Mr Rainman came out on Sunday and we moved a ton of hay from the machine shed back into the barn. There was some green hay poking out of the machine shed pile and once we started digging into the pile we managed to get a flat bed load of really nice hay out of the middle of the pile. Between both sides of the barn we have enough hay for the winter.
I am trying to get the freezer room completed so we can move the freezers. Mr Rainman keeps trying to talk me into using some of my 1×8 or 1×10 wide pine boards for the walls and ceiling. I keep telling him it’s a freezer room and it only gets the scraps. We had purchased some leftover piles from the stores in town and I am finally using a bunch of the sheets. So the walls in the freezer room are made out of 1/2” OSB (two different kinds), 3/4” OSB flooring, 3/4” oak plywood, 1/2” CDX plywood, some old 3/4” solid wood piece from an old table top. I have 1/2” OSB for ceiling with some new vintage 70’s looking wood paneling! I spray painted some blue on the walls to mark where the wiring was behind the sheets so I would not accidentally hit anything when I install the shelves for this room. All in all a very functional freezer room when I am done. I did have to order an in window fan so we can keep the room a little cooler in the summer. I am going to use a WiFi power plug dongle to control the fan. I will be able to program the start and stop times remotely via the phone.
I managed to get all of the freezer walls covered but one side about 46” wide. So one full sheet of OSB and two cutouts for the outlets and I am done with the walls. I will still need to put some trim in the corners to make it look pretty.
I was sent out to change the bee’s feeding solution. They are getting some sugar water due to the shrinking flower supply. I spent about 15 minutes tossing apples from the ground in the orchard to the sheep. They were all wandering around trying to eat as many apples as they could. I even throw the dried out husks of apples, the sheep think they are dried apple treats. Annmarie has been using a “picker”, this wooden box with a ton of nails at cross angles with a sliding lid with more nails. Basically, it looks like a medieval hand shredding torture device. It is used to open up the alpaca fiber after she washed and sound dried it. It is working and she almost has the entire fleece picked.
The chickens are trying to compete with the sheep this year over who can die faster without a reason. I think the chickens are ahead this year. Another one of my babies was sick. I have to remove them from the coop so they don’t make anyone else sick. It’s usually some type of bird flu. On top of the chickens trying to die I have four broody hens who are refusing to lay eggs but want to sit on everyone else’s. Plus I am only getting 1-2 eggs/day.
Stewart Creek Somethings 