It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve posted, and I guess 7 ish months is quite a while. I didn’t mean for the silence, for the distance, for the broken communication, it’s all my fault. Really, it’s me, not you!

~*crickets*~

Aaaannnnnyyyywaaaayyyy…..

Yeah, it’s been a while. I really wanted to be able to update on all the awesome progress around the house and there just hasn’t been a whole lot. Life is busy and demanding, and trimming looooooots of trees with a dinky little handsaw just won’t cut it. But, I figured I’d drop in and write a little something, maybe in an effort to convince myself that I have done ‘something’ if not ‘all of the things.’

Progress on El Palacio del Pollo: 1/4 done with the first round of clean out. Barely a scratch, but a scratch none-the-less.

And about the main drainage ditch around the back corner: I’ve made ‘some’ progress. I’ve dug more out, taken a sage brush or two out, and I’ve begun to lay some stones. But, as the current state of drainage is suggesting, I’m just not quite there yet. It’s directing the water away, and yet everything is still just saturated. It probably has something to do with two rounds of 6″ of snow that melted incredibly fast.

And regarding “Jackalope Lake:” I usually love rain, but it tends to collect in the side yard and it makes life miserable for me and the dogs. Last year we kind of carved out a bit of a ditch just to get some of the water moving away, but this year I did manage to dig it out a bit more. It’s not awesome, but it is pulling some excess water away, but it could be better. My ultimate plan is to dig a channel and put in a series of drainage pipes, and cover them with gravel. The other option is to turn the entire side yard into a dry stream bed type thing, and while I love that look, it just isn’t what we want or need. If plan A fails, though, I’ll look to it as plan B.

I haven’t really begun to ponder spring/summer projects yet, but my lack of a fenced in yard has really been on my mind this past year. I really want to put one in, and I’m confident I can get it done with minimal help, but it will take a good long while. I will continue to debate this in the coming months, but I’m really hoping to get moving on it soon.

As for my remaining winter projects: trimming the trees- I’ve started, but because I only had a hand saw, the progress was slow and labor intensive. I recently bought myself a rechargeable reciprocal saw (I know, I know, but *enter multitude of stupid excuses here* so 😛 ), and I’m really hoping to get out soon and start making awesome progress with this.

Shoe racks: I’m designing a couple of DIY industrial-style shoe racks. I’ve got the measurements taken and the pipes mostly picked out. I just need to make the final measurements and selections and figure out the wood and stain components, and they should come together pretty quickly (I think).

The plant cave: I’ve made no progress here. I’m hoping to acquire a table saw before getting this one done, but we’ll see.

The laundry room: again, no progress. I need a contractor to get rid of the $%^& gas line before I can really do anything. I’m still trying to figure out the cabinet situation.

So yeah, lots going on, but not a lot in the form of progress here on the ranch. /sigh