ArizonaRanch

  Memorial Day – May 2005 by admin on May.30, 2005, under Seasons Memorial Day ’05 May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. After all of the rain this past winter, we could hardly find our lane because of all the weeds.   Lane in May 2005 Green Meadow May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. The meadow brightened up some, too.   Meadow in May 2005 Meadow from other Way May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. Looking back the other direction, the top of the meadow has overgrown with weeds, too.   Meadow full of weeds Jeep at Camp May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. Here is our new little girly-jeep parked at camp.   Camp in May 2005 Front View of Jeep May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. We were going to get the silver one, because we knew it would hide the dirt of the ranch better. But the red one was too pretty!   Jeep at Camp May 2005 Flowers May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. There were b-jillions of flowers on this trip.   Daisy

  April at the Ranch by admin on Apr.30, 2005, under Seasons April Cold nights and Variable Days With an average low of around 30 degrees and an average high around 70 degrees, April is still a little nippy at night… Carpet of Green April, 2005 We have received over 30 inches of rain in the last year, and 25 inches of snow. The meadow is showing the payoff in the carpet of green grass growing.   Green Meadow Good Grazing April, 2005. The cattle have been keeping the vegetation mowed pretty well. We don’t expect the green to last more than another month, but it is nice to have it right now.   More green meadow Nearby Pond April, 2005. Someone put a pond in a little ways south of us. We hiked over to have a look. It looks like it was pretty full, but has probably soaked in, as the soil isn’t very dense there.   Pond over on State Land Black Mountain April, 2005. Another rainstorm moving in.   Black Mountain Rainstorm Little Yellow Fl...

  LittleHouse – Pouring the Piers by admin on Mar.17, 2005, under Foundation Laser Level 13 March 2005. Next, we set up the Craftsman rotary laser level that Randy got for Christmas. It is supposed to be accurate within a quarter inch at 100 feet. The level has a laser on a rotating head, a couple of bubble levels and a mount for a tripod. After setting it up on the tripod, we adjusted it to as near to level as we could get it. Then we used the fine adjustments on the level itself to finish setting it. The laser can rotate on its own, or you can manually rotate it. We found that manually rotating it worked best in the daylight, as the spot was much brighter than the line produced when the motor spins the head.   Laser Level Setting the Height 03/13/2005 We used a piece of duct tape on the rebars sticking up from the footings to better see the laser. We marked each rebar 3.5 inches below the final level of the piers. That way they will not interfere...

  LittleHouse – Re-digging the Piers by admin on Mar.17, 2005, under Foundation Arrival 12 March 2005. This is how the site looked when we arrived and set up camp. The site survived the torrential rains that have continuously doused the area since last October. There were no signs of significant washout on our property. It appears that the washes did their job just fine, releasing it over a broad area. This area of Northern Arizona has received about 16 to 18 inches of rain since last fall. That's about 3 or 4 times the normal rainfall. Many of the roads had washed out or been mudded in. It is good to finally get back.   Build Site Filled Footings 03/12/2005 The footings that we poured last fall had been filled in with a couple of inches of dirt runoff from all of the rainfall. They needed to be dug back out, down to the cement footings before we could continue pouring the piers.   Piers Filled In Re-digging 03/12/2005 Randy dug out what he co...

  LittleHouse Footings by admin on Nov.11, 2004, under Foundation Footings Done 05 November 2004. We finished up the twelve footings for the porch this weekend. After cleaning up the holes that had washed in from the recent rains (5 inches in a couple of weeks), Randy chopped, cut and drilled out the roots that had been in the way on three of the holes. We then dug the holes a little deeper, as the rock would allow, and widened the bottom 6 inches out to a 16 inch diameter with a trenching shovel.   Footings Done Finished Footings 11/06/2004 Here is a picture of a completed footing. It is basically a 16 inch diameter by 6 inch deep concrete pad located about 18 inches below the ground level. The piers will be poured on top of these footings, centered on the vertical rebars. Each pier will be 8 inches in diameter, and at least 12 inches off the ground. As the ground slopes, the piers will reach higher out of the ground.   Footing Complete Next ...

  November 2004 at the Ranch by admin on Nov.06, 2004, under Seasons November Fall in Arizona With low temperatures in the 30s and 40s, November is still a very comfortable time to visit the Ranch. The highs still reach up into the 60s most of the time, with 70 degrees not uncommon… Seasons Change November 6th, 2004. Morning But seasons do change in the high country. This morning it started raining at about 4:30. As soon as it got light out, we packed up our stuff and ran back to Mesa, before Markham Pass got too muddy to travel in our little Nissan pickup. Here, looking East at Black Mountain on the way out, you can see how low the clouds were hanging. This has been a great Fall season for rain this year. We have received over 5 inches in the last three weeks.   Black Mountain in fog Wet and Chilly… November 6th, 2004. Morning. Here is another look at Black Mountain, from the South, this time.   Black Mountain - Winter Storm moving in

  LittleHouse – Breaking Ground by admin on Oct.12, 2004, under Foundation Breaking Ground 10/05/2004 Well, it’s getting pretty close to our six-month progress inspection. So we decided to take a break from building the wash house and make a start on the Little House. Here, I am digging the pier holes with a one-man auger we rented from United Rental in Prescott. We picked up the auger on Thursday on the way up from Mesa, and returned it on Friday morning. That really cut into the time we had to work.   Digging Piers Digging Pier Holes 10/05/2004 We figure that if we have the piers in by the inspection date in December, that we will have shown “significant progress” that the county is looking for. We need to dig a total of 24 piers. We need 12 for the 14′ x 24′ cabin structure. In addition we decided to use 12 for the 8′ x 24′ attached porch. We could have gotten by with only 6 for the porch, and supported it by the ledger, but we felt it would b...