And So It Begins...

Tomorrow is the first day Andy and I have off together to work on projects around the property...YAY! and YIKES! There is much to do, and the first challenge is knowing where to start.

We want to get a dog, or two...but before we do that, we need to make sure the fence line is secure so the dog(s) will not be tempted to roam off of the property. 3/4 of the perimeter has deer fencing, but the remainder is just barb-wire, a dog could easily slip through it. The previous owners left a roll of deer fencing, so Andy is going to unroll that in the morning and see if he can finish off the property line.

We are also looking forward to painting the house very soon, so we are planning to cover the windows and doorways with paper so we can hopefully have the painters come out next week.

Another interesting project we are considering is building a deck, or wood-plank walkway out from the porch to the steps. There are tons of 4 x 4's left behind from the previous owner, some are 10 feet long and some are 20 feet...so we are going to bring those out and see if we can find a way to build our walkway.

Other projects for this weekend include trimming trees and a general "clean-up" of the property. That should keep us pretty busy.

I took my first walk today, down the driveway and out to the dirt road. It was glorious, exhilerating and a little overwhelming. This land has so much promise, its like a blank canvas...so many things we can do, and quite a few obstacles to overcome. The first real issue we have to tackle is the rabbits. Andy is hoping that getting a dog will solve the problem, but I am not convinced. I hope he is right. We also need to find plants that the rabbits don't like and make good use of those.

I took another picture of the sheep while I was out...

Last week we had a very good rain for several days. This picture was taken outside our front door when the sun broke through the clouds. Andy and I were out of town when the heaviest rain hit. My mom was here with the kids and they locked themselves out of the house. (hahaha) They said the wind was blowing like crazy and the rain was pouring down in buckets. When we got home we saw how the water had washed away some areas around the driveway, so this is another concern we have down the road. You can tell where the previous owner had filled eroded areas with rocks, which is a really good idea. Lord knows we have plenty of ROCK! This week the sun is shining and it is a beautiful, temperate 80 degrees in Winchester, CA. The landscape is covered with a subtle layer of "green". During my walk I could hear cows moo-ing in the distance. I can't believe this is my life. Amazing.