Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1209)
Hello Everyone!
Feeling the ache of activity, Painting the sawhorse feet, Shuffling stuff around & More than a few legitimate concerns!
Alright, I am right on time with my writing routine this evening... and feeling good about being able to stick to it for this long. There have of course been a few times that I have been running behind schedule... but for the most part I am glad that I settled on doing things the way that I have been doing them all those months ago.
Last night I was up a bit later than I thought that I would be (given how fatigued that I was feeling) but that was mainly because my mind kept racing about the new land... and what it will take to get myself setup there. Thankfully, it was not up 'super late' though... and when I did fall asleep I slept very soundly until not that long after sunrise.
After getting such a good night's rest you would think that I would dive right into things... but my body was aching and my mind was all over the place to boot. I did not even give my Hive engagement routine much effort (besides some quick scrolling) because I wound up looking more into alternative septic systems... and the overall permitting process involved with them.
Eventually, I got outdoors and after doing my routine chores I found some paint and a paint brush... and got the feet of those sawhorses that I made yesterday painted. Basically, I just slapped on a quick coat of paint... so that the feet would not wick up water (moisture) when I set them up in the shop tent later in the day.
The main reason that I focused on that project, was because there are some rather intense storms blowing into the area... and I wanted to be able to get both the sawhorses and all the lumber (that I have been cleaning) stored away inside the tent beforehand. It was actually all a bit of a hassle... because I also had to make room in the shop tent to accommodate everything.
What I wound up doing, is hauling that table saw (that belongs to the landowner) over to an outbuilding and storing it inside of it... as well as taking my small refrigerator (that had been sitting atop the saw) and storing it in the solar shack. Along the way, I also discovered a bunch of laundry in the solar shack (because I had to shuffle stuff around in there to fit the fridge) and got it all soaking in the tub in an effort to get it clean.
In other words, I shuffled a bunch of stuff around... so that later in the day (once the paint had dried) I could get everything stored in the damned shop tent. Which of course I did... but whoa I am really getting fed up with shuffling stuff in and out of there... and only making marginal amounts of headway every time that I do it.
My big plan is that once all the bad weather blows over (hopefully it is just a one day event) I can get the sawhorses and the lumber pulled outside... and begin the painting process. I am still unsure on whether or not that I am going to take the sawhorses with me (because they will just eat up space in the moving truck) but I am toying with the idea of setting them up inside the truck and screwing down the lumber to them... so that I can stack some lightweight stuff on top of them.
I was originally thinking of taking a bunch of the lumber with me... but the more I think about driving with that much weight out of the flat lands... and into the mountains the less that I like the idea. Mainly the frigging extra fuel cost (to haul the extra weight) would make the hauling of the lumber not all that economical... and also it might screw up my budget.
Honestly, I have way too many frigging things that are going to cost money to achieve... and at the moment I not only lack a good tent to do extended camping in... but also any kind of secure storage. If the place was not in the middle of a neighborhood... and I was not concerned about some pearl clutching nosy neighbors... I would angle for getting a large shipping container... and use it for both my living quarters and storage... but that just is not the case.
I mean hell the neighbors do not even have to be all that nosy considering that the flat spot is right on the road with no privacy... which is why I am heavily inclined to camp on the top of the hill... where there is at least a semblance of privacy. The big hitch with that line of thinking (and/or planning) is that I have no idea if there is even a flat spot at the top of the hill... let alone one large enough to accommodate me the dogs and the chickens!
My poor little brain has been doing backflips trying to wrap my head around what all my options are for any number of things... because when it comes right down to it I only have the vaguest of ideas of what the terrain itself is like. Sure there is satellite imagery (that only shows trees covering the whole place) and topological maps... but really neither is sufficient to give me a good idea about what the terrain itself is actually like.
In other words there may well be a flat area near the top of the hill... but for all I know it could be full of rock outcroppings and tress... which yeah would make it kind of useless for my needs. I mean for fuck's sake it is not like I will have a bunch of resources (or infrastructure) to work with to create an area... nor do I want to become the local spectacle by camping right next to the road where I will undoubtedly get showered with road dust everyday.
I know it might sound like I am being a bit pessimistic... but that is entirely not the case because I am simply being pragmatic... and know how difficult it is to 'start from scratch' at a new place. The other major factor is that from the moment I step foot there and start unloading things... the clock will be ticking and eventually I will get a visit from some local official wanting to know what is going on at the place.
As if that kind of attention is not bad enough (even though it will probably be brought on by some 'concerned' neighbor) I also have to look at the reality of there only being so many warm months before the winter arrives. Which will happen quickly (given how 'time flies' in such scenarios) and how I will not only need to go slow given that I am arriving right at the beginning of snake season... but also accounting for how much will need to get done around the place.
We will see how it all works out... but as of now I gotta admit that there are some very challenging factors involved with it all... and none of it is going to be easy. There is also a very real chance that I just will not be able to afford doing all the things that I will need to do to fall within legal compliance... and could wind up getting booted off my own land in the process.
Hopefully, I can somehow manage it all... but like I said (from a pragmatic viewpoint) it is absolutely daunting... and more than a little scary considering that I do not know jackshit about the area or the folks that live around there. In other words, it is a massive gamble on my part taking everything that I own and all the critters with me into such an unknown scenario... and to be blunt I am not much of a gambler!
Well, I think that I am going to call this entry 'good enough' and get on with the editing and posting portion of my evening. I hope that everyone is doing well and not being too neurotic over the unknown and the unknowable! Ta ta for now.
Privacy is usually a problem when you have neighbors around. It's very fine it didn't have to stop you from parking container for the work you're doing. I believe you'll keep having more solutions to deal with neighbors.
Don't get too much in your head with making assumptions about having neighbors, there are more good people than bad so your chances of having good people around you are good. I understand your concern about having the right spot to set up your home, but it will need to be a wait till you get there thing, which sucks, but that is what it is. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time and soon you will be sitting on your land.