Clear coat, two layers done.

This morning the dogs went out with me to let the sheep out of the ram pasture.  Sprout now thinks he needs to go out with Zeke and I every morning.  I let him as he needs the exercise.  There were only ten sheep in the correct pasture.  The back creek is low enough that most of the sheep were able to cross under the fence near the creek without getting their feet wet.  I lowered the panels on both ends of the pasture.  Zeke chased the leftover sheep out of the ram pasture.  We are still working on the command “to me”.  I want him to bring the sheep toward me and he wants to leave the sheep and come to me himself.  This causes confusion and swearing for both parties.  He did it correctly in the end.  We just need to keep working on it. 

I put the clear coat on the oven cabinets today.  I purchased a water based satin polyurethane after looking at all the choices.  I still like the wax idea but after reading about it, I decided against it.  The finish is not very durable and needs to be redone on a fairly regular basis.  It can also collect dust.  I recoated the shelves after an hour.  I used the whole quart on the cabinet. 

There was still time to go out and dig on the ditch.  I thought I would just move the large dirt pile and then I could get back into the ditch.  It did not happen the way I thought it would.  It took me 2.25 hours to dig down the whole dirt pile and spread it out.  It just kept going and going, I never thought I would make it through.  Once it was done, I checked the time and said enough. 

There are still 2 out 12 chicks alive at my parent’s house.  They look great and are very healthy.  Now the only thing left to do in the kitchen is to plumb the downdraft exhaust.  I still have not finished cutting out the floor hole. 

Dirt pile leveled off.

Progress is happening.

I did it, another two hours of labor digging the pit!  My back knows the pit is getting bigger.  It complains every time I dig.  Usually, screaming uncle by the second hour.  I would like to say it is getting easier.  I don’t think that will be true until June gets here.  I will have done enough manual labor to get back into good shape.  I tell myself every year that if I would just keep in shape over the winter, spring would be easier on the body.  I did work out this winter, but obviously not enough.
Zeke had to hang out near my work area.  He tried to sneak off once, but digging is not enough of a distraction to give him the time he needs to disappear.  By the end of the two hours he was content to hang out, sleep and watch me work.  I am saving the water side for last.

We used 864 gallons of propane last year to heat and cook in our house.  This was a drop from previous years.  If this trend continues with our new freestanding propane stove in the dining room I think it will pay for itself in five years.  The savings in propane is amazing. 

2.5 hours worth of digging.

starting point for the day.

I worked for 2.5 hours today digging.  My plan is to do this every day until my vacation is over.  I will be begging them to let me come back to work by the end of the week!  I broke out a Pulaski so I could break the soil up before shoveling it.  It made things much easier.  Luckily, I have managed to not break the berm so the hole is nice and dry.  I had to get up onto the dirt pile outside the hole and shovel all the dirt off onto the other side.  I sure wish I could get the tractor over here and level the area with it.  I am thinking about laying some railroad ties across the stream and driving said tractor across.  Still weighing the benefits against getting the tractor stuck in the ditch.  Until I can decide I guess I will be using a human powered shovel. 
Zeke is going to be no use when it comes to the alpacas.  He is an attractant to them.  They all bum rush the fence in an attempt to get at him so they can stomp on him.  He would be okay with a few of them but eight of them and one of him are not good odds even for the Zekemeister!

I had another chicken die today.  It is so frustrating to walk in the coop and find another dead chicken.  It occurred to me that the only chickens dying are my buff orpingtons that are 7 months old.  No one else is sick or dying.  It is very strange.  Annmarie pointed out that they are eating in a different place than the other chickens.  We are watching them all and I only have one or two still alive.  I lost another chick yesterday.  I have 2 out of 12 still alive.  This is not a very good survival ratio. 

Zeke and his new nemesis.

Kitchen window completed!

Robert came over and we installed the kitchen window trim.  I only had one eight year old reject trim board out in the old house.  It was just long enough to split in half and do the kitchen window.  No mistakes were allowed or there would not be enough trim.  We measured everything a few times and then I wrote down the dimensions then we went out to the yard and set up the table saw in the grass.  We had to rip the board into 4.25 and 5 inch widths.  We cut the bottom five inch piece first and it fit perfectly.  We tapped it into place and then I marked the two 1/4 inch x2 inch cutout spots for the window.  Then took it out and I trimmed those out with the jigsaw.  It fit perfectly and we just shimmed the back up to make it level front to back.  A repeat of the top board was done then I accidently cut one of the sides too short!  Luckily, there was enough leftover to tear a five inch board down to 4.25 inch and cut the side out of it.  The sides were a pretty tight fit but we managed to get them in place and everything nailed in place.  It looks very good and Annmarie is happy. 

No more honey bees in barn wall.

I was outside showing Robert the barn when I decided to check on the honey bees.  The weather was warm and I had seen some honey bees in our yard.  No go, I looked outside and listened to the wall and heard no activity.  While Robert was missing the rock chucks with a rifle, I tore down the boards and found an empty dead nest, no honey and no bees.  I tore it all out.  We still don’t know where the honey bees are living that we keep seeing all over the farm.  I am still reading books on how to raise honey bees. 

New gates into the upper wheat field done.

Back of chicken coop cleaned and storage organized.

2300# of layer pellets!

Today was another day spent working on the farm.  Phil and I vacuumed out and cleaned out the entire back half of the chicken coop.  We organized and made room for 2600# of chicken food.  I did actually drive the pickup around to the chicken coop so we didn’t have to pack it all across the bridge.  I spread out 14 of the poison packs all around the area in the hopes that I can keep the mice out of a years worth of chicken food.  The coop is much cleaner and I can now find the things I need. 

We then went out and worked on the new 36 foot gate area into the upper wheat field. The equipment needs to go through the middle of the property for ease of access.  The old stretch fence was not working as the bull was hooking it with his horns and then walking over it.  We had to tear up the metal T-posts that I had used to keep the bull inside.  We shrunk the opening and installed a new H brace.  I had to go pull up two other old rail road ties that were no longer in use.  I tried using a figure 8 tightening wire with high tension wire and a inline tightener.  It took me a while trying to tighten it with a pry bar to realize that the 8 pointed star was really the receptacle for a 1/2 inch drive ratchet.  Once I used the ratchet it was easy to tighten.  I read about this in a book and the best part is you can retighten it after the fence is in place annually.  I cannot do that if I use smooth wire and twist with a board.  I am getting faster at the fencing and gates.  We had the entire fence and gates done in 3.5 hours.  I am also now setting all posts in gravel.  I am hoping it makes them more secure.