Power dance with special guest appearance by pink blowdryer

Success! The first major milestone since we bought the land...we have power!

Five acres after five years

Last night Nick and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary with the installation of our brand new transformer, meaning all the work we have been doing on the trenches is finally coming to a head. Today we filled the back part of the trench (that will run from the transformer to the barn) with the expectation that PSE will come on Monday to turn on our power.

Nick and I have never been that serious about celebrating our anniversaries but just for grins I looked up what the traditional gift is for a couple’s 5th. With a chuckle I learned that the suggested medium is “wood.” Fittingly we began our evening on our land, in our woods, with a toast to, who else, us!

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner in Downtown Olympia at Ramblin’ Jacks (praise the lard) before enjoying some local theater at Olympia Little Theater. The first time we went to this space we were newlyweds, living farther up north, looking for something fun to do on a Friday night. I remember getting all dressed up for our big date in the foreign city of Olympia only to find out, as we followed our carefully written instructions, that the theater is in the middle of a small suburb of houses. No flashing lights and no formal parking spaces just a small troupe of passionate people doing what they love. And I do mean small...the same man who played Macbeth five years ago played the father in last night's production of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. The fact that we were sitting in folding chairs in the middle of what was probably someone's living room (before it was painted floor to ceiling black) made our night all the more perfect. You don't need fancy presents or big showy displays of affection to reinforce the happiness that two people share year after year.

Now that we live here, just minutes from downtown, Olympia has taught me a few key things: there is no such thing as being under-dressed in the Pacific Northwest, although how far you choose to take that allowance is up to you; people will always respect you if you are following your passion, although they will probably still judge you which may not be positive; and life is ALWAYS better when you have someone to share it with, kisses optional but highly encouraged for maximum enjoyment.

Photo Credit: Here we are on our brand new transformer enjoying a chilled bottle of Martinelli's (opened by Nick hitting the top against the concrete block, I forgot the bottle opener).

Conduit loop line, wrapping up the front trench

This weekend we finished up laying the power from the front of the property halfway down to the site where the transformer will go...about 350 feet of trench.

Now that the conduit is buried with the rope running all we have to do is give the power company the go ahead to pull their cable through.

The power company would have done all the trenching ... for a fee, of course. We estimate that by doing it ourselves we saved around $1,000 ... not to mention all the great bonding time that you just can't put a price tag on <3



Song Credit: Discovery performing "Osaka Loop Line"...how much do I love that they aren't one of those lame artists who mutes your music on youtube...rock on Discovery!

Nick cracks the whip and saves the day

What a weekend! I left town for a great bonding weekend with my niece and nephew but Mr. Nick stayed home to work on the land. He dug over 600 feet of trench with our new tractor and supervised the excavation and grading of the back acre for preparation of the barn site (more on that tomorrow).

We had a busy night tonight so it's a two-fer with videos...a closer look at his trenches and the very small part I played in them and then the second situation we've been in where our tractor saved the day.

Enjoy!