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. 

Ready for cooktop install.

The morning started out fairly calm.  Annmarie asked me why I did not lock the sheep up last night.  I said I did, she noted the many sheep on the back hillside.  She was putting on makeup in the mirror propped up in the window.  I deigned to get out of bed to verify for myself.  I believed her.  It dawned on me while I lay there in our cozy warm bed that I had forgotten to shut the barn door.  The reason is after I fed everyone Zeke and I were leaving the barn and a whole bunch of sheep had their heads in the nearest feeder.  Zeke darted past them on the way to the door, he made sure to swerve as close as possible to the sheep on his way out.  This spooked the sheep who still had their heads in the feeder.  Two of the feeders are chained together and the sheep were all on the far side causing the feeders to be pulled over.  One young boy, about three months old, got stuck underneath the feeders with his head still stuck through into the hay!  I had to go back into the barn and put the feeders up so he could pull his head out and run away.  I then spent a couple of minutes lecturing the sheep about their bad eating habits and flighty behavior.  I was still ranting as I left the barn.  I forgot to shut the door.  Annmarie wanted to know if I really ranted at the sheep.  Of course I did!  This becomes a bigger issue when the weather gets nicer.  The sheep will go out on the back hillside and decide to start roll call at 0300.  We sleep with our bedroom windows open year round.  It is very noisy. 

The hamster corpse was starting to get to me.  Not so bad that I was willing to cut out a one foot by twenty foot section out of the dining room wall, but it was starting to smell really bad.  This morning I needed a rag to finish cleaning up my grout on the backsplash so I opened up the door of the deep sink utility cabinet and the smell was awful and I saw gerbil poop on the floor.  I found the dead gerbil.  I made Sarah come down and clean up the entire mess, wash all the rags and bleach everything.  I think she may need to use vinegar on everything now.  It is much better than it was but it has not gone away yet.  Here’s to hoping the smell doesn’t last much longer. 

I grouted the backsplash tile I installed last night and then painted the walls where the cooktop was going to be installed.  Once that was done I had the child come down and help me install the cabinet. We got it in place and then leveled it front to back and side to side.  It is perfectly level so our gas heat should be even.   Once that was in place we installed the downdraft fan.  I got it all screwed into the top and plugged in and made sure it did not hit the window board.  The temporary board is the same depth I want the finished board located.  I need a new blade on my table saw before I cut the finish board.  It smoked and burned my oak top when I cut it.  The cooktop was next and dropped right in.  It has two anchors on the side and it overlaps the vent fan.  We are very happy with how it turned out.  I took a second picture once the sun went down so you could see it lit. 

 

Works!  Just needs downdraft fan exhaust cut in floor and then we need to decide on front facing or drawers.

It fit finally!

I did it, I got it to fit.  It was not easy.  I tried the frame without any top and found out that my lower board for the exhaust fan was too high.  I could not lower the fan enough.  I had to cut a new board and lower it.  I tried to install the butcher block top and could not get it to fit. I had to take little cuts three separate times and finally just brought the jigsaw inside and cut it in place.  I even made sure I could shut off the gas!  The lowest point on the floor is the front right corner which would explain why that spot on our current stove is the hottest.  I adjusted the fan three times to get the height right. I even plugged it in and showed Annmarie how it went up and down.  I think this is going to look great!  My biggest issue was it was stuck in place.  Once Annmarie reminded me it needs to come out I encouraged it enough to get it out intact.  The backsplash needs to be finished and the back wall painted. 

Stove top and fan together.

Backsplash in place and drying.

I still need to finish the butcher block top.  I am just going to use an olive oil rub on the whole thing like I did with our last one.  When it looks a little dry I just break out some more olive oil.  It works great and looks good.  My only regret is I have to cut into the floor to install the exhaust vent.  I am not really looking forward to that portion of the job.  I got all the backsplash installed and a heater going on it so I can grout it in the morning.  I can get a coat of primer on and then some paint in the afternoon.  I don’t want to disconnect our stove until I have that special putty I need to put on the gas line connection to the cooktop.  Once the cooktop is in place I will cut a hole in the floor for the exhaust pipe.  I need to get the rest of the exhaust pipe so I can vent it outside the house.  I will order the exhaust vent tomorrow.  My goal is to get this up and running before Sunday and pickup the stove on Tuesday morning.  I will stop by the lumber yard at the same time and pickup some 2×4.  I think I have enough tongue and groove at the house to do both sides.  I have plywood for that project also.  I will keep the purchases down until I start to run out of supplies.  I don’t want to get too far ahead of the items being built. 

Tragedy has struck again, another chicken died.  Out of the blue and with no signs and symptoms of illness.  I will be calling the county extension agency tomorrow to see if they want to test the bird or if it just needs to be disposed.  Of course it had to be a hen and not one of the two roosters.  It was one of my buff orpington babies that just started laying. 

The gerbil is still making his presence known in the house even in death.  He fell down into one of the walls near the dining room and laundry room.  We are not sure which section of wall he is in nor how far down the wall his corpse is located.  He is stinking the place up.  We have a window open and the odor absorber open.  Luckily, I don’t think he can stink forever.  It is just not worth the effort to cut open every wall until I find it.   That sounds like a nightmare.  Eventually, he will become a mummy and the smell will go away.