Wahsega Valley Farm

Farm scenery

Mike and I drove up to our farm Sunday morning to see if his new plan for moving our driveway was feasible. Turns out it will be perfect where he wants to put it. Sooo much better than the previous plan, because it will leave the pastures alone. That's a wonderful thing because it was going to cut right through them. Now it will off to one side, quite inconspicuous.

The weather was beautiful, though most of the leaves had already dropped from the trees there. Even though it's only about an hour north from where we live, it's in a different weather zone because of the mountains, and is usually around ten degrees cooler. So, while most of the leaves are still on the leaves here - and quite colorful - it looked like winter at the farm. 

I took a few pictures...

Here are leaves on some gorgeous moss near our creek. I used a cool filter on some of these shots; click to blow up and see.

 

A part of our pond, looking through the bare trees...

Looking at the same trees from the other side of the pond...

Mike, checking things out in one of the pastures...

The sky was beautiful, and the clouds were doing crazy things...

We didn't go up to the cabin since we didn't want to disturb our tenants, but we traipsed around the pastures and pond quite a bit getting quite excited at how soon we will be spending time there and doing all those things we've been thinking about doing for years now. We left feeling exhilarated and ready!

Cabin "before" pictures

Mike and I spent Monday afternoon at our little farm looking at the cabin. I took pictures while Mike measured everything. He wants to use a house remodeling software to draw out the changes he'd like to make. Since I took quite a few pictures, I thought I'd post a few and do some 'splainin' on what they are now and how we hope to change them. Click on any picture to see larger.

First up is a picture of Mike dumping some the oak trees that he's hoping to make our kitchen cabinets out of.

And this one is the same shot from a different vantage point. Isn't that dump trailer da bomb?

The following picture show two trees that Mike says need to be cut down in order for us to be able to add on to the cabin. I'm having a real problem with it and am hoping we can find a way to leave them. They're such nice trees and I loooove them. They speak to me. I don't think they speak to Mike. The front deck will also be removed and this level of the cabin will become the second level.

This is the room we walk into first thing right now through the front door. We have tenants currently living in the cabin and it is furnished with their things. (I would never have a dead animal head hanging on my wall!) This room will become our bedroom and the room behind it - the current kitchen - will become the bathroom and closet area.

The picture below shows the fireplace that is currently in the living room, but once we remodel the cabin will be in our bedroom. That will be so nice! The walls will stay the nice wood and we're hoping we can keep the pine plank floors.

And here you can see the ceiling and front doors of the future bedroom. Those doors will open to a balcony once the changes have been made.

Here is the current kitchen, that will become part our bathroom/closet combo in the future. All the cabinets will be removed or at least reconfigured.

I like this picture of the kitchen wall where the door to the bathroom is. I love the wood. The current bathroom itself is quite small and will be removed totally to make way for a bigger and better one.

And here is the ceiling that will stay in the new bathroom.

That's it for the interior of the existing main floor. In the picture below, it is the middle floor from the back and the first floor from the front of the cabin. Once Mike changes the level of the dirt around the cabin, it will become the second floor all the way around and be our bedroom area. The ground floor will become the living and kitchen area. And the room on top will stay the room on top. And Mike wants to add another room or two as an addition, but hasn't put his ideas on paper yet.

We really can't wait to get started, but we're still in the planning stage. It's nice to look at the pictures and dream though. And the ticker in the green left column says "387 days until we move to the farm" today!

Monday pictures

Mike and I were both off work yesterday and decided go for a drive and get out of the city. Before leaving, I took some pictures of Zena and Sophie playing. In the picture below I think Sophie is looking to me for escape from the insane antics of Zena - our now 6-week old crazy kitten. She is growing like a weed and is everywhere now. It's time to batton down the hatches and remove all breakable items from shelves and tables!

We went to Horsetown to get Mike some new jeans and I found the perfect pair of brown overalls for when we move to the farm. And boots and rain slickers and cowboy hats and belts and... we just bought the jeans. But we sure drooled a lot.

Then we decided to drive up to the farm since we'd not been there in months. Here is a view of our neighbors and part of our acreage.

There were wild daisies growing in one of our fields...

And beautiful ferns growing near our creek...

Here are some steps leading from the dark woods where the creek is up to the sunny pond...

And Mike looking at one end of the pond which is full now...

And here is another shot of our diamond-in-the-rough cabin. So much will change when we move there; Mike has big plans.

And a closeup of the cabin...

We had a nice time walking around and spending some time there - and didn't want to leave. Next summer though! Next summer we move there!

Before heading home we stopped by the big pick-your-own strawberry farm and got a flat of strawberries and some local honey and blackberry preserves.

It was a nice day!

Lulu's chandelier

Mike often-times brings home all kinds of goodies from clients whose houses he is working on; their discards are sometimes quite nice. They give him items to take to the dump, but some things are just too good to throw away - and it just doesn't seem right. Last week he came home with two tall bar chairs, a round, very heavy solid brass table for his workshop and a wooden table that I decided to use in the kitchen since I don't have an island, but have room for one. It's pretty funky and not as tall as I'd like, but it's nice having the extra work space. I never know what Mike will show up with next and we now have a basement full of odds and ends. With a farm in our future, he's always thinking about what we might need and carts a lot of it home for my inspection.

Yesterday he said he was given a huge, very tacky chandelier I've not yet seen - for Lulu's future room. Lulu is the pig Mike wants as a companion when we move to the farm. He envisions her walking around the acreage with him as his good bud. So, when we build her little "room" in the barn, he's going to hang the chandelier right above it. Just for her.

How can you not love a man like that?

Here is what Lulu might look like... Lulu being the dainty one in the middle.

Keeping my fingers crossed

A man called Mike yesterday morning because he wanted to look at the condo; said it looked great on the flyer he picked up. He lives in the same neighborhood as the condo, only across the lake and in a house. He wants to buy it for his daughter, who is a "mess" and is losing her house in Florida because it's lost so much value. She just going to "walk away from it" he said. Anyway, he walked into the place and said, "I want it! Just like that! But... I don't want to get my hopes up too much because people talk. Mike said he seemed sincere and was an older, retired fella. The good thing is that he's familiar with the neighborhood and likes it there. So... I have my fingers crossed that he really does want to buy it. If he does, we could be spending Christmas in our cabin at our little farm - all cozy in front of the fireplace!

Sunday pictures, July 28, 2008

Yesterday Mike and I drove up to our farm in north Georgia; we felt like we were going on a mini-vacation and were in a good mood. The sky was blue even though it was quite hot. Normally here in the summer the blue sky turns to a light gray because of the heat and humidity. It's always a bit cooler at our farm though since it's at a higher elevation and away from the city.

About half way to the farm we noticed a new office building that also had sign out for the log cabin builder who created it. We really liked the style and stopped and walked around, going inside and just looking at all the different details. We really liked the railings on the porch.

The railings were also inside the house going up and down the staircases. When Mike opened one door on the second floor, we were greeted with kudzu trying to take over.

For those of you who have never seen kudzu, it can overtake huge trees and houses. It grows at an amazing rate - a foot a day. It was introduced to the southern US from Japan in 1930 for erosion control and has since taken over a lot of the countryside.

Image source:  forestryimages.org

When we arrived at the farm, Mike and I were pretty disappointed because our tenants haven't been keeping the acreage mowed for the first time in two years. They have a very reduced rental rate because they kept the place mowed and cleaned up so well, so we were feeling a bit taken advantage of. The water has stopped flowing into the pond too, which is a big issue. Going there yesterday has motivated us even more to move there as fast as possible even if it will only be part time.

I did get a good shot of the back of the cabin.

And another shot of our creek.

Here are are some scuppernongs our tenants planted. When we move there, we'll have both scuppernongs and muscadines - and lots of them. I'm going to try my hand at concord grapes too.

Here are the forming grapes.

Mike and I sat down to rest next to the pond and I shot a picture of our boots. They were wet from walking through the high grass and around the creek where it was damp.

We had one of our tenants shoot a picture of us since she was walking around with us for awhile. The picture was so dark I had to really lighten it and it makes the colors look pretty funky. But here we are nonetheless.

We didn't stay too long because it was pretty hot and we were kind of annoyed at the overgrown grass situation. We want to be in control of our property and feel too far away right now.

So we hit the road around 2:00 and passed "our" donkeys on the way back home. We always look to see if they're out when we drive by and when we see them say,"We'll gotta have some at the farm!" Yesterday we decided to stop just to watch the one who was out. As soon as we got out of the car another three came out of the barn and they all came over to see us. We hung out for awhile, talking and petting them, but I think they might have been expecting a hand-out since they got bored with us after a few minutes, silly things. They were so friendly and the cutest things though. Here is Mike with them.

And one of me with one of them "kissing" my arm. So cute.

We had a great day, but feel some added pressure to get to the farm as soon as we can. We're going to lower the condo price and start really pushing it. No resting on our laurels yet!

Goin' to the farm tra la...

We're going to our little farm this Sunday! We've not been in months and I need to walk around in the fields and woods and maybe wade in the creek. And lie down and look at the clouds, and see if the tadpoles are croakin' frogs now down at the frog pond. And plan more where we want to put this and that and grow these and those. We're goin' to the farm!

Here's Mike near the frog pond.

We're going because Mike needs to take his big trailer and the Bobcat back there to get them out of our city driveway. City people don't like when their neighbors have farm equipment lying about. Hey, they're lucky we don't have a vegetable garden in our front yard and chickens in the back yard!

I'm really looking forward to spending some time there. For those who don't know, we bought ten acres almost two years ago now, and have tenants staying in the log cabin. We plan to move there full time in two years - almost two years exactly to this day! And hopefully, we'll be there on the weekends sooner than that. Here is a shot of the left side of the cabin after getting a new stain job. I love the chimney.

I'll be toting my camera in hopes of getting some new shots of the place.

Horse and me

My post yesterday made me think about riding and I dug up two pictures of the last time I rode - at a work gathering in October 2006 at a place called Barnsley Gardens. I can't remember the horse's name dagbabbit, but I totally fell in love with him; he was a gentle spirit and we got along great. We rode through the mountain trails and open meadows and it was a whole lotta fun. These pictures make me want to think about maybe getting horses at the farm. Hmmm...

It was the perfect day to ride - cool and crisp with an ever-so-blue sky.

Mike and I have a contact who can tell us about the realities of horse keeping. Plus my friend Valerie, who has at least two, can give us the lowdown. I could be a possibility! I wonder...

Farm girls

Yesterday I received a catalog I occasionally get called Back In the Saddle for horse enthusiasts. I must have gotten on their mailing list since I subscribe to farm magazines and ordered jeans from a horse catalog last year. This catalog is fun and in it I found a t-shirt I must have! I'm not crazy about the yellow around the green letters, but I like what is says and the truck. Yep, I just might have to buy this t-shirt.

Mike and I don't plan to have horses at the farm, but you never know. He really wants to, but I fear they would be too expensive to keep - and we have little experience with them. Before I discovered boys back when I was a young'un, I would have given my left arm to have a horse. I loved them, drew pictures of them constantly, read about the different kinds and sizes, collected horse figurines - and took riding lessons. I wanted a palomino since I thought they were the most beautiful. (Now I would like a paint or appaloosa as far as looks go.) I would still love to have a couple or horses and go riding in the mountains near our farm, but we'll have to wait and see about that. In the meantime, I'd settle for one of the most beautiful horse pictures I've ever seen - from the same catalog as the t-shirt. Even if we don't ever have horses, I just might have to get this picture to hang on the wall. It moves me.

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And, speaking of farms and farm girls, I finally decided to buy a magazine I've been eyeing for about year now, Mary Janes Farm. While it's a beautiful magazine and I admire Mary Jane Butters very much - she's even a fellow longhair - the magazine itself felt a little too neat and girly for me. I prefer the "real" farm magazines that are called Grit and such. It was fun to look at, but there wasn't much I could take from the current issue. I do like the premise though and it does have some practical information. Maybe I should give it one more chance... It is real purty.

And it's dawning on me that... I'm gunna be farm girl! I'm gunna be a farm girl! As soon as the condo sells I'm gunna be farm girl - at last! It's getting closer and closer. Part-time can happen in a few months. Full-time... check the countdown ticker on the left side... tick tick tick...

1950 Chevy truck

Here is a picture of the truck I would love to have; isn't it dandy? Only I'd like mine to be red or blue and toting manure or mulch rather than milk. Check out the barn in this picture! That is one huge barn. And the silos! Our barn will be tiny in comparison, but that's okay because we're not going to be a dairy farm like these guys. But oh the truck! I love it.

Painting by Peter Helck (1983 - 1988)