2 Year Anniversary

Two years ago today Andy and I moved to Ashford Lane. The last house at the end of a dirt road sitting on top of a hill in Winchester, California. We have a 360 degree view of the skyline, we sit on our patio and watch amazing sunsets...the air smells of cow manure (most of the time) and Mother Nature is constantly reminding us who is in charge.

Its an interesting life. Sometimes it is overwhelming. Most of the time it is amazing. Every once is awhile we scratch our heads and wonder what the heck we were thinking.

Our first thoughts and goals for this property was to build a winery. In fact, within 6 months we planted our first 20 vines of Cabernet. Pretty exciting stuff. Since then we have learned that a project such as that might be a little beyond our means...between the economy, our music projects, critter issues, property maintenance and raising teenagers...we definitely have our hands full.

The reason I haven't blog about any of this for so long is because reality totally set in, and it is pretty much all we can do to maintain what we have. It won't always be this way, as we chip away at each individual project, I think the true purpose of this land will become apparent. Its definitely exciting to have property we can build upon...

Future projects include:

Vinyl Fencing

Black Top Driveway

Build carports

Drywall the garage

Hardwood Floors

Paint the Interior

Refinish Cabinets

That should keep us busy, along with ongoing landscaping projects. This year I would definitely like to finish the front yard with more myoporum and decorative rock.

Anyway, Happy 2nd Anniversary Ashford Lane. There are plenty of good things to come. Stay tuned.

Life. It Gets In The Way Sometimes.

Hello, from The Ranch.

Sorry it has been awhile, the past few months have been a whirlwind of experiences. This is definitely a different kind of life.

Regardless of what I tell you...please understand, we still love it here. The challenges are extreme, and there are times when we scratch our heads and say...REALLY? This is what we signed up for? In our inexperience (and naivite) of country living, we thought we would have tons of peace & quiet; a content and soothing live full of sunsets, flowers, birds and butterflies. hahahaha

Two weeks ago, our tankless water heater caught on fire.

Rodents have been chewing the wires on my car resulting in hundreds of dollars in damage.

Andy's car has had 2 tranmission replacements, and 2 weeks ago, it went out AGAIN.

Our doggie has been having seizures since October, and regardless of her meds they were coming more frequently and violently. We had to put her down :(

To add to our rodent issues, we now also have gophers.

On the upside...

Our flower gardens around the house are thriving. I am ready to go buy some Verbena...the lady down the street has many colors of it, I can't wait!

We now have a regular water heater. Andy was able to install it himself.

Andy is building shelves in his workshop in the garage...really pretty. He is SUCH a talented handyman!

The owls are thriving, they just had fledglings, and now there are TONS of them on the property.

We have also had sightings of bald eagles...AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!

So...life goes on. We painted a wall, built a coffeetable/bookshelf, we weed and fix and plant. We learn so much along the way. It is exhausting, but in the end...it is worth it.

I'd love to sit and write more...but I hear Andy revving up the tractor mower...so that means I gotta get to work.

The Kitchen Sink

Been awhile since we've done any home improvement projects. I think last year kinda kicked our butts and it was nice to take a break. HOWEVER, we had some good friends over one night for dinner and one of them brought to our attention the leaky faucet in our kitchen sink. I had been ignoring it, plumbing is such a pain in the butt. He said if we continue to let it go, it will start leaking underneath and then it will be a huge mess.


Well...we ignored it for about 3 more weeks, and then last weekend I asked Andy if we could replace the faucet. He agreed, it was time. So, he YouTubed the project and asked me if I would also like to replace the sink...I think I said YES before he got the last word out of his mouth.

So, here it is: Pictures of our kitchen sink/faucet replacement project!

#1 Breaking the seal along the edge of the old sink. This was not easy...even cracked some of the countertop laminent. Bummer.

#2 Pulling out the old basin

#3 The empty space

#4 Plumber's putty around the drain

#5 Installing the drains into the new basin

#6 Finished install of new faucet

#7 TAH DAH!!!

Next...painting an accent wall in the living room! Stay tuned!