No Garden this Year. Side-work. Hail season. Enjoying Retirement.

Alright. So, I am an ass. Sorry about that. :)

Mr. P and I have been enjoying summer. It is nearing in on time to prepare for winter. Last year our first snow coincided with me moving into the House on September 22nd.

What a success it has turned out to be! Living such a peaceful life. Managing to go a full year without a 9-5er. Not struggling for the most part.

It has been a pretty good rain and hail season so far. I have to confess. Seeing as I have yet to get gutters and a cistern on the house, when the rain comes down, rushing across the tin roof, only to create mud outside.... I feel inside, "What a waste!" Ha!

The composting Loo has worked out beautifully. I need to get another couple 55 gallon poly barrels, but being able to dump the 5 gallon buckets into it and cover with straw to compost down... works great! No flies. No stink.

The winds and UV has taken their toll on the poor walmart shower tent I have been using for the commode. It may be time to build a proper room for it! Ha!

I have been spending the warm weather helping out neighbors with their projects. Earning a few bucks. Keeping myself busy.

A neighbor friend of mine built a huge Pole barn. I've been helping him to finish it. Between the sides and roofing... I had to install some 8000SF worth of tin. Now picture a screw spaced 2ft apart and on every other rib. Yes. That is a lot of screws. I agree!

My new co-project with him involves tearing down an old 1970s travel trailer to the frame. The same one that I got the stain-glass window from. Then we are going to build a tiny house shell on top of it. Sell it up here for a bit of easy cash. Use that money to get Papa some Tiny House Dry-wall (I'm Papa in this instance !) HA!!

So many people have land up here. This county is known for being quite militant. They go above and beyond the law. What I have learned in the year being up here is that you really have to draw your line in the dirt. Otherwise some people with plastic badges will attempt to strong arm you. So, just by having the option of a small home on wheels that falls outside of building codes. IE Completely legal. Saving you from the pain in the skull from dealing with the county... Peace!

If I knew a year ago what I know now. Let me tell you! A few things I would have done a bit different. Possibly saving a few grand. However, as I am only all in for about $21k between land, home, and solar. I can safely say I was not frivolous with spending.

The last few months I have been thinking to myself. Geesh. I wish I had built the house about 50 ft further north and 8 degrees changed in angle to line up more with the solar array and gazebo. Oh, well. Guess I will deal with it. It took me a long while to realize that it is on wheels. I can move it anywhere I want! Score!

Along the way I have acquired a riding lawn mower. His name is Bomar. Judy, one of my favorite neighbors, ended up moving to Northern IL to take care of her aging mother. She has been trying to sell her house for a year now (the one right behind mine). In exchange for continuing to mow her place for the sale, I gain a free 38in rider. Not bad. Turns out with 3 acres... I sort of needed one anyhow.

She left the first time with most of her belongings back in January, I think it was. Well, she returned about a month ago to get the last of her stuff. Stayed out here for a week. This time around though she didn't have her long haul trucker son to help drive the 16ft Penske truck back. I was minding my own business, sitting on the couch, and doing a fabulous job at not coming up with reasons to bother putting on pants, (It was a Sunday) when there came a knocking upon my door. No. It was not a Raven as sung by Alan Parson's Project. It was Judy. She had a question about whether I could do her a favor. I said possibly. If she could pay to fly me back from IL, could I help her drive the big truck out there. I had to look at my schedule, but it so happened she got me on a free week. So we left on a Monday and I flew home on a Thursday. Took 17 hours to drive across the country. About an hour to the east of Denver the radio started blasting a tornado warning. Then I drove through the most amazing and exciting hail storm ever! My lovely beer can of a Penske truck! Aside from the wheel tracks on the road, it was covered in a few inches of quarter inch hail. 

Arrived in Rockford on Tuesday. Spent Wednesday there. Judy's brother drove me up to Madison, WI on Thursday morning. It was pretty cool because a pilot friend of mine lives up in Oshkosh. About 1.5hrs away from Madison. So we got to spend a short while having breakfast and catching up on life, women, mis-had marriage proposals and the like.

So, I guess you can say I am doing well. Life is good. Air is clean. Helping people out around me. Even doing a heap of mowing for myself and those around me.

Monday and Tuesday I watched the dogs for my buddy, Kevin, while he was at a family reunion.

Basically, I am doing what I planned out to do all along. Remove all the externals that get in the way, such as having to work obscene hours to pay for overhead, that gets in the way of being there for relationships and people in your life. It feels good inside to be able to extend yourself to those around you. Community etc.

Property Aerial - Before Construction

Property Oct 2013 - After Construction