Thursday, June 15, 2017

Working on Changes, Graduation, Baby, Flowers, Shrooms, & More (Lot's of pictures)



Who doesn’t dream about having an amazing laundry room with enough room to move around, a sink to wash things by hand, a large table or cabinet to fold clothes on, and finally, an area where clothes can be hung when coming out of the dryer?  

This house we purchased doesn’t have any of the items I dreamed of in the laundry room.  Wait…..let me take that back, I did get the washer and dryer I wanted…you know; the ones with the big drums so you can wash all kinds of stuff……like a king size comforter and more than one throw rug.  Slowly, I will create my ideal laundry room…..even if that means I don’t get a large sink or more physical room. 


I purchased two wall hanging racks that retract when not being used for hanging clothes coming out of the dryer.  These racks come in handy when I want to have a shirt dry naturally.  Granted, we have a handmade clothes line outside for this reason as well; however, when it’s extremely hot outside, you really don’t want your good clothes to fade from the sun and heat.  


I am taking advantage of every bit of space in my laundry/mud room area. All the inside house tools were propped against the wall, I purchased a hanging rack to get the tools up and out of my way.  
 

In time, I will have Bulldog Man make me a table hinged to the wall next to the dryer.  This table will fold down when I have laundry to fold, and when not being used, it will fold back against the wall, out of my way.

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A goal we have living out here on this property, is to level out and raise some of the land around our home, and install several French drains, to move water away from our home and into one of our ponds.  Here’s the start of this process--one trench dug 75 feet, and another, close to the house, dug approximately 22 feet.  We had to initially pull the gutter we just installed on this side of the house in order to dig the trench against the house.  When we replace the gutter, it will run on the side of the house, and down into the ground, directly to the French drain, pulling the water directly away from the house.  Bulldog Man will be picking up the pipes this evening.  Tomorrow morning, I will be going into town with the truck, to pick up a load of gravel from the gravel yard.  Our goal is to have the French drain completely finished by the end of the weekend.  



We have another goal, to install two additional French drains on our driveway to prevent washout when storms come through.  As we all know, projects are set up on a goal list, and priorities take precedence.   

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The original faucet in our kitchen reminded me of a faucet you would see back in high school, in the lab of the science department.  Water wouldn’t flow through the faucet properly, and the pressure was terrible.  Bulldog Man had me buy a new kitchen faucet (I used a gift card we received from the phone company, when we switched carriers) and found a commercial type faucet.  Bulldog Man installed the faucet for me, after we had to go back into town and purchase hose extensions.  I love this new faucet, water flows with pressure and direction.  
 
Old Faucet
 
New Faucet

*****
In between projects, life continues on…….

Our Grand Daughter, Megan, graduated high school; we went down to Texas for her graduation.  We’re so proud of her, now she’s setup to start college in the fall.  Her goal is to become a radiology technician.  



While down in Texas, we found out our oldest son, and his wife, are expecting their first child together.  Bulldog Man and I are so excited, and can’t wait for our 6th grand baby to be born in January 2018.  It will be spoil alert time by grandparents.  This child will have 4 sets of grandparents…..LOL!!!!

While down in Texas for the graduation, we stayed with my sister and had a great visit with her.  Of course we had to go eat some amazing Thai food before returning home.  There’s an amazing restaurant in the small town where my sister lives; you just can’t get good food like this up where we live.  

My sister knows how much I love orchids, and sent me home with an amazing Phalaenopsis orchid from Matsui Nursery on their 50th anniversary. 



She also had an eagle, a piece of art made from steel, for my husband and me.  She had been holding on to it, because it would have been expensive to send through the mail.   I’m still trying to figure out where to hang the eagle in our home.


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I came across some more wild flowers and mushrooms from our property I wanted to share with you.









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A friend of mine asked me how many ponds we have on our 20 acres.  Well……we have 2 ponds and one lagoon.  The large pond sitting not too far from our home is the largest; approximately 1 acre in size, and 30 feet deep.  It’s stocked with fish, has a couple of turtles, and a few water moccasins (minus 2 I shot after coming at me aggressively).  The second pond is 8 to 10 feet in size, called the critter pond; because it’s natural and is fed by a spring, has cat tails, and we put a salt lick next to it.  Then there’s the lagoon (oxidation pond) which is part of our septic system.  Lagoons are commonly found in this part of Oklahoma, when living out in the countryside.  

Large Pond With Fish (need to weed)
Wildlife Pond Left Natural
Lagoon (need to weed)
 
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Another year has snuck up on me, I turned the big 55 on June 13th and boy do I feel it…..LOL

In closing, here are a few pictures of the area and what it looks like living out on the prairie.





























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18 comments

  1. Happy birthday, young lady, and congrats on the pending #6. :)

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    Replies
    1. Rev.Paul,

      Thank you dear friend....Young hmmm??? Don't know about young, LOL

      Delete
  2. hey Sweet Sandy - first off go back and read my email about "the b*stards" ok? bahahahahah!

    the french drains will work like a charm - poor jambaloney dug a 75ft french drain to our driveway by hand...oh to go back and do things differently like get a tractor for digging french drains and snow shovelling!!!

    and about the new faucet - go back and read my email about "the b*stards"....this time i am not laughing! bahahahahah! it's gorgeous and i love it!

    congratulations to Megan and i hope all the best for her in her future career!

    OH MY!!!! another grandbaby and the first for your oldest son and his wife! congratulations to them too! we send our best wishes to them!

    i'm glad you had a nice visit with your sister...but about the thai restaurant visit...go back and read my email about "the b*stards"!

    your orchid is beautiful. and so is that eagle!

    i love all of your wildflowers and mushrooms - i sooo enjoy seeing pictures of people's land!

    teehee - i still can't believe you just up and shot those water moccasins! you kill me Gurl! yer like some kind of oklahoman dirty harry - oh bahahahahahah!

    and oh sweetheart - HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and like i told you - 55 is the new 30! now live up to it! (i know you will!)

    we are both sending happy birthday wishes your way and you know that you and yours are always in our prayers....and we are waiting to take that trailer on a trip - bahahahah!

    your friends,
    kymber and jambaloney
    (holy crap! this should have been a blog post! xoxox)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kymber,

      Having the right equipment to dig large and long holes on your property surely makes life so much easier. Now that Jambaloney has the tractor, this will make it so much better for and less stressful :-)

      Oh girlie, I've shot more than one aggressive water moccasin......"Go ahead make my day"!!!

      Thank you for the Birthday wish. What's that old saying, you're old as old as you feel.....RIGHT!!!

      Yes, you should of made a post with your comment.....omg.....could you make it any longer Bahahahahahaha!!!

      Sending hugs, and love to you both.
      Sandy

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  3. No grass is growing under your feet, you youngster, you! I see Beans is supervising... You are surrounded by such natural beauty, Sandy - it's like a little Paradise!

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    1. Susan,

      I wish the grass wasn't growing under our feet. There's just so much to do....omg, I can't believe the amount of work there's to do when living way out in the country. I'm not complaining, just have to prioritize better LOL!!!

      We do think it's a little paradise living here. I have to say Susan, we've all been blessed in one way or another with this amazing country, and it's natural beauty.
      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  4. I thoroughly enjoyed your post. Especially all the pictures.

    Our house was built in three stories because of the steepness of the slope. The laundry room is in the lowest level of the house, which is built back into the mountainside. There's a laundry chute from the two upper levels down to the laundry room, but all the laundry has to be carried up at least one flight of stairs and sometimes two. I wish I'd put the laundry room on the middle level now.

    Radiology is a good profession that pays well. It can have some dreadfully long hours if you work at a hospital!

    I sure do like your place. I love the views and how you have some open land around you.

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    Replies
    1. Harry,

      I'm happy you enjoy my posts....I just wish I could put more out in one weeks time. Life's been keeping us pretty busy here making it impossible right now to post often.

      Having a built in laundry chute when you have multiple levels in your home makes life so much easier when having to carry laundry down the stairs.
      I think I would have to make a pulley system to bring laundry back upstairs once it's been laundered.

      Thank you, we love our place and having the open space around the house makes for a good fire preventative. We have areas on the property where the underbrush and tree's need thinned and cleared out. We have too many wild fires in Oklahoma, if we can protect our place were going to do so.

      Hugs,
      Sandy

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  5. Geez where do I begin with all you pictures..I guess first of all HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! Now that I know I will have to save the date.
    I don't know what I am more jealous of, your ponds or your new washer. And don't worry I don't have a big laundry room either. And then lastly your new kitchen sink rocks. Love that.
    I love all the big sky pics and wildflowers, we have them like crazy here too. Also some really cool mushrooms growing. Don't you just love country living? I know we do.
    Much love to you guys and have a wonderful week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Senior and Glock Mom,

      Thank you, we're only as old as we feel right???
      I can ship you the large pond if you would like ..... LOL.....that's the pond that has water moccasins. I think I may have killed off all the aggressive snakes so you won't have many worries :-)

      We spend a lot of time doing laundry, I just need space to get around.....who knows....maybe I won't have to do laundry anymore.....SURE!!! I can dream right??

      Country living is the CAT'S meow!!! Would I trade it to live in the city.....hell no!!!

      Love y'all, don't work to hard.
      Sandy

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  6. Beautiful country out there! French drains are on our to do list (& have been for quite some time. Both to drain water away from the barn building & driveway. It all takes time which hubby doesn't have a lot of when we're in the country. Love your new faucet, looks very similar to the one I'm putting in the barn kitchen. Oh, & I love that Eagle, can't wait to see where you hang it!

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    1. And, oh again ... happy belated Birthday!

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    2. DFW,

      Thank you, we love it out here. French Drains are great to have but require some work especially if you have clay on your property. In time, you'll be able to get those drains put in.

      I never thought replacing the kitchen faucet would make a world of difference when washing dishes....I just love my new faucet.

      Thank you for the Birthday wishes :-)

      Delete
  7. First of all, belated happy birthday! 55 years young, huh? You certainly are compared to moi as we will celebrate 55 years of marriage (!) next year!! (Yes, I was a child bride. Ha!)

    You're jumping in with both feet to make your new home your own and just the way you want it. It will take time, but definitely be worth it.

    Your large pond is gorgeous! What a bonus to have it and the other bodies of water on your property.

    Enjoyed this post with all the pictures. Enables all of us to become more familiar with your lovely place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mama Pea,

      Thank you for the Birthday wish :-) Child bride, love it!!!! We've been jumping in doing things around here and need to realize we can't do it all in the first several months. It's going to take time, and we have plenty of that to look forward to.

      Having 2 ponds and a lagoon is a good thing. If we run out of water from the well we can filter this water and use it.

      More pictures of improvements and property to come in the near future.

      Hugs,
      Sandy

      Delete
  8. Drainage first! Dan would approve! I know how it is to have so many plans but never enough time. Slow but steady makes great progress!

    Interesting about the tarantula spider! I don't think we have those around here, but we do have a ton of black widows.

    And belated Happy Birthday! It's lovely to see someone so blessed at this stage of life. :)

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