Mr Rainman came out two days this week and filled the six holes with concrete and a steel 6×6 post anchor. We spent a couple of hours on Friday getting the next three panels up on the gazebo. Annmarie and I have had ten plus discussions on how the gazebo should be assembled. Every time I think I have the design down I am learning that that is incorrect. We “discussed” it again yesterday and I have seen the vision. So this weekend I will be working on getting the posts installed so that the next row can be installed. I am sure I understand now, I will let you know in a couple of weeks. I need to swing by the scrap metal yard next week to have them keep an eye out for a new roof cap. I am missing the vent cap for the gazebo.
We were supposed to work on the gazebo all morning but I needed to empty out part of the old lamb shed so that panels could be installed so the mommas/babies had a place to get out of the weather/sun. We had to move a bunch of round and square bales out of the way first. The square bales kept trying to fall apart. Once we had the area cleaned out we installed some temporary horse panels. I was able to get one of the old wooden jugs cleaned out and ready in case we need it. There is a metal gate in front of the entrance because I had hit the overhead rail with the tractor roll bar a couple of years ago denting it so that the gate could not be closed. In a moment of brilliance I thought we could just get the gate working in a fifteen minutes. Two hours later we had managed to take down the entire rail system and door in pieces. It did not want to come down easily. Once we had it down it amounts to a lot more work to get it back up and operational. The header board needs replaced outside, and a second board installed inside so that real bolts can be used instead of large wood lag bolts. I need to buy two different sizes of bolts as they used two different hole sized holders. Plus, I need new rollers, these are so shot that they are bouncing around the inside of each wheel and can move around an inch. Which is why it’s so hard to shut the door. This is going to have to be a later project.
We have been watching “Baa Baa” the ewe we took back as her family is moving away. We left her collar on so she is easy to spot in the herd. She is still overweight but is looking better after a few months grazing on sparse feed and running all over the farm. She is still very friendly.
We have had four ewes give birth, two sets of twins and two singles. We had to bummer off one of the white twins two nights ago. It refused to get up and was limp. We brought it inside, warmed it up and fed it and then gave it to Tisha to raise. If it’s going to make it she is the reason. Unfortunately, when we went out to bring the sheep in last night and look for babies that same mother was standing by the spring hollering. The other baby had jumped into the water and got stuck in the mud and drowned. We are not going to ding her for this loss. We have closed off this alleyway so the sheep cannot get to this area. The main barn lot has 2-3” gravel in the base of the ditch so that it can be driven through. This makes the water only about 1-2” deep and the lambs are safe. Those other twins have been over there more than ten days without any complications. Lambs always find a way to die. I have some leftover large gravel and will be hardening the edge of the water line with it. The lambs won’t go out into the deep water. Every year something comes up. The ditch is lined with concrete blocks behind the barn so there is no mud to contend with for the lambs. The mud build up comes and goes in certain areas and not always the same areas of the ditch.
Stewart Creek Somethings 