Summer 2009

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .

In July, 2009, with the help of our friends, Richard and Dianna, we installed metal fascia covering on the well house. (As always, I’m using “we” in a very loose sense here. You see who’s doing the work.) We could have painted the beams, but the fascia covers are way more durable and long-lasting on the parts of wood most exposed to wind, rain and storms.

You just slide the covers under the metal trim and nail them down. Richard is a building contractor and recommended this method. He has been a big help and a sounding board for Sam.

For the last couple of years, Richard and Dianna hoped to buy part of our ranch and become our neighbors, but recently their plans may have changed. We would love to have them as neighbors, but we know sometimes things change in life, and we know God is in charge, whatever happens.

A few months later, in September, we spent a weekend painting and closing in the eaves.

We cut long strips of pressboard, which I painted the same color as the fascia coverings.

These were to cover the exposed beams under the eaves. We also installed vents, to allow a little airflow in and out of the building, and Sam used a foam sealer around all the seams and holes.

For the gable ends, we chose a nice bright shade of green. I used to be afraid to use bright colors, but I’m tired of being boring! For now, we’re going to leave the blocks their natural gray color. Having grown up with painted block walls, I know how the paint flakes, chips and fades after a few years. Stucco would be nice, but for a well house, it’s probably not worth the extra effort, time and money.

Our final project that weekend was to evict several families of mice who had taken up residence in the well house over the previous year. We had to drag almost everything stored in the building out onto the dirt driveway – 5 shelf units (4 shelves each) covered with building materials and boxes of stuff, furniture, lawn chairs, just tons of stuff. Much of it had to be vacuumed out and washed of mouse droppings or shredded paper nests. What fun! Sam wanted to kill every mouse he could find, but I voted for letting them run free into the desert to find new homes.

Sam propped the huge water storage tank up on blocks, then washed down the floor with bleach and water, which made the inside smell nice and fresh again. This took most of the day, and we barely got everything cleaned and reinstalled before a late monsoon storm hit.

We spent that night sleeping on our air mattress on the floor of the newly cleaned well house, intending to close off the last few inches of open eaves the following day. At 3 a.m., we woke up to high-pitched squeaks and beady eyes peering at us from the top of the block walls. Sam’s loose translation of mouse-speak was, “Hey, guys, they cleaned the whole condo, it’s time to move back in!” For the next hour, we attempted to get back to sleep, while watching these amazing mice flatten themselves against the block walls and run straight up and down them, no problem. Sam agreed to buy mousetraps at Walmart in the morning, and I no longer had any opposition to that. Around 4 a.m., I mumbled to Sam, “Is that Walmart in Benson open 24 hours?” Within 5 minutes we were on our way, and Sam bought 4 mousetraps, a jar of peanut butter and a box of plastic spoons. (I was asleep in the car). As he paid, the checkout lady looked puzzled at his choice of items. Sam’s southern drawl kicked in, “My bride thought the mice were cute . . . until they came back!”

In the year since, we’ve found only small lizards and harmless grandaddy-long-leg spiders inside the well house, and we can live with those. The lizards eat whatever other bugs may be around.

Back at the ranch, after the storm of the night before, the morning air was clean and beautiful. This is our view looking northwest from the well house.

And this is our view looking northeast, toward the spot where we hope to build our house, just beyond the electric post.