turkey – Primm & Property

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Emily

Day 174

Despite a beautiful week of weather, it seems there was no progress on the property. Still waiting for an explanation of this. Hoping everyone is OK.

Josh and I spent several hours on-site yesterday doing very fascinating things.

First, we flagged the driveway.

Josh was measuring and placing the flags as I called out the measurements to him from his plan. If you squint really hard, you can see the orange flags.

I’m so glad he knows how to do these things. I just told him I’d like 1) the driveway to curve around for a pretty approach to the house, 2) a place for people to park out front, and 3) a loop so it’s easy for people to get in and out without a 75 point turn (a challenge we have at our current house). He takes this information and produces a lovely plan to make all of my driveway dreams come true. I think I’ll keep him.

This is his “Why are you taking my picture?” face.

Because I’m so glad you’re my husband and a landscape architect!

It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that we are building a house, which will sit between these two piles of dirt in the near future. Hopefully, this time next year we will be living in it and we’ll be able to have people over and give them hugs without fear.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying improving the property so it is beautiful for us and our future guests to enjoy.

Our second activity was cleaning up this hot mess:

Among this tangle of vines and trees are two dogwoods, a black cherry, and a cedar tree. You wouldn’t know it except for the dogwood blooms.

Josh quickly got to work on this with his chainsaw. And before long, it looked like this:

Much better!

Josh hauling off all of the brush to the woods. His truck looking like a Chia Pet.

While Josh did the heavy lifting, I reviewed the trail camera footage.

Screen Shot 2020-04-12 at 8.38.22 AM

Not much action in the last few days except for Tom desperately searching for Jenny. I think she may have moved to a different block…

Screen Shot 2020-04-12 at 8.38.45 AM

Sorry, Tom.

Well, if my boots are any indication, I would call that a successful trip to the property.

Posted on April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 by Emily

Day 171

Things haven’t changed much in the last few days. Apparently, the ground was still fairly wet under the surface, so earthwork dude was letting it dry out.

We had a safely distanced meeting on-site with our builder to discuss the next few steps. There is some more grading to do and then the digging of the footers and the basement. I must find my pink sunglasses Josh got me before it’s time for me to inspect these items.

I did a little practice inspecting today.

Looking good and level.

I had to check out the view from Pride Rock…er…Pride Dirt Pile.

Josh decided to have a little too much fun with photoshop after I started calling our pile of dirt “Pride Rock”. Here I am presenting our house cat, Bu, to the kingdom.

cat

I blame it on the quarantine.

Moving on.

We moved the trail camera back to its original location because I have recently learned about myself that, to me, watching dirt being moved is like watching paint dry.

The usual suspects showed up: Bambi, house cat, opossum, and a few curious neighbors.

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 6.50.28 PM

Then came one of the funniest videos yet.

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 6.52.44 PM

It started with a young lady turkey casually strolling by. I’ve just learned this is called a “jenny”.

Hey, Jen.

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 6.52.55 PM

Then a few seconds later she inexplicably picks up her pace and exits stage right…

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 6.53.39 PM

…because here comes Tom!

I think the quarantine is getting to them, too.

Posted on March 15, 2020March 15, 2020 by Emily

Day 147

Well, we’ve owned the property nearly 5 months now and all we have to show for it is some temporary orange fencing around the septic fields.

Oh, and we also have some animal planet worthy trail camera footage.

To be fair, we have been doing a lot behind the scenes so that when things do start, they can move efficiently. I have selected and specified nearly every detail in the house down to the door hardware. We may even be ready to order the windows next week!

The things that excite you when you’re an adult…

Also exciting is the fact that the earthwork guys should be there this week to start moving dirt, especially given all that has happened here in the last couple of weeks. Since my last post, we’ve had another 47 inches of rain, a devastating tornado that came within a mile of our current house in Nashville, and coronavirus hysteria has set in.

Regarding the tornado: Many people around us have lost their homes and businesses, which certainly puts into perspective how lucky we are to be safe and to have a roof over our heads. The night of the tornado, we had just minutes to wake up and realize what was happening, grab the cat, and get into the basement as the tornado passed us. The large trees in our backyard were swaying back and forth 30 feet, but thankfully, we were spared any damage.

Though I was ready to nix the basement in the new house for budgetary reasons, now I am really glad Josh insisted we have one. The homes near us that were destroyed were almost identical to our current house. All of them had basements and everyone in those houses survived because of that. Pretty much everything above grade was flattened. I still get chills thinking about it and I know that compared to what these people are going through, being delayed in building my new home while I have a perfectly intact home is really not a big deal. So, we are prepared to be patient and to help however we can.

Next topic: coronavirus. We are self-quarantining as best we can. I will be working from home and avoiding as many meetings as possible. I have requested that Josh work from home for the foreseeable future, too. His company did a trial run Friday and as far as I’m concerned, it went extremely well. It seemed to me he got a lot done and was able to eat a proper lunch. Let’s keep it up!

Thankfully, the population density around our new property is so low that the chance of running into another human being while onsite, or within 5 miles, is next to nothing. With these statistics in mind, we ventured out earlier today to check up on things.

Earlier this week, during his meeting with the contractor and the earthwork guy, Josh determined that the tree directly in front of where the house will sit is actually a pecan tree. Now, I was pretty sure that we had decided to eliminate this tree (and plant many others in its honor) due to the fact that it would be smack dab in the middle of the parking pad and be far too close to the house for comfort. Well, evidently my landscape architect of a husband has had a change of heart and as of now we are trying our darnedest to save this tree.

He limbed up the tree with his chain saw. Here he is surveying his work.

While he was doing this and dragging the large cut limbs away, I was reviewing the trail camera footage in the comfort of the truck.

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.36.26 PM

Pardon the glare, but these people are well past the highly visible “no trespassing” signs on the trees to their right and left.

One of these folks was also observed on camera several days prior, scoping things out. It’s going to be awkward if these people are our neighbors…

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.43.15 PM Not sure who this was past our Fort Knox gate, but if he/she wants to leave his/her truck for us to use, that would be super in exchange for trespassing. Thanks.

Then there was a rogue group of turkeys fanning their tail feathers…

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.37.14 PM

Screen Shot 2020-03-15 at 3.38.39 PM

So, I know I’m partial, but I think this is the cutest shot, with my husband, Josh (middle), the earthwork guy (left), and our builder (right), all walking along as dudes discussing moving dirt like it’s no big deal.

I’d like you to know that Josh is extremely proud that “earthwork guy” is now a part of my vocabulary.

Posted on March 1, 2020March 1, 2020 by Emily

DAY 133

Well, a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks:

We got our building permit! After the “plan review fee”, the “privilege tax”, the “educational impact fee”, and a handful of other absurd fees, I’m pretty sure we’ve paid for a county employee’s annual salary in order to obtain our permit.
It has rained approximately 67″ this February, which has put everyone in construction behind and has delayed us breaking ground until the earthwork guys catch up. Patiently waiting…..
I had surgery and Josh has been buried in his Finance class so we hadn’t been able to go for a site visit until yesterday.
Our neighbor’s barn is nearly finished. Our construction envy is growing by the minute.
The critters have come out in full force! We had a record 60 videos on the trail camera this time, which is about 5X as many as we’ve had before.

Neighbor’s barn. Maybe one day there will be a structure on our property, too. Not jealous or anything.

Focusing on our wildlife for now.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 11.09.30 AM

I think this is an owl on the ground to the right of the trees. Josh agreed with my assessment for once.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.56.37 AM

Up close and personal with Bambi.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.55.16 AM

Practicing for her real ID picture.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.53.44 AM

Turkey invasion!

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.49.51 AM

House cat makes an appearance.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.49.27 AM

Turkeys are back for the first recorded snow since we’ve had the camera!

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.48.46 AM

Our resident black squirrel with white-tipped tail dashing by on a sunny day. I can’t wait for Bu (our indoor house cat) to lay his eyes on this guy. He’s going to lose his mind.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.47.32 AM

Evidently our neighbors believe in free-range horses. Exhibit A.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.46.48 AM

Exhibit B.

Remind me to look into a property fence…

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.45.20 AM

Pretty blue bird on the ground below the trees. Looked very busy.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 10.40.05 AM

Cute little bunny! Another creature for Bu to go nuts over from his indoor perch.

Screen Shot 2020-03-01 at 11.48.23 AM

And finally, more snow! It didn’t snow at all at our current house on the other side of town. I can’t wait to be in the new house and watch it snow this time next year.

Patiently waiting…..