The Road Home: Winter Arrives to Minnesota
More than one year ago, my wife and I began moving from The City to a piece of rural family land near our hometowns. My entirely inadequate documentation of this process is titled The Road Home.
That brown colored building in the far back of this pic is the only thing not part of our project.
We began the spring of 2019 with the shell of the cabin in the center of this complex. That building is now half finished inside. All other buildings, and most of the flower garden and landscaping were added throughout the year.
The final pic of the season: the first Minnesota snow.
We buy the building shells (finished outside) and I have been/will be finishing the interiors. Except for that garden shed. We bought that on a pallet because we got a hell of a deal through Costco. However, after the labor of putting it together and the cheapness of its quality, we'd probably just spend a bit more to have it delivered like the others. Anyway, that garden shed is the only finished building thus far. So, no further complaints.
From Spring 2019
For the first time in my life, because of this project, I have developed a repetitive stress injury. It is in my left forearm, my old curve ball pitching arm, and it is the result of ramming 3 or 4 thousand shots out of a stapler gun (among many other gripping and carrying episodes.) For awhile now, I wake in the night with a burning pins and needles in my fingers. I generally have to get up and walk it off. But it is improving with the past three weeks of rest.
The place is not heated, so I have to give it up for a few months. However, I am looking forward to writing about my experience in the meantime. If you have questions, please ask. I will probably use your question as a prompt for further posts. It would help me out.
Thank you.
And it is good to be back Steeming once again.
You're a lefty with a solid hook? The Twin's scouts really dropped the ball on you, but you're building the first elements of Minnesota's Field Of Dreams, and will have your day in the
sunovercastdense and dreary clouds.As for the arm, ever consider an electric nail or staple gun?
I use my staple gun to stretch canvases. Those three days were the first time I used it for anything else (insulation and rodent proofing material.) I didn't feel the pain until I was finished. Now that I know better, yeah, I'd go electric. You live, you burn, you learn. Anyway, I shouldn't need it again for this project.
I threw a low-velocity slurve ball. I could hurl it at a left handed batter's head and drag it back below the knees on the outside corner. Not a lot of strike outs. But not a lot of solid contact either.
Thanks Matt. My wife and I are in awe of what you do for a living.
Oh Yay!!! Congrats to you and the fam! I've wondered a few times how your homesteading was coming. I know it's tough. It looks really good and it's great to see you steeming once again.
The way I see it, you are probably documenting your progress anyway, so why not document it here. We're doing the same here on our few acres and I want to start blogging about it as well. Did you guys have a garden over the summer??
Thanks Tamara. I took some pictures, but I haven't kept a journal or anything. The internet reception up there is lacking so I pretty much disappeared from the scene. Anyway, it is fun and I look forward to your blogging.
You can see a garden on the right side of the picture. Mostly flowers, but we did get a few tomatoes that grew voluntarily out of our composted soil. There is an acre field that we eventually plan on using for food. Probably a couple years down the road.