Relatively it has been quiet. We didn't have time to prepare for winter, or get our business going before the end of peak riding season. So there has been a lot of stress. A lot of we should ofs going around. Yet mingled with regrets and stresses we have our eyes on the future. Husband is building a micro-hydro plant so that we can produce power in the overcast and rain soaked winters here. This years snow is rare from what I have been lead to believe. Oh, but so gorgeous and fun on days that aren't painfully cold. I grew up with this kind of snow falls, and have missed it through the Kansas droughts.
We will also be starting on a bermed barn sometime this warm season. It depends on when the rains settle here, when we start construction. This is a bit of experimenting, laying down foundation, if you were, for our house in the hill. The house has to wait until we pick up business and are secure here.
Finding work has been stressful. We even went to the employment agency, got a shrug and were told, no jobs. Then we were sat down and told about which schools we should go to, to be able to get work in this area. Of course attending school means no pay, with the shop we at least have enough to pay most of our bills. So we will stand by the shop and wait until spring. Only a few more months. And then we can pay all our bills, fingers crossed.
The driveway is our bane. During the worst of the snow we could easily leave, yet the next day we got stranded. It happened again yesterday. This time we were almost to the top when the wheels began to spin under us. The tires finding no purchase. Suddenly we were sliding backwards, down the hill at around 20 mph! A blind turn rushing up behind us. Brakes were of no use, Husband could only yank the wheel to one side and hope we would either stop before reaching that curve or find purchase and dump us into the small ditch that ran hillside. The only alternative was 75 ft to bottom. I held myself and told Husband I loved him. I surprised myself that I didn't scream it, merely stated it. The boys stayed quiet. We slid to a halt just before the curve, and the inevitable fall.
I asked Small Farm Girl to come pick the boys and I up. After watching Husband walk up to where the boys and I stood to survey what might be done, and him slipping and landing on his bottom, then sliding down the 30 ft into the rear wheel of the truck, I decided right then and there. I was not walking down it. I doubt very much even the ATV would have made it. The ice was an inch thick.
I had a good time hanging out with Small Farm Girl. It had been awhile.
The ATV will come into play this spring, when the driveway too slick with mud and sandstone for the truck. If it was just snow that was the problem, then we would be using the ATV. All we can do to fix it, is put down a better foundation than what was laid down. We have worked though what it would mean to add dirt and lessen the grade. It mean a mess, and worse off than what it already is. We will just have to build up with rock.
So I guess that is a few things you have to look forward to from me. We have more thoughts and plans, but let's see how these pan out first.
15 comments:
Bless your heart, I hope things get better sooner than later. I also remember some of the same problems when I was younger, sliding down a mt. backward, no water, knee deep in mud, ect. Those things are just memories now and you won't believe this, but some days I actually miss the hardships of my youth. It's hard when you are living these things, but it will get better. You're making memories. The most important things you have...your precious family. Hang in there, spring's just around the corner. Love to you and yours.
Aunt D.
Chin up Phelan...new beginnings are always hard. I think they are meant to be. There is nothing learned from easy beginnings.
You're stronger and more resilient than you realize.
(I haven't forgotten you! Box will be a little bit later because I keep putting more in it!)
I just don't know if you could get any cooler.
I have been quoting "The Art of War" to my boys. It seems fitting.
We looked at a place after we moved from Minnesota back to Washington with a steep drive.
Ice sucks.
There was room at the bottom for a parking spot but building a stairway up the hill would have been a tough one. Not impossible just a good bit of work.
When you have a hill AND ice there is nothing you can do. Besides a walk way up with hand rails so you don't fall down as much & a place to park at the top.
4 wheel drive was great for getting out of the ditch after the ice put you there.
I rest my case
You might also consider putting logs across parts of the driveway(or the whole thing) for the tires to get some traction on. Also they will help to keep your rocks you put on later from washing downhill.
We have discussed doing that, as well as laying logs as guard rails.
We have the same type of drive it start out slow with a small incline then sharp corner and gets steeper to it gets to the top then a flat area with another drive that is worse in the winter. I park at the bottom and walk it most of the time. One side is a small I embankment and other side is drop off. I've found that if we spread the ash from the wood stove mixed with salt it helps a little with the ice. My husband has a four wheel truck and is able to go up 90% of the time. We have just learned to live with it and try to walk on the edge in the snow or middle of drive. I know the fear of slide down backwards and have done it we have a pasture fence about 2 feet from the curve that has been hit a few times. Winter in New York is so much fun LOL.
Our driveway was a 1 1/2 mile of Oregon mud (the kind that will suck the boots off your feet if your walk too slow). After driving thru the creek at the base of our hill, Hubby would set his jaw, gun it and off we would go, old truck's engine screaming, both boys yelling "Go Parnelli, GO' and me praying we make the 1st time! OH THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I am snow bound, and don't have a lot of hope of getting off the mountain unless it really warms up and rains this weekend like the weather guys are saying. Lately they haven't been right often.
When a bad snow is coming, I have to park my Jeep down at the foot of the mountain, on the old forest service road, and walk to the house. It's about a mile and a half from where I park and all up hill. Not much choice though.
I am glad you didn't have a bad wreck. You are a good woman, and I'm sure your husband and kids appreciate your strength.
http://vlad-unclevlad.blogspot.com/2011/09/ill-tell-you-again-get-v-bar-tire.html
Hindsight is always 20/20, but if we waited until the conditions were right, no one would ever do anything! These hard times are the memories you're going to laugh about with your grown kids & grandkids in later years. Trust me on this one. Your boys are learning from you that the human spirit is resilient and that they can survive anything with hard work and creativity. Things are going to get better for you. I'm sure of it. You're already coming up with creative solutions for problems and you should make sure you keep good notes about all of this. It would make a great book.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but if we waited until the conditions were right, no one would ever do anything! These hard times are the memories you're going to laugh about with your grown kids & grandkids in later years. Trust me on this one. Your boys are learning from you that the human spirit is resilient and that they can survive anything with hard work and creativity. Things are going to get better for you. I'm sure of it. You're already coming up with creative solutions for problems and you should make sure you keep good notes about all of this. It would make a great book.
I like your idea of adding rock and timbers to the driveway. The next several winters will be similar in nature to this year as we are trending back to the winters of the 60's and 70's. I think the effort will be worth it in the long run.
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