When we woke up Patty still wasn't feeling good....And she's not worried, because we still have about 4 weeks or so before the chicks have to be outside. But that's 4 weekends that we could be sick, or have crappy weather, or would rather be playing with chicks! So I feel the need to make some kind of progress today...
So I headed down to the barn with my sick P in tow...determined to connect the power today.
While Patty sat in the little bit of sun we had fixing the weed wacker, I went to run a few cables up a post in conduit. I managed to cut my finger with the pvc saw. Who the hell does that? Do you know how jagged those things are?! It didn't bleed a lot but good lord it hurt. I didn't cry...didn't run to show P my owie...I contined and went to hook up the outlet, when I noticed it was a 15 amp receptacle. I needed a 20 amp one...I wanted to do it once, and do it right. So we jumped in the car and headed to Ace hardware. I grabbed a couple outlets, Patty grabbed squirrel food, and I also grabbed some conversation hearts for Mariah that were in Spanish. (A class she is taking at school right now.) We also helped the local girlscout troop outside of the store by relieving them of one of their boxes of thinmints. My favorite!
We came home and went right back down to the barn. It only took me a few minutes to finish wiring up the outlet. I gave Patty a quick lesson on how to wire up an outlet, and I closed up the box.
I looked over at the well house and I knew Brutus was waiting for me. I thought about giving him a thinmint as a peace offering...but P had a better idea. She grabbed a 5 foot rod and took the covers off of the well house. There was Brutus...and Patty cringed a bit. She knocked Brutus down in to the water with the intent of a watery grave, and we both watched in wonder as Brutus mastered the butterfly and backstroke.... That would never do while I worked in there, so she got Brutus to climb back on the rod, and I hurried in the opposite direction as she flung Brutus first class through the air and into the woods. I actually began to calculate in my head how quickly they run, and how far he was probably flung. We looked in the well house for anymore "distractions" and we found "Brittany". Brittany was bigger than Brutus...so much I just about gagged. While her adrenaline was still pumping, Patty gathered Brittany on the end of the rod and ran toward the creek with her jeans falling down and buttcrack showing. She put Brittany in the river and I shit you not...from 15 feet away I could see that black spider go down the river...Patty followed her aways...one hand holding up her jeans... and Brittany grabbed onto a rock and pulled herself from the creek. Good God!!! Where was my freakin windex when I needed it?! So she knocked her back in the water and came back to give me a hand with the wiring.
Now the wiring in the well house is confusing. I'm not sure what the previous owners were doing...so out of the eight wires coming in...I picked the most logical two, (They were all hot before I turned the breaker off), and continued to hook up the outlet.
Moment of truth...I ran up to the house and flipped the breaker. I yelled down to Patty to plug in the light......NOTHING! She suggested the bulb may be burned out...bless her heart...
I came down and tried my meter...less than a volt. I tried it in the well house. Nothing...My tic tracer showed the lines were hot. WHAT THE HELL?!?!?! After 3 hours of work I felt like a huge lame-o loser. Patty assured me it wasn't me...it was the wiring...and I dragged my feet as I put my stuff away...I know the problem is in the well house...so the rest of the wiring I accomplished today wasn't a complete waste of time.
I came up to the garage and inspected the open boxes again...I also pulled the breaker panel cover again. I had to be missing something. Several of the wires weren't connected in the panel, which I hadn't noticed before...just isolated with a wirenut. Which means they ran lines for potential future use....smart...but I wish they noted that on their little schematic! So I made note of wires that weren't connected, and obviously the two I connected and have eliminated down to two. I will hook those up next...and hopefully...there will be light.
Later that night when we went to go to bed, my finger was throbbing...it was turning bright red, (the first sign of gangrene I think), and my whole hand started to hurt. I mentioned it, (possibly whined a little) to P, and she brought out the hydrogen peroxide. It looked like a little science fair project bubbling away...and then the PAIN!!! Patty muttered something under her breath and put some ointment and a bandaid on it. The next morning the pain was gone, and it wasn't more than a little scratch. She saved my finger...which is good...because I am sure I will need it for the rest of that barn....
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Research and Development...
A slow start...
My health is slowly returning...and I can start to smell and taste the things around me... Not a total success....My P is now sick. She has a sore throat and a nasty cough. So even though I'm not anywhere near the caregiver she is, I gave it my best, and layed low today.
I set Patty up with coconut popsicles, (her favorite), her laptop, a photography magazine and a forensics murder mystery...and I bought her a stuffed baby chick at the store so she could practice being a mother...I then headed for the garage...
After researching the wiring diagram I discovered in the breaker panel for a week, I looked for the corresponding "switch" and junction box it showed. I found them...they happen to be two of the boxes in my garage without covers...(one more thing I have to get around to...) After seeing what they did, I threw on a raincoat and headed down the hill to the well house.
I flipped the cover off, and the old tin lid, and there was another of the big ass spiders we had seen before...just chillin like a villain on it's web...waiting to eat me. Now after I had seen one of these guys before, I looked them up online. Check it out...http://greennature.com/gallery/spider-pictures/callobius_spider.html They can grow up to three inches across!!!! I also read that with speeds clocked at 1.73 ft/s (0.53 m/s), the giant house spider held the Guinness Book of World Records for top spider speed until 1987 when it was displaced by sun spiders. I normally don't run...unless I am being chased by a knife wielding maniac... but from a spider like this....you can find me stopping not short of the next county. I named it Brutus and kept my distance as I checked out the splayed wiring. I called Patty up at the house on my cell phone, and had her flip a series of breakers and switches while I checked the wiring with my meter. Exactly as I hoped...the wiring was as the little message from the past showed. I had her turn it off, and checked out Brutus' location once again. To wire up the well house, (tomorrow I hope), I would have to climb in there...That 3 foot square was no where near big enough for the both of us...I guess it will be pistols(or windex)at dawn...In the words of Caesar, "Et tu Brute?"
So I walked the property before heading back up to the house...walking along the rushing creek while throwing random rocks in...donating to the cause. I noticed something or someone ripped my favorite birdhouse off one of my trees. It was the face of an old man, and the birds had to fly up the nostrils to get in. It had been hanging about ten feet up the tree for almost 6 years now...and it is now lying about 10 feet from the tree...the little roof ripped off. Must be a freaking sasquatch for sure. Hopefully I can patch it up come spring...
I headed up to the house to check on Patty, and then hunkered down with my laptop "Ruby", (because she is Red, my favorite color.) Time for a little research and development....
For the past several days I have been looking at compost tumblers. I am all about simplicity... and flippin compost with a pitchfork, wetting it, and avoiding eating gnats isn't my cup of compost tea. So I'm excited by these tumblers....although they are $300-$400. And the little worm hotel is about another hundred...hmmm...something to think about...The thing is I know we need at least one...between all the raised beds we will have, the animals, the 3 acres of mowed "grass" clippings...it would be dumb to not take advantage of what composting can offer...
I also looked at various goat websites, poisonous plants of the Pacific Northwest, beekeeping, the dangers of NOT having a LGD (livestock guardian dog), and Raintree nursery website. I am actually considering planting several more fruit trees this year...I am thinking about adding a Honeycrisp apple and an apple specifically for cider making. I also plan on adding a Harglow apricot, and possibly a rare black apricot variety. I may add an Italian Plum to join the Shiro plum we already have...and possibly a pear specifically for cider also.
I then checked out diseases of fig trees because ours isn't looking that great. If it is the only casualty out of all the trees we bought last year, we aren't doing too shabby. But it's limbs are black and look rotten and it has little orange spots on it's trunk. I will leave it alone for now...but it's not looking good for "Fig Newton."
I also found another website I added to my favorites... www.moderncowgirl.com. There was a lot of "I ride my own white horse" memorabilia...but there was also a tanktop I just have to have.... It said, "MOXIE: backbone, courage, grit, guts, heart, intitiative, nerve, skill, spirit...it's not just my attitude, it's who I am." AWESOME!!!!
My goal for tomorrow is to get the power and maybe if I'm an overachiever the water to the barn. Come hell or highwater...and considering the creek is rushing and Brutus is waiting for me...it may be a little of both...
My health is slowly returning...and I can start to smell and taste the things around me... Not a total success....My P is now sick. She has a sore throat and a nasty cough. So even though I'm not anywhere near the caregiver she is, I gave it my best, and layed low today.
I set Patty up with coconut popsicles, (her favorite), her laptop, a photography magazine and a forensics murder mystery...and I bought her a stuffed baby chick at the store so she could practice being a mother...I then headed for the garage...
After researching the wiring diagram I discovered in the breaker panel for a week, I looked for the corresponding "switch" and junction box it showed. I found them...they happen to be two of the boxes in my garage without covers...(one more thing I have to get around to...) After seeing what they did, I threw on a raincoat and headed down the hill to the well house.
I flipped the cover off, and the old tin lid, and there was another of the big ass spiders we had seen before...just chillin like a villain on it's web...waiting to eat me. Now after I had seen one of these guys before, I looked them up online. Check it out...http://greennature.com/gallery/spider-pictures/callobius_spider.html They can grow up to three inches across!!!! I also read that with speeds clocked at 1.73 ft/s (0.53 m/s), the giant house spider held the Guinness Book of World Records for top spider speed until 1987 when it was displaced by sun spiders. I normally don't run...unless I am being chased by a knife wielding maniac... but from a spider like this....you can find me stopping not short of the next county. I named it Brutus and kept my distance as I checked out the splayed wiring. I called Patty up at the house on my cell phone, and had her flip a series of breakers and switches while I checked the wiring with my meter. Exactly as I hoped...the wiring was as the little message from the past showed. I had her turn it off, and checked out Brutus' location once again. To wire up the well house, (tomorrow I hope), I would have to climb in there...That 3 foot square was no where near big enough for the both of us...I guess it will be pistols(or windex)at dawn...In the words of Caesar, "Et tu Brute?"
So I walked the property before heading back up to the house...walking along the rushing creek while throwing random rocks in...donating to the cause. I noticed something or someone ripped my favorite birdhouse off one of my trees. It was the face of an old man, and the birds had to fly up the nostrils to get in. It had been hanging about ten feet up the tree for almost 6 years now...and it is now lying about 10 feet from the tree...the little roof ripped off. Must be a freaking sasquatch for sure. Hopefully I can patch it up come spring...
I headed up to the house to check on Patty, and then hunkered down with my laptop "Ruby", (because she is Red, my favorite color.) Time for a little research and development....
For the past several days I have been looking at compost tumblers. I am all about simplicity... and flippin compost with a pitchfork, wetting it, and avoiding eating gnats isn't my cup of compost tea. So I'm excited by these tumblers....although they are $300-$400. And the little worm hotel is about another hundred...hmmm...something to think about...The thing is I know we need at least one...between all the raised beds we will have, the animals, the 3 acres of mowed "grass" clippings...it would be dumb to not take advantage of what composting can offer...
I also looked at various goat websites, poisonous plants of the Pacific Northwest, beekeeping, the dangers of NOT having a LGD (livestock guardian dog), and Raintree nursery website. I am actually considering planting several more fruit trees this year...I am thinking about adding a Honeycrisp apple and an apple specifically for cider making. I also plan on adding a Harglow apricot, and possibly a rare black apricot variety. I may add an Italian Plum to join the Shiro plum we already have...and possibly a pear specifically for cider also.
I then checked out diseases of fig trees because ours isn't looking that great. If it is the only casualty out of all the trees we bought last year, we aren't doing too shabby. But it's limbs are black and look rotten and it has little orange spots on it's trunk. I will leave it alone for now...but it's not looking good for "Fig Newton."
I also found another website I added to my favorites... www.moderncowgirl.com. There was a lot of "I ride my own white horse" memorabilia...but there was also a tanktop I just have to have.... It said, "MOXIE: backbone, courage, grit, guts, heart, intitiative, nerve, skill, spirit...it's not just my attitude, it's who I am." AWESOME!!!!
My goal for tomorrow is to get the power and maybe if I'm an overachiever the water to the barn. Come hell or highwater...and considering the creek is rushing and Brutus is waiting for me...it may be a little of both...
Monday, February 22, 2010
Typhoid Becky and the Olympics
Ugh...
Today is Monday. I'm home from work...again. My face hurts, and my head is filled with snot. I've been sick since Thursday. This past weekend we had incredible weather, and I spent every second of it on the couch. I never get sick. I don't think I have been this sick in the last 5 years. Sigh. There is so much to do...baby chicks are coming...
Dilemma #1: Last Friday when I stayed home I managed to venture into the office to open the breaker panel to try to solve the mystery of the barn wiring. There are many leads in the well house that are every other color besides black, white and red...and I have been trying to find out what they are suppose to go to, and where they are from...So knowing I could get away with it since P was at work, I slid the panel cover off. It looked like a crypt from Indiana Jones. There were more webs and insect carcases in the panel than wires. I made note that the blue wire went to the breaker, and the green went to the neutral bus...and then...I shit you not, I noticed the old brown envelope at the bottom of the panel, and faintly in pencil I could read the word "barn". Now on any other day, I would prefer to find a stash of cash in the walls of my home...but this little envelope could have been holding every answer to every irritating question I had about the barn. It was a treasure waiting behind the afghan of webs for me. Using the plastic end of my screwdriver, (I'm not that stupid) I wiped away the webs and flicked the envelope onto the floor. I closed up the panel and carried it upstairs with a finger and thumb holding it out in front of me as if it had cooties...
After cleaning it up I unfolded the envelope to find a derelect kindergardner's version of a wiring schematic. All it showed me was that the previous owners had done some not so legal wiring...that there was more than one breaker that fed the barn, and that I may have more power available down there than I thought... Back to square one...
Dilemma #2: We have some huge ladders that need to get down the hill to the barn for the re-siding. If I recall, the peak of the barn is 17 feet and the totem pole method for P and I would only work for so long. I guess we could play odd's or even's for who would have to be on the bottom, but a ladder or two would be the safe way...and I am all about safety!!! So on that note, I had the super idea of "Luging" the ladders down the hill....one at a time of course. :) P didn't really like that idea. It was like my idea of riding the tub lid down the hill in the snow into the blackberry bushes...Hey! I didn't have a sled...I was improvising. I figured luging the ladders down the hill would be a great way to get them down. Although in the recent events of the luger at the Olympics, I may reconsider. Even though I am sicker than a dog, I do want to see the day the barn is done...But...Patty isn't home today......... :)
So back to being sick this weekend.. :(
Bless her heart, Patty waited on me hand and foot for the whole weekend. And yesterday was our anniversary and we couldn't even go out for dinner. I stared outside at the beautiful weather...knowing I should have been outside progressing the barn...At one point, I went to the restroom, and then looked out the bathroom window to watch the birds eating out of all the feeders on the back deck. I opened the window to feel the fresh air on my face, (since I couldn't smell a thing), and the alarm on the house went off. Patty came running, and accused me of trying to escape out of the bathroom window.
Last night when she came home from errands, she brought me my new favorite toy... A vicks humidifier. She set it up on my nightstand for me, and I must say, I felt 4 years old again. She poured the vicks in the top, and filled the tower with water and flipped it on. I layed in bed and was immediately soothed by the green night light on the front of it. The soft gurgling sound it made sounded like a spring rain, and not the torrential deluge we are used to. We watched the Olympics for awhile and a little while later Mariah came in to check on me. She immediately said her eyes were burning, and asked what the smell was. I looked at Patty. Smell? What smell? She told me to close my eyes and inhale directly over the machine. I did. Nada...not a damn thing....
Sigh...hopefully I will feel better this weekened.
Today is Monday. I'm home from work...again. My face hurts, and my head is filled with snot. I've been sick since Thursday. This past weekend we had incredible weather, and I spent every second of it on the couch. I never get sick. I don't think I have been this sick in the last 5 years. Sigh. There is so much to do...baby chicks are coming...
Dilemma #1: Last Friday when I stayed home I managed to venture into the office to open the breaker panel to try to solve the mystery of the barn wiring. There are many leads in the well house that are every other color besides black, white and red...and I have been trying to find out what they are suppose to go to, and where they are from...So knowing I could get away with it since P was at work, I slid the panel cover off. It looked like a crypt from Indiana Jones. There were more webs and insect carcases in the panel than wires. I made note that the blue wire went to the breaker, and the green went to the neutral bus...and then...I shit you not, I noticed the old brown envelope at the bottom of the panel, and faintly in pencil I could read the word "barn". Now on any other day, I would prefer to find a stash of cash in the walls of my home...but this little envelope could have been holding every answer to every irritating question I had about the barn. It was a treasure waiting behind the afghan of webs for me. Using the plastic end of my screwdriver, (I'm not that stupid) I wiped away the webs and flicked the envelope onto the floor. I closed up the panel and carried it upstairs with a finger and thumb holding it out in front of me as if it had cooties...
After cleaning it up I unfolded the envelope to find a derelect kindergardner's version of a wiring schematic. All it showed me was that the previous owners had done some not so legal wiring...that there was more than one breaker that fed the barn, and that I may have more power available down there than I thought... Back to square one...
Dilemma #2: We have some huge ladders that need to get down the hill to the barn for the re-siding. If I recall, the peak of the barn is 17 feet and the totem pole method for P and I would only work for so long. I guess we could play odd's or even's for who would have to be on the bottom, but a ladder or two would be the safe way...and I am all about safety!!! So on that note, I had the super idea of "Luging" the ladders down the hill....one at a time of course. :) P didn't really like that idea. It was like my idea of riding the tub lid down the hill in the snow into the blackberry bushes...Hey! I didn't have a sled...I was improvising. I figured luging the ladders down the hill would be a great way to get them down. Although in the recent events of the luger at the Olympics, I may reconsider. Even though I am sicker than a dog, I do want to see the day the barn is done...But...Patty isn't home today......... :)
So back to being sick this weekend.. :(
Bless her heart, Patty waited on me hand and foot for the whole weekend. And yesterday was our anniversary and we couldn't even go out for dinner. I stared outside at the beautiful weather...knowing I should have been outside progressing the barn...At one point, I went to the restroom, and then looked out the bathroom window to watch the birds eating out of all the feeders on the back deck. I opened the window to feel the fresh air on my face, (since I couldn't smell a thing), and the alarm on the house went off. Patty came running, and accused me of trying to escape out of the bathroom window.
Last night when she came home from errands, she brought me my new favorite toy... A vicks humidifier. She set it up on my nightstand for me, and I must say, I felt 4 years old again. She poured the vicks in the top, and filled the tower with water and flipped it on. I layed in bed and was immediately soothed by the green night light on the front of it. The soft gurgling sound it made sounded like a spring rain, and not the torrential deluge we are used to. We watched the Olympics for awhile and a little while later Mariah came in to check on me. She immediately said her eyes were burning, and asked what the smell was. I looked at Patty. Smell? What smell? She told me to close my eyes and inhale directly over the machine. I did. Nada...not a damn thing....
Sigh...hopefully I will feel better this weekened.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Silence of the Lambs and Arachnaphobia / February 14, 2010
P got up early to clean out and try to start our old farm truck Dixie. Dixie always eventually starts...and P is the "truck whisperer". After a few minutes Dixie's engine roared and within a half hour Mariah, Patty and I were ready to head to Starbucks and then to the dump. P had to pull over twice to fix the tarp from flying off.
Now the dump in our county is always one of our favorite fieldtrips. The friendlist people work there, and it is always funny to see what other people have thrown away. Dixie backed up to the 30 foot pile and the three of us jumped out of the cab donning our gloves. We rarely throw away anything that would make you gag, but this load of stuff had been sitting in the back of Dixie all winter, and most of it could no longer be identified... So we started throwing stuff into the pile as quick as possible...at times digging on our own, at others creating a chain gang to reach the stuff at the back of the truck. Something "wet" kept spattering everywhere, and I tried to keep my mouth shut so it wouldn't land in my mouth...When we were done we hopped in the truck, peeling off our gloves and Mariah pulled hand sanitizer out of her Coach bag and passed it around...a luxury P and I don't normally have when we go to the dump.
We headed to Home Depot for lumber to reside the barn.
After about an hour and a half, we left the store with 11 sheets of plywood, a roll of insulation, a window, some screws, vents, and a circular saw.
We headed home, and stopped at the house for a round of lasagna, (what Jenny Craig doesn't know won't hurt her.) Besides...we were working it off.
P and I loaded a bunch of random 2x4s we had laying around the house into the truck on top of our other treasures, and headed to the barn.
We had been dying to know what was under the old sheeting on the barn outside of the old tack room that would soon be our chicken coop. P took a hammer and a cat's paw and began to pry away the corner... I helped her pull the sheet off, and we were both filled with pleasant surprise...wonder, and then an overwhelming feeling of the creepy crawlys. We were happy to see the wall had been framed in and was dry...contrary to the rest of the barn... It at one time had been insulated, but over several years, possibly decades, all the insulation had been bunched up into several mouse highrises...It seemed to be mixed with pillow stuffing and dryer lint...which I am sure was moved in late at night from far distances. And then there were the moths...I can easily say there were hundreds...but that would be a lie. There were only about 20...but they were all about 2 inches across, and were clinging to the 2x4 studs, the insulation...the whole inside wall...we still don't get how they were surviving in there, and the whole damn thing was creepy. So we used a rake, and the cat's paw to pull all of the old insulation out of the wall...and there were the &$*!@#% spiders. I don't know what the hell kind of spiders they were, but they were &$*!@#% huge!!! I am guessing wolf spiders...and we saw at least 3 of them...each one seeming to be bigger than the previous. So after all the moths were forced to evacuate, and the spider's were disposed of in a humane fashion...(from the bottom of our boots directly to heaven)...P continued to groom the wall and I started hooking up the new cables that were buried in the trench the day before. It was another productive day full of good news. It looks as if we will only have to replace the bottom sheets of plywood instead of all of them...That will definitely move our projects ahead some!!!
Now the dump in our county is always one of our favorite fieldtrips. The friendlist people work there, and it is always funny to see what other people have thrown away. Dixie backed up to the 30 foot pile and the three of us jumped out of the cab donning our gloves. We rarely throw away anything that would make you gag, but this load of stuff had been sitting in the back of Dixie all winter, and most of it could no longer be identified... So we started throwing stuff into the pile as quick as possible...at times digging on our own, at others creating a chain gang to reach the stuff at the back of the truck. Something "wet" kept spattering everywhere, and I tried to keep my mouth shut so it wouldn't land in my mouth...When we were done we hopped in the truck, peeling off our gloves and Mariah pulled hand sanitizer out of her Coach bag and passed it around...a luxury P and I don't normally have when we go to the dump.
We headed to Home Depot for lumber to reside the barn.
After about an hour and a half, we left the store with 11 sheets of plywood, a roll of insulation, a window, some screws, vents, and a circular saw.
We headed home, and stopped at the house for a round of lasagna, (what Jenny Craig doesn't know won't hurt her.) Besides...we were working it off.
P and I loaded a bunch of random 2x4s we had laying around the house into the truck on top of our other treasures, and headed to the barn.
We had been dying to know what was under the old sheeting on the barn outside of the old tack room that would soon be our chicken coop. P took a hammer and a cat's paw and began to pry away the corner... I helped her pull the sheet off, and we were both filled with pleasant surprise...wonder, and then an overwhelming feeling of the creepy crawlys. We were happy to see the wall had been framed in and was dry...contrary to the rest of the barn... It at one time had been insulated, but over several years, possibly decades, all the insulation had been bunched up into several mouse highrises...It seemed to be mixed with pillow stuffing and dryer lint...which I am sure was moved in late at night from far distances. And then there were the moths...I can easily say there were hundreds...but that would be a lie. There were only about 20...but they were all about 2 inches across, and were clinging to the 2x4 studs, the insulation...the whole inside wall...we still don't get how they were surviving in there, and the whole damn thing was creepy. So we used a rake, and the cat's paw to pull all of the old insulation out of the wall...and there were the &$*!@#% spiders. I don't know what the hell kind of spiders they were, but they were &$*!@#% huge!!! I am guessing wolf spiders...and we saw at least 3 of them...each one seeming to be bigger than the previous. So after all the moths were forced to evacuate, and the spider's were disposed of in a humane fashion...(from the bottom of our boots directly to heaven)...P continued to groom the wall and I started hooking up the new cables that were buried in the trench the day before. It was another productive day full of good news. It looks as if we will only have to replace the bottom sheets of plywood instead of all of them...That will definitely move our projects ahead some!!!
A detour/"Elvis and Oswald"...February 12, 2010
On our way home from visiting our friend Jenny Craig, Patty and I saw a sign at the old feed store in town that said their baby ducklings had arrived...I had to stop and see...From past experience when my mom had baby ducks when I was a kid, I knew baby ducks were the most precious babies ever. P had never seen baby ducks, so we pulled in to take a gander. :) We oohed and aahed at the baby chicks, and asked for directions to where they were keeping their ducklings. We went around a corner and saw about 50 little fuzzballs in a galvanized tub. We bent over to look at them and this little grayish yellow one stopped what he was doing, and cocked his head to look at me. My heart melted. His little face and searching eyes clearly said, "Are you my mother?" My eyes kept darting to the sign that said $6.50 each, knowing I had no where to keep the little guys... A funny looking little duckling pushed his way through the crowd and looked up at Patty. He was yellow and black, and had black little feathers sticking up on his head. It looked as if someone moussed up his little head feathers. I named him "Elvis", and Patty named the other one "Oswald". We left the store as quickly as possible...and I had the hardest time sleeping thinking of them all alone in that feed store that night...P and I are fully aware this soft spot of ours for babies is going to potentially be a future problem...
February 13, 2010
Rain or shine...a 3 day weekend can't be wasted when there are baby chicks comin! And what a day it was! We rented a huge backhoe, and a hydraulic auger...
A little history... Last year we hired a wonderful guy to do some clearing and to trench out our river bed...in the process he hit our water line and a power line going to our barn... (1-800-call before you dig let us down!!!) So he dug us a new trench to re-run our water and our electrical. Long story short, he ran the wrong size cable for the amperage of the breaker to the barn, so we are having to run it again. So that's why the backhoe, and the auger is for the posts for the chicken run... So my mom and step-dad Super Steve came over to help and Super Steve offered to run the backhoe...(something about I couldn't drive it without a helmet...) and Patty and I, and Mariah, (Jun), my 16 year old daughter, ran the auger...Everyone was dressed in rain gear. Well, we were bad-asses...I don't know how else to put it. The 3 of us girls knocked out the holes for the chicken coop in about 10 minutes. We decided to tackle the future goat pen, and continued to push the 8 foot long auger into the woods. After 2 hours, and hitting several rocks and roots we completed the goat pen which is probably almost a quarter of an acre! We made quite a team! Mariah started and stopped the machine, Patty controlled the auger bit and Mariah and I held the machine steady... In the mean time Super Steve trenched through the creek bed, and was well on his way to the barn... We took a break for some coffee and some of my own lasagna, and Steve headed back down to the barn. We couldn't really continue with post holes for the future "berry cage" without getting in the way of the backhoe, so I went down to run the cable and to help Super Steve fill in the trench...Also throwing any large rocks I found into the riverbed... What a mess!!! By this time the dirt had turned into mud and it took a little longer than expected. I could have sold tickets for mud wrestling... After filling and grooming as well as possible, Steve and I came back up the the house to join everyone in watching some of the Olympics. My mom also cleaned out my microwave which was hugely appreciated!!! Every little bit helps. We went to bed with a huge sense of accomplishment... Thanks everyone for such a productive day!!!
A little history... Last year we hired a wonderful guy to do some clearing and to trench out our river bed...in the process he hit our water line and a power line going to our barn... (1-800-call before you dig let us down!!!) So he dug us a new trench to re-run our water and our electrical. Long story short, he ran the wrong size cable for the amperage of the breaker to the barn, so we are having to run it again. So that's why the backhoe, and the auger is for the posts for the chicken run... So my mom and step-dad Super Steve came over to help and Super Steve offered to run the backhoe...(something about I couldn't drive it without a helmet...) and Patty and I, and Mariah, (Jun), my 16 year old daughter, ran the auger...Everyone was dressed in rain gear. Well, we were bad-asses...I don't know how else to put it. The 3 of us girls knocked out the holes for the chicken coop in about 10 minutes. We decided to tackle the future goat pen, and continued to push the 8 foot long auger into the woods. After 2 hours, and hitting several rocks and roots we completed the goat pen which is probably almost a quarter of an acre! We made quite a team! Mariah started and stopped the machine, Patty controlled the auger bit and Mariah and I held the machine steady... In the mean time Super Steve trenched through the creek bed, and was well on his way to the barn... We took a break for some coffee and some of my own lasagna, and Steve headed back down to the barn. We couldn't really continue with post holes for the future "berry cage" without getting in the way of the backhoe, so I went down to run the cable and to help Super Steve fill in the trench...Also throwing any large rocks I found into the riverbed... What a mess!!! By this time the dirt had turned into mud and it took a little longer than expected. I could have sold tickets for mud wrestling... After filling and grooming as well as possible, Steve and I came back up the the house to join everyone in watching some of the Olympics. My mom also cleaned out my microwave which was hugely appreciated!!! Every little bit helps. We went to bed with a huge sense of accomplishment... Thanks everyone for such a productive day!!!
February 8, 2010
Tons of catching up to do!!!! On this day we ordered our chicks! 25 of them! We ordered from Murray McMurray Hatchery online. We ordered: 3 Black Australorps, 3 Light Brahmas, 2 White Giants, 2 Buff Orphingtons, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Rocks, 3 Partridge Rocks, 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 2 Speckled Sussex...AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!!! Kidding about that last one... We are also suppose to get a "free exotic chick". So we are expecting 26 total. They are all suppose to be pullets, (females), but I've been told they can only guarantee 99%...so I am sure we will have a rooster or two that we need to find new homes for. Our new babies are suppose to arrive between March 7 and March 9. Then they get to stay with us inside for a few weeks...but we still need to get crackin on that barn and their chicken coop!!!
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