What Lies Beneath....

I visited my dome today...in case it was lonely for me. 

Lol, just kidding.  I actually went to see what the frame underneath the dome was like, since all the snow is gone, and to see if there was anything I could do to start prepping the dome for its big move.

Here are some pictures that show what's under the dome:

Looking up from underneath:

Lol, looks like maybe I'll want to make my cinder block circle a cinder block square instead??  ;P

There's a line of caulking where the dome meets the addition.

These two small, dark brown sections (one in the foreground, and the taller one behind it) come with the dome too.  I'm not sure yet whether I'll connect them to the dome, or use the lumber to build a shed. 

Anyway...I guess this is a rather boring post, lol, but hopefully more exciting stuff will be happening soon!  :P  

I hope everyone had an awesome Tuesday!

Cinder Blocks Unite!!

I got in a few hours on the land earlier...finished "clearing" the dome site.  This is an interesting process, because parts of the perimeter look like this:  

You have to figure out which tree is on top, and remove that one first.  I experimented today with using a bow saw instead of the axe, and it worked beautifully.  Lol, it'll be even nicer when I get around to dragging my chainsaw out there!

After that, I spent a good long while lugging my cinder blocks up to the dome site, and placed them in a carefully-measured 20 foot circle.  Doesn't it look kind of like a giant fire pit?  ;)

It occurred to me afterward that I might want to move the blocks a few inches further out, so that the beams holding up the dome are resting on the center of the cinder blocks, rather than on their edges.  Plus, they'll need to be leveled quite a bit.  But it was fun to lay them out and see how it looked.  

In the photo below, I'm standing on the dome site and looking toward where the gray water system will go.  You probably can't see the neon pink tape in this small photo, so I circled it the approximate location.  By my rough measurement, it's about 50 feet away.  Apparently there's supposed to be 1/4" drop for every foot of pipe, but that shouldn't be a problem since the dome site ended up being a bit higher than I had originally planned.

And here's the view to the road, with my parked truck circled.  I'm happy with the privacy of this location; it should be even better when the deciduous trees leaf out.  

I'm not totally sure what the next step is....I guess maybe leveling the cinder blocks, and bringing a few more in.  I should probably also see if I can smooth out the skid trail a bit so vehicles can get closer to the dome site.  Once those two things are done, I think we'll theoretically be ready to work on moving the dome!  :D

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted...hopefully Domesday will be soon!!  ;P  

Clearing the Dome Site

Well, maybe the title isn't 100% accurate...the site I've picked for the dome is actually somewhat cleared already...it just had a bunch of little trees tip over onto it, lol.  The sunshine was calling me all day long, so I went over after work and put in a couple hours moving fallen trees.

Here are a few before and after shots, though the angles for comparison aren't always perfect:

Before.  The dome will go somewhere behind that big stump.

After.

Before.

After.

Looking down the skid trail toward the road.  The dome site is on the right.

After.  See my nice brush pile?  All that brush will be the start of another part of my natural fence, probably running along the road.

I know it's kind of hard to see what's going on in these photos, but I'm happy with the progress that was made today.  :)  

Here's a shot from near the brush pile...as you can see, the dome site isn't too far in from the road.  The dome will be tucked into the trees somewhere over to the right of where I was standing when I took this photo:

Some poor bird got eaten...what kind of bird has feathers like this?

Oh, and I got to try out my axe!  :D  It works quite nicely.  (Also, do you spell it ax or axe?  I'm getting conflicting information....)

And one pretty photo to end the evening...I think this is a Red Maple.

No More Sledding...

Well....the snow is gone.  (Mostly.)

I arrived on my property today with 16 bags of stone for my gray water system (yes, it would be cheaper to have a dump truck deliver a yard, but I despise shoveling stone!!), planning on pulling it out to the dome site on my trusty sled.  

But we've had some glorious weather lately, and the 12+ inches of snow that was on the ground a week ago are almost completely gone now!  This is exciting, though, because it means that it's almost time to move the dome!!  :D  :D  :D 

For comparison, this shot was taken from almost the same viewpoint one week ago:

Anyway, I wandered around for a bit...I don't mean anything hokey by this, but I somehow feel more connected to the land when I can walk on the dirt instead of the snow.  

One of a few rock piles on the property.  Maybe someday I'll collect them all and build a decorative stone wall.

The clearing.  LOL, good thing I decided not to put my dome there!  ;)  

Lots of deer sign...now, where were all the deer when I had my trail cam up??  

I got distracted by my natural fence, and worked on that for a bit, then lugged my 16 bags of stone back to the dome site.  I'm working on getting the muscles I'll need for my homestead, LOL!

A couple fun stories from lugging the stone...one time, I tried wrapping a piece of rope around one of the bags and wearing it like a backpack...it lasted for about 10 glorious steps before the bag slithered free of the rope and plopped to the ground.  Ah well.  Sometimes it's better just to do the tedious work than to try to get creative! 

Another time, I was carrying a bag up on my shoulder...it started to slide backwards, but by quickly leaning forward, I caught it in the small of my back.  So what else was there to do but give that bag a piggy-back ride for the rest of its journey?  ;P 

Anyway....in the following photo, I'm standing about where the gray water system is going to go.  The dome could go in any of the three locations marked on the photo, or over to the left on a little rise (pending a reply from the gray water guy telling me how far away the dome can be from the drainage area). 

After much discussion with Dad this afternoon, we're leaning toward site one or site 4.  Site 3 kind of makes me happy...it's just sort of cheerful...but it's also the closest to the neighbors.  But I'll keep you guys posted, lol.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday yesterday, and an awesome Monday!  

A Tale of 18 Cinder Blocks

Lol, I've been waiting for the snow to melt...but I also need it to stay on the ground a bit longer so I can keep bringing cinder blocks out to the dome site on my sled.  :P  

I've been slacking, but finally had a chance to bring some more out there.  I lugged 18 of them out there today...whew, that was hard work!  A good start to getting in shape for the homesteading life, lol!

This is how much snow is left.  Interestingly, a lot more is melted at my parents' house...maybe my land is a bit cooler?  Or maybe the tree cover keeps it from melting as quickly? 

A happy truck load:

I brought in a pallet to put the blocks on: 

I really have no idea how many cinder blocks I'll need...I think I'm up to about 30.  

If anyone local wants a super good workout, I can set you up with a load of cinder blocks...just let me know!  ;P  

Thinking about Goat Kids

I went back out to Worth the Wait Farm in Denmark, Maine yesterday.  They had eggs for sale...which gave me a good excuse to make the drive and go see the adorable baby goats that were born this past week!  :D  

This doe and buck pair was only 3 hours old...SO tiny and fuzzy!!  ❤❤❤

The ones back in the corner were a few days old.

There's a slight chance that a couple of these babies might become Butterscotch Farm's first livestock.  I'm definitely doing chickens this year, but I haven't fully decided about goats yet.  Obviously, I've got some work to do to set up a shelter and some electric fencing.  

This is one of of last year's kids.  There are six of them, and they're very friendly and curious:

So we'll see....I'll keep everyone posted.  Obviously, I kind of have to move onto the property first, but I'm hopeful that things will really start happening soon!!  :D  

Waiting for the Snow to Melt

Wow, it's been over a month since I posted!!  This is largely because there really hasn't been much news - I'm basically waiting for the snow to melt so I can move the dome.  (And if you haven't heard about the dome, it's probably because the automated emailing system in this blog doesn't seem to work very well.  If you look on the right-hand side of the page, you can find all my older posts under "Blog Archive.")

I got a couple land-related things done today, though - I paid the timber tax fee and took out a building permit.  I've also continued working on packing and collecting all the stuff I'll need for living on my own.

The dogs and I went out to check snow levels today.  We've got a ways to go, lol!!  

Here's the spot I'll be putting the dome.  It should be a fairly shady spot once the trees leaf out, so the dogs and I don't roast!  

There's a bit of bare ground peeking through here and there.  The snow is still at least knee deep in most places, though.  

In other news, we finally finished boiling down our sap, and Dad and I canned it this afternoon.  It seems a bit thinner than the last time I did this, but it's VERY sweet.  And it's so pretty!!  ♡

Anyway, I'll keep people up to date on the dome situation (I'm going to call the dome moving day "Domesday," by the way.  :D ).  I'm guessing it'll probably be late April at the earliest.  

I hope everyone is having an awesome week so far!!