Thinking Inside The Big Box

Tuesday was a bitterly windy and cold day, especially up on the hill where our house will sit, but it was also another day of progress at the ole homestead!  Our 40' storage container was moved from the lower lot, some 600 feet, up to it's new and final resting spot!

Here the crew is digging and prepping the location of where our container will reside, with Joseph and I in the shadows watching on -

Dumping crushed stone for it's new home -

Click to link here to watch - Dumping a crushed stone base 

Here comes the storage unit! Being dragged up the hill -

And it's getting closer -

BAM, it's in its new home nestled nicely on a bed of gravel -

The unit is sitting perfectly level and the doors open and swing with ease -

Empty now but soon this will be filled with Boston and Miami belongings -

Looking for a translator - 

Need to consult with my brother but I'm thinking this is the new "Charlies Place" and will be referred to as such moving forward?!

The box that holds it all.

Things are sure starting to take shape!

Butt Nuggets!

I can't believe it but as of yesterday I've been in East Tennessee for 33 days now!

In that time I've been tending to the three ladies below and enjoying it.  It's reignited my chicken fever and I'm already thinking about getting some for our new place come spring!

Keeping in mind that it's January, that it's cold out there and that the days are shorter, so egg production typically declines around these times.  I've had chickens most of my life so I get it, I understand the process.  However, even in these times the ladies often lay eggs occasionally.

These three old broads below seem to be on some sort of egg laying strike though -

I still check the nest box every day, often with optimism, hoping that there will be an egg or two or even three but nope, that has NOT been the case. Yesterday was the exception and I was pleasantly surprised to find a single egg, see below, waiting for me -

So, in the 33 days that I've been here, I've collected only 3 eggs, alas!

Seems the rooster in the above pic is laying about as many eggs as these old hens.

Stew pot maybe?!?! Show of hands

Burn Baby Burn 🔥

Remember this?

The pile of trees, limbs, stumps and brush that was created by removing all the overgrowth from the fence line in an effort to open up our view of the mountains -

Well, this past Friday morning the pile was lit on fire again!

It burned all weekend long and was down to just stumps below, still smoldering, on Monday afternoon.  Although, I did spend about an hour on Monday restoking it.  Feeding it the limbs and pieces that were in that area that hadn't burned -

This is what the pile, or lack there of, and the area looked like on Tuesday morning -

What hadn't burned by end of day on Monday was buried and the general area leveled off.  It's like there was nothing ever there, except now our view has been opened up and the fence line in that stretch cleared of all the overgrowth and looking pretty darn good!

It's nice to have all that gone! Rest assured, once our house is up and we're all moved in, we plan to work and clear all of the fence lines, which will mean we'll be creating another burning pile - stay tuned!

Honestly, I can't wait!  It's super exciting to see improvements and get out and work our land.

The Wild Tribe

What good looking dogs! Very well trained and behaved.

They were not restrained. They were not pacing or showing any signs of being anxious or antsy. There was no barking or whining. They were not even aggressive or threatening. Of course, I respected their space and didn't approach, even though I may have been tempted.

Just three dogs living their best lives -

Too bad more, actually most, people don't have better control of their dogs!

Kudos, well done.

It's Electric!

It was a busy and productive long holiday weekend at the ole homestead!

After installing our water line, our contractor wasted no time in digging the trench for the electrical line!

The electrical trench has a two foot depth requirement and as of yesterday afternoon it was nearly complete! Once the trench is ready, 2.5 inch PVC conduit will be installed and it will run from the nearest telephone pole, which is in the easement, to where the transformer will reside, see second pic below and circled in red.  A separate conduit will then run from the transformer, which is approximately 190 feet from the house, up to the house.  The caveat with this electrical work is that it MUST be inspected and approved by the Greenville Energy Authority (GEA) but they've been great to work with, so there shouldn't be any issues or delays.

Looking down towards the pond at the contactor in the orange backhoe digging away -

The electrical transformer will sit here, circled, just before the trench -

Deep and neatly dug -

Looking up -

Don't be shocked that we're energized with the progress!  As a matter of fact, we're currently so shocked it hertz but plan to stay grounded! Watt do you expect!

"Electricity is really just organized lightning" — George Carlin.

I'm No Longer Blue

Our contractor worked over the long holiday weekend and was able to get our new water line installed from about where the original gate was to where the house will sit!

See my posting from Friday titled, We're In The Trenches Now! to see the neatly dug water line trench, which was about 20 inches deep. They then ran a single strand of heavy duty 1.5 inch blue water line tubing the 600 or so feet and have since covered it all over!

Excess tubing coiled up at the old gate, circled in red below, which will need to be connected to the water meter. We ran into a bit of a snag on Thursday with the meter and have the utility company involved to help resolve it today -

Water line at the house site, looking up -

and looking back down towards the original gate -

As Samuel Taylor Coleridge's wrote in his poem, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, - "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink", but we're getting closer to remedying this issue!

"Roadhog!"

Get out of the way road hog!

What the heck is going on here in East Tennessee?

I've have NEVER seen SO many people using these store provided electric scooters before! They're everywhere - Walmart, Lowes (pictured below), Kroger's, Publix

Not to be critical or assuming but most of the folks I've seen tooling around in these things have been "big boned", so there's that. Of course some are elderly and some have valid medical needs but wondering what percentage are just flipp'n lazy and or enjoy using these toys?! 

The other potential plus to using one of these is that more often than not most people get out of the way when a scooter rider approaches, especially if they're headed for the snacky isle...

So don't be surprised when I hop on one of these hogs to do my shopping! You know the old saying, "when in Rome..."

Oh, Magoo, you've done it again!

Um, What Is That Alluring Aroma?!

I've been doing a bit of dog sitting of Ms. Violet and Mr. Snoopdog these last couple of days, easy peasy. Except for this morning, yikes!  I walked into a mess, both dogs had chewed up and shredded their crate mats to pieces, OMG! I cleaned it all the best I could, so please don't tell my cousin she has a bit of a temper 😂😂

But I digress...

Both dogs are rewarded with a treat when they return and come inside from doing their business 💦💩. Ms. Violet gets a triple twist stick treat, while Mr. Snoopdog gets a DreamBone Twist Stick treat.

Well, since I get the once over and evil eye from Ms. Trixie upon my returns, I thought I would try to bribe her with a DreamBone twist sticks, borrow it of course, to win her back over.

Here she is a bit puzzled and confused with this new treat -

Like Santa, she's checking it twice before committing -

AH, and then she was all in! Ms. Trixie approved 👍 -

Since I didn't get permission to take (borrow) this snacky, I've decided that I will return it when Ms. Trixie is done and has processed it 💩

I means it's really the correct thing to doo doo...

Oh, Bowl NOT The Bowl...

I took the below picture after finishing my lunch at the Olde Towne Pancake House the other afternoon -

For a quick moment I didn't know what to do.  I had two plates and NO bowl!!  Surely they weren't suggesting what popped into my head?!?! The urge to bolt hit me but I had yet to pay my tab, so that option would have to wait. That's when the waitress appeared carrying two bowls of soup for the booth next to me and then the light dawned on marble head (me).

Sure seemed a bit inappropriate but I get it now, PHEW

Nuff Said!

Ye Olde Eats

I tried another small and somewhat obscure restaurant yesterday afternoon, a place call Olde Towne Pancake House

It looked more like someone's house than a restaurant, inviting and quaint. The early modern English language used on the sign drew me in with a quaint or medieval feel, which was perfect being this restaurant is located in Jonesborough, Tennessee's oldest town.

 All that plus it had a giant rooster status in the front yard, so why would I not go in, DUH?!

I was warmly greeted with a big WELCOME and a little banter about how cold it was outside as I was taken to a booth, no waiting!  The restaurant proudly was displaying that they had won the Johnson City’s Press Best Breakfast award for the third year in a row - 2023, 2024 & 2025, so it was clear I had made the right decision.

I went with the "Olde Timers Breakfast" menu option, even though it was lunch time, but substituted the bacon with the hash browns and a cup of Joe!

I've been hanker'n for biscuits and gravy since I arrive here in East Tennessee and yesterday was the day I finally satisfied that craving -

The food came out quickly, fresh off the grill and nice and hot!

It didn't take me long to wolfe it all down and show that I am a good boy and a proud member of the clean plate club -

I give this lovely little restaurant two thumbs up 👍👍!

Located just off of route 11e, it's in an ideal location, easy to get to plus it's on the drive to and from our Limestone homestead.

Another delicious restaurant I will most definitely be visiting again!

You Are NOT Gonna Believe This

Someone call Guinness immediately!

This is BIGGER than pictures of big foot or the yeti!

I have pictures, actual pictures and maybe even a video, of a cat walking on water!  Yup, you read that right, A CAT WALKING ON WATER!

See for yourself below - 

It's uncanny!

I will name this cat Jesus, for he too walked on water.

We're In The Trenches Now!

More progress was made at the ole homestead yesterday!

Things have dried out mostly and what hasn't dried is now frozen! This allowed our contractor to finally get back onsite and the made progress by digging the water line trench from the meter all the way and up to the house, some 600 feet!

You can see the back tread of the tractor sitting on the front right footer for the house - 

Looking from the house location down towards the frozen pond with driveway on the right -

Looking up towards the house location, next to the frozen pond -

Looking from next to the frozen pond back towards our access road -

From the water meter, up towards the frozen pond and house location -

I was a bit surprised to see how much dirt was dug and piled along the way but VERY pleased with the progress!  Now if we could just get Yurezz to schedule the house delivery, GRRR

Progress is progress!

Home Sweet Home!

We're well on our way!

Without splitting hairs here, technically we won't be in an old farmhouse. Nor will there be an old barn out back and not on 10 acres.

Rather it will be a new double-wide house, eventually a new barn or two of some sort and all sitting on our 15.86 acres!  Yes, there will be a big garden, several of them, oodles of flowers and in time a menagerie of critters running and grazing about!

The back roads, well I've already started to enjoy those rides.  Not in a truck, yet, but the sites, sounds and views are just as priceless with many more to come.

Welcome to East Tennessee!

Halt! Who Goes There

I spent some time cleaning and clearing up the brush along a portion of the barbed wire fencing where our original gate was hung.

It wasn't too bad.  The contractor, who's working on the driveway for us, did a nice job of clearing the heavy, thick brush out from this area.  However, it did need some attention to my OCD riddled brain, so off I went.

Before -

After -

In hindsight perhaps not needed, as this area will soon be dug up with trenches to bury the water and electric lines but it does look nicer.

A Brisk Walk Today!

Despite it being a frigid 24 degrees today, I bundled up, braved the elements and got in a 2.7 mile walk this afternoon at the university -

I was so preoccupied when I first arrived, getting myself bundled up from the wind, that I failed to noticed these four ladies next to the pathway. By the time I got my gloves off and pulled my phone from my back pocket and unlocked it they were turning and runing off -

Displaying their namesake "white-tailed" tails as they pranced off, across the road and up the steep embankment towards the railroad tracks they went -

With all the open spaces and farmland available in this area, these girls seem to enjoy the city life of JC.

(Not) White Out Conditions!

So, Ms. Emma's pre-k class was delayed this morning here in East Tennessee because of the snow.

Hmmmm 🤔 -

I best run to the market ASAP before it gets worse and pick up the essentials, e.g. milk, eggs and bread.  Can't be too sure how long this will last. Fingers crossed 🤞 we don't lose power!

Oh, the humanity!

😂😂😂😂