Oh, Come on, seriouslY? A POST Two Years in the Making??????
Yep, dear readers, that is right. It has been two years of breaking my promise to be more regular about posting the trials and tribulations of SALO Farm. What can I say? It just is so overwhelming (good and bad) sometimes that I can't even sit down and write about it...
So, let's do a brief reminder: I bought the farm, I bit off more than I can chew, friends came (and keep coming) to help, I developed a love/hate relationship with wild animals - love chipmunks, hate squirrels, both love and hate beavers (more on that below), and time moves on.
Here is a recap of the more major work done in the past couple of years:
FARM HOUSE: More interior painting, new wood stove, new main room ceiling fan, added outdoor deck railings/lights, opened kitchen wall for pass-though/breakfast bar/counter, rebuilt floor under toilet (and replaced toilet).
LODGE: New overhead lights in living/dining area, repainted interiors, new wood stove first floor, remodeled kitchen island, new sink counter area, rebuilt kitchen exterior wall and added sliding patio door, added outdoor deck railings/lights, painted exterior, new deck stairs, rebuilt floor under toilet.
LOFT: Fully enclosed twin bedroom area second floor, reworked stairs to make 1st floor bedroom, new range in kitchen, painted exterior, new entry path to front door.
TOWER: Gutted and remodeled first floor bath and kitchen (yup, rebuilt floor under toilet here too!), new decking and repair balcony and entry decks, new exterior lighting, re-shingled exterior stair roof.
LAB: Re-shingled roof.
SAUNA: Painted exterior.
There also were a ton of other projects completed like updating faucets, adding various storage and shelving, revitalizing flower gardens, etc, as well as other basic maintenance of the buildings and land.
But perhaps the most rewarding was producing a bountiful veggie garden for 3 successive summers! It was such a victory each year to live partially off the land with various crops of tomatoes, cukes, carrots, herbs, onions, etc. We had a crop of potatoes last year in vibrant shades of purple and pink that we enjoyed through Thanksgiving. And the rhubarb plant that came with the property and lives at a corner of the Barn has been a never ending source of yummy treats likes pies and bars (thanks Liz!), spice breads, compotes, and we invented the RhuBarbra cocktail - basically a Manhattan with Rhubard simple syrup!
The struggle continues to try to revive the apple trees around the grounds. They have been ignored for so long that they do not produce viable fruit, but hopefully someday they can be coaxed back since I am sure they are varieties that are probably no longer commercially available.
Effort was also made to start some walking trails in the woods surrounding the houses which actually provided some fun cross country skiing that past couple of winters. Two shorter trails are complete, now working on a longer path looping up the hill into the pine grove.
By far the most irritating issue with the wildlife neighbors has been with the beavers as mentioned above. When I first discovered that the pond in the ravine was actually a beaver pond I was overjoyed. I thought I was so lucky to have them as my neighbors. But then one night I awoke at 4 am to discover the power was out in the house. I looked out the windows and could see my entire property was without power. I called the local utility and it was determined to be an issue solely with my service. A crew arrived within the hour, and after a hike into the ravine they discovered that a beaver had toppled a tree and crossed the power lines that service my place. They fired up the chainsaws (at 5am - sorry human neighbors!) and power was restored, but...
The next evening while showering I noticed the water pressure getting weak. Dried off, got dressed, and went to the basement. The breaker that controls the water pump kept tripping. Great - it's 6pm on a Friday. I am on my own to try and fix. Research done on the interwebs and I try every solution I can find. Nothing works. It's a weekend of flushing the toilet by draining the hot water tanks (my only source of water at this point) into buckets to fill toilet tanks. Ugh.
Get a plumber on site on Monday. Diagnosis: the well pump fried out due to the power surge from the beaver's tree chopping. $2k in repairs. Beavers suddenly not nearly as charming as they used to be.
The good news about all this is that SALO Farm is slowly becoming more and more complete, and each summer more rentals are booked. It still is a daily struggle, but the rewards are so great when they are bestowed. The reviews from the guests so far have been overwhelmingly positive (and especially from those that have visiting many times over the years and seen the improvements year to year).
And the story goes on. No more promises for timely updates, dear readers. Only a promise to update in time....
So, let's do a brief reminder: I bought the farm, I bit off more than I can chew, friends came (and keep coming) to help, I developed a love/hate relationship with wild animals - love chipmunks, hate squirrels, both love and hate beavers (more on that below), and time moves on.
Here is a recap of the more major work done in the past couple of years:
FARM HOUSE: More interior painting, new wood stove, new main room ceiling fan, added outdoor deck railings/lights, opened kitchen wall for pass-though/breakfast bar/counter, rebuilt floor under toilet (and replaced toilet).
LODGE: New overhead lights in living/dining area, repainted interiors, new wood stove first floor, remodeled kitchen island, new sink counter area, rebuilt kitchen exterior wall and added sliding patio door, added outdoor deck railings/lights, painted exterior, new deck stairs, rebuilt floor under toilet.
LOFT: Fully enclosed twin bedroom area second floor, reworked stairs to make 1st floor bedroom, new range in kitchen, painted exterior, new entry path to front door.
TOWER: Gutted and remodeled first floor bath and kitchen (yup, rebuilt floor under toilet here too!), new decking and repair balcony and entry decks, new exterior lighting, re-shingled exterior stair roof.
LAB: Re-shingled roof.
SAUNA: Painted exterior.
There also were a ton of other projects completed like updating faucets, adding various storage and shelving, revitalizing flower gardens, etc, as well as other basic maintenance of the buildings and land.
But perhaps the most rewarding was producing a bountiful veggie garden for 3 successive summers! It was such a victory each year to live partially off the land with various crops of tomatoes, cukes, carrots, herbs, onions, etc. We had a crop of potatoes last year in vibrant shades of purple and pink that we enjoyed through Thanksgiving. And the rhubarb plant that came with the property and lives at a corner of the Barn has been a never ending source of yummy treats likes pies and bars (thanks Liz!), spice breads, compotes, and we invented the RhuBarbra cocktail - basically a Manhattan with Rhubard simple syrup!
The struggle continues to try to revive the apple trees around the grounds. They have been ignored for so long that they do not produce viable fruit, but hopefully someday they can be coaxed back since I am sure they are varieties that are probably no longer commercially available.
Effort was also made to start some walking trails in the woods surrounding the houses which actually provided some fun cross country skiing that past couple of winters. Two shorter trails are complete, now working on a longer path looping up the hill into the pine grove.
By far the most irritating issue with the wildlife neighbors has been with the beavers as mentioned above. When I first discovered that the pond in the ravine was actually a beaver pond I was overjoyed. I thought I was so lucky to have them as my neighbors. But then one night I awoke at 4 am to discover the power was out in the house. I looked out the windows and could see my entire property was without power. I called the local utility and it was determined to be an issue solely with my service. A crew arrived within the hour, and after a hike into the ravine they discovered that a beaver had toppled a tree and crossed the power lines that service my place. They fired up the chainsaws (at 5am - sorry human neighbors!) and power was restored, but...
The next evening while showering I noticed the water pressure getting weak. Dried off, got dressed, and went to the basement. The breaker that controls the water pump kept tripping. Great - it's 6pm on a Friday. I am on my own to try and fix. Research done on the interwebs and I try every solution I can find. Nothing works. It's a weekend of flushing the toilet by draining the hot water tanks (my only source of water at this point) into buckets to fill toilet tanks. Ugh.
Get a plumber on site on Monday. Diagnosis: the well pump fried out due to the power surge from the beaver's tree chopping. $2k in repairs. Beavers suddenly not nearly as charming as they used to be.
The good news about all this is that SALO Farm is slowly becoming more and more complete, and each summer more rentals are booked. It still is a daily struggle, but the rewards are so great when they are bestowed. The reviews from the guests so far have been overwhelmingly positive (and especially from those that have visiting many times over the years and seen the improvements year to year).
And the story goes on. No more promises for timely updates, dear readers. Only a promise to update in time....
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