This is a collection of pictures and video clips from the farm. It chronicles the two plus years since we bought this property. The house you see had a lady living in it when we bought it. She lived in it with 8 dogs and was down to 2 when we came into the picture. The place was disgusting as you can see in the pics. The odor was unfathomable. The only option was to burn it and start fresh. She filled the U-Haul you see and 2 construction sized dumpsters 8'w x 5'h x 20'l and I still had 10 pickup trucks of trash to carry off.

Approx 28 wooded acres and a cabin. It had been run down and was in bad shape. Some of you have seen pictures I've posted in the past, but my goal was to put them into a video. So... set back and take a journey with us.


https://youtu.be/kUP5Lkuy2ic


Interestingly.... I did this entire video on my phone. Easiest video I ever did.

Awesome Herb! I see you used PowerDirector too. That's my video editor of choice.

Really well produced video mixed with your music I loved it!

Nice to see the overall progress since you've been there too, I think I loved watching the animals most. This especially includes your shepherd and of course the baby goat and donkey's relationship, LOL.

So was that outdoor firepit made from the chimney of the old house? I was curious.

Love the studio progress too, keep us updated on that.

Wow Blessed you are, That was fantastic, the change in the buildings and the land not to mention the work you and yours must have put in to that.

Was this the last two years recently, if so you really put me to shame.
I've been telling my good lady that I will start to decorate my hall for two month now and yes you guessed it , not even started yet.


The animals like was stated above are absolutely the stars, and they are all yours ?.


Honestly brilliant stuff you have inspired me, now off to do that hall.

Hi

Wow what an incredible journey and so satisfying an achievement .
You seemed to have found your heaven on earth there in Gods 22 acres .
Enjoy every moment that you have worked so hard for.
How you found time for your music and the forum in all this is mystery to me.
Thank you for posting such a heart warming video,
So good that you feel you can share this personal journey with us.
My very best regards,
Mike

This is awesome Herb. So many reasons to feel blessed. The "other residents" made me laugh...and I so understand that. It's amazing to see how far that has come.

--The wedding was beautiful!--

Good for you man! I'm happy you have been living such a blessed life.

Side note, I love the band Kutless, so you grabbed me RIGHT away!

Stay blessed!

Parts of the foundation and the metal that holds things up were from the old house. I bought the blocks to complete it. That chimney liner sticking out the top was also from the old house. It was in the yard used as a table base at the back door of the house. You can see it briefly beside the red hand truck in the first few pics

The studio and office are done and functional

Most are... I think the only one not mine is the black lab (Cooper) playing with my Shepherd Lilly. Coop belongs to my daughter.... the one in the wedding pics.

28.6 acres to be precise. My next project is a bridge in the woods across the north branch creek..... so I can get to the back 10 acres.

Yep... Thank you. Just tried to find songs that fit....

Great video and soundtrack Herb. Your family is certainly building some wonderful memories already. The video of the baby goat and donkey (or is that a small mule?) playing is funny. The collection of honey from the bee hive was plentiful. The wedding pictures were excellent. Altogether it has been an awesome two years. I really hope the elderly lady you purchased the land from can come back and see how your family has transformed the place. I think she will be pleased.

What a great video, Herb. That's a lot of hard work and sweat to create something so wonderful. Congratulations.

Beautiful job y'all have done with the place Herb and beautifully done video. I bet that fresh honey is fantastic. I would never have the nerve to mess with bees.

Really nice Herb. A lot went into the video but so much more into the homeplace. Enjoyed this.

Herb,

you are a rare and amazing man! Your productivity in so many different directions at once blows my mind!

Congratulations on yet another accomplishment... you put the rest of us to shame!

Wow! What's old is new again! Nice job Herb. Seeing this reminds me of one more thing I should have done before I turned into this old guy!

Jeff

Cool video! Congrats on the whole project - and new beginning...

Hey... thanks for watching. Any time any of you are in the area..... passing by on hwy 95 in NC.... exit 121 let me know and we'll have the gate open for you and a comfortable bed to sleep in.

The 2:58 mark on the video pictures a set of double exterior doors containing 15 glass panes in each door. They're identical to our exterior doors which lead to our pool area. Our's need replacing since the millennial flood. I was just wondering if you could tell me where you found them.

Kajun Jeaux

very very cool. thanks for sharing. Inspirational.

I have a little lake house project going on for the past year. All the work is being done by contractors while I continue to labor at the day job which keeps me traveling on the road. I will remind everyone to take pictures and maybe someday I can share a similar story about turning old into new.

Herb, what you have done is absolutely amazing!

That video and stills were also amazing.

you can count on a visit one of these days!

come on down east.... we ain't that far.

Well.... a bit of a story.... they were the original doors to the cabin on the back side. If you look at the first few pics in the video, you'll see a sliding glass door on the back side. 22 second in.... notice the right side slider is broken out and covered in plastic. It was that way for 2 years...summer, winter, bugs, critters, and Deborah lived there the whole time.
They were there originally but were removed to "modernize" the cabin when Deborah and her husband moved in after they bought it from the 4 guys who built it and used it as a hunting cabin.

Deborah had the doors put into the shed. If you look closely at the first pic of the shed at 2:46.....through the back door, you can see one of them stacked in the back. In the next picture, it looks like there's a broken/missing pane in one of them..... nope... that's the one I cleaned. Both doors were stacked in the back of the building, covered in spider webs and dust. Deborah said she wanted to take them with her and I told her she was welcome to them. She changed her mind as she didn't have any where to use them at her new house so they were left behind. I cleaned them up and painted them and hung them making one a fixed in place window and the other my hinged entry door.

A few tidbits on the pics of the old cabin.

13 seconds.... that vine on the back is poison ivy
18 seconds.... complete with christmas lights and a bench
36 seconds.... wisteria vine growing behind the siding and up into the roof.
50 seconds.... Deborah filled the truck to overflowing.

the filth was beyond anything I had seen. Dogs, rats, trash, water infiltration from a roof leak.... and hoarding. The odor was unbearable upstairs and almost as bad downstairs. That's why we burned it. We'd never be able to seal it sufficiently.

1:58 to 2:14 was less than 90 minutes. It went fast and hot.

Nice! I've owned a small farm, my step pa was a farmer all his life and the smaller acreage we live on now still keeps us connected daily to the earth. We get it.

Cool presentation of the transformation!!

J&B

Such hard work! Seems completely worth it to me!

Herb,


Excellent video. You are truly blessed, but that move could not have happened without your (and your wife's) determination and hard work. Congratulations. You've earned this little piece of Paradise.

Great garden!



Regards,


Bob