Over night on July 30th there was a big storm for the area. Usually, no big deal but as you know there is no electricity in the house and we rely on the cool breeze coming in when we sleep. Most of the windows had to be closed because the wind was blowing and the rain was really coming down. Didn’t seem to be a bad storm but we actually got 3-4 inches of rain in a short amount of time.
A little after midnight I had to go to the bathroom and found out that the whole back walkway was flooded that was on the way to the outhouse. I also noticed that there was a little water coming in the back door. I went to the bathroom and then decided to checkout to see if there were any other leaks or anything. Since I was on the main floor I went looking around. I found a leak around the base of the floor in the laundry room where the cinder blocks meet the concrete floor luckily there is drains built in the floor and there was not anything that would need to be moved to keep from getting ruined. Then I moseyed down to the basement to check it out. Also, in the basement there were leaks where the cinder blocks meet the concrete floors. There are also drains built into the floor down there. Maybe that’s why? I guess we will try to figure out how to seal that up. Glad to find the problems now and not after finished construction. I went up to the top floor of the house and looked around for more leaks and luckily found none.
Payton got up several times to go check on Rick in the barn, she let me know that there was a river going through the barn. Oh boy! Just what I always wanted to hear. I asked if the cat was up somewhere safe and dry and she said yes, he was laying in the hay. I sent her back to bed and headed up stairs.
I went back to bed, texted Chad to have him remind me of the things I found in the morning. Most of the time he doesn’t hear texts when he is sleeping but he did that night. He called me right away about it and I told him my plan for fixing some of the problems and we went back to sleep.
The next morning got up and saw most of the neighbor’s driveway in the road in front of our house. I was like ummmm yikes! All the rain pushed large rocks and gravel down their road and washed a lot away. I messaged Paula our realtor to let her know because she was supposed to come out to visit that morning and I did not know the condition of the roads around us and did not want her to drive all that way (1.5-hour drive) for nothing.
Checked in the barn for damages. There was definitely water flowing through the barn but it was not as dire need to fix as it was to fix around the house. The water had pushed several things into the bay doors going into the barn and the cat bed was soaked, but overall, not any terrible damage. I will have to work on that some other day.
I found a bath tub online on Facebook marketplace and messaged the seller to see if it was still available. Luckily it was and we decided that since it was too wet to do much outside this morning, we would make the trip to go get it. The tub was in Cincinnati, Ohio which sounds far but it was only about an hour and a half away. Have you ever been to Cincinnati? Why are the roads so small? Why are the houses practically on top of each other? Why is there absolutely no parking? Oh, and did I mention I am pulling a trailer.
Luckily there was a Kroger’s parking lot by the seller’s location but little did we know the tub was a few blocks down in a garage down a driveway at the bottom of the hill. I thought to myself oh boy! This will be fun to carry a cast iron tub up the hill and load onto the trailer but I didn’t say anything. There were a few options on tubs to pick from. The guy remodels old homes and that is where he obtained the tubs. I saw a big farm house sink in a shopping cart and asked if it was also for sale and he said yes. I reluctantly asked how much and to my surprise it was only $100. We had been looking all over for one and could never find one under $800 in this condition or this size. I was wanting a double sink with the drain board on the side and this one has one on each side. I ran down to Kroger’s right away and got more money out to pay him and his crew loaded up the trailer for us. YAY! We were so glad that all we would have to do is strap them down and we headed home.
We stopped at Lowes and Walmart on the way back home to pick up some more supplies needed for the house and grabbed some lunch. I think everyone was glad to get away from working one the farm for a bit, we had been going nonstop.
That evening it was time to get busy on a project to hopefully help prevent water from coming in the house again. In the back of the house is a large hill and weeds above my head. I thought that if I dug a ditch behind the house and lined it with rocks and concrete then maybe it would redirect the water and keep it from coming into the house. We got to weed eating and raking it all up. We decided to create a brush pile to burn it because it was just so much weeds.
While Payton and I worked on that Hunter cleaned out the gutters and trimmed the tree in the back that was hanging over the house and gutter quite a bit. Not sure if you know but Hunter HATES heights so he always gets those tasks. I’m a loving parent, I know!
Luckily, we were refreshed after our morning off because there were lots to do behind the house. I began to dig and dig and dig and dig some more with a shovel, a hoe, and a pick ax. There are tons of rocks around on the property so we hauled rocks to line the “man made creek” making sure to have the rocks higher on the house side to keep the water contained and redirected. It was coming along slowly but surely. My dad started making dinner on the Blackstone and we worked until dinner was done.
Relaxed on the front porch that evening and did some tub home measurements for Chad so he could order the hardware we will need to put it in and the kit we will need to refinish it with. Luckily it looks like the sink just needs some elbow grease and new fixtures. I am so excited about our forever farm; I love working on the farm and enjoying the outside. One of my favorite features is the front porch, it is so nice to sit out there and listen to the bird’s chirp and feel the soft breeze in the air. I cannot wait to get back to the farm.
Pink Squirrel Farmstead 