May 2009 - Concrete Walls and Slab

Here i am moving the gravel by tractor into place where it is spread and leveled at the subgrade elevation. That is the level of the bottom of the concrete slab.

Trucks of Pea Gravel and crushed rock drove onto the pad and dumped as close as possible so that we didn't have to move it all too far to get it level and in place.

After the footings were poured, the next step was to pour the concrete foundation walls. THe footings and the bottom of the footing were located below the frost line. This is a major structural requirement in climates where the ground freezes, as the frozen ground will move UP ,or heave up. If the bulding foundation is not built below the frost line, the whole bulding will have a signficant chance of heaving up in the winter. The top of the walls are at an elevation of 6" above where we anticipate the final grade around the building will be.

Because time was tight, we placed pea gravel fill over the existing ground elevation to bring the overall ground elevation to the underslab elevation. The concrete slab floor will be poured on this. We used our Kobota tractor to bring in nearly 80 cubic yards of fill. Mostly we used pea gravel, because it doesn't need to be compacted and it spreads very easily to the bottom of slab elevation. Areas where the concrete slab has to pull into will be filled with 5/8" crushed rock which will hold the truck very well. Both fills work well for the concrete, but 5/8" will be rock hard for supporting the concrete truck. If pea gravel was used there, the concrete trucks would spin its tires and ruin the subgrade preparation. One of those "experience" things!

Here is the ground after the concrete walls were poured and prior to the gravel being put in.

Here we are putting in gravel!

Now we are ready to proceed with the concrete slab and all the things that go in and under it!

April '09--(Ground)Breaking News!

Here we are in the middle of paradise, basking in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. What a feast for the eyes, ears, and even noses! The surrounding mountains and forests with their songbirds, deer and wild turkeys are a sight to behold…we hear an evening chorus of frogs, geese, and mallards…and we love the fragrance of the pines, firs and other trees and plants.

This has been a busy ten days with lots of visitors--we treasure our family and friends! Most of our kids and grandkids made day trips to see us, the “pockery,” and the new tractor! Our neighbors Larry and Lynn were here to spend several days at their cabin, and we saw several friends and new acquaintances who live nearby. The perfect end of our day is to sit around a crackling campfire with friends and family members!

Our first day here, the local phone company not only turned on our phone service but connected us to DSL as well! (We’re really getting civilized here…) The well driller came by and checked out our first well site, which he’ll drill next month. One afternoon, we spent four hours walking our entire place with a state forester, completing our forest stewardship plan. Another day our excavating, foundation and framing contractors came by to schedule out the construction of our utility barn/apartment. Our tractor was delivered just in time for a round of rides for grandkids. Jim later used it to level out the utility building excavation so that concrete trucks can reach the project site.

Before the kids arrived, Jim and Adele set out some preliminary parcel boundary markers. Until now, we’ve eyeballed and estimated the divisions between the seven 20-acre pieces. Jeremy & Katrina, Pete & Sarah, and Tommy & Bethany all walked their individual land a bit, looking at boundary lines and their potential homesites. They’ve all seen them before, but it’s always fun to dream and plan.

During the week, after the footing trenches were excavated by Ron, Jim received an electrical permit, placed the power line conduits, and backfilled with the tractor. He pumped some standing water out of the trench before Ken and CJ came to build the forms for the building footings. These were poured and they look good! Next comes the foundation walls and then the floor slab with radiant heating piping throughout.

We are getting acquainted with the local farm supply store (Big R—Adele’s favorite store), tractor parts dealers, hardware stores, and building supply companies. Between those businesses, Safeway, and Super Walmart, we find most of what we need in Colville or Chewelah. Once in a while a trip to Spokane will be in order for Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.

Now back to our other home to spend some time there before the next trip east.

Saturday was a great day for kites!

Spring 2009

Spring has sprung, or at least the calendar says so. The Pacific NW is reluctant to let go of winter this year, but we’re ready to forge on ahead with our plans at the property! We have scheduled visits from several very helpful people in April and May. Most important are our family members! Some of us will tromp around surveying to define individual parcel lines and deciding on sites for cabins/homes, our new campsite, and our orchard. These decisions will make way for more development, fencing, etc. Some of our other visitors will be a well digger, framers for our utility barn/apartment, internet and electrical power providers, a DNR forest steward, and a DNR wildlife biologist. Let the fun begin!

Winter 2008-09

Tommy was the only family member to visit the property this winter--in December he went up to cut a Christmas tree for his family. We had made an appointment with a well driller to visit the property in late December, but unusual amounts of snow caused us to postpone that. We’ll reschedule the well driller appointment for springtime. We're thankful for the very local weather reports we get from our friends Jay and Diana! Our neighbors Larry and Lynn did go up to the property in January and pronounced it snowy but lookin' good!

Our family did lots of planning this winter, though, including a decision to move the family campsite closer to the first buildings that will be built. So one of our first projects for spring will be to choose a new location and get power extended to the campsite. This will probably be near the site of Jeremy and Katrina's cabin, and they've graciously invited the family to invade their territory. That way all the adults can still gather 'round the campfire in the evenings after the kids go to bed.

Bethany has put a lot of time into orchard planning, and we are making decisions about fencing materials. This summer we'll start fencing an area to include the utility barn, orchard, garden, and henhouse to keep the deer out and the dogs in. Eventually we'll plant a wildlife food plot near the pond for deer, turkeys, and other critters in an area we can view from our homesite.


On January 29, our first Maremma pup, Gus, was born in New York. His full name is Augustus McCrae, after our favorite character in the movie Lonesome Dove. Gus will remain in NY till he's trained to guard our home and family from potentially bothersome wildlife.

Christina is progressing on her veterinary education and will be able to help us with our livestock healthcare. She'll become a veterinary assistant this spring and then proceed with veterinary technician training till winter 2010. In January, Adele started the Snohomish County Master Gardener training. She's learning a lot of new info about gardening and horticulture, planning ahead for planting our orchard and gardens. We're also taking a forestry stewardship class to learn how to manage our timberland to be ecologically friendly and safe.

Fall 2008

In October we made our last trip of the year—this time to properly close up everything for the winter! Jim and Adele spent the weekend in their new trailer, and some of the kids stayed up at the campsite. We planted wildflower seeds on the berm beside our future barn apartment and around the trailer and campsite.

Our family campsite is on Bethany and Tommy's 20-acre parcel, where they've scoped out sites for their future home and vegetable garden. Bethany has started layering a garden bed area, where we compost as much as we can. Eleora and her mommy planted some garlic this fall and tucked it in with a layer of leaves. Let's hope the garlic sprouts are not appetizing to deer!













Larry and Lynn's new cabin was a welcome sight on their hill "next door"! We checked on it and found everything safe and sound. Back on our property, we looked at the potential well sites located by a well seeker and figured out where to drill first. Before leaving the property, we closed up all three trailers--and took apart the Costco canopy this time. Okay, now let it snow!

At Thanksgiving we had a family meeting to discuss the NLA goals and potential pursuits of each adult in the family. We have a very diverse set of skills and interests that will come in handy as we work on our individual parcels and the common projects at the ranch.

This fall, Jim and Adele took the WSU Livestock Advisor Training course and a Ties to the Land Family Succession seminar. This winter, Adele is taking the WSU Master Gardener Training course and we will attend the WSU Forest Stewardship Coached Planning class. All these classes have been offered through our local county extension office—an awesome resource in any state!

After extensively researching livestock guardian dog breeds and breeders, we reserved a Maremma puppy from a litter due in January. We’ll get another pup from next fall’s litter. Windance Farm, the breeder in New York, will train both dogs before sending them to us when we move to the ranch. These dogs will be our personal/home/garden/
henhouse pair, keeping coyotes and other pests away. When we get more livestock, we’ll add more guardian dogs for the barn and pastures. Maremmas are “guardians”--not “guard” dogs. They are awesome animals that instinctively deter predators and will bond with and defend whatever humans or animals they are to protect. Our two pups will be trained with young children and most of the species of animals we plan to raise. Once the dogs arrive at our place, they'll get to know all our family members and livestock and we will become their "flock."

Summer 2008

As a blessing from Grandad, who had just passed away, the family received several pieces of playground equipment. A great climbing tower, jungle gym, and airplane teeter totter went up on one weekend. The dads built a sandbox, but the quarry was closed so the box sat empty till next trip.


For the second year, we chose to celebrate our June 30 wedding anniversary camping at the property. Staying for the July 4 week makes for a nice long vacation there. Some of the kids came and went. Though our April family time had been on a cold day, the July week was very hot! The young parents and kids cooled off at Lake Roosevelt while Papa and Grammy were refreshed by the trailer AC. Since we hadn’t yet run power up to the campsite, we were sure glad we’d brought generators!



















The kids enjoyed the playground, especially after we got sand for the sandbox. Butterfly nets were also a big hit, along with our field guides for wildflowers, birds, and butterflies.




Sarah made her annual trip to the ER in Colville, this time with Aaron. Pete and Sarah now have a nice trailer for their family at the campsite. Sarah has become our camp meal coordinator, helping us all by planning the meals and doing the shopping for the whole crowd. It works out really well for everyone. We all take turns preparing the food. We usually cook burgers, bratwurst, hotdogs, etc. over the fire for dinner. There are cereal and muffins for breakfast, with a hot breakfast scramble a couple of mornings. And of course, there is cowboy coffee perked on the fire on all but the hottest mornings. Even cowboy coffee isn’t worth building a cooking fire in that hot morning sun. We’ve got to find a shady place for a fire pit for those mornings!


Even our youngest carpenters helped build a deck and a storage shed!













Our friendly dozer man, neighbor Ron, came and did some clearing and leveling at Jim and Adele's homesite, but the heat limited the length of time he could work. Our neighbor Darren brought over a tank full of water on a trailer. There was plenty for solar showers, footbaths, and baby baths in plastic tubs. In early August we were there on another hot weekend, and there was still enough water in the tank to fill an inflatable wading pool. We also hauled over some water from Larry and Lynn’s new well.

Later that month Jim and Adele bought a larger, more comfortable trailer to put at our homesite. The kids can share the little campsite trailer. While Adele stayed in Spokane with newborn granddaughter Sophia and her family, Jim took the “new” trailer up to the property and set it up. The same day Ron completed the leveling of the site for our utility building.

Spring 2008

Last fall we never got back up to the campsite to properly close it down for winter. Our first visit in the spring revealed that our canopy shelter had collapsed under the weight of that winter’s unusually heavy snow. We also found that some mice had made themselves at home in our trailer. Adele spent a couple of restless nights hearing mouse noises in the kitchen before we managed to remove the mice from the trailer.


We had our second annual family picnic day in April. It was still chilly, and Grammy made hot cocoa and popcorn for the kids. Our day trips are convenient because two of our families live just 90 minutes away. This time, Dad and Mom (with Snick) spent a night at the Colville Inn, sharing the motel with a whole flock of turkey hunters.