Lightning Strikes and Property Improvements

Earlier this week I was home alone (well not alone, Roxy is always with me) during a lightning storm. Luckily, we recently installed a super electrical ground system at the electrical pole to the property. The ground performed as promised and we did not receive any devastating surges to the cabina, although the power did go out. What we were unable to protect was the phone line. I was sipping a glass of lemonade, inside the cabina, when BAM! Lightening struck somewhere near our place and traveled through the telephone line. Instantly the phone wires inside the cabina went up in smoke and sparks. This jolted me enough to throw the lemonade all over the cabina. I have never experienced something like that. I made a quick observation and determined the electrical outlets were OK and just the phone line was fried. The next day our handyman fixed several blown out junctions in the line and was able to make it functional once more.

Work continues full speed at the property. The new “rustico” garage and cabina extension are in place. After a few heavy rains it became apparent that most of the stables have very bad leaks from the rain cascading from the road side. The solution is to make a concrete drainage ditch along the back side of the stables. Work continues on the trail down to the river. More grass has been cut to reveal beautiful nature sites along the internal road leading to the river.

All of the rain, combined with the delivery trucks has made a muddy mess of the land around the house and cabina. I am happy I was wise enough not to try to do any plantings this year. It has been surprising to watch my compost heaps shrink to less than half of the original size. One of our workers told me compost only takes one month to mature in this climate. I need to verify what he told me by digging into the center of my heaps to see if they are full of black gold.

The first picture in this blog is of the inside of the cabina. At first glance, most people think it’s just a kitchen. It is a small yet functional space. The second picture is of the cabina extension and the last picture is of the new temporary garage.