Tsk, Tsk, Tsk What A Mean Trick

What in the world is going on East Tennessee?!

C'mon stop!  Enough of this white stuff and cold temps, brrr!

A cruel trick, especially following a beautiful warm and sunny weekend, geesh -

I'm guessing this sudden cold will have an effect on some of the flora and fauna who were led to believe it was safe to start their spring appearance...

This is pic was taken a couple days earlier, from the driveway of our house, the pear trees starting to bloom.

Littering Bugging Me!

We spent an afternoon last week clearing the lot line between our Oakdale and Pritchard properties.  The area was overgrown with brush and limbs, as well as kudzu vines and grape vines growing up into the trees, so we cut it back as best we could and made a couple piles of the clippings.

We'll eventually need to move the piles someplace where we can safely burn it all, as there's a lot, but the area is looking better and well worth the time and effort!

Before - 

After -

Frustratingly, someone took the liberty of dumping their trash along the tree line, GRRR!  It's been there awhile and unsightly for sure and will need to be removed.  Here are a couple close up pics of the trash - several old tires and an old plastic calf shelter, which is in numerous pieces.  There are a lot of tar shingles too (not pictured); there we're not going to fuss with as most are covered with leaves and debris at this point -

We continue to putter and are making progress here and there.

It's satisfying working on our land and being able to see the differences are hard work is making!

Don't Worry Be Happy

Hey There Hay!

We walked the back half of our property the other day to check out the fence lines, it was a gorgeous day too.

All in all the fencing looks okay but there area sections that will need to be repaired. We went prepared with clippers in hand to clear and remove any brush and limbs that were encroaching on the fence. That ended up being a workout, as we did quite a bit of pruning and cutting back.

As you can see below the property was not hayed by the previous renter we had, so things are a bit overgrown.  Something we'll need to take care of sooner rather than later and on our list,

The tall tan grasses are all tall, about chest high, and do look kinda cool -

Very satisfying being out and walking our land!

God is good!

AM View From Sunnydew!

Good Morning, happy Sunday!

Here are a couple pics I snapped at 7:25AM, while watering Ms. Trixie.

Moon over Buffalo Mountain -

Rise and shine sunrise -

Another outstand East Tennessee day about to unfold, get out and enjoy it!

Mulch Mulch Baby

Edging and mulching has been completed! The place looks great!

The Frye Brothers do phenomenal work, if I may be so bold 😉!

The devil is in the details really -

We also pruned a bunch of spruce tree limbs today that were hanging low over the driveway. Loaded them into the trailer, drove them to Sunnydew Circle, where we unloaded them curbside to be picked up by the town.

Hard work never hurt anybody...😤

Crawl Space Confessions

We pulled up to our house yesterday morning to find a car parked next to the house.  We could see it as we pulled off the highway and immediately got concerned thinking something fishy was going on.  Fortunately, it turned out the person was there to install the vapor barrier under the house and he was crawling around and making some good progress -

He was expecting to be done by the end of day.

This is a BIG step and one that is required for the home inspection to pass but also needs to be done before the skirting can be installed around the house.  So, we're moving forward, all be it slower that we like but progress is progress!

Llama Herds Galore

We've come across quite a few farms that raise llama during our ride-abouts -

After leaving our farm yesterday afternoon, we took back roads on our way to Johnson City.  What a fantastic drive!  The farms, open land and views were tremendous!

Good looking animals I must say.

Did Someone Say Mulch?!

We had an adventure earlier this week when we went to Lowe's to pick up 2 pallets of black mulch; each pallets holds 65 bag and each bag weighs about 40 pounds, so a LOT of weight!

The Lowe's employees had a heck of a time getting both pallets loaded onto the trailer. Due to how the sides folded down and the wheel covers being in the way, it was a challenge that took quite a bit of time -

Once both pallets were loaded we ran into another issue, flat tires, both sides of the trailer -

Fortunately, the manager of Lowe's had one of those portable tire pumps that plug into the cars lighter and he was kind enough to drive over to fill both tires! Both tires were at a 27 PSI when we connected the pump but the tires require 50 PSI, so it took a while to get them filled but it worked out perfectly -

We strapped both pallets, each with two ratchet straps, to ensure they wouldn't shift as we drove, then off we went at 30 MPH to our destination some 20 miles away, UGH.  Very slow going but worthwhile to be safe.

We eventually made it to our destination, then spent the next 4 hours or so unloaded, edging and emptying bags of mulch in the flower beds around the front of the house and front trees.

A lot of work but boy does it all look great!

Now some extra strength Advil PLEASE! 

Our Humble Garden Hose Spigot

We had a Yard Hydrant (spigot) installed by our site crew -

Our house came with only one spigot and it's located in the back center of the house and we had concerns about not having a second one in the front of the house.  Our solution was a yard hydrant, which is connected directly to the incoming water line and all buried two feet underground.

It's already been successfully tested!

As the phrase from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Water water everywhere... however, we can drink our water!

Nope, Not That Aunt Bee

Aunt B with an A!

We headed to Aunt Bee's Home Cooking restaurant for breakfast in Greeneville on Monday morning after our 9AM meeting -

A diner type restaurant with plenty of seating. We were seated right away and had our coffee without waiting.  Our food came out relatively fast and wasn't too bad - sausage gravy and biscuits, eggs and bacon. The wait staff was friendly too.

I'd go back.

I Spy With My Little Eye

The view of the rear our house from afar on Pritchard road -

There's not too much tree cover at the rear of our place between us and the neighbors but fortunately, they're far enough away that hopefully it shouldn't matter.

Shush!

Cat on a hot tin roof -

Seems like an odd spot for a "cat" nap.

Gravel: Nature’s Doorbell

This weekend the crew has been grading and leveling the property.  They brought their BIG tractor and grader back and have done a great job cleaning things up!

You can see the tractor passing by the front of the house below -

The area behind the house looking good -

Going up, on the right side of the driveway -

An expanded view with the pond -

They even leveled and graded the driveway too!

Looking back down towards the Pritchard road easement -

Looking up, driving up to the house -

More gravel to be delivered, dumped and spread once the final inspection of the electrical trench has been signed off on.

Things are taking shape!

A View From Above

Continued progress at the ole homestead!

Our septic system has been installed AND signed off on by the town inspector!

A nice birds eye view of the system, as well as the two halves of the house being put together -

It's been a beehive of activity this past week.  All crews have been working to take advantage of the beautiful weather to get things done, as next week looks rainy and unsettled.

Tis Empty

We're Making A Splash

We spent half a day yesterday at our farm, working to clear the overgrowth of thorns, vines - kudzu, sucker saplings and the pruning of tree limbs where necessary, from next to our pond -

The overgrowth is many years in the making, which is why there's so much and why it's so thick.  We're hoping that once the initial cleaning is done, we'll be able to maintain the areas with a mower or bush hog -

 The goal is to enjoy the pond, and the wildlife it attracts!  We're headed in the right direction and can already see how nice things are starting to look with only several hours of clean up done.

We're like a couple of Snow Whites dwarfs - hi ho, hi ho it's off to work we go...

*** UPDATE ***

We've done more cleaning and clearing!  You can really see how much we've opened things up! It looks great -

And we've only just begun...

Circle Just O K...

We stopped in and had lunch at the Circle S Butcher Block & Farm Kitchen in Greeneville yesterday afternoon -

We stopped in once before, over a year ago, but didn't stay. Can't be too sure why but I believe we had an appointment and was looking for something relatively quick and to-go, so we passed.

It has the 'kitchen' feel, which is fine, however, I was expecting more of a pub feel.  The food wasn't too bad but again it was more kitcheney than I would have liked. I got barbeque beans as a side and they were very tasty!  The service could have been better and our waitress a bit friendlier but not too bad.

While seated waiting for our food, we watched an old farmer through the front window of the restaurant, relive himself out in the front parking lot - I kid you not!  He positioned himself behind his opened driver side truck door with his backside to Rt 11E, yes a major highway, and there was no mistaken what he was doing.  However, instead of relieving himself directly on the ground, it appeared he went into a container of some sort, EWWW!  The ironic thing to me was he had just finished eating in the Circle S which has bathrooms!  So why didn't he use the restroom inside and why was he doing his "business" out for everyone to see...well that I cannot answer. Another one of life's mysteries.

He was still in the parking lot when we were leaving, sitting on the tailgate of his truck, and I will tell you he was a VERY friendly and chatty old man.

I would go back but it would not be high on my list as a Greeneville option.

I'm "Flush" With Excitement!

Stopped in at our homestead late this morning and was very surprised to see our new septic system being installed -

The crew planned to have the entire system in place by end of day today, as they had already reached out to the town inspector, who was expected to be on site in the morning to inspect and signoff on the work.  

Once approved, the crew will bury the system and grade the area -

Progress! We're getting SO close!

I'd Like To Place An Order...

Looks like we have a customer at our window -

She's adamant and determined to get our attention -

Poor thing doesn't realize the drive through was closed!

How Bout Some Teppanyaki?!

We dined at Yuimaru Kitchen, a Japanese restaurant here in Johnson City back on February 22. It was a birthday gathering and celebration.

The food was tasty but I was a little disappointed in the chef.  He fine and he cooked the food perfectly fine, however, he just wasn't into it.  Part of being a Japanese restaurant chef, behind that grill and with the audience gathered, they really need to get into it and be more vocal and more of a showman.  The chef we had, although he kinda tried, he missed the mark in my book.

But yes, I'd go back.