The age old question about which is better Nutella or peanut butter?  Is still not answered. I put four mouse traps in the chicken coop feed area, two with Nutella and two with peanut butter. Two traps were sprung and two mice died valiantly for this scientific study, one was Nutella and one was peanut butter!  No scientific conclusion could be drawn and I am hoping my subject pool has been eliminated!  This may have to become an ongoing study. [nutella-1; peanut butter-1]

The alpaca are getting very used to us. I fed yesterday then just stood next to the feeder in the middle talking to myself. Whenever I try and tame down an animal I always talk a lot. It helps. They learn to recognize your voice and realize good things come from that fabulous person. Everyone crowded around me to eat some hay. I have no idea why they want the hay there is plenty of pasture. There is one white alpaca that is worse for the wear. He has two bloody ears and is covered in grass vomit/spit. I would feel sorry for him but he initiates most of the fighting. 

We are almost out of hay.  I fed the last large bale to the cows two days ago. When the cows get that all cleaned up I will move them down to the schoolhouse pasture. We need another two months before we turn the heifers loose with the bull and main cow herd. They are back on heat, the bull has pushed my metal poles over almost 18 inches.  I had to go straighten them yesterday.  I will try and get two wooden posts in this weekend. 

My big plan for the week is to get the oven custom cabinet built and the oven wired in and operational!  That will make me popular around the house again. I wanted to bake some potatoes yesterday and had to zap them in the microwave, it is not the same. 

I had another hen die!  I have no clue as to why this is happening. I am going to have to get baby chicks. I am thinking another dozen. I will swing by the farm supply store tomorrow. 



Peanut butter or Nutella?

I drove to Hermiston today to figure out how to fix the control panel.  There are no stores locally that carry these kinds of parts.  I took pictures of the control panel yesterday.  I went to the first irrigation pump store and stuck out.  No electrical parts are sold.  So instead I bought a 3 inch 90 degree elbow and three 3 inch end plugs.  They were on the list.  I was sent across the street to another store that does electric work on panels.  At that store I gave my story again and showed my pictures of the circa 1956 control panel.  He finally said I needed more help and gave me the name of a business in Umatilla that makes pump control panels, Selectric.  I had Google maps take me there and there was a warehouse but no sign for Selectric.  I drove around and could not find it so I just went up and walked in.  There was no one at the desk, just a bell.  I rang the bell and two guys came out.  I started my spiel for the third time and this time answers started flowing.  Of course the first thing they wanted to do was sell me a new panel.  I don’t want this, as I will have to jump through tons of paperwork and permits.  They were willing to sell me all the internal parts for a brand new control panel in an old box.  I would have purchased everything immediately, but I failed to take a picture of the motor.  I needed the motor statistics so I could get the right parts.  They gave me their phone number on a sticky and told me to just call in the specifications and they would work a quote up for me.  This was great news.  They kept asking about whether the motor was a three phase.  I thought it was but when I took voltage measurements I had 0 V, 110 V and 208 V on the three wires coming in.  This continued to bug me on the way home.  I should have more voltage. 

Irrigation motor stats.

Irrigation pump stats

I went out to the pump for pictures and a transcription opportunity.  The motor was three phase.  Two years ago I got the pump to work, and it just kept bugging me that I could not even get a buzz out of it this time.  A buzz would have made me happy.  I started looking harder, and then I looked up, way up into the sky!  One wire of the three had been shot in half.  I need to get an electrician and boom truck out to the farm to get the line repaired.  Hopefully, they can repair it and not make me replace the whole thing. Once the overhead line is repaired I will go back to worrying about the control panel. 

I picked up the rest of the lumber for the kitchen cabinets today.  Sarah had to help me unload 3/4 inch oak full size 4×8 feet sheets of plywood.  She was not impressed and still sore from her drill weekend.  There was much cajoling on my part.  It was still easier with her than doing it by myself. 

I have a mouse out in the chicken coop.  It chewed into two of my bags.  Instead of trapping a cat in the back for a week I am going to try some mouse traps.  The question is will they like peanut butter of nutella better?

My current project.

Pump control panel issues.

Rain let it rain!  We need some moisture, so our irrigation project has moved up the priority list.  I went out today to get the pump working.  The cover is ancient and rusted but I knew the bugs where getting inside the panel.  I had no idea how many different types of insects, flying and crawling kinds were living inside.  I did wonder if there was any live power inside.  I couldn’t see anything so I broke off a dead thistle stem and used it to clean out the panel.  I spent over 30 minutes just scraping hornets nests, spider webs and mud wasp nests out.  I did use an electrical tester and found no power.  Being a wise grasshopper I did not believe it.  I kept my leather gloves on and used a wooden handle wire brush.  When the wire brush started sparking I was not surprised.  The power was right at its entry point.  There is a large mechanical breaker hidden in the back of the upper fuse assembly that is operated by the outside handle.  There is a small switch on the right outside of the box that is broken and will not turn.  It is the run switch and will need to be replaced.  The bottom solenoid assembly needs to be replaced also.  I plugged the holes and bent the upper panel to prevent the bugs from crawling past. I had to put in a new wire clamp pass through on the bottom of the panel.
 

Clean control panel.

Painted and labeled box.

 I opened up the pressure switch near the pump and had to dig out more bugs so the contacts would be able to close. I could not get the pump to work.  I could not get the lower solenoid to operate at all.  The dirt needs to be dug out from the channel as an added bonus.  I used a wire brush on the outside of the entire panel and painted it with some dove gray vehicle primer.  It was very windy but I was quite surprised at how good the spray nozzle on the can worked.  It gave a narrow wide spray of paint.  As someone who painted an entire car with can paint I can attest to how much better the modern nozzles are twenty years later. 

I counted irrigation pipe hand lines.  I think we have enough.  I just need a 90 degree connector and three 3 inch plugs. 

My little sister, Chris,  came out to visit.  She wanted to pet an alpaca.  I had caught one the other day for Lori, my other sister, and she had spread the word about how soft they were.  I fed early so we could touch them.  I snagged the little black one and held on by just grabbing its hair on the back.  Chris got to pet it and then she wanted to pet a white colored one.  So I wandered around and leaped toward a brown one.  I grabbed its back hair near the neck and it started to fight me more than the first one. So I decided that my manly 165 pounds would subdue this creature.  I threw my leg over its back and straddled this small weak creature.  My toes were barely touching the ground then it started running and bucking! I just held on.  I made it about 12 feet before getting thrown off.  I landed on my hands and toes.  Chris was laughing after she asked me if I was okay.  She had her back to me and turned around in time to see me riding said mild mannered creature and subsequently getting bucked off.  Note to self, do not straddle alpacas. 

Metal scrapyard haul!

I went to the scrapyard yesterday.  I needed to pick up my dad’s wheelchair before it got altered.  While there I picked up a trailer I can use with the tractor.  They pointed out all the T-posts that had been saved over the winter.  I had to have those!  I dug through and collected 135 T posts about half need to be straightened.  The rest can just be pounded into the ground.  They only had a couple of small woven wire rolls for me.  As an added bonus they had just got in four slightly used cow panels.  I snagged those for use as round protectors for our new baby trees.  Grandma Lane gave us six new one year old black walnut trees.  They need to be protected from all livestock and deer.  The trailer will need a front tongue support.  I will take if off of an old camp trailer we have at the house.  I will then be able to load it with the tractor and then hook up and pull it with the same tractor.  I will now be able to move compost from the barn lot to my back rock wall, allowing me to build the wall higher.  The T-posts are not necessary but I buy them every time I find them because they will be needed eventually. 

T-posts that need straightened.

New wall oven.

I picked up our new wall stove and Gannon helped me get it into the house.  We tried to get it into the library while packaged.  Not going to happen, we got stuck in the door way and had to cut it out of the packaging to get it in the rest of the way.  I needed it out of the packaging so I could take some real time measurements.  I think better with a tape measure. 

I had big plans for buying some lumber today and making a cabinet.  I spent almost three hours redrawing my plans.  I was off by 1/2 inch which would not have been big enough for the oven.  I changed my mind and decided to go with 3/4 inch oak plywood for the sides.  This means my inside supports have to be raised to allow the width for the oven to be uniform.  I caught this in my old sketch, causing more changes.  I have not ever purchased oak 3/4 inch double sided plywood before, oh wow, $80/board.  The center cabinet is going to cost $225 without doors and hardware.  I am going to get all three cabinets installed then we can decide how to finish off the doors and front.  I don’t want to cut a hole in the wall for power until the cabinet is made.  It has to be directly below the shelf. It only called for 12 g wire but I was unwilling to use it.  I will be installing 10 g wire and a 240 V 20 Amp breaker. The oven gets wired directly into the electrical box, no plug necessary.  I had to order more wood and a finish blade for my skilsaw.  I will clamp a 2×4 to the plywood and run my skilsaw along its edge to get a nice clean cut.  I need to split the sheets on their long side then on their short side for the shelves. 

I cooked a meal on the installed cooktop last night it was very nice, easy to use and had a nice even heat.  This morning I went to light the central burner and it would not light.  I kept trying then lit a side burner, WHOOSH!   I burned all the hair off the back of my left hand.  There was quite the collection of gas on top of the stove when it finally took off.  Definitely, need to get a handle on how to actually light the cooktop while I still have a little hair left on my head. 

Oven cabinet for back wall in kitchen.

Annmarie and I sat down the other day to decide how to go about installing the freestanding oven on the back wall in our kitchen.  First, we are going to move the sideboard into the dining room.  This is where it belongs as a working piece of furniture.  Next, we measured the space 71 inches wide and decided it should be as tall as the other shelves I made out of old doors so 79 inches tall.  Annmarie then printed out the installation instruction manual from the internet so I could get actual dimensions.  I sat in a chair and drew stick drawings while she got on the computer and mocked it all up.  We will have three separate cabinets.  This allows for ease of mobility.  As a single unit it would weigh a ton with a 155# oven installed.  This also lets me install the center and get some exact measurements for each side.  All three pieces will stick out from the wall 24 inches.  I was going to go with 2×4 notched for 1×4 side supports with plywood across for shelving but that takes up a lot of width for six boards plus siding.  I would waste almost a foot of space.  This was the rough draft.  It will have two doors under the stove with pull out drawers for pans and heavy stuff.  This means getting really good heavy duty rollers.  We are going to make the bottom left corner a wine rack with a glass front.  The three doors on the upper shelves will all lift upwards.  When I order the heavy duty drawer sliders I will order good hinges.  We are going to use the same knobs and pulls we are going to install in the repainted kitchen cupboards.  I will need to get that order in soon also. 

I had a chicken die last week and Annmarie made me promise to call the state if another one died.  I had to call and talk to several people before they left a message for the state vet.  He called the other day and we discussed my dead chicken.  Our chickens have no direct contact with any waterfowl.  All confirmed cases of H1N1 in domestic birds have been from direct contact with waterfowl feces.  So not the cause of my bird death most likely.  If I continue to have unaccountable deaths I need to freeze the chicken and contact them again.  He was very helpful and answered all my questions.  A most pleasant interaction.