Okay, I just spent most of today finishing a project that was started oh, five years ago? Long ago (and in a galaxy near and dear to us) Mr. S. and I built a long drainage ditch to move rainwater from our house roof to the fields. This was one long ditch. We also included pipe for our water hydrant in the ewe paddock.

At any rate, we very nicely completed most of the project, *except* for the portion that runs through my fenced garden (about 40 feet...and it was in a direct line, otherwise I would have never permitted it to go through where I grow root vegetables and stuff.)

We also have a huge pile of gravel on a couple of tarps in our "front yard." This is left over from a year ago when we had to set up to pour concrete. It is an eyesore and it's in the way of where I want to landscape...Not exactly an unfinished project, but a portion of one that was completed a while ago (kind of like leaving the flour, salt, soda, etc. out after you finished making the cake...)

Anyway, putting the gravel into the trench going through my garden was the logical consequence of these two unfinished projects. However, by now, the sides of the trench have essentially caved in, requiring me to re-dig it, all the while being careful not to puncture the pipe (tightline) or to hit the water pipe to the hydrants. Much more vigilance. Oh did I also mention that I had to dig a 20-foot trench to drain the pond before I could even start this work? Well, I did!

Point here is: if we had finished it right when we were still working on it, we would have saved time and labor. But, no-OOOH. We waited five years and made way more work than we needed to do. I hate re-work!

I know I can't possibly be the only one who feels this way. Do any of you have similar stories to console me? I am feeling 1) good that I'm getting this done, finally, and 2) irritated majorly for having been so lackadaisical in finishing what we started. Seems like we do that a lot around here! Help!

Thanks!

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

Answers

Do you mean that there might be an alternative way of doing projects? I thought that every project went along those lines. Not just projects, in fact, but everyday chores too. What comes to mind first is the wheelbarrow, the most commonly used item at our place. I want to mix some cement, so I have to get the wheelbarrow, but the wheelbarrow is full of chicken litter or something, so I take it over to mulch the onions, but I have to weed them first, so I go to get the digging fork, which is down in the chicken coop, so I find the eggs that I'd forgotten to collect, take them inside, check e-mail etc, finally get back out, weed the onions, empty the wheelbarrow, go over to get a sack of cement, move the sacks of grain from the top of the cement pile to the grain room, fill the grain bins that should have been done the night before, realise that the chicks had not been fed today, find their water empty too, heat lamp has gone out so have to trace the umpteen extension cords back to the house, check e-mail again. Time for lunch. What was I doing? Oh yes, cement, NO, chicken water. Sheep water too. The hose is connected to the drip irrigation, so go into the garden to disconnect it. Chase the chickens out of the strawberries, notice the lambsquarter is out of control, so weed the strawberries too. A few potato beetles around, so walk the potatoes and eggplants (could weed these too, but another day). Finally get the hose out to the cement. School bus stops, so greet the kids, get them snacks etc. Back outside to the cement, Kim drives up and asks what I got done today!

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

Gosh... sounds like my place!!!!

Plus ya ever notice that the list you have to fix things gets longer instead of shorter???

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Yep! The same thing here. I always have to do at least a couple of undone things in order to accomplish what I set out to do. And it's hard not to get sidetracked by the other unrelated projects you seem to notice in the process. I have a feeling it's like that most places!

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

David - I'm ROTFLMAO!! You need to print that up and send it in to Countryside - perhaps titled "A Day In The Life Of A Homesteader"!

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Each new day brings another reason that I am grateful for this forum!!! David, you discribed most of my days, right down to the wheelbarrow being full of something when you need it. Right now ours is full of compost out in the blueberry patch and I will "have" to plant those last few blueberry bushes before I can use the wheelbarrow to haul the mulch to the strawberries that need weeding etc....etc....etc....so glad it is not just me!!! I was cutting asparagus and thinking of this thread as I fought with the brambles that "should have" been cut off BEFORE the asparagus came on and walked by the pile of lime that I was going to spread on it. Night, night...i am exhausted just thinking about it.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Does this mean if we had 3 wheelbarrows .... all three would be full???

ah, good thing I have a garden cart to keep filled too....lol

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001

David - ditto what Polly said! Just add about the accusing stare part- that one that us wives have so carefully perfected. You know the one (I know you do!) It's genetically programmed into us,you know.Probably Monsanto is working on genespliceing it into something else,for the good of the order.

What would be something that would be REALLY scary having such an accusing stare?I know,my dog.Oh that's right,she's already learned that trick!

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001

wow, I can relate. I read somewhere that if you are feeling wore out and run down to stop and look at all the projects that you have half finished and to focus on completing some. Even if it is a lightbulb that you have put off changing, it said that this stuck energy can be pulling you down. Oh my golly gee, no wonder I'm tired! Tren

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001

My wheelbarrow is full of fluffy hay I raked up yesterday, it was still in the garden row from uncovering the strawberries like a month ago. The fluffy hay has to go to the puppy stalls of course, that is if it didn't get too wet. At least I carried the styrofoam sheets out of the garden rows yesterday, but I only got as far as leaning them up against the garage door. Now you can't shut the garage door untill I put them up in the garage attic, but the wasps are up there waiting for me to visit. If a wind comes along, the styrofoam will be out in the pasture for the goats to play with. I at least got a start on the new strawberry row with the new runner plants after I spend an hour weeding it and another half hour eating strawberries. Then I have to listen to Steve whine because we never have any strawberries left to take in the house. Pull 1 weed, eat 2 strawberries, pull 1 weed, eat 2 strawberries!

I put all my wonderful poo poo mulch in a huge pile to take with me if we sold the place, and we didn't, so now I have to put it in the wheelbarrow again, and put in on the rows where it should have been in the first place. I just love picking it up twice. I also took down my fence around the garden because I couldn't let them have my new chicken wire and T-posts, so now that'll go up again, hopefully before the deer come.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001

Hubby and I are the King and Queen in the re-do department... Most of our projects tend to turn in this direction. Built a room in the basement of the old house, only to realize that he'd forgotten to wire an outlet. When he took the one piece of drywall down, also realized he'd not insulated a room that was to be kept 'warm' for special projects he wanted to do and wound up starting ALL over.

Ponds and plastic (and forms) in the yard back there that had to be dug out because we never thoroughly leveled, garden beds that were replaced because a 2x2 won't hold corners on railroad ties, etc etc etc.

Then again... If we didn't always have to make things much harder than needs be in the first place, we wouldn't always wind up re-doing everything. We are trying to stop this - waste of time, money and a complete drain on normally cheerful attitudes!!

Now if I can just get him to follow the scaled drawings..........

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001