This Is For The Birds!

Before we bought our property I was reading some homesteading articles online, mostly about raising animals, living on/off the grid, and sustainability, however one particular article caught my attention.  Sheri Dixon's two-part article on Earth Stewardship (101 and 102) explains how she and her family moved out to the country and decided to keep a certain section of her property as natural as possible.  She contacted the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) to schedule a visit from her local biologist to come out and help evaluate the property.  The visit was a free service offered by TPWD.  I remember thinking how neat that would be to have a wildlife habitat on our own property.

After finally buying our property, her article came to mind again and decided I wanted to delve further into this.  I thought I had bookmarked the article for future reference, I was sure of it.  Dang it! I hate it when I'm trying to find something and suddenly it's nowhere to be found, my bookmarks, my keys, my kids...  Anyway, I started combing through various homesteading sites for articles and Googling various key words, just hoping to run across that article once again.

I started researching information on TPWD's website for such information and actually found it.  The information, not Sheri's article.  Stay with me.  Turns out that TPWD offer the service of helping you turn your Ag valuation from livestock to wildlife (see links below).  I've learned that Ag valuation is the term most commonly, and mistakenly, known as "Ag exempt".  It's not an exemption, it's still being taxed but just at a different rate.  We were lucky, the property we purchased already has an Ag valuation for cattle, but since the property was sold (to us) we would have to then re-apply in order to keep the Ag valuation.  The problem there is that though we want some animals, we are not prepared to maintain the county's required number of heads of cattle, or goats, or whatever.

Enter the Wildlife Management option.  I won't go into the history or details on this, there's plenty of information on that here:

Agricultural Tax Appraisal Based on Wildlife Management

So, about a month ago I was messing with my email and lo-and-behold...I stumbled onto the article again.  After re-reading it, I called and contacted our local TPWD biologist to schedule a visit from him.   A couple of weeks ago, I met Derrick out at the property to get an idea of what all it would take.  I was sure we could meet the required 3 out of 7 management practices, perhaps most all of them as well.  After a few hours of discussion, we formulated a plan, he was going to put some information together for me and help with the proposal to pass on to our county appraiser.

There are other programs that offer financial assistance as well as information to aid in land stewardship and wildlife habitat from state (TPWD) and federal level (USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Services).  You just have to look for 'em...

Texas Parks and Wildlife

• Private Lands and Habitat Program.
• Land Incentive Programs
• Locate a biologist
• Farm Bill Programs
• Wildlife Management on Private Lands

USDA, NRCS

•  Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP)

Hopefully we'll find out more information within the next few weeks and will report back.

Wondering and Pondering

During my commute to work this morning, the fog and traffic were both heavy.  The fog always seems so mysterious to me, probably from watching all those old movies.  Thanks Dad! ;-)  Since we've been staying at the apartment and not the property, all this fog made me wonder just what it might look like out at the property.  I was thiiis close to turning around and making the trek out there, just to find out.  This photo is from an early morning last week coming down the 130 toll road, I had that same feeling then as I did this morning.

Coming home from work today, the traffic was again heavy and gave me a chance to look around and think.  My commute generally consists of an hour long slow drive where I almost always have a chance to look around and think, or become frustrated with the person creeping in the fast lane who insists on texting while driving, all while leaving a gap of multitude car-lengths between them and the person in front of them - but I digress.

This afternoon was nice, the sky was a nice deep shade of blue with a few light wisps of clean white clouds strewn across the sky, and the sun was low in the West giving everything a slight orange-ish glow.  Despite the fact that I was surrounded by cars, highway, and businesses, the median between the two sides of the highway had yet to be mowed and the grass/weeds were tall enough to peer over the concrete wall on the inside lane. But it was the glowing of their tops in the evening sun that really caught my attention, reminding me of picturesque wheat fields, rolling hay fields, and country farm roads. 

Maybe it was the mesmerizing glow, or the cool evening Fall breeze blowing through the windows, or the Dixie Chicks singing "Wide Open Spaces" on the radio, but I soooo wanted to be turning onto the drive to the property at that moment.  Heading up the little windy dirt road to the gate to see the evening sun lighting up the property and seeing the number on the gate as if to say, "Ah, you're home!"

But then suddenly the traffic opened up and I was able to take my exit to head to my current abode, the apartment. 

It's these things that keep me excited about moving to the country.

Sleep Is So Overrated

Last Saturday evening, we FINALLY made it out to the property.  Granted the sun had already set and it was getting dark, fast, we were out there and that's all that mattered.  We had been looking forward to some quiet time and a chance to do something, anything, out there that felt productive.  The plan was to all sit around the RV that evening, watching a family movie and winding down from the hectic week, then get up in the morning after a nice quiet evening, have coffee outside and start in on a couple of projects.

Funny how life has a way of throwing it's own monkey wrench into things, almost as if God were saying, "Yeah, I don't think so."

Back up a little here. We moved into an apartment in the meantime while we found the place we'd plan to live.  Given that it's practically raw land and there's no practical living quarters out there, we've had to extend our temporary stay at the apartment slightly longer than we wanted.  We also happen to get the one apartment below a heavy footed woman who sleeps in the daytime and is up all night.  She doesn't work and rarely leaves her apartment, so we have the joy of knowing right where she is  E V E R Y night.  Before we sold our house to move into the apartment, our neighbor behind us had a dog that would randomly cry several times in the middle of the night.  It was awful.  Needless to say, it's been a long while since I've had a good nights sleep.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had finished our movie and were settling down to go to sleep.  It was only seconds before we heard faint sounds of Mexican music off in the distance from our closest neighbor.  Right then, Jenn and I both just started laughing.  Really?!?!?  Is this a sign?  Are we destined to never have a peaceful evening, anywhere?

Well, the next best thing was to just turn on the AC fan to create some white noise.  That worked, whew!  Now, back to bed.  Two-thirty in the morning I woke to the rumbling of thunder off in the distance.  We knew there was a chance for rain, what we didn't know was how loud it would be and how long it would last.  I'm really not sure how much sleep I actually got that night, but it was less than the night before so by Sunday morning, I was sleeeeeepy.

The sun came out about 9, we rolled out of bed and Jenn started the coffee while I set up some things outside to get ready for breakfast.  Jenn had been wanting to have bacon and eggs for breakfast out there, so she did the honors.

After breakfast Jenn marked off the area for where she wanted her garden. Looks to be rather large, if you ask me, but no one did. Hm, time to borrow the tiller!  Afterwards, we decided to clear out some under-brush around a tree where Jessica has decided she wants her treehouse.  She's about to turn 15 so if this keeps her occupied over driving or boys, then say no more and hand me some tools!

Sadly, we knew our time out there that day would be cut short in order to help Jenn's mom pack up some things, she's getting ready to sell her house, too.  With all the recent rains in the last few weeks, the grass was starting to get a little tall around the RV, barn, and along the road coming up to and inside the property.  So I left the girls to finish clearing while I ran..er, pushed the mower around to a few spots then up and down the middle of the road.  Yeah, I know it's not meant for out there, but the ol' trusty Husky push mower came through.

Despite the sleepless nights, knowing that we've spent some time out there and feel that we've accomplished SOMETHING, makes it all feel worth it.

An End To A Good Weekend

What a weekend, it went by way too fast.

Saturday morning was spent lounging around the apartment, looking at floor plans, talking about renting, buying, building, etc.  We had planned to go out and do a few things but we had a hard stop at 2pm to get ready for a group trip out on the lake.  Jennifer's employer has a yearly get together with the staff on a double-deck boat out on the lake for fun, food, swimming, and friends.

This is how we ended Saturday.

Sunday, Jennifer left for church early while I waited for the boy to get ready.  Once we were ready, I realized I left my keys in Jennifer's car.  <sigh>  After she got back, we headed out to the property to try and get a few things accomplished.  We met Judith and Russell out there...and Jenn's plants.  Ah, the plants.  As nice as the plants are, they somehow just don't seem to fit in with the existing natural fauna of the ranch.  Property, place, the land, the ranch, it's all synonymous.

Meanwhile, Jenn put the finishing touches on the address numbers for the gate.  Things are stating to feel and look official! 

This is how we ended Sunday, and our weekend.

Here Comes The Rain

Since doing a little land clearing not so long ago, life has pretty much slowed down on the property.  We've enjoyed meeting with some designers and builders to get ideas for a home, but as of now, I think we're going to slow things down a bit.  We're still anxious to get out on the property but want to do it without throwing caution to the wind.

Meanwhile, we've been given a picnic table as a gift and have been spending some time on the weekends putting it together.  Jenn's been staining it and prepping it for outdoor use so it will not only look good, it will hopefully last.

This past weekend brought several inches of much needed rain.  Note to self, install a rain gauge...oh, and call that guy about laying some new road-base.


The ruts you see here were from my father-in-law's truck earlier Sunday morning.  It had been raining non-stop for 24 hours.  Here I've just opened the gate to go in. 

I had to get a running start and though we made it, I think I widened the road just inside the gate by a few feet.  Yeah, I was grinning the whole time but nervous about having to call someone to come pull us out.

Good Times!

Blessings

Friday night was our first night out on the property.

Some time last week, Jenn had a talk with one of the pastors about the property.  He too has some land a few miles outside the Austin area so he finds the topic more interesting than most.  After some discussion about blessing homes and property, he gladly agreed to come out Saturday morning and bless the property. 

So, Friday night after work we gathered up some things, the kids, some pizza, a few DVDs courtesy of Red Box, and headed out to the property for Friday night family movies.  The four of us had a pretty good time just visiting and spending time together, something that Jenn and I cherish more these days as they're now both teens and the last few years have been rather difficult, but that's another story.

Saturday morning arrived early, partly cloudy, birds off in the distance, and the sounds of saws.  Our new neighbors were busy by 8am cutting stone slabs for...whatever it is they needed them.  Though this was unexpected, the noise wasn't really that bad given their proximity.  We knew that the noises out in the country would still be there but, that they were just different noises than in the suburbs.  For me, it was much better than hearing our current in-town apartment neighbor stomping around all night long or the sounds of booming car stereos driving by. 

Ah, booming car stereos.  My, how things have changed!

By 9am Jenn and I had been outside sitting on our "front porch" enjoying our morning coffee for a while.  By 10am Ryan and I were out walking around the RV area just visiting with each other and moving some of the broken limbs from last weeks cleaning into piles.  Not very productive but it was pleasant and yet, another memory I'll cherish.  By 10:30am Jenn's mom, step-dad, sister, nephew, and friend had showed up to visit.  They also brought out some of our patio furniture we've been keeping at their place.  Moments later Pastor Kevin and his little boy arrived.

We sat around our new "front porch" area while Kevin read a couple of Bible verses and a quick prayer blessing us, our land, and our future home.  During the prayer, we heard a small rumble of thunder off in the distance, to which we all later commented.  Minutes later, the drops began to fall, we all said our goodbyes, and the four of us ducked back in to the RV for shelter. 

It was nice hearing the rain outside and the timing was so befitting after just having blessings bestowed upon the land.

Very little work took place out on the land this weekend, but suffice it to say, it was a good weekend. 

Thank you, Lord.

Land Spreading Out So Far and Wide

This has been one heck of a weekend!  Our property has a forest of flame leaf sumacs covering a good 75% of property and we decided to clear as much of it as possible this weekend.  In 100+ degree weather.  So when we went to see about renting a tractor, they were out at the time but had a Bobcat with a mower attached to the front.  Okay, guess it'll do.

The bucket they decided to "throw in" for free did me no good, we used it strictly for mowing as there wasn't much time for anything else.

The whole thing loaded back on the trailer for early morning return tomorrow morning.  A BIG thanks to my Father-in-law for hauling the Bobcat out to the property and back for us!  Thanks Russell!!

Had some family and friends stop by and lend a hand with clearing, Thanks Todd, Andrew, Tony, Shannon, Kristi, and Judith!  Here I am at the controls.  It was a blast!

Couldn't seem to get Jenn in the thing, she had other plans.

Here's the drive down to the gate, before...

 

Here's the drive down to the gate, after.

Here's some views facing South/SW, before...

And, afterwards

~

Let There Be Light!

Though there is electricity on the property, we've set the wheels in motion for a downward area light to be mounted as well as wiring for RV, hopefully this week! 

This is from the center of the property where the utility pole stands looking SW as Jenn marches back toward the vehicle.

We are land owners!

It's official, we are land owners! Ten acres north west of Austin! I'll add pictures as soon as I figure out if I need flash to do it, iPads can be so picky!

Time To Move!

Wow, time has really flown by since the last post.  Not only has two major holidays passed, and a couple minor ones too, but so has the entire Winter season!  Well, Spring is here and it has brought about some changes.

We finally got an offer on the house and should close the second week of April!  Yaaaay!
Now, time to pack and move!!  Booo!

Since my last post, we have looked at several properties and just recently narrowed it down to two, but just as we were about to decide one of them sold.  The story there is that someone had an offer on it before we came along, yet the owners were taking backup offers.  Though we could have taken the deal out from under them, the thought of it happening to us already gave us some hesitation.  It was during this time that they secured the purchase.  Good for them!  Especially since we were leaning towards that one anyway.  As far as the other property goes, we started to make the deal but something just didn't feel right.  Its a beautiful piece of land with plenty of room to work, play, romp, graze, plant, and just about whatever, but that gut feeling prevailed and we turned it away.

So many choices out there and so many factors to base our decisions.  Distance to work, cost of improvements, cost of building, types of animals allowed and quantity, all while trying to cut expenses.  I can hear Dave Ramsey now telling us that we can't have our cake and eat too!  We've gone to looking for land 10 acres and greater to anything with a house and "some" acres that's practically move-in ready.  Oh, and the drive!  Gotta consider that one too.

Well, when it does happen, we'll know it.  And then we'll post it!

Meanwhile the search continues.