More Creek Crossing Pics!

Here are more creek crossing pictures.

We have a couple of pipes toward the right that have ends that are a bit crushed. They are now opened up. (Those pics will have to come later.)



This is a picture of the same side from above.





This is the other side.



This is looking across from the road side.






This is looking across toward the road side.

Busy Time & a Creek Crossing!

I was hoping to get some changes made to the blog, but I am not able to do what I want...not yet, anyway.

This is a very busy time for our family. We have been cleaning up the pad our RV is on...sorting through things. We are still finding things that have gotten moldy. Oh, well. Such is life sometimes.

Here are some pics of the creek crossing being worked on:

Autumn Update!

The guys are working on the driveway.They have already smoothed over quite a bit on the creek crossing. It is now driveable, although not covered in concrete yet. We still need to have that done so that it won't wash out. It is a matter of prayer. The God who is our provider is more than able to make a provision for the concrete!

Dave has been filling in the gullies that formed in our driveway during that really big storm last March. There are pictures posted in the archive posts from around that time of what the storm did. He is almost done.

Then the guys need to clear a spot up here on the pad for the van to park and turn around in. He is already able to bring his motorcycle up here, which is a real blessing. We have some sheets of plywood and a few things that we need to move out of the way.

Our laundry room roof is almost covered. We need another sheet of the corrugated steel and the top ridge (or whatever it is called). Dave knows where he can get one. We also need to get the siding up on the top half story. Then we can put the insulation in.

It is also time to start weatherizing the underside of the RV. We can definitely feel the chill in the air. Ike blew Autumn out and the cold in. Thankfully, we are getting some warmer days again...and mostly dry. What a blessing! Fall is my favorite season, albeit not my favorite time of year. There is an even heavier spiritual darkness this time of year that others I know also feel.

Hmm...let's see...what else? We are very blessed to have people who care for us...and about us. They would like to see us out of this tiny RV, but it will have to be a God thing as no one really has the resources. If we are not out by Winter, I am confident that Yahweh God will provide for us to make it through again.

It does definitely feel more closed in as the days grow shorter and the weather gets colder. Being cold is a bit triggering for me, but we do have good heaters. I am hoping, soon, to be able to locate and get back out all my Winter tops. I am still hoping for a closet space in the laundry room, if we can get it done, where I can hang up my jumpers and dresses. I soooooo miss being able to wear them.

Well, I think that is it for now. My camera is down in the van and I still have pictures to process and upload. Maybe this week!

From our little RV on the hillside to you in your home...remember that there is a One True God. His name is Yahweh and His Son is Yeshua/Jesus. He loves you so much that He has given His Son so that you can be restored to fellowship with Him. I hope you will cry out to Him.

Catching Up & a Creek Crossing!

I have been slowly catching up on things after being without power and phone for almost a week. I also had a transcription job which took up some time. It is always nice to have a little bit more income coming in.

For the next month, I am focusing on building a scriptural foundation for Elias and strengthening the one I have. Lately, I have been seeing scripture in a whole new light and it is causing me to rethink some things...to go deeper. Elias and I are really enjoying the times we have to talk through the scriptures in between doing life.

As usual, I am behind on emptying my camera, processing my pictures and getting them sorted and uploaded to the blog. It seems as if I will always be behind. Gosh, I guess I had just better stop taking pictures! NOT!

I do have some of our creek crossing, but they are still in the camera. The pipes are buried and Dave has been working on smoothing it out enough to make it driveable. We don't want any flats! He has already managed to get the motorcycle up here, but he said it was a bit tricky due to the roughness.

We are actually hoping FOR a little bit of rain...not too much, though. The area really needs it and now we need it for our crossing to help settle the dirt. We are supposed to drive over it, too, to help pack it down before putting concrete on it.

Wow! It is almost done. What a difference the right equipment can make...and people offering assistance, too! One person brought an earth mover over and buried some pipes. Then, someone from our church brought over his earth mover, along with some donated pipes. He got those two pipes buried! Another guy from our church is "engineering" the whole thing.

We are SO grateful for the help...and very touched by people's expressions of caring, whether they are able to help or not. Dave kept digging it by hand and it was practically impossible for him to make any headway.

Well, it is rather late here in our little RV on the hillside. I hope that you all have a peaceful and restful night, as I hope that we do, too.

What a Blessing!

On Saturday, someone we know very generously brought over a trackhoe that he rented. He needed it for himself, but brought it over to us first. With his help, we got a huge amount of work done on the creek crossing. (The pics are still in the camera.)

He left the trackhoe here overnight and all day Sunday for Dave to continue working on the crossing, the driveway and on some of the trenching we needed to do to protect the meadow and our driveway from being washed out again.

When he came to pick it up, he finished a trench that Dave had started. He is used to using it and so much faster. We are very grateful. I will get pics up when I can.

The Forever Creek Crossing & Stuff!

Lately, Dave has been working on the creek crossing. It is hard without a backhoe of some sort. He has to manually dig it out. Of course, all it takes is one good, hard rain and a lot of work is washed away. I really feel for him. He keeps trying to get something done, but no matter how hard he tries, something always prevents it from getting done. I know that he is frustrated. It seems like he will never get it all done. It would be nice to be able to drive up to our RV, especially when there is rain and lightning!

A friend of ours went to visit Jamestown. He said that it didn't look like pioneering would really be all that bad. We agreed with him...IF you did not ALSO have to work away from home five days a week. The pioneers had all day every day to build what they needed. If Dave had that, he could get a lot done.

He really only has one day a week to work on anything. With an hour commute each way, he does not have much time left in the evenings, even if he has the energy. When he has to work late, which happens quite a bit, it cuts into that little bit of evening time. When he has to work some Saturdays, well, that is gone, too!

I wonder how much of what we do in this life is futile. How much do we focus on the temporal things of this world and miss what is really important. This life is just a temporary state. The eternal, the permanent, is yet to come. The really important, the spiritual, goes way beyond what we can see and experience here in this life.

We do not want to be tied down to things. We made the mistake of bringing a lot of stuff out here with us. We should have left it behind. Now, we are weeding through our stuff to get rid of everything we can. That is very OK with me. I don't require much.

The one thing I really would like to have is a room built off of the RV. It would be nice to have a bedroom and some privacy. However, Yahweh God has gotten us this far with three of us in this tiny RV. He will continue to do so. It has been over two and a half years.

We choose to keep trusting Him and loving Him, knowing that we do not do so in vain. He is trustworthy, regardless of the struggles we have. He never promised that all things would work out for us. What He promised is eternal life with Him, a cross and to never leave us or forsake us.

Blessing in the Storms!

Dave has been looking at our creek crossing. It looks like we may have at least one blessing in all of this. He was having to put gravel and rock in the wheelbarrow and haul it over to the crossing. As you can see from these before and after pictures, the storm water washed the gravel and rock to the crossing.

Before



After

Water Moves Concrete Blocks!

Storm number two washed the concrete block into the trench Dave dug in the creek crossing. He had also used concrete to attach some good sized rocks to another concrete block. That, too, washed into the trench.








Dave and Elias built some dams to block the water so that he could drain the trench and put a culvert pipe in it.


Now, the concrete blocks and rocks that he and Elias worked so hard to get out of the trench are either buried or washed down the creek. The trench is no more.

This is the "trench".

This is where the blocks of concrete used to be. It took Dave an hour this morning to find enough large rocks to make this makeshift crossing for us to be able to walk across the creek. Needless to say, he was a bit late for work!

The Creek!

Looking across the creek.

You can see the "hump" of the pipe in the water. The pipe actually did hold, through all four storms.



Looking up stream.


Looking downstream.

Neighbors' Creek Crossing!

I just got word that our neighbors' creek crossing washed out quite a bit, too. We figure that with the force and amount of water going through the creek, plus the force and amount of water going through the meadow...this was one heck of a storm.

I hope he was able to fix it back up. I wonder how many others had a lot of damage done from the rain.

I wish I could post pictures. Even the grass in part of the meadow is "mowed" down.

Major Storm & Driveway Washout

I have so many thoughts in my head to share. Our trip was pretty much a whirlwind one. We are still trying to readjust to the time zone difference.

Right before we left there was a good sized storm. It made our driveway a little bit rough, but we held up fairly well over all.

Right after we got back, though, we had another major storm. It was a downpour for hours. We could barely see across our little meadow because of all the water in the air. We had a gully at the end of our meadow to try and divert the water from the hillside to the creek, but we ended up with a mini river going through our meadow of about 4-6 feet across.

We thought the storm before we left dropped more rain than we had seen in our time here, but this second one was even more rain. Or at least, more in a such a short period of time.

Unfortunately, the neighbors' hillside also drains into our meadow, along with our hillside. This was SO much water, though, that it appears that their creek crossing might have plugged up. Most creek crossings are built lower so that, if it plugs up, the water runs over the top. Theirs is built level to the ground. So, if theirs plugs up it does not just go over the top, it goes to the side, too, onto the property. After it goes across theirs, it can go onto ours. We heard them working with a terramite, so hopefully, they are working on diverting the water back into the creek so it won't come across to our side.

There was a storm not long after their crossing was built where the water ran over like that. Some of it went back down into the creek just on the other side of the crossing and some of it went across their property and onto ours. We really need to dig a deeper trench in the end of the meadow to try and divert the water from the hillsides, plus any other water coming in, back into the creek. But that takes either a lot of man hours and labor...or a small backhoe. We are short on time, energy and money. There is only so much a couple in their fifties and an eleven year old boy can do.

The river of water running through our meadow really messed up our driveway. The water was running with such force that it washed away the gravel and left the bigger rocks beneath exposed at all kinds of angles. There are two sections that are not driveable right now. Plus, there are other sections where we got gullies that need to be filled in.

The water going through the creek was so hard that it washed a large concrete block, plus some bigger rocks cemented together, into the trench Dave had dug in the creek. He and Elias managed to get the concrete and the rocks back out using leverage.

I have pictures, but we left our camera cable back in California. Dave's mom mailed it back to us yesterday. I will get all kinds of pics up once we get it back.

Some of the gravel from one washed out area is still in our driveway. But the gravel from the other is washed away down the creek. These two areas of washout are areas that were packed solid and hard. There was almost no loose gravel on them at all before the storm. The driveway is so bad that, if we had been able to cross the creek and park on this side, we would not be able to drive back out. Not without risking some damage to the van. *sigh*

It is very discouraging when, every time we make any kind of progress, something happens - usually weather related - that sets us back again. My advice to anyone who wants to tackle this lifestyle...make sure you have enough money to get yourself set up to at least a certain minimum.

We did not really have much choice about whether to live this way. However, we have learned SO much in the process. I would still like to semi-pioneer some day. BUT, I want to start off with a small cabin and finished driveway! We bought supplies for a workshop when we moved onto the land, but the weather never let us build it. Now, we are not even sure how good any of the supplies are. They have been out in the weather for almost two years. We protected them as best as we could, given the weather here.

God is leading us on a journey. I am sitting here smiling. Go figure! He knows what we need and where we need to be refined. Even though the lessons learned here have been hard, we would not trade them away.

We are looking at what we can do to better our situation. It could mean a move off the land. We are not sure. Living this way temporarily is one thing...but at this point...it appears to be permanent. Dave has not had a raise since the major layoff. Gas prices are going up. We are still in our little RV with no room off the side. The laundry room is unfinished because other things keep happening to divert us from it, including the weather and driveway.

It will be interesting to see what God does...and how He does it. Some things I know...Yahweh/God is in control. He loves us. He cares about details we don't even see...in addition to the mountains we do see looming over us. We can trust Him. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has a purpose in allowing us to go through all of this and He will use it for good. These are all things I know are true!

From our little RV on the hillside to you in your home...I hope that you, too, are trusting Him to lead and guide you. He is the only One who knows the future...the only One who holds it in His hands. He helped me to survive things I never could have survived without Him. He is trustworthy. He has a plan.

Weathering Storms & Blocked Hearts!

We are so grateful that our pipe stayed firmly in place...in spite of the tremendous amount of pressure hitting against it. All of Dave's preparation really paid off.

When he looked at our driveway, he figured that it must have been the hardest rain we have had since we moved here. Our driveway had been firmly packed down. Yet, it was dug up quite a bit by the water running down the hill and down the driveway. It is not bad, although it is pretty rough, especially compared to what it was before.

It can be like that in our spiritual lives, too. If our spiritual lives are firmly in place on the rock of Yeshua/Jesus, we will be able to weather the storms of life. Oh, we might get beat up a bit and our openings/hearts may get plugged up a bit...but Yahweh/God will clear the stuff out of our lives that blocks Him from having free flowing access through us...if we let Him.

I know that I simply could not do life without Him. I don't consider that to be a negative thing. I think of myself as being enveloped in His love.

From our little RV on the hillside to you in your home, wherever it may be...I hope that your spirits are free in Him and that His Spirit flows freely through you.

Creek Crossing Survival!

What a rain storm! It appears that we had more rain in this storm than we have ever had in our creek before.


This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon! It is difficult to see, but if you click on the picture you will see two red circles. The one on the left is the opening to the pipe. The one on the right is the pipe just beyond where the concrete runs across it.

This is what it looked like this morning.







This morning we found this! The pipe had been partially blocked by a board Dave had put in place when he poured some concrete. The rest of the opening was plugged by debris.

Creek Crossing Washout?

Dave got the pipe about 65% done. Then a rainstorm blew in that was only supposed to drop about 1/4" of rain. Ha! It has been raining buckets all afternoon and evening. The water was totally covering the pipe.

You can see it partially done a few posts back. I did not get pictures of the stage in between that one and where it was before the storm started.

We are praying it won't wash out our pipe. If it does, we lose the pipe and all the time and money and work that went into it. It will be a loss that we have no way of recuping outside of a miracle.

I am trying to upload a picture of the water level, but the upload image window keeps giving me an error.

Buying One Boot & the Creek Crossing!

Dave had one of his mudders start leaking. So, off he went to find another pair. Well, the last pair he found in this one store...was only half a pair. They just could not find the other boot anywhere. But it so happened that the one boot they had...was the one he needed!

So, he asked if they would sell him the one boot...and they did!

Hopefully, the other boot will hold. He says it looks like it is might be starting to leak, too.

Dave got a lot of work done on the creek crossing. He feels really good about that. It is nice to feel as if we are actually making some kind of headway! Yay!

The First Pipe Is In!

Well, we got one pipe in place! It is not totally cemented in yet...but progress has been made. Woohoo!


Two triumphant guys!



The first stage of the concrete!


















Water runs through it!

Channeling the Creek!

Dave dug out the creek area some more. This has allowed the water level to go down even further so that he can roll the culvert pipe into it.


You can see how low the water level has gotten.



This is looking down next to the pallet we use to cross over the channel.




This is where the two channels come together. All the water is flowing on one side. There is very little water left on the other side. It is just standing water...not flowing water.

Pictures of the Creek Crossing!

Dave has cut two channels through the creek crossing. The idea is to put two culvert pipes in the channels for the water to go through. A concrete slurry goes over that. When the water rises above the pipes, it will go over the slurry. There are many crossings like that around here. You can still drive across so long as the water is not too high and you know where the edge is.











This is the dam that Dave and Elias built to stop the flow of water through the first channel Dave wants to put the pipe through.

This is the entrance to the free-flowing channel.






This is where the two channels rejoin on the downhill side of the crossing.

Another Beautiful Day & Trusting Yahweh!

It rained last night and today is dawning cooler than the last couple of days. We awoke to hear the sounds of so many different kinds of birds. It is amazing! We are surrounded by so much life!

We have been talking about what we need to try to accomplish today. There are so many things that it becomes hard to know how to prioritize. Since gas is a huge issue right now, Dave is going to check out his motorcycle and see if it is ready to start riding. Then he needs to build something to get it across the creek since the creek crossing is not done yet.

We have a meadow that was bush-hogged for us a while back, but it is almost getting too high to mow now. So, he also needs to get our mower going so he can at least do the section where we have some things.

I tend to doubt that we will get much more done outside since it may take a while for him to build something strong enough to ride the motorcycle across. He is thinking that, if he can finish one side of the creek crossing today, he will only have to build something to go across the other side. Right now, there are two trenches going through the creek.

I am going to work on getting the blue insulation sheets out of the rv. We had put them down on some of the floor area to help keep the heat in. They are now thoroughly torn up from walking on them and it is time to rip them out and vacuum really good so we can spray for ants and other bugs inside. Dave also needs to spray outside. We have seen ticks up close to the RV, even though we don't have any brush close by. I wonder if they are living in the bales. Which is another thing we need to do...sort the bad bales out and get rid of them. Then we need to make sure the good bales are neatly restacked. They got a bit scattered with the digging for the leaks. But that will have to be for another day.

And the list goes on. An unfinished laundry room. A hill that is sliding. A space that needs to be cleared out for a garage type tent to be put up. Mildewing stuff under tarps that need to be sorted out in that tent so we can get rid of the bad stuff and store the good stuff in the upper floor of the laundry room. A leaky RV roof and a need to have a regular roof built over it. And on it goes.

When I opened my email this morning I found this quote:

Everything does not depend upon us nor on man. We do what God requires of us and leave the outcome to Him. We live by this faith. The more faithfully we live by this faith, the less our anxiety.
-- Romans and Galatians by R.J. Rushdoony

It was followed by the following scripture:

Matthew 6:25-26
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

As usual, Yahweh sends me just what I need to be reminded of. The tendency to look to man or to ourselves for our provision is a very human one. However, that is not what Yahweh wants. He wants us to look to Him and to trust Him for whatever we need.

In our situation, it is something we need to keep addressing. There is always that balance of making sure we are doing what God requires of us and then trusting Him for the outcome. This life is a passing thing...so quickly gone in the light of eternity. Are we trying to build a kingdom here in this life? Or are we learning to be content with what God has provided?

That is not saying that we should not have goals and work for things. However, are the goals we set the right ones? How do we know? I need to be diligent about training my heart to hear His voice...to listen to what He is saying is for ME to do. Then I must be diligent to do it.

It is wise to recognize needs and then to work for them...as best we can. I think that is the key..."as best we can". We must do what we can and trust God for the outcome. We must do what we can to take care of the things of life and then let it go. There are times when we simply cannot do what needs to be done...we need help. Again, we must trust Yahweh that He will bring the ones alongside of us that we need to have. If He is not bringing anyone, then we must learn to be content with that. It is about trusting Him and His love for us.

That is huge. It is much easier said than done. I am not going to pretend that I have it down. This I know...none of us could have lived in our tiny space this long without His grace working through us. It is just not in us to do this. Yahweh is providing us the ability to keep our "sanity"!

We must live one day at a time. We cannot look too far ahead or we will be overwhelmed. On the other hand, we NEED to look ahead. We are hoping that our setup will be better for winter by the time winter comes. That means we must start on it now. We must always be working on it in one way or another. One of the hard things about that is that it means we don't have much of a social life. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to get those minimal things done to help us make it in this living environment.

This scripture is one we really need to focus on.

Lazer Tag, Date Night & a Creek Crossing!

Well, Dave picked up our very tired son this morning. He had gone to dinner and Lazer tag last night. About 3 am they settle them all down to sleep. Yeah, right! Being away from home made it hard for him to sleep...very understandable. Yet, it sounds like he had a really good time. He played two games of lazer tag and you could really see the improvement of his score from one game to the next.

Dave and I had a stay at home date night. He brought home pizza and we watched the first part of "Amazing Grace". It was soooooo nice to just be able to spend the time together...uninhibited by someone else being around.

Today, Dave is continuing to work on the creek crossing. The day is nice. It is cooler, so that should be good for his working. When the heat of summer gets here, the humidity makes it more difficult to get work done. I hope this summer is cooler and less humid. We have so much work to do before next winter. But then, we have gotten through each winter without getting it done. But oh, how nice it would be to get some things done. It would make going through winter sooooo much easier...and less expensive, too!

Well...gotta get moving. From our little RV on the hillside, I hope that the weather is nice where you are.