There Is a Road Coming Through Here Soon!
The forecast predicted 0% chance of rain and a day up to the low eighties for this Sunday. I packed all the normal Florida heat gear: the sunscreen, two hats and tons of water for Gracie and I. There was a lot of work to do and I was going to have a contractor stopping in today so I headed out early to enable me I could get a few things done before the contractor showed up.
It was a quiet week in terms of action. The main thing that needs to be done next is that we need to find the best price possible for the path/road into the property so the cement truck and the shipping container trucks can get onto the sandy soil without their trucks getting stuck since they are carrying tons of weight. Nair found a guy who does crushed asphalt work. Seems this is recycled asphalt from roads, parking lots, etc. that is reprocessed and applied to the ground level. It is textured and more of a grey color and textured vs. smooth and black regular asphalt. Sounded great. He could not get to the property til Sunday so we held off on moving forward til we could get his recommendation and pricing.
We did continue to investigate various gravels and prices and even found a place closer to my property that was recommended. Part of the big cost of having the work done is the distance the trucks need to travel and we weren’t finding any highly recommended gravel dealers near me.
When I got to the property this week there was an immediate surprise. There was a truck load of large graveled rock right in the middle of my path. It must have been dropped there, after I left last Sunday, by the concrete guy who had thought we were moving forward until we said “wait, we need to find out if we can get this done in a more inexpensive way”. So there it sat in all of it’s heaviness, a big heap of gravel, blocking the path!
The crushed asphalt contractor came, an hour late, and looked at the whole job that needed to be done and spoke with Nair by phone. He said, after all of this that gravel would indeed be better for the job. He even said that the truckload of gravel that had been dropped already was perfect for the ground layer and that then we should put a layer of smaller gravel on top to lock it all in. He said he’d have prices tomorrow and that it would take him a week to get to it and a week to compete. Not what I wanted to hear of course since I wanted it yesterday, but I would wait to see what he came back with in terms of price. Perhaps they would beat the prices given to me by my concrete guy.
I then moved on for the day. First I checked the Rainwater Collection tank … all status quo. The birdbath needed refilling so I did that. On my way to do next job Gracie and I were bumping down the path and I spotted movement in the garden area. I hoped out of the Jeep and discovered a Florida Gopher Turtle. It had been months since my last spotting of one. Was it the same turtle? I don’t know. It looked a little smaller but I can’t say for sure. It played pull into it’s shell as I got close enough for it to see me. So I used the trick I learned last time of backing away a little and get behind it that it didn’t see me. It then came back out of it’s shell and continued on it’s journey across the land. Yeahhhhhhhhh!
I then spent the next 30 minutes watching it and catching photos and videos of it as it munched it’s way around. It took a few bites of every green thing it came across and I was in awe as I enjoyed it slowly moving across the property. I was grateful to see it. I had wondered many times since my first siting if it or they were still around through the winter. I have continued to see burrow holes pop up so I assumed it or they were still here. It brought me so much happiness to actually see one though!
Now it was time to get moving. My mission today was to clear the greenbriar vines from more of the trees along the fence and in particular from this big live oak on the corner of the property. All the trees I hadn’t gotten to right inside the fence were really covered and that particular Live Oak was so cover that you could not see any of the trunk anymore. They led up from the ground all around it binding several large branches to the ground tightly.
I worked along the fence and through several Pine trees and some much younger Oaks to even get to the big one. With each one I meticulously removed vine after vine with my pole trimmer. I cut them off at the ground and then cut them as high as I could reach and then with gloved hands I unwound them and pulled them off and continuing to cut as needed. I formed piles of them in open areas where they could continue to die in the sun like the others I had cut down. Each tree took so much work but the satisfaction, as I got the last pieces off and into the cut pile, was amazing. I hugged each one and told them they were free as I had done with all the other trees I had freed up on the property.
I finally got to the big Oak. I told her she was gong to be OK and set to work. I knew it was really going to take something. An hour 1/2 later I pulled off the last piece. I had been so caught in the details that I hadn’t taken a moment to stand back and see the tree. As I backed up I was blown away by how beautiful she really was. She was enormous and graceful and was sitting right on the corner of the property where the asphalt and limestone road intersected. She was so beautiful, I felt myself get moved by finally being able to see her in her glory for the first time. I had to hug her from two sides to get my arms around all of her as I told her she was free.
After I finished her I moved onto several more Pine trees on the other side of her so her neighbors on each side of her would be cleared too. All together I spent about 4 hours at this vine removal job. I was hot and had moss pieces all over me and was all scratched up from the greenbriar thorns. But, it was all worth it and so rewarding. I felt like I had won a prize for the day!
I posted videos, on the Freedom Acres YouTube Channel, of the rainwater collection tank weekly update again along with a couple of videos of the Florida Gopher turtle, the pile of gravel and the cleaned up Oak tree. Of course, there is a Gracie video and a short exciting end of the day report. Feel free check it all out by clicking HERE. Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂
We are now moving into the last week of April and things are coming along, although never as fast as I would prefer it. LOL. The new things we have to handle this week is to finalize the prices and get the work begun with the gravel for the path/road in and around the slab and pier areas and the path/road across the property to connect the two areas.
As soon as we can get past the path/road then we can get the concrete trucks on the property and pour the concrete part of the development for the shipping containers. We can also have the two shipping containers delivered (both the storage one and the home one). Then the rest of the home container can be handled like the siding, the plumbing and the electricity. The storage shipping container will need to be cleaned and painted and with some vents put in to reduce condensation.
The Game is still to be living on the property by May!! We now have 4 weeks. I can see it and feel it and I bounce between being massively excited and not being attached but it is taking something from me. Ultimately, I still know it will happen when it does. I absolutely will keep praying, chatting with and trusting the Universe. Time will keep rolling and I will be back next week ready to play again and do whatever needs to be done!
As always, I send you LOVE and FREEDOM until then!
