Chapter 44...Hanging Pictures And Clogged Culverts

Off Grid...Chapter 44 This week had been a cold, rainy and snowy week. Unfortunately that means we couldn't do so much work. Mike and I can't wait for nice weather. We have so much to do outside. That list seems almost endless. Monday 1-5 It was a rainy dreary day out today. Not much to do so we hung picture frames in our bedroom. and Now all we need is 15 pictures to fill the frames. That will take us years, lol. It took years to get me to take pictures now it will probably take more for me to get them developed. Tuesday 1-6 Another very rainy day. We went to town to order the day bed because we are impatient and we want to finish the office. We got to the store and the man told us it would be $750.00 for the day bed and 2 mattresses. That's a lot of money for something that will only get used about twice a year. Ok, back to the catalogs. We found a futon and mattress for half price. Now that sounds better. We placed our order and it should be in in 2 weeks. Wednesday 1-7 It's another rainy day. I think we are going to float off this mountain. There is a ton of water coming down the mountain so it's time to go down and check the culvert. We are just maintaining it until we do a full clean out. Mike went down before me to check the culvert. I walked down about 10 minutes later and he was digging like crazy. The culvert is still clogged but not completely which is good but the water did find a different path on the side and did some wash out on the lower driveway. Mike started digging and making a small pile so that the water would flow back into the ditch and culvert. The water coming off the mountain The culvert is semi clear but it looks like a ton of leaves are in the middle. Howard must have already been here to feed the cows. They were across from us eating hay. The much thinner winter cows and Mr. Bull. We did as much as we could so we started to walk back up the driveway. Mike must have overdone it because he had to stop and take a break. I asked if he wanted me to get the jeep but he just rested. We seem to forget that we aren't kids anymore and we aren't used to heavy work. We got to the top and Mike went inside to rest. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't overdo things anymore. I want to keep him around for the next 40 years or so. He's my best friend. I can't let anything happen to him. Anyway that was a wakeup call for him to slow down. Later on Mike put the generator on and I did laundry while he filled our water tank. We also charged out batteries at the same time. Our system has been doing very well but when we have 3 straight days of no juice we need to help the batteries by charging them. I think in the spring our system will be more than enough. Oh yeah did I tell you? Mike wants to move the panels again. See this is why we don't worry to much when we do things. We end up changing so many things to make them better. And he wants to move our building again. Oh, I can't wait for spring. Thursday 1-8 It really snowed today. It looks like a white out. This is standing at our door. Of course today is the day we have to go to town. I have an appointment for a root canal and we are also going to pick up file cabinets for our desk. Mike drove and first stop was Wal-mart. We bought 2 black file cabinets for our desk and a chair. We decided to make our own since we haven't seen a desk we like. We have a good piece of wood at home that we can use for the top. Mike dropped me at the dentist and he went to Lowe's while I was there. Since I was having a lot of pain from my tooth I opted for the nitrous oxide(laughing gas). I would recommend that to anyone. I didn't feel a thing. Now that's how a dentist's visit should be. I did ask the girl to give me less because I thought the initial amount of gas was too much. What can I say, I"m a lightweight. Mike picked me up and we headed home. I hope we can make it up the driveway. We get inside the property and there are some drifts on the driveway. We do fine until our last steep curve. I said to Mike "I'm getting out". He told me don't worry about it. Oh I hate this. So he puts the car in low gear and here we go. We start to slip a little and then we get stuck. Now Mike backs the car down the hill as I'm hanging on to the door. He sops the jeep and we start over going faster. We make it this time and Mike is all excited. He really likes this stuff. Must be from his left over racing days. We got everything unloaded and while I rested Mike put together our chair and took out the file cabinets. One of them is damaged so we have to return it. Friday and Saturday- The weather is still cold and rainy. There's not much for us to do on days like this. Oh yeah weren't we supposed to finish the inside of the house this winter? The whole winter? Well it figures we worked like crazy people and got it done early. Now what? Spring where are you? I know we have a long wait. Sunday 1-11 I called Wal-Mart this morning to see of they restocked our file cabinet and they have two. Mike talked to Nicole this morning and she is also making her own desk. She found this spray paint that has a stone textured finish that she is going to use and out a clear gloss over the top. She is using an interior door for her desk top. We will check this paint out in town. Off to town we go and this time we open the box in the store to check the cabinet for damage. Yeah it all looks good. Then across the street to Lowe's for the paint. We get home and Mike is all excited to paint the top of our desk. It's too cold and windy to do it outside so he is trying to figure out how to "spray" paint inside the house. "Are you crazy" I said. There is no way you are spray painting inside the house. So he wants you all to know that it is my fault we don't have more pictures. Tomorrow is another day. That was a mini chapter in the Mike and Lisa world. We will finish the desk and maybe get the futon this coming week. I hope you all enjoyed our update. I will post again next Monday. Have a great week. Lisa