MC`s Forest Adventure

[markscastle]

Second thought if I put the road through to the upper 5 acres and put in a pad I could lease it out to pay for a well and septic. At any point where it doesn't lease out I could always put on an orchard on the pad. Have to be careful who I let in and have a well defined contract. Don`t want to end up with trouble makers , dusty traffic and peoples old broken down cars and trash. But It could be a good site for someone and bring in a little money for improvements.

 

[markscastle]

Well it looks like rain today. Not a lot of it though. I picked will be picking up about 80 clones from a friend. They are some good genetics but I`m not set up for a grow room yet so I need to work on making one soon cause I should be picking them up in the next few weeks. I wasn`t planning on doing this but my friend needed the money for bills very badly . I wasn`t even going to start any more seeds for at least a month or more. Now I got one more thing on my plate to get done. I`ll need to pick up some more batteries and an inverter/charger to run some t-5 lights when the generator is off. I should pull the new carpet up in one room of the office trailer and put in some rolled flooring and then some Mylar on the walls. Thinking I should replace the AC in that room with a swamp cooler. Not sure if I should replace the cooler motor and pump with DC or run it off the inverter. I`ll also need a water tank to feed it. Really need to use a thermostat on it so it will keep the room cool when it starts to get hot but keep control of the power usage. Wonder if I could push him to hold on to the clones for a month or so before I pick them up? I was about to weed the greenhouse beds and prep them for Spring. I think I`ll see if one or more of my kids can come up and do some work for me soon. So much to do and better to get it before any heat wave comes in.

 

[markscastle]

Dam the parts for my Honda EB6500 generator are still not in!!!! Parts are on back order and the shipping company is 4 months behind because of the dock strikes that are now over. This is really putting a crunch on many people. I`ve been waiting to do work on y truck thinking soon as I have it in the shop.... well can`t wait much longer. I need to have the work all done on it and running before spring and had a bunch of stuff to do with it. Well it runs but needs to be made more reliable. Steering box is #1 on the list!

 

[markscastle]

Went to town today but got to go again tomorrow. I got a second estimate on surveying my property and they said $12,000 with no cap. Going to bring the signed contract down tomorrow on the first bid of $5,000 . The said they can start in the next few days and should be done in a little over a week. Soon as it`s done I`ll see about fire wood harvest and logging. Been way to long getting this taken care of!!!

 

[markscastle]

Papers signed and turned in with a deposit for the survey of the property today. Also got a good deal on some 5.56 ammo , about 400 rds. Got all stocked up now with supplies and took time out to care for my son`s cat while he is away in the Bay Area with his GF who`s on Spring break. Going to watch some movies and medicate . I`ll unload the rest of the supplies fro the blazer in the morning. Going to clean out the tool/generator shed tomorrow. Blood sugar has been very high and really have no energy and much pain from the nerves in my feet and legs. I`m cutting back on food intake to see if dropping a little more weight will help, if not I`ll explore going on insulin.

 

[markscastle]

Happy first day of Spring.... We made through an other Winter! Going to pick up one of my daughters to work a little for me this weekend. Lots of Spring cleaning to be done around here!

 

[geologic]

Happy first day of Spring.... We made through an other Winter!

Same to-ya...

 

[sixstring]

Went to town today but got to go again tomorrow. I got a second estimate on surveying my property and they said $12,000 with no cap. Going to bring the signed contract down tomorrow on the first bid of $5,000 . The said they can start in the next few days and should be done in a little over a week. Soon as it`s done I`ll see about fire wood harvest and logging. Been way to long getting this taken care of!!!

damn man thats crazy what they charge out there for a land survey.i had 2 x 20 acre parcells done for 700.00 here in michigan.

 

[markscastle]

Yep$ 150 to $185 per hour rates to survey here! Ouch ! Estimate was higher in hours because the section wasn`t surveyed and mapped. Also no nearby surveys done, lots of brush, trees, rocks and steep terrain.
Still no word on the parts for my Honda generator ! I`m thinking of getting a low hours light tower with a 3 cyl. diesel , 6000watt generator 110/220 plugs . comes on a trailer I should be able to pull with my S10 Blazer. Several low hour one`s around for $4000-5000. I`d sell the Generic 10,000 gas generator and keep the Honda gas generator (if it ever gets done) for a backup. Don`t plan on fixing the one in the motorhome .
At some point I`d like to do a full restoration on it, well maybe do a lot of custom work on it. All real wood cabinets and floors refurnish the sofa and chairs with leather and put built in solar and new generator. Also change the 460 engine to a 300 turbo Cummins diesel. But I really won`t ever have the time or the money for that, but if I were to use it on the road , that's what I`d like.

 

[markscastle]

Had one of my daughters over night to help with some work. Got the tool/generator shed cleaned up and everything covered for the rain and she cleaned up the inside of the travel trailer. Took her home and came back to a rain storm. Now I`m not going to complain (yes I am) but it seems it rains often enough to slow work down , but not enough to help much with the drought. I heard a new study conducted by NASA done with satellites shows the earth has not heated up in the last 17 years. So if there isn`t any real global warming going on what is the cause of our drought, be it natural or man made? If I drill a well should I have it drilled lower than needed incase this condition lasts or get worse in the future? Would that even make a difference? I`m already thinking I need a large enough water storage to combat a full on forest fire if it becomes necessary. Like to be able to keep the flames away from the building pad long enough that a forest fire would pass the pad area untouched. Also think a root seller should be constructed in such a way as to be able to be used as a fire/security shelter. doesn`t look like I`ll ever have more than one way in or out of the remote property. If it were to be blocked by a fire....

 

[markscastle]

Still no word when they will start the survey or when my Honda generator will be done. It`s looking like a wet month starting around the 6th of April so I need to get my hump going and get work caught up around here while the weather holds and before the summer heat sets in. Need to go over some leaky roofs and get work on the garden area done. Weeds everywhere! I also need to get some work done on my truck so it will be in shape for water hauling. I can`t keep spreading out my time and recourses. Seems I end up spinning my wheels way to much. Better to plan on a few items at a time so I have something I can always be working on but something is always being accomplished at the same time. These days my list grows faster than my accomplishments!

 

[markscastle]

I said that and then had a bad day the next day with blood sugar out of control and feet hurting so bad I couldn`t get around hardly. OK today the blood sugar is down to just above normal and I`m feeling better. Man it`s looking like rain from around the 5th of April through the 11-12th of June, off and on storms coming. Hope we get all the lakes full and some more high mountain snow pack before summer! I bought a bunch of veggie starts and still need to pick up the 80 clones I bought from a friend so need to fix roofs and the weed/prepare the garden !!!

 

[markscastle]

If your from Butte County you should look up Save Grower`s Rights on Facebook. Keep in touch with others and keep informed. Learned that both Butte and Yuba Counties are taking kids from growers for child endangerment. There are also court cases against these counties going on and meetings of the people you can learn from. Just passing the info along for whoever could use it.

 

[4214evr]

just poppin in MC ive been here all along just havent said much
my hearts with you bro thru all the UPS n DOWNS
you are truely an inspiration to sticktoitiveness
stay strong grow dank

 

[markscastle]

Picked up an old oil heater from a 50`s 30` travel trailer to heat one of y greenhouses with. Will be looking for two more before Fall.

 

[markscastle]

OK had to stop and charge the batteries on my laptop! Yep water tanks have been filled and as soon as this storm passes I`ll start the weeding and prep work on the garden area. Little to soon to plant the clones yet, snow levels will go down to 3000 ft. I`m at about 4200 ft. May get a few inches of snow. I still need to get time to get my truck worked on , depend on it for getting water. Survey company didn't even call me about coming out this week as promised. I bought some new bubble bags and will be buying dry ice every trip to town and running some material for shake to make hash with. Oh still nothing on parts ordered for my Honda EX 6500 generator yet. I hate waiting and waiting on stuff! I want ahead of the game not behind this year!!! And while working towards this Spring`s planting I`m working on being set up for a winter grow also.

 

[markscastle]

Happy Easter everyone! It sprinkled off and on last night but as dry as it got the ground was still dry this morning. It however has begun to snow . I`m off to my daughter`s and will be with allm y children and grandchildren for Easter and home early because of the snow. I have 4x4 in the Blazer but I don`t have chains for it. Well need to do the chores and bring in the veggie starts I luckily didn't plant yet. Guess I can put them in the shower as it has a sky light. Thinking with storms stacked up all month maybe next month would be better for planting. I can still work around the storms to be ready but we are likely to get more snow, hail and maybe frost at 4200 ft.

 

[markscastle]

 

[markscastle]

I woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow. Most work is on hold now. Seems a good time to run some trim through the tumbler while it`s so cold. Other than that I`ll hunker down and watch some movies. Good thing I haven`t picked up my clones and put the veggie starts in the shower. Looks like it`s time to fix my dog a hot breakfast this morning. I`m also planning on taking the little Chevy Blazer out to for a spin in the snow to see how it handles in 4x4 in the snow. Decided not to fix the heater because it was estimated at around $1000 . they have to pull the dashboard steering column and seats. I may just order a electric heater and mount it under the dash for around $40 though. It runs on 15 amps with a built in fan. thinking I could make it where it plugs in and can be pulled out for summer to make more room.

 

[markscastle]

I`m getting a little depressed. It has been snowing and raining and I can`t get much done. I`ve been waiting to hear from the surveyor and he called me to let me know he`s in the hospital. My backup generator is still in the shop and have no idea when the parts will arrive. Butt county is on the rampage with it`s new land use code officers. I could get sited if I grow in more than 150 sq. ft. area. My blood sugar has been high for a week, even though I`m not eating much and am taking my medications. I do some strange things when I become depressed. I ordered a new complete upper for my rifle with a quad rail , bolt and charge handle. I think when it gets here I`m going to shoot a tree in half! Oh got 1000 rounds of Nato green tip ammo , should do the job? One local who went nuts this winter and covered a 30` pine tree in foil . I`m still not sure why. I can`t hike that far into the forest to look at it but saw a photo of it. Dam strange but he did do a good job of it anyway. Good thing it`s to far out for me to shoot it in half! Hope it doesn`t get hit by lightning and start a fire.