argh, what a way to start a week. Four years and just a few days is not enough time to prepare for another storm. Even if it is just a category one. Hurricane Nicholas was headed towards Boxes in Fields and while a category one storm is nothing, it is something all the same. Of course, Hurricane Harvey was only a category one storm when it started, too. Then it was a category five less than 36 hours later. Not…
Global warming. Have discussed this ad nauseam on this blog. It is the reason for the swing shifty weather that is either hotter/colder than normal, the rising sea level, the bigger and more frequent hurricanes. To think, these are just the elements affecting Boxes in Fields. Not even gonna discuss globally as there are dissertations written way better than I could ever explain. Read them. Watch them. Dissertations too long? Read books/blogs. Watch vlogs. Climate change is real. Well here…
Can you remember the first time you used the new fandango thing called the world wide web? Was it at school or at home? If your mid 40’s, middle of the road America like Boxes in Fields, it was probably at school. Then if you were lucky within a few years there was dial up at home. Dial up used primarily for school related activities as there were no other pages to view on the world wide web except PHD…
It is a sad, sad day here at Boxes in Fields. Our beloved doggo has given up the go go. So long my furry legged friend, princess of the front seat. We will forever carry you in our hearts….
Being tall does have its disadvantages and working under the boxes in one of those. Just six inches shorter than the Planner still makes me above average on the female height spectrum. Six inches shorter when stooped under the boxes makes a huge difference. Way back at the end of June when the Planner was working on the last of the columns, I started on Work Box repairs. Simple things I could do without the Planner assistance such as rust…
“Honey, let’s buy a boat.” It was really went more along the lines of this. The Planner was cleaning up from the column work in his box when I came bounding up the stairs proclaiming “I found a sailboat!!!!” I have been looking and looking for more than year for a sailboat big enough for the three of us to sail together. Sailboats are a dime a dozen unless you have specific requirements. Such as a mast easily removed and…
Stand back everyone the Doubter has arrived. He has come to raise columns, all eight over as few days as possible. Doubter says he staying for two weeks before he heads back home to the land of air conditioner. When he leaves the taking the Kid with him, too. Week One:First thing he did upon arrival was attempt to fix a cutting torch the Planner was gifted from a friend. Several weeks ago when the Planner attempted to use the…
In between all the rain showers Boxes in Fields continued to move forward with the plans for the house box. Beam materials were ordered and delivered, plans on how to lift the box in the air were finalized, and designs for the house were ran for strength and integrity against hurricane forces. First things first a chunk of beam leftover from before Harvey was dug out of the scrap pile. Not being used for any structural purposed, the Planner was…
Global Climate. The other day the Kid came home from school all hot and bothered because his school friend couldn’t understand the difference between climate and weather. He said if his friend can’t understand the basic level between those two then there is no helping his friend for global warming. And global warming is a real deal. Since living here I have been telling anyone who will listen that the scientist need to be recording the wind records for global…
Since before I can remember I knew what my life choices were going to be. I was going to marry a poor farmer, live in a poor house and raise poor children. We would have a garden, chickens, and a goat. We would be happy because we had love, lots and lots of love, and life would be just as I wanted. Well I did marry a poor farmer who then when to college. We do not live a poor…
There are no words to describe how happy we are today. In 21 days we will be even happier.
Have you ever seen a skid-o-can, a port-o-potty, a poly-john? Yes you say at any festival event not held on a permanent location. Have you ever seen one two feet in the air? No, didn’t think so. Every outbuilding over 100sft and any building with electrical and/or sewer must meet flood requirements. For Boxes in Fields that is four feet plus depending upon location. Weeeeeelllll, the outhouse (bathroom outside to you city dwellers) is not four feet in the air…
When Hurricane Harvey blew through in 2017 many local residents were quick to remove downed trees even though all the extension services said to wait until the fall to allow time for the trees to recover. Boxes in Fields followed the experts and lost very few trees relatively speaking. When the Great Freeze of 2021 blew through two months ago the experts were immediately posting the same thing, wait until spring is fully in bloom to remove foliage. Boxes in…
Doesn’t it always seem that by the time you figure something out it is almost over. Like college for example. It was the end of my junior year before I finally figured out what combination of individual study, teacher group tutoring, and extra homework was needed in order to secure an A/B average. Now it is COVID. Just a few months into a new year of living in the world after COVID, Boxes in Fields has finally found its grove…
Well it’s done. Three months from the first ditch being dug stake was hammered into the ground, two months since the last form board was hammered into place, just under one month since the first rebar was laid, the concrete pad has been exposed to its true identity. To remove the form boards turned out to be more work than installing them. All of the sand that was tossed from the ditches out had to be removed. This was bucket…
Sometimes things are scheduled for difficult but in the end are relatively easy. Sometimes things are scheduled for easy but then turn difficult. Sometimes things are scheduled but then the whole thing schedule falls apart. When Boxes in Fields poured concrete footings for the Shop Box with a hand mixer, we were fully aware the work would be hard and time consuming. The work was what it was but in the end was not as difficult as originally thought. When…
UGH. SO. COLD. Eleven days. Eleven days of bitter cold weather. An arctic blast from Canada the weather man said. Just a few days of below freezing temperatures and very high winds. Just a few days they said. It started the last day the concrete crew arrived. By mid morning that Thursday the crew were gone and weather was dropping. By early afternoon all the tropical plants were wrapped in towels and covered in plastic. By mid afternoon the chickens…
And so we wait for rain… And rain it did. Water standing deep enough the waterproof boots were water logged. Trying to keep on schedule despite the weather, the Planner continued with concrete pad preparations. There were end bed plates to make and water lines to lay in the ditch between the two boxes. The plastic wrap did keep the water from soaking into the form boards but it did not hold up to the endless wind and had to…
No better way to wrap up a busy week than with twelve fluffy chicks. The old stock has dwindled down to just a few and they lay eggs very irregularly. Four Ameraucana (no pictures taken) because colored eggs taste better (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)… two Black Sex Link because even though Squawky McSquawkerson is loud and boisterous she is a good hen… two Buff Orpingtons because they are supposedly docile enough to hold… two Light Brahmas…
January 2021. Here’s to a new year, a new hope, and new concrete pad. As soon as the weather clears out. The New Year came and went and Boxes in Fields was a stuck duck in the work department. Concrete forms a make for a great lake if you are a duck. If you are Boxes in Fields with a concrete window the lake is a major delay. To aide in water abatement, the Planner used the water pump to…
Good grief what a year. Seriously. What. A. Year. And to think it started off on the right foot, too. A ten mile bike ride at the refuge to start off the New Year. It was calm winds, warm, and wonderful. Sadly the doggo could not join us and she sulked at the door of the car as we loaded. In her younger days, just a few short years ago, she would have jumped in the car and rested upon…
Let the forming for concrete begin. Ditch digging was easy work compared to the work that lies ahead of Boxes in Fields. Concrete workers we are not but money tight we are. Needing to save as much as possible in labor costs the Planner was approved to build and install the concrete forms. Of course, being the planner the Planner is, they were built to code for strength, durability, and reusability. Saturday after Xmas, as soon as the hardware box…
Boxes in Fields is the Underground Railroad for lost critters. First there was the Lost Rooster way back in 2017. Then there was the two chickens within a few weeks of each other establishing the Halfway House in November 2018. The first rooster; Chicken; was fully accepted and is still rounding up his flock daily. The hen became an aggressive setter, the second rooster stalked the hens, and they both were chickens in a pot. Last summer was the family…
A working pump arrived over the weekend just a few days after the first was discovered broken. Not wanting to waste warm weather and the list of things to do backing up, the Planner got to work late Monday afternoon after pulling 9+ hours are work. Yes, work that thing that pays the bills. Poor Planner he was doing back breaking labor and I was plucking the last fruits from the box garden. Christmas tomatoes, anyone? Tuesday rain collection water…
Another box. I have reached the point of too much. There are too many boxes at Boxes in Fields. A Rainstream (which is just a box on wheels), the Storage Box, the Tractor Box, the Shop Boxes (2), the Kid Box (1), the Work Boxes (2), the House Boxes (2), and now the Guest Box (another trailer belonging to Grandma but being used by the Doubter). Unlike the previous location of the Guest Box, this box resides on the north…
Concrete! Concrete in the past has been footings for the Shop Box and then footings for the Work Box. Both done by hand one with self mixed concrete the second with a disastrous pump truck. Concrete work for the future pour is for a foundation. And what goes on a foundation? A home, of course. Can’t talk about that too much as my excitement overcomes me. Focus on the now. Now is the work needed for a foundation. Similar to…
Forever and a day ago (that would be the last mid-August to you calendar dwellers), the final producers from the garden were harvested and the beds have been sitting idle since then. Not quite idle as they grasses are five feet tall. Just a few days later after the last chard were plucked from their beds, Sun Gold and San Marzano tomato seedlings were planted in peat pots.. Twelve peat pots, three seeds each. A month after sprouting, the plants…
Nothing, and I mean nothing in life shows the passage of time as a child. This ridiculous kid of mine is another year older. And while he has grown into a bigger version of himself with more sass and more smarts, he also grows more special each and every day. He is something special all right. Just don’t know what end of the special spectrum scale he falls. This kid who has his own sense of fashion. He wears shorts…
Unlike the vast majority of residents living along coastal regions world wide, I LOVE seagulls. L.O.V.E. Everyone I know thinks I’m crazy, especially the Caretaker. She absolutely does not understand my love of seagulls. What is there not to love? From one to hundred they offer the same reward, laughter. They are sassy, indiscriminate, and pretentious. They bicker, they squawk, and they love. Sharing might be a problem, but then again, don’t we all have trouble sharing at time? Driving…
Woke up this morning to a calm cool morning with not a cloud in the sky. With a small bribe of fresh warm kolaches to the Kid, I enticed company on my ten mile bike ride. He may have bitched and grumbled and peddled as feasibly slow as possible without falling over but by the time we reached the break water he was a happy Kid and I was a happier momma. Just look at that smile. Riding up the…
Halloween was my favorite season as a kid. Not the trick or treating. Not the fall festivals. Instead the idea of witches and goblins, dressing up a something you wanted to be but could never be in real life. Fairies, mummies, and Strawberry Shortcake. When I became a teenager, I decorated every room in the house, created homemade costumes to pass out candy at the front door, and took my baby cousins treating. One could be crazy and nobody cared….
Boxes in Fields needs potable water. It has been stated numerous times since the beginning and four years into the this adventure, water is still a constant source of anxiety. With the Work Box Rain Water Collection System fully functioning and collecting water through eight downspouts, the water that is collected needs to drinkable. We may not be able to control what is blown onto the roof but can control what is leaked into the roof. Protecting against harsh chemicals,…
What a month! From start to finish, painting the Work Box took just close to two months to complete. Technically, it took eight plus months as the blue side developed Work Box Pox way back in December. But to be fair, nothing was done between then and now. Nothing concerned with painting. Lots of work has been done to the Work Box in other areas such as desks, wind reader, and water collection. Starting the middle of July, work on…
COVID , COVID , COVID . Damn you COVID you have broken all the fun things about summer. There were no summer camps for the Kid and no breaks from the Kid while he was attending summer camps and no no summer sailing with local yocals. And while there were no days spent at the beach at least there were days spent at the Doubters where the are acres to roam, a tank to fish at, a creek to wade…
Boxes in Fields would just like to say garden boxes are the way to go. From this point forward, no garden will ever be planted in the earth again. Are garden boxes more work? Only for the initial set up. From that point forward, gardening in a box is SO MUCH EASIER than gardening on the ground. Easier on the growing not easier on the bugs. Horned worm caterpillars still wreck havoc on leaves and stems, stink bugs leave blister…
Having friends is a great thing. They are there to help unwind the day, to have BBQs with on the weekends, to share funny memes to relieve stress, and to bicker about little nuisances that make great friendships. In the case of the Planner and myself, the memes and bicker debates are usually nerdy in nature because well, we are nerdy. Friends are also great because sometimes they come with connections and are happy to share those connections. For example,…
Ending out April with seventeen new flufferbutts was a great. Not five days after they cracked their way into the world, it was clearly evident the cardboard box was not gonna work. They were already confined for space. Needing something small enough to stay inside the Work Box yet easy enough to transport outside, large enough for accommodations until the outside quarters are built, easy enough to clean regularly, and the difficult part: all the supplies had to be on…
All in all it was a very busy month of nesting. Some nesting resulted in cleaner pastures. Some nesting resulted in greener pastures. Some nesting resulted in feathered offsprings for the pasture. First week of the month continued with tree round up. There were invasive trees to dig up and tree limbs to round up, cut up, and stack up. Amazing the amount of dead trees and tree limbs have been collected since Harvey. Seriously have way more BBQ wood…
Spring has sprung but it will not spring. March started out such a beautiful month. Flowers were blooming big, bold, and beautiful. The bottlebrush was fuller than it has ever been. So full, I was worried the branches were gonna break from the weight of the blooms themselves. Honey bees were buzzing in abundance. They were besides themselves with so many choices that they couldn’t decide where to go or how to long to stay when there. Spring Break was…
Back in January during the Dirt+Chicken=Fertilizer grounds clean up day, it was noted the rotting status of the chicken run base boards. Being the coop is constantly under dirt and debris, bathed in water when in rains, and was not high quality weather boards to start, I would say fours years was an acceptable time. Top boards were replaced and wire was reattached. Good to go for another few years or so. While at repairs, a new chicken feeder was…
Almost three years ago to date, the Planner and the Kid planted a garden. It was lovely dirt for cucumbers, squash, peppers, green beans, snap peas and okra. Rooting for Okra was not to be. Winds, lack of rain, poor soil, and gophers all lead to the quick failure of the garden. Since then a lot has happened and there just has not been the time nor the energy for another garden attempt. Over the last several months, above ground…