how much water is left in the aquifer?Got the water well drilled on Wednesday:
Gauged at 75 gallons per minute! The state water board will only allow 20 gal/min. so the pump is sized to make 18-20. Ten is plenty to run a house on, and we will have a 10,000 gallon cistern cast into the back wall of the house so it really won't matter at all.
Building a new house and shop
- Thread starter 1911
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tlaporte
SILVER Star
For a full recording, here:
tlaporte
SILVER Star
tlaporte
SILVER Star
Reposted in the What are you listening to? thread, where I had intended. I’m a big fan of Sir John Elliot Gardiner and his orchestra. Beethoven never sounded better to my ears.
Dunbar
SILVER Star
How's the grass growing on the roof these days? Is the cistern full? Love to hear a update on the Parker County Ponderosa.
1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #468
Thanks for asking.
Grass on the roof is doing well; I've mowed two or three times over the summer and fall. A lot of work, but worth it because the grass will crowd out most of the weeds if I keep it mowed.
The cistern still needs to be waterproofed on the inside, a chore I've been putting off since there is only one narrow opening near the top. It will be hot and stuffy working in there, and I'll have to have ladders both inside and outside the cistern walls to get in and out, and work in there with a drop light and/or headlamp. This winter would be a good time to do it I'm thinking.
Still not enough money coming in to do anything major on the house. I may start trying to teach myself how to plaster over the concrete walls and domes (ceilings) inside the house. It would be better to wait until the doors and windows are all in, but that is a major expense I just can't handle right now.
Meanwhile, I have been working on the land, cutting trees and limbs to make hiking and mountain bike trails (for grandkids) next to the largest creek. Now I can walk or ride my 4-wheeler all the way from the house to the big waterfall, along the creek. Previously, I had to drive or walk a 4WD trail to get to the top of the big waterfall. I've also cut all the branches and trees out of the middle of the creek, so that you can walk up that too when it's not raining or otherwise running high. In doing that, I found a huge old live oak tree that must be more than 100 years old, judging from the circumference of the trunk. I'm clearing out all the junipers from underneath and around it, and will make a picnic and camping spot underneath it. My wife wants to have her next birthday party there. I enjoy working in the trees on and on the land; it costs nothing but gas for the chain saw and time.
Still trying to drum up some work; my oldest son and I are trying to start a little oil company together but it's slow going so far.
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- Nov 6, 2006
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Working on your own land is the most enjoyable and satisfying! Good luck!
Very impressed with your home, shop and property. Beautiful
Same here. Need to swing by for a look see. We are Covid free.
He's just keeping an eye on things for you until you get back to it.
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
That’s too cool
NeverGiveUpYota
Dare me.
Love this thread. Thanks for adding the link to my page. I shared it w/ my friend Melissa too. Really quite amazing what both of you are doing. I asked her ‘what made you decide to build a dome house?’ Her answer was that her husbands family had an underground home as well. They chose above ground because CT is is loaded w/ rock and ledge.
Really just super fabulous.
Really just super fabulous.
1911
chupacabra
- Thread starter
- #480
So I've spent a lot of time this past winter cutting trails and burning slash piles.
Early on in the exploration of our land, while hiking up the main creek bed, I found this huge old live oak tree. It must be more than 100 years old, judging by the circumfrence. I haven't measured it, but it's way bigger around than my arms can reach. Once I got the creek cleared of overgrown trees, and a separate trail to get to it also, I started clearing around the big oak. When I first found it, it was dark as a dungeon in there, the mountain cedars were so thick. I pruned the big oak also; it had grown completely natural and had some weird horizontal limbs and strange ones almost touching the ground, so I pruned it up some. My wife likes it so much now that she wants to have her next birthday party there, so we started calling it the Party Oak. Eventually i will haul in a picnic table and a permanent charcoal grill like at a state park. I've cleared enough cedars so far that there is room for small-ish groups to camp there now.
Then came the news that our youngest child/daughter is getting married, and she wants to get married there by the Party Oak. Fortunately, not until this fall, so I have time to clear more space up on the level area just above the oak, but I have been working on it while the weather is still (more or less) cool. Daughter is saying 55-60 people will be here for the wedding, so I have to clear or at least trim up enough trees so they can all fit. I'm leaving all the hardwood trees and only cutting down the cedars. I'm pruning the hardwood trees up so that people will be able to stand/sit under them.
These photos were taken this morning; I burned a ton of stuff I had previously cut. The fire is up on the level space just uphill form the tree. You can see my 4-wheeler parked behind the Party Oak, to get an idea of how big it is.
All the brown in the photos is mix of old dead oak leaves and natural cedar needle mulch. It was so dark that not much grass would grow there, but I'm hoping the native grasses will fill in now that there is light on the ground. I will have to mow it several times to get rid of a thousand tiny oak and cedar saplings that are everywhere. Hope I can get my tractor in there, but I'm not sure I can.
![IMG_1704[1].JPG](https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/img_1704-1-jpg.2613105/ "IMG_1704[1].JPG")
![IMG_1703[1].JPG](https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/img_1703-1-jpg.2613106/ "IMG_1703[1].JPG")
The other good news is that my income has picked up a bit, and if it stays up for a few months we will start working on the house again. Maybe not until the wedding and all its attendant expenses are over though. Hopefully before the end of the year anyway.
Early on in the exploration of our land, while hiking up the main creek bed, I found this huge old live oak tree. It must be more than 100 years old, judging by the circumfrence. I haven't measured it, but it's way bigger around than my arms can reach. Once I got the creek cleared of overgrown trees, and a separate trail to get to it also, I started clearing around the big oak. When I first found it, it was dark as a dungeon in there, the mountain cedars were so thick. I pruned the big oak also; it had grown completely natural and had some weird horizontal limbs and strange ones almost touching the ground, so I pruned it up some. My wife likes it so much now that she wants to have her next birthday party there, so we started calling it the Party Oak. Eventually i will haul in a picnic table and a permanent charcoal grill like at a state park. I've cleared enough cedars so far that there is room for small-ish groups to camp there now.
Then came the news that our youngest child/daughter is getting married, and she wants to get married there by the Party Oak. Fortunately, not until this fall, so I have time to clear more space up on the level area just above the oak, but I have been working on it while the weather is still (more or less) cool. Daughter is saying 55-60 people will be here for the wedding, so I have to clear or at least trim up enough trees so they can all fit. I'm leaving all the hardwood trees and only cutting down the cedars. I'm pruning the hardwood trees up so that people will be able to stand/sit under them.
These photos were taken this morning; I burned a ton of stuff I had previously cut. The fire is up on the level space just uphill form the tree. You can see my 4-wheeler parked behind the Party Oak, to get an idea of how big it is.
All the brown in the photos is mix of old dead oak leaves and natural cedar needle mulch. It was so dark that not much grass would grow there, but I'm hoping the native grasses will fill in now that there is light on the ground. I will have to mow it several times to get rid of a thousand tiny oak and cedar saplings that are everywhere. Hope I can get my tractor in there, but I'm not sure I can.
The other good news is that my income has picked up a bit, and if it stays up for a few months we will start working on the house again. Maybe not until the wedding and all its attendant expenses are over though. Hopefully before the end of the year anyway.
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