CRANE MEADOWS
...the continued Adventures of Cameron & Therese At long last some updates - Jan. 2012 We've mowed and cleared a lot more area around the pond and shack. Here's a couple before after shots.
The "Ball Collection" continued to grow:
September and October we saw were treated with lots of beautiful flowers- mostly yellow blooms.
After months of drought, we got lots of RAIN!!! And more rain, and more rain..... The pond filled up and we found the lost creek.
The full pond:
And visits from our resident Red-tail Hawk
Cameron even got stuck in the mud leaving at the end of a work day: A few boards & a little work saved calling a tow truck.
By the middle of January with regulars rounds of heavy storms, the driveway had a "small pond" on one side. Below you can also see the before and after of mowing the driveway out further back.
Just before New Years, they lifted the Burn Ban! YEAH!!!! There were lots of piles to burn. Here's the remnants of the biggest one:
By late january we have a little creek blocking off driving around the pond to the shack.... time for some driveway and erosion control work.
We are protesting the 2011 property taxes. The Liberty Appraisal District has the property appraised at $115,000. If we win the the protest it will save us near $1,000 in taxes for 2011. We have a hearing on Feb. 16th. wish us luck. August 14th updates... Got a used riding mower and have been pulling weeds, mowing and hauling off trash every weekend. We figured out that we had water around the Shack by cutting off a valve that fed the shack- so we had two available taps. July 30th Ivy came out and help pull weeds and clear/bag trash. She suggested we needed a shower or something to be able to cool off. Great idea! The next weekend Cameron installed an outdoor shower for cooling off in the heat
Put up a hammock near the swing and got the driveway areas mowed.
Here is a couple before and after pictures from August work so far... Across the pond, some of the banks cleared and around the trees.
Next is a Pano from in front of the Shack. The plan of attack is to start at the Shack and move outward.
And the drive way...
The joke has gotten to be, that we are tracking our progress by how many BALLS we collect. Laugh real hard when we found a bowling ball in the weeds near the Shack. Even found a couple Pool table balls. Found another bowling ball sunk in the driveway- left it there instead of leaving a hole. This pictures is from August 7th:
Look for more in a few more weeks...
July 24th update... First real work weekend. The plan is to start around the shack and work our way out. Water meter was installed Friday. Good news! Water line is good all the way to the shack... bad news is there is a major pipe broken under the shack.
Here is the before after picture:
We had Therese's niece and nephew: "Baby T" Therese and Stephen for the weekend. They got a big kick out out watching the bees and learning a bit about the bees.
Most of the front and one side cleared. Also cleared the under brush from under the trees that are between the front yard and the pond.
Sunday there were many cardinals male and female fling in and out of the trees. One particular male was really keeping an eye on me.
As I find balls, i've been rolling them over by the old tree snag... July 17th Update... Closed on Friday July 15th - no problems and everything went smooth. Went by the Appraisal District Tax Office and got things in our name. Went by the water district office and are having the water turned on next Friday. Sunday, Cameron got a Gate and installed it on the property.
Found someone had been on the property shooting the week before: over 50 shells left next to the pond. With the No trespassing signs and gate we're hoping this won't be a problem anymore. Water level is getting lower. about 6-8 inches lower then the first pictures below.
June 17, 2011 we went under contract for a 13.33 acre piece of land. Closing Date is Friday July 15th! Previous: Pictures from before we bought the land, including aerial maps.
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We saved a few large logs for later - sitting around camp fires and burning.
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