Count down to the first step being done

 So last I left you Woodchuck and gone out to the land on a day off to help the contractor. That was a Wednesday and just over a week ago. Things have grown even more frustrating since. The contractor told Woodchuck that it would all be done two days later on Friday. The downed trees would be moved to the prairie via a created opening in the back of the CRP, the driveway would be cut, graded, the film laid, the rock delivered and spread out, and the rest of the cut areas would be graded as well. 

So we went out there on a Sunday (two days after it was supposed to be done), disobeying physical therapists orders to stay off the land (I mean, come on! I'm not going hiking on the more wild parts, I just want to see if the work has been done!), and nope. It wasn't done. In fact, Woodchuck said it looked like the contractor left Wednesday when he himself did and hadn't done anything else since. So hubby called him and left messages, sent texts, and no reply for days. Now keep in mind that we also have not heard back from the home designer either after I sent her the information for a first revision on the main floor plan. It's been over two weeks now, and she doesn't even respond to the emails, letting me know that she got the info. How are these people still in business?!?! I am finding that other peoples communication issues is the root of the majority of my daily frustrations.

Then Woodchuck gets a text from the contractor stating that he'll be out there on a certain day, with a crew, to finish up. Ok. Let's see about that. So we went there on this past Wednesday and although work had been done....the job still wasn't finished. I gimped around in the mud, grumbling about too many trees gone, loss of privacy, the damn job still not being done and how I get to contact him this time. I sent him a text right there, telling him we were on the land and the NRCS was coming within two weeks and it needs to get done by then so we can all access the land. No reply. And now I'm infuriated.

 Keep in mind that this guy quoted for him to start the job in September of 2021 and it would take 3 days. We are now at the end of March 2022 and it's still not done. The kicker? I reminded him in February before I went in for surgery that the NRCS was coming out in March and it HAD to be done by then. He just doesn't care and I find that kind of blow off of my time and commitment highly infuriating! And he can't stay in touch, return calls? We have been more than patient, we have listened to his timeline and watched it get pushed farther back for months. We want this part of the job done and then we will cut ties with him and not use him for the other jobs we were going to use him on, and I will NOT recommend him to others. I can only imagine how the other clients are feeling about him right now too, since he's bouncing around between all of us. When hubby told him he was mad enough to track him down, the guy responded that he's not the only one.

I couldn't run a business were I was letting people down like this, and having so many of them pissed at me. He's shooting himself in the foot, running his business like this. He's taking on too many jobs at once and doesn't have the crew to get it done. So taking on too much business now is only going to have us not recommending him and then eventually lead to him not getting jobs. But I digress. Let's look at the progress that HAS been made!

                                                                         Before 👆

                                                                                After 👆

This is the main CRP, where we paid the USDA (back taxes) to remove a specified amount of land from the land program so we could build. It was really the only viable spot to build, otherwise we would have chosen another spot where we didn't have to remove trees.

                                                                        Before ☝ This is at the front of the land, between the road and the main CRP, and to the right of where the driveway will be. Lots of dead trees that we were going to take down ourselves, but Woodchuck's chain saw locked up.

                                                                        
                                                                            After 👆

One super important thing right now is the ingress/egress road.

                                                        Before ☝ though not a great picture. It's the trees forward and to the left that will have a road cut through them.

                                                                            After ☝

The contractor moved the shipping container for us, over behind the fishing shack. This is the area where the invasive were SO thick that even wildlife could not get through it. Woodchuck and I cleared that out last year.

                                                            All before pictures ☝

                                                            All after pictures 👆

My heart was happy though that Shadow McGhee came out of our forest to greet us! I had feared the worst when I saw something black and white had been hit on the highway and then he wasn't coming to greet us anymore after that. A couple of times over the Winter I found cat paw prints in the snow, but again, he never came out to see us (I don't blame him, it's cold out there!). Our sons would love for us to bring him home with us! Such a good boy! 😍

I did find some new things that I hadn't noticed before on these two trips out! Hazels growing along the main ditch and they were heavy with pollen! Woodchuck has agreed to leave them. 

I also found a pussy willow growing IN the ditch that we are going to try and pull, or take cuttings from. I have ADORED pussy willows since I was a child, and although I loved any tree even then, we had some of the pussy willows growing next to the duplex we lived in and I would climb into them (they were obviously trimmed to stay more bush-like) and pet the cats! So now I need to save the elderberries from falling in the pond, the blueberry bushes from the the leaking side of the pond, the pussy willow from the ditch, mark the hazels so that hopefully the guys don't mow them down (maybe move them? I don't know yet), and remember the line of Charlie Brown Christmas trees we transplanted last year? SO glad that we did that, because were from the front area of dead trees that the contactor just cleared out. I'm thinking we may eventually move those, or find other little starts to plant at the front that he cleared because you can see right through the white pines to where the house will be built. Those white pines will fill in the view nicely, and frankly, there were supposed to have been trees planted all the way to the road by the previous owner. We also would like to put sunflowers in too! I nice wall of color, BUT, we are concerned that people will stop off of the road and pick them. I don't mind sharing some, but they would be there for the pollinators, as well as to provide some privacy. We'll see how people-y I feel when the time comes!

I'm just trying not to get ahead of myself and get overwhelmed, which is easy to do out there! The main thing is to get this contractor done with his job and the hell out of the picture. Once he's done, and once the house designer finishes are drawings, we can be focused then on building the pole barn. And I for one cannot wait to be out in nature and doing what I do! Fighting invasive and nurturing the natives. Now that we've disturbed the soil in so many spots, there's no telling what is going to come up now! 👀 Stay tuned!!!! Until then, enjoy the orchestra of Spring Peepers on the ponds 💚

Feeling the cabin fever and the Spring pull

 So Woodchuck went out to the land yesterday to help the contractor. I could not go, due to doctor and physical therapists orders, and it was heartbreaking! Having to rely on seeing things in pictures, like you guys have to do, is just not cutting it for me. Not only do I want to see how things are progressing, but I am missing things as they are waking up. What kind of ephemerals do we have there? What kind invasives are popping up, especially now that the land has been disturbed? AGH! The weekly online classes that I am attending, though helpful in that I always learn at least one new thing, only make me more antsy to get out there. I literally feel like a race horse being held back at the starting gate.

But, at least some work is getting done out there, even though it's not the kind I do. From what I understand, all of the front CRP trees that we designated for cutting are down now and will be moved out to the prairie to be sorted. The piles of debris that we made cleaning up between the prairie and fishing shack have been or will be moved out to the prairie too and into one pile for eventual burning.

The picture above shows the piles of debris starting to be made into one on the prairie. They'll eventually be burned.

 The shipping container, once on the very edge entrance to the front CRP has now been moved to that very area. The trees that needed to come down from the ingress/egress are now so, and will be moved to the prairie to be sorted. Whatever we keep will be stacked.

In the picture above, the contractor followed the flags put down by the NRCS to mark what will be the ingress/egress road to get over to the watershed. This picture was only from the first day of working on it. The road goes behind our front CRP, through this area, around the Northern edge of the pond (the pond is to the top left in this photo), and around to the Western edge of the pond where the watershed can be accessed from. 

I found out yesterday that the land around ours is selling off again. If we had an unlimited source of money to build and keep buying land, I would have done so, but that is not possible. I love the idea of keeping that land as it is, and to provide a safe haven for the wildlife from hunters. But for now, at least, that will need to come from the land we do have. I admit that I am terrified of going through there what we have gone through here with neighbors over the past 20+ years. I just want to enjoy my land, listen to nature, and be left alone. All we can do is keep hoping that the Universe would not play such a cruel joke on us to have that land and have our enjoyment of it infringed upon by those around us. Fingers crossed!

We are starting to think about where to plant things or move things. I have some elderberry that needs to be moved before it falls into the pond, and I think I have the perfect spot in mind that will still keep its feet wet, but remove the danger of losing it the spreading pond banks. I have to wait for the work in that area to be done so that they don't get run over or damaged after being moved. Woodchuck was thinking about trying to take our grapevines from home here, but after watching some videos and reading up, he thinks it might be better to start all over again. Either way, we are thinking those can go over by the blueberry bushes. And the prairie? Well, it's in full sun right now for nearly all of the day, but that will change over the years as the white pines grow that we transplanted to separate us from the neighbors and allow for some privacy. We can always transplant them again if they are recreating too much shade over time, but for now they are little whips. Our garden will be going out on the prairie area, unless I want to keep all of the food stuff in one spot and put it over by the blueberries and grapes. It's pretty wet over there though. I find that part of things highly overwhelming and really the last thing that I want to do, to figure out where plants will go, but I also understand that Woodchuck wants to get some things established. It's easy to think of too many things at once! He was thinking about fruit trees too, but ugh, I can't handle that right now!

So what still needs to be done right now? Well, there are some dead trees at the front of the CRP between it and the road that are dead and need to come down still. They were the ones that we tried to do ourselves before I went in for surgery, but one cut and his chainsaw locked up. He's fixed that now, and also bought a second one. A driveway!!! The stone will be delivered tomorrow for that and it should all be leveled out by the end of the weekend. And it better be, because that's when I intend on breaking some rules and heading out there to take a look! I'll be super careful and walk slowly. I told Woodchuck he can empty out my work wagon and pull me around in that 😂 Seeing things in pictures makes me worry. Am I going to regret what we've done when I see it in person? Even though we took every precaution that we could to not take more out and down than we absolutely had to, I'm sure it's going to look so very different. I'll get some more pictures then! 

Eventually, but soon, we'll need to think about burning the ditches. They are so overgrown with crap that we can't see the condition of the culvert And some time over the next month or so, the NRCS will need to come out there. Best to get it done earlier, before everything starts to wake up and explode and getting out there will be nearly impossible in the current state of how things are overgrown.

We've priced some things that we want to get now, such as building a pole barn, but prices are too insane! We are also waiting for the revised first draft of the main floor plan from the designer we hired. We went in a different direction than we anticipated with some of the rooms, because, frankly put, we were having a hard time fitting everything we wanted where we wanted it! Compromises had to be made and I have no idea where we are putting all of the art stuff, and the guys' workout equipment. I wouldn't mind a little She Shed of sorts by the house, but I wouldn't call it a She Shed. How about, The Den of a Creative Forest Witch? Too long. Eh, I'll figure something out. But having something outside means 1) when I'm old, I still have to walk over to a separate building in the Winter. 2) I would have to think about controlling the climate inside for me to be comfortable working in there in all weather 3) there are going to be some things that can't stay in there without the temperature being consistent. So much to think of! But the workout equipment? I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have a punching bag, weight racks and stinky, grunting men lifting them in the living of the new house. 😳

The gimpy landowner

 Surgery went well! I'm gimpy but relatively pain-free, and I have no complaints other than to whine about the stitches. SO. TIGHT. But I get those out tomorrow, and frankly, I am more nervous about that than I was for the surgery. Tomorrow will be my first time driving in nearly two weeks, and I still have to wear a leg brace to sleep in and when I am up moving around. I also have crutches and I'd really like to throw those down on the driveway and drive over them a few times! My right shoulder, which hasn't been fixed yet, is trashed from them.

The two weeks leading up to surgery, I did an hour and half or more of exercises a day. Sit and Be Fit-a seated program for elderly or limited mobility peeps, Classical Stretch-a blend of deep stretches and movements that strengthen and provide flexibility, and seated yoga. And lots of walking! I wanted to be strong, but flexible, going in. And about a week before my surgery we got some hard medical news about Woodchuck, but he is undergoing treatments, which he started two days after the diagnosis because it was just that bad. He'll go once a month for the next 3 months and we'll see how the prognosis is.

I was at the facility and home within 4 hours, and never needed to take any pain meds once I was home. From what I know right now, it was the suspected hip impingement and the doctor told Woodchuck that he fixed it and this will take care of all of my pain. I started physical therapy 4 days after surgery and go there 2-3 times a week. Biggest thing is to remember no bending at the waist and no movement past 90 degrees on the right leg. Woodchuck was a great nurse during his time home with me and we re-watched the Harry Potter movies! It gave us a nice taste of what it will be like once he retires, minus the surgery recoveries! 

Sadly, there isn't much more to update about the land. Contractor struggles have ensued and ultimatums have been issued. You don't want me as your project manager, unless you actually want something done, that is. So Woodchuck and I are now both dealing with the guy in the hopes that with a little pressure from us both, he will finally come through. Last we heard, he was supposed to have been out there yesterday, after repeatedly not showing up when he said he would, but we don't have another update yet. Hubby stopped out there last Friday on his way home from picking up our youngest from college and left a fiery message for the contractor about nothing else being done. We are now 7 months behind schedule because of one person. In the words of Earl of Lemongrab: unacceptaaaabbbllle! (This character was on Adventure Time, BTW).

So while we continue to wrestle with the contractor to prep the land, we are pricing a pole barn (holy bleep, the price of lumber continues to make things ridiculous!), price the ICF block that Woodchuck wants to use to frame out the house (along with a bit of wood too), and we JUST got our first draft of the home design back from the designer for the main floor of the house. We didn't know what to expect! She did tell us that she never expects the first design to be approved and we can revise as much as we want. There are some things we like and things we don't. Trying to talk with Woodchuck about it though over text and phone just isn't ideal, so we'll talk more about it tonight when he's home.

I've started taking some online classes through Purdue about invasives. I missed last week due to surgery and I'm not sure yet about tonight. Yo, my ass hurts from sitting so much and I can't wait to walk around regularly again! I already knew a lot of what they are teaching anyway due to my awesome friend that I trained under. I am not looking forward to seeing what will be growing soon on the land that has been disturbed for building. I will probably have my hands full with the usuals and then some that weren't popping up before! That's part of the reason I don't want to go out there quite yet, because I'll want to work and that's a no-no for proper recovery.

As far as the job front, I am still out of it and that's ok! I am still having a blast working on art and preparing stock for my friends shoppe, but now also for the Bizarre Bazaar that we have officially been accepted back into this Fall! Frankly, we need months to prepare the pieces, and I like taking the detour from the Boho and natural pieces I typically make to dive headlong into the realm of LaStrange. It really is so freeing! My new pieces have freaked some people out, and made others laugh....which the laughter was my intended reaction, so I'm glad that it's coming through properly! Being held at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso, Indiana.

I would love to work at a couple of local places, but one isn't hiring and the other I think I would only slow them down. I don't want to push myself too much too fast and undo what has been fixed and irritate what hasn't. But dang, I really miss getting a paycheck and moving around and I would love to work in nature again! Between being grounded physically and Winter, I'm getting a little fluffy. I just remind myself that the focus right now is not on weight loss (though I also don't want to go packing it on either!), it's on recovery. Once I'm recovered, I'll work at toning back up and losing the little bit of cushion my body saw fit to pad me with this Winter ;) If I am meant to work again this year, and where I am meant to land, will find me. I can still feel it, and that is still enough for me. 💚 )O(