Problem solving fool
I know I’ve gone on and on (and on) about the big trees around the Smallville house. I can’t help it; I love them. You all know how I feel about hiking, and being among the trees on the mountain, so having these around is a little bit like being up there in one of the flat areas. Wonderful.
Yesterday, when I first got to the house, I wandered around the back yard and was struck anew by how majestic the trees are. This time, I had an idea and took pictures. I’ve stitched several together into one big composite picture that gives an idea of what it feels like to be standing just outside the back of the house.
Hopefully it will convey the feeling that I can’t.
See it here. Best viewed by first making sure it’s full sized and not resized to fit your browser, then by going to the bottom and slowly scrolling back up to the top.
What’s coolest is that we’re surrounded by trees like that.
In all the excitement with the fallen tree on Tuesday I failed to notice something else that happened at the same time. I didn’t notice it until Wednesday, when I needed to go into the workshop side of the shed for something.
There was standing water in the corner of the shed. Oddly enough, I had just noticed last weekend that the corner support for the shed was starting to rot, and attributed it to 75 years of wear and tear. Now I understood why it was starting to rot.
We had a good long soaking rain Thursday, so Robyn and I ran out there when I got off work so I could get pictures of what was happening and begin to formulate a solution. This is what it looked like:
Luckily, I have the tools to build an ark if need be.
I will refrain from commenting on how someone could live with this situation and not want to remedy it immediately.
I stitched together a couple of pictures, and put labels on to show what was happening:
Look at the pretty yellow poison ivy to contend with.
There was a small hump in the earth, coinciding with the line of railroad tie fenceposts that make up part of the fence that goes around most of the perimeter of our property. I don’t know if the hump has anything to do with the fence line or not, but it needed to be dealt with, because it was causing water to back up and stand at the base of the shed.
As I saw it, there were two possible solutions. I could dig a trench along the shed wall, fill it with gravel and a drainage pipe, and slope it to the lower ground—that’s called a french drain, if you didn’t know—or I could use the box blade on my tractor to cut a swale in the ground so water would run away from the building.
I think we all know what Fred chose.
Before I could solve the water problem, we had to deal with several things: loads and loads of stringy viny brush, poison ivy, and a row of railroad ties driven three feet into the ground. Not to mention the five strands of barbed wire strung between them.
Speaking of old rusty barbed wire, guess who scratched and now gets to have a tetanus shot tomorrow?
Robyn cleared away much of the brush and poison ivy while I dealt with the fence posts and the larger shrubbery. Here’s how I dealt with the fence posts:
Like I’ve said before…
…there’s nothing you can’t do with a tractor and a good piece of chain.
Note in the pictures that I’m wearing brown jeans, a flannel shirt, and steel-toed boots. I am now one step removed from overalls and a John Deere cap, aren’t I?
When we got near the back of the shed we made another discovery. Underneath the nearly impenetrable brush there was a huge pile of rotting railroad ties, old log fenceposts, corrugated tin, chunks of concrete, and half-buried cinderblocks. Thank God we have something that can move all that. The tractor’s usefulness grows each day.
200 pound railroad ties are no match for Bertha (I’m testing the name out).
All this stuff came from the area next to / behind the shed.
Once the land was mostly cleared, I hooked up the box blade and went to work. It took a few tries, but I got a decent swale cut after a bit. I used a shovel to smooth it out, and then turned on the water to see what would happen.
The results are definitely encouraging, but only a real rain is going to test it for me. While the water was running I noticed one other thing that needs to be addressed. The concrete is low outside the door to the shed, and there’s a slight pooling. Further, the doorway has no threshhold installed, so I’m betting when there’s a lot of rain part of that pool runs into the shed. I need to measure the doorway and figure out how to put a threshhold down.
I worked about 9 hours at the house yesterday, three inside and six outside. I’ll probably put in another eight or nine today.
All this work tires me out, and makes for some dark bags under my eyes.
On the upside, all I need to do in the remaining upstairs bedrooms is install the coves and molding, and paint all the trim. Then it’ll be time for more inside pictures.
Friday night when I was painting one of the spud’s closets in the Smallville house, something made a moaning sound out in the attic just beyond where I sat.
I didn’t poke my head out there to see what it was.
When it was time to leave, I gathered up the bucket of paintbrushes I had soaking in the bathroom, flipped the light switch to turn the lights off, and walked down the hallway to the top of the stairs.
And the bathroom light turned back on. The switch was completely in the up position.
In the first instance, Robyn was in another closet on the other side of the house. In the other, she was downstairs.
Yesterday afternoon I was alone in the house, finishing up the painting in that same closet in the spud’s room, when a sound started in the closet and went on for a couple of minutes. Whispering. That’s what it sounded like, someone whispering, but I couldn’t quite make out the words.
I ignored it, and again didn’t stick my head out there to see if anything was to be seen. I’ve seen enough movies to know better.
And a few minutes later, when something rapped sharply against the wall from another part of the attic, over by the chimney, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
This house has promise. 
(note: I do not believe in ghosts or walking spirits, but I’d LOVE to be proven wrong. None of the sounds had the feel of intelligence or purpose about them, not even the knocking noise. Probably I heard a combination of traffic and old house sounds. Most likely, I didn’t flip the bathroom light switch completely into the off position. But still, I hope.)
Those brown jeans…are they Carhartts? Usually they are insulated for warmth. If you’re already wearing Carhartt’s then your conversion to a country boy is complete. Boise is the biggest city in Idaho but I swear I was at a wedding in a church downtown and the guy in front of me was wearing Carhartt’s… TO A WEDDING. And don’t knock the overalls, my husband has been engineer/manager for 27 years at HP for 25 but this time of year he wears overalls out in the yard. It started as an experiment to help him keep warm for fall and winter yard work. He’s very tall and it was hard to find flannels and jackets long enough to provide coverage (stay tucked) for jobs that require a lot of bending and reaching. Then he discovered he liked being able to warm his hands under the bib and the comfort of going beltless when he was working hard and sweating.
WOW!! You and Robyn are sure getting so much done out there. If only my boyfriend would be as busy as you are. We argue about every weekend to get something done. You are sure making a lot of progress on the house and i am proud of both of you
Feet don’t fail me now, that’s what I’d be saying.
I’m loving every minute of your smallville adventures. Love when you post pictures to go along with the entry.
Roberta. I think that’s a bit more fitting for your tractor.
When I moved into my house I had a serious talk with whomever was hanging around. I asked nicely to not be freaked out. So far, so good. Because you see, I do believe in ghosts, I do believe in ghosts, I do, I do, I do.
You’re just setting us up for the series of short stories you’re planning about a rural old farmhouse inhabited by demons or something, aren’t you.
I am beginning to agree with your assessment that there isn’t anything that can’t be done with a tractor and some chain.
Loving the photos and seeing what you guys have to deal with every day.
I viewed that picture of your trees. Wow! Those are some tall ones! Really beautiful.
Oh, boy, I was just waiting for the beginning of the creepy ghostly/haunted house stories! I DO believe in ghosts and find any story that hints at a ghost fascinating!
Brown jeans and flannel shirt — a far cry from the tie-dye tee-shirt you were flirting with a little while ago!
Ohhhh! I do believe in ghosts….. just because you don’t believe doesn’t mean they aren’t there! Can’t wait to hear more stories about yours.
Oh man - one of my scariest nightmares ever was of being in my childhood bedroom and hearing that whispering noise outside my window. Remembering it freaks me out to this day. If that ever happened to me in real-life, it would probably send me over the edge!
So … have you figured out what all those railroad ties and other wood was originally put there for?
By the way, French drains are pretty cool … you might need to put one in.
Bertha and Bessie. Your two true loves. Sounds good to me!
Having lived in several houses shared with spirits, it can be a most interesting experience! Oh, I DO believe! In most cases they were friendly beings, but one had to be exorcised (he was a bit evil…). Don’t mention this to Robyn or she might freak out…). Heh.
Keep us posted on these happenings! And good luck.
P.S. I’m not speaking of “spirits” found in a bottle!
Rotting railroad ties and fence posts sounds like someone had intended on putting up a fence (our cow perimeter is fenced like this). The cinderblocks, tin, and concrete though, maybe a pen of some sort?
For winter time projects, insulated cover-alls are the bomb!
I love your progress pics, keep’em coming!
lulu: the pants are Dickies
Bozoette: tie-dye? Moi? Or are you talking about the green shirt the spud gave me?
Everyone else (mostly) : ghosts, schmosts
Michelle: the whole fence around the perimeter is made of railroad ties, and the shed uses them for wall supports. I suspect these were just leftovers.
I bonked today after about 5 hours. Doing the trim meant I was up and down the stairs about 30 times, and around 3:00 my body decided to give out on me. So I came home. I figure a day off is in order, to recuperate.
I’m off to a bath and a nap now.
Oh I believe in ghosts completely! Good luck with yours.
The tractor is the most useful thing put on this earth. I learned how to drive a stick on our Massey. We were VERY creative and called it “Fergie.”
Well ….. Love the outfit, and love reading your adventures.
Personally, I’d have the place blessed by a priest. I’m not Catholic, but what could it hurt?
I can hear the ghost stories now……..
I could hear the Tim Allen grunts upon viewing the first tractor photo.
Sylvia Browne says to tell the ghosts to go to the white light,go into the other side. I have a feeling you will want them to stay awhile just for the experience. Am I wrong??
Very old homes in the south are noted for their ghosts.I have a feeling that you have been yanking too many chains on that tractor,and now you are doing it to us.But just for the record,I believe in ghosts because I happen to have seen one once when I was 12 years old and with my mother and she saw it too. I haven’t seen one since.To be on the safe side, I bought a new home.
rundmc: If they existed, I’d definitely want them to hang around and give some proof (as long as it wasn’t Amityville-style, that is).
Shirley: I’m not a chain yanker. Like I said, I don’t believe there was anything at all supernatural about the sounds or bathroom light. Just makes for some good spooky feelings, and even cooler that it’s nearly Halloween.
Weirdly, Robyn and I both have experienced catching peripheral site of someone walking towards us out while working out in the yard, only to find no one there when we look. Maybe we’ve got some shadow people lurking about.
Also, on an unrelated note, I managed to get a little patch of poison ivy on both wrists. Apparently I wasn’t bundled up well enough. It sucks, because I didn’t get into the stuff nearly as much as Robyn did.
Fred, the house I used to live in had odd sounds in the attic. After a
while, we got used to the noises — whirring, rustling, occasional sharp
raps — and ignored them. When we came to have the bathroom remodeled,
the contractor started taking down the ceiling (this was an upstairs bathroom)
and — whoosh! — down cascaded 70 years of old birds’ nests, brush, droppings,
and leaves.
It seems that the little screens that were supposed to fit over the vents just
under the roof had been loose or had disappeared entirely (a few of each), and
for seven decades, give or take, birds and squirrels had been making nests up
there, having occasional territorial fights, maybe dropping objects (nuts, seeds)
on the floor.
We cleaned out the attic space thoroughly and put new tight screens on the vents.
No more rustlings, no more rappings, no more strange noises of any kind.
I recommend that treatment.
Hey Fred,I hope I didn’t offend you.I really did think that you were playing a joke on us. You know I love you guys and wouldn’t put you down or belittle you in any way. I love your new place. Even if there are spirits there, they wouldn’t dare mess with the FREDSTER.Keep the great photos comming. You guys are doing a great job.
Trust me, Shirley, it takes a lot more than that to offend me.
Incidentally, while working on the house last night, on two separate occasions I heard odd noises from the room where my toolbox is. Both noises sounded like the toolbox shifting somehow, like maybe the little tray in the top moved and all the tools rattled together, or like the lid fell shut.
I did not go investigate.
It would be nice to know if there were any mysterious happenings,[deaths or voodo practice],in the past. I don’t know how you would find out tho’, Maybe a deed check.
Fred I have only one question, did these noises start before or after your Mother-in law entered the house? She may have given off bad vibes and woke up the spirits and now they are restless. I am not joking,my mother always said remodeling an old house or someone undesirable to the spirits can wake up the spirits and make them restless until all quites down.
I didn’t mean to say that your Mother-in-law is undesireable, but she may have given off bad vibes in that house.
Nah, the noises started before she got here. If anyone in the house is undesirable, it’s probably my godless heathen self.
Oooh! A ghost? That would be cool! I always wonder about old houses…
Time to call GhostBusters