Boundary line dance

It feels like all I am posting about is drain work, but it honestly is such a major part of rescuing this little old farm house, that we have to get it done before anything else.
So while we have made temporary drains for the front yard, there is another source of continuously flowing water that moves down the side of the house and then curves around  the back of the house. This pathway of water  is pretty much on Oba chan's boundary line. 
A proper drain has never ever been made, so it just flows along through the soil, around rocks and down into the main concrete drain that leads to the street. 

Digging out a makeshift drain was tough because everything had really overgrown in this  back area.This picture above is the  view from the main street looking into Oba chan chi's.

Here we have a view from the other side of the property from the old pathway, after we cut back some of the tree branches to start digging the pathway.

Once we did manage to get the water flowing in a somewhat straight line, it was another exciting moment for me because by this stage my back was killing me!

 

Alright..... I had my "assistant" with me, no I can't lie....here is my husband and treasure of  all treasures helping me dig part of the drains pathway.

Now this is when I truly started dancing away on the street in rubber boots, in the country side, because who knew that unplugging a forest of weeds and rocks and having water flow not just anywhere but into the main drain would be so fulfilling. Who knew?

We are still thinking about whether a spoon drain is the best option here because of the fact that the flow of water just seeps out from different areas of the property. Putting in a pvc pipe would prove difficult in catching the flow of water into the drain. Anyway, we'll take it step by step until we reach this stage. Has anyone got any ideas of how they would tackle this type of water flow that comes out from different areas of the land? We'd love to hear your thoughts. 

A vine, one at a time

Once we felt we had the drainage a little under control and had revealed the exterior face of Oba chan chi's, we had a great urge to rescue the poor farm house inside. You see time goes by quicker than we think and before we knew it we had a ceiling of vines criss-crossing in all directions across the ceiling! 

The state we found it in not so long ago

Oh! what fun that was peeling this hideous vine piece by piece off a sinking ceiling. Especially fun with the dried out pieces which would just not budge! 
This photograph doesn't do the vine justice, because it was pretty much attached to most of the ceiling. It seems that it had started growing from under the house, so weed killer to the rescue. This room is the extension that Oba chan built on many, many years ago. Let's just say it wasn't built with quality materials, looking at the board that has been used for the ceiling and walls. However, she built it with the idea of having her family and friends visit for the company and to enjoy her little place that she called home.
I regret we didn't take an "after" photograph. When we visit again I will update the progress in this room, but we are a long way off from making any major changes just yet... slow steps for now. 

Just to give you an idea, this is the ceiling before creepy crawly vine started its handy work 8 years ago. This is the room from a slightly different  angle. Look at those curtains, they practically fell apart as I tried to pulled them across the track. I won't be missing those. The idea is to remove the ceiling, walls and floor, which has old tatami mats on it at the moment covered over by old carpet. The sliding doors to the left hand side may be used for another area of the house, as they have been crudely affixed to a basic frame to make a cupboard.

Honestly, as I initially began to peel off the vine I secretly felt blessed with my height, but this only lasted for a short while. It was neck breaking, time consuming work, but I can't complain because when we look back on the work we are accomplishing with each visit we feel we are saving this little farm house....and it feels good. The plan is to give it a good old clean up inside, so we can sleep in the main part of the house and save on accommodation.

It's time for another onsen!

Let it flow, let it flow!

A major problem that we have with Oba chan's land are the very active wild boars which have been scavenging for small crabs for some time. In the process they pretty much dug up the whole parcel of land and also messed up the constant flow of water coming down from the mountain. What should be happening is that the water flows across to the other side of the land and into a concrete drain. However, this was not happening, so the end result was a very water logged property.

So here began our first project, to make a temporary drain to dry up the land. Armed with our shovel and gumboots we started looking for the source of the water flow from the mountain. What we found was that there were several points close enough to each other near the shrubby trees and so we began digging a very basic pathway, while trying with every step not to fall backwards into the mud sludge. I must admit it did remind me of my childhood and happy times playing around in the mud. It's important to have a laugh along the way!

The basic pathway we made by directing the water flow with rocks.

Who could image the satisfaction that one would feel after digging in the mud all day and then successfully directing the water into the main drain. I possibly did a happy dance!

Our temporary drainage

Here is a side view of our efforts of drain digging for the day. Time to head to the nearby onsen - hot spring. I knew the next morning we would feel the pain of our labour!

p.s. A month later we visited Oba chan chi's to check on whether our efforts had not been destroyed by the wild boars. We were so happy to see that our simple drainage work had been doing its job and the land was gradually drying up!

Peeling back the layers

Just when when we thought that getting a drain to flow in the right direction was a glorious moment, now we have another job needing our urgent attention. Rescuing the little farmhouse from layers and layers of vines that had succumbed the exterior of both the entrance-genkan and the extension area. In a funny way it felt like we were allowing the house to breath again. As you will see under all that vine there are aluminum doors and there was no way we could open them with the vines entwined all over them. Remember its been 8 years since we did any major clean up on the place, so this is what time can do.

Over the years it shouldn't be of any surprise that people were dumping unwanted items at our front door. After all it was the sad, neglected little farm house. However a big thank you to the person who left a very useable ladder behind and the blue tarp you can see weighed down with a rock. We would be needing that for later! And that ladder came in very handy for pulling our friend the vine off the roof.

After a bit of pulling and slashing at the vines, the extension door finally opened. We enjoy the small accomplishments at Oba chan chi's! 

But there was so much more to go until it was finally cleared. We even got into those side trees. Years ago, the pathway beside the house where you can see the lopped tree stumps was the original road, yes I said road! This is Japan after all. 

So I guess Oba chan planted these trees as a kind of barrier. The plan is to finally pull them out for a spoon drain along the side of the house, but that is for another day and another post. It's time for another onsen!

Let's begin Oba chan's farmhouse renovation

Eight years ago my husband and I travelled to Izu Peninsula with the mission of cleaning out his dear Grandma's old farmhouse that had been sitting empty for some time. We completed our mission quite successfully, but without the constant upkeep every house needs, it started to blend into its environment. Covered in vines, over grown grass and tough weeds it was looking pretty sad and unloved. Recently though we and other family members have yet again thought about rejuvenating "Obanchan Chi" or Grandma's Place  to its former glory. It is a place we want to  eventually use to get away from it all and to de-stress and re-connect  with nature. However, before any of this can happen a lot of DIY projects are needed and we can't wait to get started.

The farmhouse is in need of a lot of loving and so our next stage or mission begins!