To the Bat Cave.........

I sent this picture to Kyle as he has wanted a below grade wine cellar - well, the I got a whooping response and apparently this wine cellar (picture care of AT) will also double as the bat cave.....does this make me Robin?????

The new farm name

So it was time to leave Bagelpower behind, though NEVER to be forgotten, he was a puppy only his mother could love, the little rascal. We started on the epic journey to find a new name for our property. The whole naming dynamic of homes and properties sits differently with some people. Some think it pretentious, others unnecessary and some love it. We feel that this is our home, we have and will be pouring immense amounts of time, money, attention, sweat and blood into this place to make it everything we want and therefore it deserves more than a number, it deserves a name. It is unique after all.

So the obvious choice came up, Shoo Fly Farms (thanks Debbie H.(Lesli's mom) for being supportive of that one) and it is pretty cool as Shoo Fly is a type of slate that is found in this area, albeit not very nice slate. But its a long road and we searched from something more definitive of our property. The property is also shaped liked a King's Crown, but all those names were far too regal for us.

For those who have been here, our driveway is lined with Cottonwood trees. They are gorgeous and give such an inviting gateway to what will soon be our beautiful new home (not so much to the double wide that they currently lead to). Also unique to this property on this road is that it is meadowy - as you get higher into the foothills it gets very wooded but our property is grassy with shrubs and fruit trees and creeks running through - so hence Cottonwood Meadow.

So now that is out of the way we will be coming out with a new website and some new plans for the property. Our architect is just about done with the plans for the house, the structural engineer is being secured as we speak and then its on to the permitting process.....probably the most unknown entity of this entire process, so sit tight for a bumpy road.

Update

Hi All,

Okay, little update. The house is moving at a snails pace. We got another set of drawings, we thought the last from the architect but apparently there are more to come. Not sure what the hold up is, I can draw 7 boxes stacked on top of each other and they all measure the same!!!

On the techie side, stay tuned for a new website and blog. We have named the property and are pushing forward with a new site and other fun stuff. Now if I can just get rid of this pesky job - and pesky is putting it lightly.

Shoo Fly Pie

We finally had Shoo Fly Pie - seems appropriate since we live on Shoo Fly Rd, which is a type of slate that is found on the property. So a huge thanks to Jess for going to great lengths to find the recipe and then make it - which was a leap of faith on her part. But its great - its reminiscent of a graham cracker cookie and is pretty much pure sugar but its really yummy. And she put a little lite cool whip on the side.  Oh, it was sooooo good.

I highly recommend you give it a try and see what you think of our house's namesake pie.....

Rainwater

A must see, just lovely

A receipt to make you think

Would a receipt like this make you think twice about your grocery shopping?

Even more Water, Water, Water

Update on the house water situation.....oh boy - here goes.  So we (Kyle, I use the royal "we"), pulled off the lid on the cistern and WOW! Some of the greenest moss you have ever seen, flora growing nearly halfway down into the cistern itself, hey, no wonder our house filter is getting off lightly, we have our own wetland filtration system going on. But after cleaning out all that vegetation, sulfur smell is gone, fingers crossed, so far so good!

And as for the amount of water, have no fear, this spring is regenerating at such a rate that we could give Denali 496 baths a day and still not run out. The cistern overflows at a constant rate forming a stream all the way down the hill till it returns to the natural stream. So now we are devising a plan for our groundwater catchment and installing secondary containment systems to store all this water.

We are scoping out a site downhill of the cistern by about 400 feet to place a 5,000 gallon potable water storage tank, a poly tank that we will then cover with  a GFRC coating or wire mess to encourage ivy to grow up, we will see. We will use gravity feed to fill that tank from the overflow from the current cistern hoping it will take just a few weeks to fill all the way. Eventually when the new house is built we will have a small 500 gallon tank on the roof that will be filled from this poly tank via a solar pump that will run during the day and then gravity feed with bring the water in the house tank to the faucet.

Once all this is installed, next step is rainwataer catchment, we calculated that we can get 39,639 gallons a year from the roof area of the shop alone!! That in itself is enough water to sustain Kyle and I for a year....its amazing. Come on guys, start capturing all that water that rolls off your roof, its great for washing the cars in the summer and watering the plants!! Think how jealous your neighbors would be to see that green lawn and those shiny cars.

Cyber Hog

Apparently I am a cyber hog, but aren't pics the best part about the internet...

Anyway, I have used up all my room on this site so I am off to rethink what I can do next......stay tuned, there may need to be a new favorite for y'all:-(