Jason closes his journal... Thanks!! I love you!!

[2dream]

Sounds like you must not be in as bad a mood as you thought. I would have probably pressed charges if I had been in a bad mood. I Would have regreted it later but....sometimes my bad moods rule the day.

Also Steve should recieve a bill for all the days he had your splitter.
He will probably never pay it but if he ever ask to borrow it again you can remind him he still owes you for this time.

I have been in that same situation with all my neighbors at one time or another. Nothing as expensive as a log splitter but rakes, hoes, shovel, chainsaws, etc. They borrow, it never comes home, I had to go to their house to find it only to discover it was now their shovel, hoe, rake, etc that "I" was borrowing. So we bought all new yard tools, locked them up and direct everyone to Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight or Walmart when they come calling.
Strange how they ask to borrow stuff just as we are about to use it ourselves. LOL

As my Daddy use to say. Friends are the only people who will take advantage of you, because you would never allow your enemies to.

 

[freemotion]

For me it is books. I no longer lend my books out, ever. They never come back, and it is all excuses. If I borrowed something and lost it, etc, I would replace it, brand new.

When I boarded my horse, I had a big wooden cabinet built to store my saddles and other stuff. Not to guard against theives, but to guard against "borrowers" who used stuff and returned it filthy and damaged.....everyone knew each other's schedules and when they were likely to show up. "I knew you wouldn't mind" was what they said when caught in the act.

Steve is a user. Those types can spot a nice person a mile away, and know how to take advantage. HE called the police on YOU?!?!??! Double-yeesh!!!

Next time he comes calling to ask for something.....and he will (or he will loudly badmouth you to anyone who will listen....don't worry, the people who matter won't listen to the likes of him, those that do, well, you will now know who else to avoid!) just tell him the item is not available today, but you saw one at Wal-mart or for rent at Home Depot (yup, 2dream! ), and quickly change the subject, as in "I think it's going to rain tonight, good for the gardens, nice talking to you, gotta go get stuff done before it rains." And walk away.

On the rare occasion that we have to borrow a tool from a neighbor, it is borrowed for minutes or a few hours, and returned cleaned and with a gift of eggs, milk, veggies, baked goodies, whatever.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned in life was at the tender age of 25, when I was lied to in a big way by someone I thought was a good person. A wise older friend told me that she (the liar) was damaged, not happy, etc and to let it go, move on, be polite, and learn a lesson and not have dealings with that person anymore. And be polite. Bad gossip travels faster and further that good gossip, so be polite, even to jerks. (Not talking evil predators and such here, just jerks.)

That advice has served me well, and if you keep your eyes open, patterns will show up and your instincts will be honed. One day, I was leaving a conference and a nicely dressed man approached, with a story about being on vacation and running out of gas and his wife and kids were with the car on the highway and the gas station would not take his out-of-state check. Could he have $5 for gas?

My radar was up for some reason, so I offered to buy a gas can, fill it, and bring it to his car, then his wife could drive back to pick him up. He walked away. I was pretty darn proud of myself for spotting him. He likely made a good haul that day, but not from me!

You showed remarkable restraint by not pressing charges!

 

[TTs Chicks]

I'm sorry you had a bad day. You know the old sayin with friends like that you don't need enemy's. I can't believe he had the nerve to call the police!! I would definitely NOT loan him anything else and would as politely as possible avoid him like the plague. Doesn't sound like a person I would recommend spending much time with.

 

[reinbeau]

You are not a sucker, you are a good person who had dealings with one bad apple. You handled it well. Don't let that one bad apple sour you - although I kind of think it won't

 

[modern_pioneer]

Thanks.

Back in these parts, it takes a trooper time to get here. I think he or his wife had called the police before he came out of the house. Now I understand why he is such a black sheep around these parts.

I think everybody has good in them, or just about everyone. If you can look past a person down side, and it doesn't effect me or my family, I try to look at the good and judge people how they treat me and mine. Some people might not get along and will always find something bad to say about another. I always listen to folks, but like to find out about a person myself.

Looking at it now, I always kept him a arms length away as a general rule, after he didn't keep his word several times. So all this is not a big deal really. I guess I just get really miffed when people take advantage of me and my help. Whats so great is how much I enjoy helping people, because sometimes I need help too.

Well I am outta here to go take some photos to share later, I finished up a project and it is a hoot to look at.

BBL

 

[modern_pioneer]

So its springtime and I wanted to share a little more about my mini farm in the works.

What you are seeing is the birth of my small little farm. I have used semi dwarf and dwarf trees in my orchards, I have two small ones with 8 and 12 trees. I have hedge rowed my stalk berries, black berries, raspberries and grapes. I have bush planted my currents, black and red. I have raised beds for my stawberries, and have covered one bed so far to protect my crop and double as a cold frame to extend the growing season and also to start the season earlier.

Long before I bought the property, these woods were timbered very heavy, not just for the market, but for the homesteaders own use who lived here. I have purchased hardwood trees to replace the trees that were logged out. I also purchased some nut trees to add to the mix.

Some of the wind break trees I have put in, they also double for privacy for my swimming pool.

If you have a rather big garden, this little tool is the best!!! It comes with four disk and you can purchase another package of additional disk, six, and this tool has saved my knees and back many times. The current disk that is in is for large peas that I planted last weekend. It also has a little row side arm used to measure and mark for your next row. The small lower plow adjust so you can set the depth of the seed your going to be planting. In the back it drags a heavy chain to cover the row. Mine is made by Earthway, and I will note that my grandfathers also was an earthway.

A-frames and peas I planted last weekend.

Shallots and onion sets are looking good, of course hand planted.

Hedge rows of berries/grapes

Raspberries starting to sprout

Blackberries looking good

Red current bush

Rough sawed lumber (oak) which looks like a chicken coup, doesn't it?

I got tired of buying 55 gallon drums to burn what we can't use or recycle, $20 a pop. As well as limbs and yard waste that can't be composted. So I made myself a tall barrel with some cut outs to vent. Its 31 inches from side to side, and 48 inches tall. Works pretty good as you can see.

Do you remember the strawberries I hotcapped?

I don't mind sharing my food supply with the critters, problem is, they don't know when to leave me some.
So as mentioned before, the deer, chipmunks, family dog and birds always got their fill, and I was left with just enough strawberry jam for a couple months. Not only did I solve that problem, I also created a cold frame. My cost was 89.00 for one large bed. The reason for the different color paints? These are cans left over from different projects, some were less that a quarter full. So I used them up on this project and saved me from buying paint. The hardware cloth was used and came from some ones house, it was to be disgarded, but now has a new job to do. My cost 50 foot roll, used, $15.

To the left of the raised bed, you can see my old row of raspberries I just uncovered from winter. In the fall I will transplant them up near the pond.

Looking at pictures is nice, it shows all the hard work I have been doing and have been mentioning over the last couple weeks. My plan for this year is on time, I planned to plant the orchards, make and set the hedge rows, raise beds with hardware cloth top/lids, plant bush fruits, and prep area in the woods for my Morel Mushroom garden, plant mushroom garden, build broder and chicken coup, new potatoe baskets, plant onions/shallots and get the blueberries in. All of this before gardening season hits me.

All of this why? So I can have my first SS meal in more than 24 years. Also for my family and my own future. Trying to get it done while I am still under forty y/o. When I am 70 y/o I want to be able to walk out and reap the rewards of my hard work and years of effort.

If you have some advice, please feel free to tell me. If you have any questions please ask.

 

[lorihadams]

Love the pics! Looks like you are on your way, love the frame over the strawberries! I have to do something like that for my garden this weekend.

 

[Blackbird]

Wow, very impressive! I really like the frame over the strawberries too, and the A frames. Looks like your work will def pay off in the future.

Those planters are great too, ours doesn't have that back attachment though.

 

[Mackay]

Thats a great idea how you have put a mesh cover over your strawberry beds. DH and I have been talking about how we will have to fence the garden due to critters. I wonder if this might be a better idea. Do you have instructions you can post on how to make that cover?

Somebody somewhere here talked about building raised beds with mesh lining the bottom to keep out moles or other critters from underneath. Was that you?

 

[TanksHill]

Great pictures Jay, but where are the potatoes? I love the covers on the beds. Right now I have cattle panels over mine just to keep my hens out. The only other critter I will have to deal with is wild hares. :bun What did you use as a "frame" for the hardware cloth. Obviousally it needed to be flexible.

Did you build the A frames for the peas? I need something like that. I think I may end up with just some bamboo tee-pees. Who knows.

Thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about the log splitter episode. Glad you worked through it. Have a great day, g