HOT MOWING DAY AND BONUS RABBIT

It was hot.  But I mowed.  I had to.  It's out of control, ha, since it's been two weeks since the last mowing and regular rain.

I mowed what I could. I couldn't use the weedeater/trimmer since it died.  Working on that now.  Hope to have a new before next weekend because the orchard area is WILDLY out of control.

This is the Barnabas area, it's starting to grow up more but I can't get in the area much with the mower, there is a lot of concrete scrap over there (they will clear that later) that they are using for driveway repairs.

Here is the area off the back of the garage, you can see the new well (it's still so awesome finally having our own well, ha).  That wooden, walled-in area is where they keep scraps and construction trash.  The grass will grow back here eventually but this area might end up with a wooden deck as extension of the concrete, later.

It was only about an hour on the mower since there is not as much to mow because I can't get to a lot of it with construction stuff.  We've also given up worrying about the trails.  We're going to have so much clearing done after we close, it's more practical to just not waste energy and resources on getting that cleared.

But about 4pm, I called it a day.  With a "feels like" of 106, it was time.  The nice thing, I could go in the house and sit and relax and there was a nice breeze and it was out of the sun.  Here in another week or so, I'll be able to plug in a fan and THAT will be awesome!

Before I started, I saw a bunny!  It's always so fun to see rabbits.  We can't wait till we're out there and we see them more often, though I'm sure I won't want them in my garden!  Anyway, they sure are cute!

OK, tomorrow, check back for the long awaited finished (almost) exterior!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

Here we are, another week has flown by.  I went to the farm yesterday and mowed, it was hot.  Not much progress on the house but Tuesday, you all will get to see the painted exterior so watch for that!!

Last weekend, we had this wonderful comfort food. Being the first NASCAR cup race in Mexico City, we did a Mexican American meal.  For the main course, we had Mexican red (rojo) pozole.  It's a pork stew of peppers and hominy.  It was delicious with some homemade corn tortillas and all the garnishes.

Then for dessert, I made us a special treat:

Root beer floats!  Nothing more American than that, ha.  And before you think "but that's not healthy", this is an almost fat free vanilla ice cream and the root beer is from Poppi!  It was SO good and healthy!

Is there any picture that conveys spoiled more than this?  Oh wait, we forgot, he's definitely...

#notspoiled

A PILE OF DIRT

After they did the foundation, and then graded out all the dirt around it away from the slab, they had a lot left over.  They asked where we wanted it, we asked if they hauled it off?  Nope, we paid for it, it's ours...

As the building foreman said, "congratulations, you have some dirt!"

We just had them put it into a pile, or as 2nd Man said, a pile or a possible volcano?

Not sure what we'll do it with it right away, if the house was almost finished, it would be great to fill in low spots, make some little planting areas, mix with compost and soil for some raised beds, etc.  But we still have months of them driving trucks around and just making general construction messes.  We asked "J" if she needed any dirt and she was excited and said yes, she would take some to fill in some low spots.  We told her she could come on up anytime and grab some buckets or a wheelbarrow and have at it.

As if this isn't enough, we were reminded that when the do the septic...we're going to have even more dirt! 

Mount Seda Bolsa!

SURPRISE A MAJOR HOUSE TEASER

 OK, they aren't entirely finished and the roof is being completed but we know y'all need a big update.  And this is a pretty big one.  They still have to paint some more things on the front of the house but we can't resist sharing a tease of the house colors:

Behold!

It looks SO good.  We are beyond excited.  Barn red with white trim...our dreams coming true!

They did make one minor mistake, the inside of the screened in porch is supposed to be the white color but it was done in the red.  They are fixing that.  Still have to use a white paint stain on the wood details on the front and no porch railing yet, so it's not quite ready for its reveal just yet but it's coming.  Perhaps after this weekend, weather depending!

We also have our pale blue porch ceilings!

Wait until you see the whole house all at once.

FARM TRUCK GETS A NEW BATTERY

Well, we had to break down and get a new battery for the farm truck.

Back in March, when I went to start it so I could move it to mow, it was dead.  The very hard Winter temps the last couple of years with it being parked outside and not driven weekly at times, finally killed the battery.  The portable jump starter worked great, as it always does, but I had to use it every single time and that just become too much of a hassle.  Not to mention if I drove the truck somewhere, I was afraid to turn it off.

Time for a new battery.

It took a few special tools (thanks Dad!) but I got the old one out.  Remember, disconnect negative (black) first and positive (red) second.  I cleaned out the battery box and then I used this cool gadget that I got recently:

It's a battery cleaning kit.  The terminals can be cleaned using the large open end (put over the top and twist) and then you can open it and use the spiral end to clean the cables and connectors themselves.  Lastly, you place the felt washers on before you attach and tighten the cables.  I figured this will work for future battery issues, cleaning the mower battery, our own cars, etc.

Lastly I put the new one in, reconnect in opposite order, positive (red) first and negative (black) second.  I got in, crossed my fingers and turned the key.

It started right up.  I let it run for a bit while I cleaned up everything and then took it on a drive to a nearby store to pick up a cold bottle of water for me.

It ran smoothly and has started up every time just perfectly.  Life is back to normal.  Well, other than the new home construction, LOL!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 It's been a weird weekend of weather.  Monsoon rain, then sunny, the rain and wind, then sunny.

Recently, we had some arroz con pollo (using brown rice) with some homemade pico, fat free refried beans (we use a Goya brand that is fat free/vegan and it's amazing) and some sliced avocado.  So good.

Here is Hobart, moments ago.  Just stretched out with a full tummy, and happy dreaming, living his best life.  Because...

#notspoiled

This weekend has been fun for us as NASCAR fans because they have ventured to Mexico for the first time ever (Cup Series).  Yesterday, one of our favorite drivers (Daniel Suarez, front and center in the pic above) won in his home country.  The meal we posted above was last weekend but for this  weekend, we're doing some pozole. Pics next weekend.

FUTURE TREE STUMP PROJECT

When we had some clearing done for the new house, the guys also cleared an area near the power lines so we wouldn't have any issues.  One was a dead tree.  He cut it all down but it was late in the day and they were trying to finish up and he asked me if we wanted them to cut it down and grind up the stump or just leave it for later so they could clean up some other stuff.

I said to leave it for later.  He said it'll stand like this for a few years because it's deep and solid with no rot.  It's sort of died in place, ha.

We have been looking at it lately and realized there could be uses for it.  I did a quick google and found all sorts of ideas...

Flowers, though the top of ours is not quite wide enough, but this is still very pretty.

Just painting some art on there would be fun.

We've always wanted one of those posts that has signs to various places with the mileage.  That would be kind of fun to do and be a conversation starter, ha.

A clay pot tree is really neat!

Here's some more art, very cool.

We have things to think about once we move in.  This would be a fun weekend project.  I have to remind myself that in a few months, we'll be OUT there and project likes this, I can just step outside and DO it!

ELECTRICAL IS DONE NEW HOUSE UPDATE

They have installed (almost) all electrical systems.

Wall switches in place.  We got to pick where we wanted them based on how we would walk into a room and reach for them.  That's kind of fun.

All three bedrooms have four recessed lights and a center ceiling fan.  We also made sure ALL closets have lights in them.  The walk-in closet has them standard but none of the others.   One thing we learned at our last house is that even the smallest closets are better when they are well lit.  Nothing worse than trying to find something the in the back corner of the closet.

This is the panel where all the wi-fi and CAT6 lines terminate.  It will also be where they put the termination point for the alarm system and exterior cameras.  It will be easier to have it all in one spot.

We found a few spots where we wanted an outlet that we overlooked and so they marked the slab with the locations.  We asked for two in the foyer and one more exterior outlet for my canning area.

Electrical for the a/c unit runs through the ceiling and down the wall of the closet to the exterior.

It's nice to have photos (we have dozens more) to see where all the wiring will be so that we will know where all the wiring runs.  We'll never have to worry about where to hammer a nail.

In the garage, in addition to regular 110V outlets around, we are also "future proofing" the house by having 220V outlets put in for Level 2 electric car charging.  One on 2nd Man's side...

...and one on my side.  If we ever end up with an electric car or a hybrid or even if we sell someday, it's ready for electric car charging.  We figured it was easier (and cheaper) to do it now.

Oh and here is the pantry....the white box is where the countertop and lower cabinets will be for 2nd Man's mixer and baking center so we made sure to put outlets on each side.  There are also outlets along the wall on each side below where the bottom shelves of the pantry will be so that we can plug in things as needed.  You can never have too many outlets!

Almost all of the wiring in the house runs to here...where it goes outside into the main circuit breaker box.  Mental note:  DO NOT NAIL INTO THIS SPOT! 😬, ha!  Actually, they will put a metal plate over all this, so no worries there.  

They have to put in the outlets we requested and then they will have a third party inspection and it will be done.  Next up...EXTERIOR PAINTING!

IT WAS A HOT DAY ON THE ZEN MACHINE

The grass had grown, it's been over two weeks since I last mowed.  So it was time.  It's funny, when it's longer it does have a nice green color but seeing in person is different.  It needed to be mowed.  Plus it makes moving around with equipment and stuff easier for the workers moving around the house.

It's funny, I mowed less than I used to, but it took almost as long as it used to.  That's because it's a lot of going around and around and turning on the blades, getting to the new driveway/road and turning it off, then driving down onto the sides and turning it back on, then off so I can get back up on, etc.  Lots of repeating areas.  Once the house is done, that will change.  I hope they clean everything up at the end and make sure all the large chunks of concrete, pieces of wood, hardiplank scraps, pipe pieces, etc, that are hiding in tall grass will be taken away.

But I finished and it looks better.  Now, you might be able to see around the shed and barn the tall grass that would normally be taken down by the weedeater/trimmer.  It died.  For good died.  Gave it to someone to check last weekend and they confirmed that it's a goner.  It had a good 10+ year run, but all good things must come to an end, ha.  Time for a new one.  Until then, I can't trim and that is evident in the next picture.

First off, we have apples!  There are about six on our Dorsett Golden apple tree.  They are a bit small but the tree itself is still smallish and add in the fact that I wasn't able to regularly water this Spring.  

But we can now, ha!

Anyway, you can also kind of see in the background of this picture the orchard area is in desperate need of the weedeater but alas, not this time.

Off to shop for a new one.

Tomorrow another house update...electrical is done!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 How do the weeks fly by so fast?  Here we are, back to Sunday again.  Yesterday was a good day.  More updates this week.  Now it's time for some good food and some Hobart.

We stopped at a market on the way back from the farm last weekend and picked up some chicken leg quarters that are literally split in half through the bone.

They are called Piernitas de Polla Partidas, a special cut made for grilling and quick cooking.  They literally slice a leg quarter in half through the bone.  It's not something you can do at home because it requires a bandsaw, ha.

We picked up some onions and poblanos as well.  These look like larger spring onions but they are actually a special variety called knob onions or also known as Mexican spring onions.  We sautéed it all together.

...and added corn tortillas, Mexican brown rice and black beans with turkey bacon and cilantro.

It was SO good.

Hobart spent the day sleeping, covered up under his favorite blanket (but head has to stick out).  Because...

#notspoiled