New fencing Project
Favorite Shovel Broken
Beautiful Fence line
Tired child
Working hard moving mexican sunflowers around
Gate in!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Saturday work fencing
We decided some time ago to get some goats. We have a couple of hillsides that are really too steep for us to maintain- and one of them is just crazy with hau and is too hard for humans to keep clear.
This day GB wrangled us all to prep for fence (i.e. put up posts).
I dropped him off at the land and went to town to fetch a child and materials.
On my way back I scooped up Silas and brought Lena out to see what's been going on at the property.
still wet
and the pool
and the hot tub
Then it was time for work. Tom and John came to help. Tom's been fencing all around his property, so he's an "expert" (esp compared to us). Lena oversees fencing at work all of the time.... another "expert".
I took a few pictures between catching up with Lena.
look at the nice line of posts!
finished product
More posts and fencing to come soon!
and then...
GOATS!
This day GB wrangled us all to prep for fence (i.e. put up posts).
I dropped him off at the land and went to town to fetch a child and materials.
On my way back I scooped up Silas and brought Lena out to see what's been going on at the property.
First we had a looksee at the house
still wet
and the pool
and the hot tub
Then it was time for work. Tom and John came to help. Tom's been fencing all around his property, so he's an "expert" (esp compared to us). Lena oversees fencing at work all of the time.... another "expert".
Ra'am watched
(in his defense- there were too many people working at once, and Tom kept telling him to sit down)
I took a few pictures between catching up with Lena.post holes were dug with the auger.... which got stuck in the mud, of course. Just after this photo was taken, as a matter of fact.
look at the nice line of posts!
finished product
More posts and fencing to come soon!and then...
GOATS!
Friday, April 06, 2007
A blah work day for Karen
We got a very very late start to this work day. Despite me being the really "blah" family member, I somehow insisted that we get out and get some work done on the land (what was I thinking???).
The major good thing was the state of the soon-to-be water tank
We had Kairos along with us, and thought we'd finish laying out the geotextile (erosion control blankets). We figured it would take us about 2 hours to lay them- and unfortunately we almost always underestimate how long it'll take to do these things.
Our plan was really to take the kids down to the river to do some prawn catching.....
We drove into town to get supplies- the blankets and some more nets for the prawns. GB was too cool, talking on the phone while we shopped.
We made it to the land probably around 1pm- pretty late. GB set right to work on raking and getting the ground ready. I was shovelling and complaining like it was the hardest work ever. It was a really complainy day for me. I know I was driving GB crazy.
The kids busied themselves by throwing rocks and trying to hit a hollow piece of bamboo at the bottom of the hill that made a huge noise when his (which we discovered when Luka of all people hit it).
We discovered that the bamboo we had used as stakes a few weeks previous, had sprouted.
Luka started falling apart- ready for a nap.... and then we realized that we didn't get the pins that tack down the blankets. So I took him for a drive and to pick them up and GB put the boys to work.
Eventually kvetching me returned from town with a napped child and we completed the job. Phew. Now we're just waiting on a bunch of plants to stick in the blankets. Then this project will be complete!
Though it was already getting late, we did go down to the river. GB, Noam, and Kairos went out hunting for prawns. The water was cold, but they managed to catch about 11 of them- enough to have Kairos' family over for dinner and cards, and for everyone to have at least one.
On the way back to the car, Luka "helped" GB carry the bucket full of crustaceans by holding the rope ; )
The major good thing was the state of the soon-to-be water tank
We had Kairos along with us, and thought we'd finish laying out the geotextile (erosion control blankets). We figured it would take us about 2 hours to lay them- and unfortunately we almost always underestimate how long it'll take to do these things.
Our plan was really to take the kids down to the river to do some prawn catching.....
We drove into town to get supplies- the blankets and some more nets for the prawns. GB was too cool, talking on the phone while we shopped.
We made it to the land probably around 1pm- pretty late. GB set right to work on raking and getting the ground ready. I was shovelling and complaining like it was the hardest work ever. It was a really complainy day for me. I know I was driving GB crazy.
The kids busied themselves by throwing rocks and trying to hit a hollow piece of bamboo at the bottom of the hill that made a huge noise when his (which we discovered when Luka of all people hit it).
We discovered that the bamboo we had used as stakes a few weeks previous, had sprouted.
Luka started falling apart- ready for a nap.... and then we realized that we didn't get the pins that tack down the blankets. So I took him for a drive and to pick them up and GB put the boys to work.
Eventually kvetching me returned from town with a napped child and we completed the job. Phew. Now we're just waiting on a bunch of plants to stick in the blankets. Then this project will be complete!
Though it was already getting late, we did go down to the river. GB, Noam, and Kairos went out hunting for prawns. The water was cold, but they managed to catch about 11 of them- enough to have Kairos' family over for dinner and cards, and for everyone to have at least one.
On the way back to the car, Luka "helped" GB carry the bucket full of crustaceans by holding the rope ; )
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Just in the nick of time
We were able to procure some of the geotextile (i.e. erosion control blanket) yesterday at Garden Exchange. Thank goodness for people who KNOW what they're talking about and are good about helping (can you tell it took me awhile to find the darned stuff??). We had 2 rolls and more on order and set to work right away.
We asked Buck to come and join us- what a HUmongous help he was. Another focused adult makes the work go so much faster.
When we arrived this late am, the sun was shining and we set to work right away as Buck said a storm was abrewin. He was right.... soon after arriving, I saw a giant 'iwa flying over the coast. They are a portent of a storm.
Sure enough, within an hour of our arrival, it started thundering and the sky got darker and darker.
We first had to even out the terrain. The ground was filled with little rivulets from the big storm and some big scars. So we got out the shovels and rakes to move some earth.
You can see here that it's made up of straw, sort of embedded within a matrix of something plasticy. The thing is supposed to biodegrade in 12 months.
GB and Buck laid it out and then I went and tacked it down any place where it was sitting above the ground, rather than directly on it. It's only functional when it touches the ground.
Soon after taking the above picture, the rain started.
I set out in the truck with the little ones to pick up Silas from school and to get more of the staples that hold down the mat. Since the ground was so uneven, I was using many more than we thought.
While out the rain really picked up. I was secretly hoping to get a call from GB saying that they had abandoned the project for now. No such luck ;)
But amazingly, when I had returned, they had evened out more ground and laid out so much of the mat, that I set right to tacking. We covered a lot more area than we thought we would.
It looks so VAST in these pictures.
And more hope. The angel's trumpet tree has sent up another shoot. It's tenacious!
And no blog post would be complete without a picture of our littlest rugrat.... looking very muddy.
Next wednesday we get plants delivered! We'll make teeny holes in the geotextile and stick the plants in there. We're on our way to securing the hill!
We asked Buck to come and join us- what a HUmongous help he was. Another focused adult makes the work go so much faster.
When we arrived this late am, the sun was shining and we set to work right away as Buck said a storm was abrewin. He was right.... soon after arriving, I saw a giant 'iwa flying over the coast. They are a portent of a storm.
Sure enough, within an hour of our arrival, it started thundering and the sky got darker and darker.We first had to even out the terrain. The ground was filled with little rivulets from the big storm and some big scars. So we got out the shovels and rakes to move some earth.
wasn't too long before GB was looking all sweaty
Here we are, laying out the first swath of geotextile.
Here we are, laying out the first swath of geotextile.
You can see here that it's made up of straw, sort of embedded within a matrix of something plasticy. The thing is supposed to biodegrade in 12 months.GB and Buck laid it out and then I went and tacked it down any place where it was sitting above the ground, rather than directly on it. It's only functional when it touches the ground.
Soon after taking the above picture, the rain started.I set out in the truck with the little ones to pick up Silas from school and to get more of the staples that hold down the mat. Since the ground was so uneven, I was using many more than we thought.
While out the rain really picked up. I was secretly hoping to get a call from GB saying that they had abandoned the project for now. No such luck ;)
But amazingly, when I had returned, they had evened out more ground and laid out so much of the mat, that I set right to tacking. We covered a lot more area than we thought we would.
It looks so VAST in these pictures.
Here we are.... 3 very WET and sweaty, but satisfied laborers.....
soon after this it really really dumped.
soon after this it really really dumped.
And more hope. The angel's trumpet tree has sent up another shoot. It's tenacious!
And no blog post would be complete without a picture of our littlest rugrat.... looking very muddy.
Next wednesday we get plants delivered! We'll make teeny holes in the geotextile and stick the plants in there. We're on our way to securing the hill!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Solutions
So we met with the engineer on Friday. He suggested we cover the hillside in geotextile. It comes in many different forms, but is basically a fabric that would cover the hill and keep water from creating more rivulets, while the plants take root.
Soon after talking to him, I ran home to get on the phone and find us some geotextile. I'm still waiting on some info, but so far my estimation for getting some is 4-6 weeks. gulp.
Honestly I don't think we could afford another bad rainstorm. And who knows whether we'll get one or not in the next month.
So.... GB came up with a temporary solution based on some of the stuff the engineer told us. We need to slow down the flow of water. We have this amazing bamboo growing, so his idea was to cut bamboo and then lay it horizontally across the hillside- so that water will divert and flow down the bamboo instead of right through the mud.
Sounds good and simple, right???
He had to literally drag me out of the house for this work project. City girl was happily sewing and being domestic at home, and really had no desire to get muddy and sweaty.
But this was a 2 person job, for sure. And.... it was a vastly underestimated 2 hour job.
Here's GB looking at the bamboo. That one on the right?? Anno, the nursery guy cut that a few weeks ago but couldn't get it out.
Here's GB looking up, thinking.... shit. These bamboo are sort of stuck up there. Because if you look at the next picture, you can see that the whole side of this bamboo plant- where the poles are the straightest- grow right up into a giant mango tree.
GB busts out the chansaw. This is the easy part, for sure.
HA HA HA! you think you can actually MOVE an 80-100ft bamboo shoot out of the clutches of a mango tree?? ha ha ha!
After this point I pretty much stopped taking pictures. We decided to go home and get tow straps and use the truck to pull the bamboo. Brilliant idea. We would have gotten nowhere without the truck.
Even so, the bamboo was very very heavy. We dragged each piece down to the site, and cut them up, but it was hard work. Karen was not happy.
We ended up placing a bunch of bamboo like we wanted.... but only about 1/3 of what we really wanted to do. But it was getting late, I had to get Luka, and we had guests coming for dinner.
The ray of hope:
We had noticed that the angel's trumpet tree I bought GB for Valentine's Day had been buried in the landslide.
While placing the bamboo, GB noticed that the tree had sent up a shoot. Yay!
And for the record.... today?? Very sore is Karen.
It doesn't seem to be working YET. But check out the video below of us pulling the bamboo. You can really get a sense of how looooong each shoot is!
Soon after talking to him, I ran home to get on the phone and find us some geotextile. I'm still waiting on some info, but so far my estimation for getting some is 4-6 weeks. gulp.
Honestly I don't think we could afford another bad rainstorm. And who knows whether we'll get one or not in the next month.
So.... GB came up with a temporary solution based on some of the stuff the engineer told us. We need to slow down the flow of water. We have this amazing bamboo growing, so his idea was to cut bamboo and then lay it horizontally across the hillside- so that water will divert and flow down the bamboo instead of right through the mud.
Sounds good and simple, right???
He had to literally drag me out of the house for this work project. City girl was happily sewing and being domestic at home, and really had no desire to get muddy and sweaty.
But this was a 2 person job, for sure. And.... it was a vastly underestimated 2 hour job.
Here's GB looking at the bamboo. That one on the right?? Anno, the nursery guy cut that a few weeks ago but couldn't get it out.
Here's GB looking up, thinking.... shit. These bamboo are sort of stuck up there. Because if you look at the next picture, you can see that the whole side of this bamboo plant- where the poles are the straightest- grow right up into a giant mango tree.
GB busts out the chansaw. This is the easy part, for sure.
HA HA HA! you think you can actually MOVE an 80-100ft bamboo shoot out of the clutches of a mango tree?? ha ha ha!
After this point I pretty much stopped taking pictures. We decided to go home and get tow straps and use the truck to pull the bamboo. Brilliant idea. We would have gotten nowhere without the truck.Even so, the bamboo was very very heavy. We dragged each piece down to the site, and cut them up, but it was hard work. Karen was not happy.
We ended up placing a bunch of bamboo like we wanted.... but only about 1/3 of what we really wanted to do. But it was getting late, I had to get Luka, and we had guests coming for dinner.
The ray of hope:
We had noticed that the angel's trumpet tree I bought GB for Valentine's Day had been buried in the landslide.
While placing the bamboo, GB noticed that the tree had sent up a shoot. Yay!
And for the record.... today?? Very sore is Karen.
It doesn't seem to be working YET. But check out the video below of us pulling the bamboo. You can really get a sense of how looooong each shoot is!
working at home
After a fabulous weekend at the Mauna Lani (thanks Grandma and Grandpa), we came home to a gorgeous day at home (after torrential rains the week before).
GB set right to work in the yard and decided to tackle some umbrella grass that was taking over our koi pond. He started by trimming it, but soon abandoned that project to just take the whole gigantic root ball OUT of the pond.
GB set right to work in the yard and decided to tackle some umbrella grass that was taking over our koi pond. He started by trimming it, but soon abandoned that project to just take the whole gigantic root ball OUT of the pond.
Here he is.... he's got the ball half way out of the pond. it's big and HEAVY.
We called for reinforcements- and with some serious group effort - all 4 of us pushing and pulling.... we got the thing out of the pond. It's BIG!
This toad skeleton was at the bottom of this root ball. pretty cool!
This is the dense, but very cool and pretty root system.
We called for reinforcements- and with some serious group effort - all 4 of us pushing and pulling.... we got the thing out of the pond. It's BIG!
This toad skeleton was at the bottom of this root ball. pretty cool!
This is the dense, but very cool and pretty root system.
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