Movin' on Up!

Bernhard · Jan 29, 2022

grandpaul said:
I got to chatting with some people and remembered I have a cousin that had an Ag Exemption on his property by keeping bee hives.

Sounds like I got connected to a couple of local groups that will get me all set up and I might even be able to slide the existing Ag Exemption over and not have to wait 5 years, if I take all the legit steps to establish a full minimum colony. WELL worth the investment, and mostly hands-off as long as I let the groups harvest and keep the honeyI

This is much more fun than the 4-acre place with the horrid Cedar I had to 'doze...

Oh! . . . . .I would expect a jar of honey, or two . . . .

grandpaul · Jan 30, 2022

Bernhard said:
Oh! . . . . .I would expect a jar of honey, or two . . . .

Yes, they said it's typically one jar per harvest. Otherwise i wouldn't need the other people, I could harvest, jar, and sell the honey myself.

...and do ALL THE WORK it takes to keep beehives healthy...

EstuaryBoy · Jan 30, 2022

grandpaul said:
Yes, they said it's typically one jar per harvest. Otherwise i wouldn't need the other people, I could harvest, jar, and sell the honey myself.

...and do ALL THE WORK it takes to keep beehives healthy...

I had a swarm 'park up' for 48 hours a couple of years back. Couldn't believe the noise when they all revved up to leave!!!
Spooky that it was virtually to the hour and minute that they turned up, too ??

cjandme · Jan 30, 2022

Congrats grandpaul, I miss a bunch of stuff about livin' in Texas. I fell in love with my wife ,who is Japanese, and we're raising our kids here south of Yokohama, but I sure get home sick for the Tomball/Spring area I grew up in. I might have to rotate out from here and go back to the U.S. around May of next year if my extension isn't approved. If approved I'll get two more years here before I have to reset. I'm jealous of your new place Bud. Lookin' good.

grandpaul · Jan 31, 2022

Maybe i can host a Norton/Britbike rallye one of these days!

acadian · Feb 1, 2022

I'm jealous. I have to travel at least 3+ hours north to hit crown land suitable for any long gun shooting, and I'm just plinking away with a .223 and dad's ancient 30/30. A gun range? Forget about it, they're all but banned around the GTA area, and the ones still in operation are grandfathered membership only. My Toronto house is paid off though, which is a windfall in this market, but because everything else has also appreciated by insane amounts, selling it means I'll never get ahead unless I move WAY out of the city.

grandpaul · Feb 1, 2022

acadian said:
My Toronto house is paid off though, which is a windfall in this market, but because everything else has also appreciated by insane amounts, selling it means I'll never get ahead unless I move WAY out of the city.

That's the deal with moving up from 4 to 10 acres, I had to go half an hour away to find land at the price per acre that I paid just 2-1/2 years ago!

Nice thing is, I'm netting enough on the flip, to build an all-new barndo with cash. Might even have a bit of play money left over for a 4-wheeler!

You take the good with the bad; and when the bad is not so bad, that's good! (you can quote me on that, I might have just made up a saying)

grandpaul · Mar 1, 2022

Forgot about updating this thread, a lot has transpired.

First, I got the trusty old '62 Ford D-4000 tractor to the new location and got busy mowing down the weeds...

Next, I had a 40' storage container dropped at the site. I got this like-new "one-trip" for the price of the usual beat-up, rusty ones!

Then, I loaded my 24' trailer to the gills with 7 bikes, about a hundred tubs of parts, hardware, tools, and "stuff", and set it out there. It was a real weak-in-the-knees feeling all the way out there (24 miles or so) pulling that mother with my 214,000 mile V-6 Chevy pickup...

I also got the camper set up for my office / lunch room...

grandpaul · Mar 1, 2022

Next came the "tinhorn" culvert pipe, but I can't install it until the county work crew re-profiles the silted-in culvert alongside the road.

Staked out the most level area, swapped the mower deck on the tractor for the box blade, and prepped the pad site for several truckloads of caliche fill dirt (this was last week, just started with the first two loads)...

As we were unhooking a trailer with more stuff, who should appear buzzing the site but my friend Jeff in his Quicksilver MXL Sport. His plane is like a 2018 "Corvette" to my 1984 MX Sprint "Pickup"

Bad luck, he accidentally set his GoPro to photo mode, and only got a shot of his feet in his hangar before he took off.

grandpaul · Mar 1, 2022

This morning the site became an Official Job Site.

Also, this little beauty was delivered a few feet away...

So, for almost 6 hours I rotated between the tractor with the box blade, and the roller compacting the mix. No power steering on the tractor, and no suspension on the roller, I'm pretty beat up. The first attempt resulted in a beautiful sunny beach of small waves...

grandpaul · Mar 1, 2022

As the trucks kept coming with more and more caliche, I kept re-doing the mix by scraping it more level and compacting it. The second two-part pass looked much better...

They also brought enough for the driveway, and 2 spare piles to cover the culvert pipe with (when the time comes)

Long day...

mean gene · Mar 1, 2022

Looks like your having fun!?!?!?!?! Can't wait to see finish results

grandpaul · Mar 5, 2022

The slab guys got after it, filled up their forms and dug the beams, covered it all with plastic. They've got steel laid down and ready to place, I need to get the septic plumbing in...

grandpaul · Mar 9, 2022

Things are heating up (literally), although I think we're still looking at another couple of freezing nights, the daytimes are getting very nice for work and/or play.

For me, it's been WORK!

Rented a trench and got the Electrical mains in the ground...

grandpaul · Mar 9, 2022

Next was the plumbing main for the master bath (I'll do the branches tomorrow).

Also ran the main where it goes under the front porch...

Will steel need to do the half bath, but that'll be a piece of cake, in comparison!

grandpaul · Mar 12, 2022

Finished the master bath septic plumbing on Thursday...

By the time I showed up mid-morning on Friday, the slab guys were like worker bees installing the steel. I finished the 1/2 bath septic piping just as they closed in on me. Only photo I got was the three risers (you can barely make them out, on the left)...

Concrete is scheduled to pour on Tuesday; milestone #1!

Fast Eddie · Mar 12, 2022

Looks like a car park to me GP !

mean gene · Mar 12, 2022

How many yards of concrete do you figure?

texasSlick · Mar 12, 2022

The way the city is moving my way, I suppose I will do what you have done .... sell out and move further out. Problem is where? Cherokee County is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas .... lots of dirt left but running $20K per acre. I suppose I should not complain, paid $2K per acre back in '95.

Slick

grandpaul · Mar 12, 2022

mean gene said:
How many yards of concrete do you figure?

I calculated the total square footage based on dimensions as designed in AutoCAD, but it always takes more as some disturbance and displacement happens pre-pour by the dork that thinks he's a plumber, etc.

I came up with 92 cubic yards, I'm real anxious to see how close I came.

Local concrete prices are at $110 / yd + tax + $10 per truckload...