I spent another couple of hours today cutting tiles for around the window. It is starting to look good!  I will glue them down in a couple of days. I just work when I have time.  After I get those stuck on the wall I will tear into the countertop and cut it flush, sand the edges and install the hardiboard.  I will need to tear out the sink when I start working on the countertop.  More work, just gonna go one day at a time. 

I realize it doesn’t look like a lot, but that is over two hours work to cut the wonder board and all the wooden boards.  I installed them and leveled all the ledge boards that the tiles will sit on while the mastic sets up.  I only had to add one permanent spacer board. I want the tile edges near the window to be perfectly lined up as the wooden window trim will be sitting on it. I plan on using a piece of discarded wooden trim that was the wrong width from when we sheathed the beams, seven years ago.  I knew that piece of trim would come in handy eventually.  I managed to squeeze in a little work on the kitchen before going to the paying job!  

We got the weights for the two cows we had processed, their carcass weights were 341# and 326#.  Perfect weight for what we want. Carcass weight is usually less than 50% of the live animal. Some animals and breeds give a better carcass weight/live weight ratio.  Our sheep are over 50%.  So one cow was sold.  We won’t have beef again for approximately 22 months. On a plus note, in April there will be five breeding cows and three more newborn calves.    The cow herd is growing slowly. It’s much cheaper to do it slow.   

Window ready for tile.

One counter backsplash up and stuck to wall.

New kitchen sink came in three days!

I made good progress in the morning and got the backsplash on the left side of the kitchen.  The mastic was much better after using the drill and paint mixer, consistency and stickiness was improved.  I spent all afternoon taking down the sheetrock from around the window.  This created a half inch deficit to the window that now needs to be filled in.  I only have 1/4 inch hardiboard.  Now I need a trip to the hardware store to get 1/2 inch if they make it.  Otherwise, its two layers. 

Our kitchen sink was delivered today.  I walked out on the front porch and there it was.  I ordered it on Sunday evening and it was at our doorstep on Wednesday afternoon.  If anyone doesn’t believe that is amazing they need to move to a big city. 

No new baby sheep.  We keep looking every day.  My chickens don’t like the weather swings.  I have only gotten 2-3 eggs/day the last few days.  They need to figure it out so we can have eggs. 

Framing out window and putting in tile rest so I can tile above window.

Tiles stuck to counter

I have been working on the kitchen.  I have to keep posting pictures so it shows progress!  Yesterday, I went to town to get a paint mixer for my drill so I could mix the mastic.  I did the first batch by hand and it was very painful.  This mixer batch was much easier to do and it was far more consistent.

I will work on the window surround now.  I need the new kitchen sink to arrive so I can install the other counter hardiboard.  It has not showed up yet.  I expect it tomorrow or Friday.  If it shows up tomorrow then I can get the hardiboard installed on Friday and maybe lay out the tiles.  It is getting there.  I want to grout the finished counter on Friday.  We will have a working counter top in the kitchen then.  I will get all the countertops 100% done then I will move onto the downdraft vent fan.  I have to custom build a cabinet and cut out a hole in the end of the house.  I am not really looking forward to that project. 

 We got our annual call from the USDA yesterday about our sheep herd.  They always want an update on how many animals and what kind you have at the first of the year.  We did not get the online survey done so I did it on the phone.  The phone was way easier.  One of the questions he asked was what form of nonlethal predator control do we do.  The list is surprising to me because we do a lot.  We fence, lock the sheep up at night in a barn, have a dog, clean out the bedding in the barn annually, and rotate pastures.  He asked me my expenses for lethal control of predators, $50 for .243 ammo!  He did say on an anecdotal note that he has noticed most lambs are killed by coyotes from the surveys he has been doing.  We lost two lambs last year to coyotes. 

On a plus note, I saw the quail covey on Monday in the barn lot.  I had not seen them all winter long.  I saw the barn owl last week in the machine shop.  I tried to get a picture but it would not hold still.  It looks like our red tailed hawks might be moving back in to the upper pasture.  The tall tree blew down but the next tallest tree (now the tallest tree around!) has had them perching in its upper branches for over a week.  Maybe in a few years I will be able to find time to make some bat houses and bird houses.  The bats now live out in the 100 year old poplar trees or the cedar trees, not sure which one. 
 

Backsplash now stuck to walls.

A raging back creek now 14 hours later.

Spring, center bottom of picture just above water line.

Spring coming out of dirt wall of creek.

Remember how I said I would just get that last creek crossing in the morning?  Well I should have done it in the dark by flashlight.  Fourteen hours of mountain water runoff can make a small creek go to a very large creek overnight.  To make it worse as I headed down to the “last” crossing I needed to lift I remembered that I had installed another crossing down by the large culvert next to the school house.  I now had my work doubled.  Zeke and I headed down to the crossing it was swollen, backing up the creek by a good 8 inches and pulling on all the panels.  The panels were a good three feet back from the crossing and were doing a fine imitation of a balloon.  I had metal snaps holding three panels all together.  I could not reach the bottom ones.  I had leaned out over the bank and was holding onto the panels to stay out of the water when my right foot slipped and I ended up in water six inches past my knee.  This allowed to me reach farther and other than swearing caused me no pain.  Twenty minutes later my left leg was still dry but I could not hold the panels and unsnap them at the same time, the water was too strong.  I said a few epitaphs and stuck my left foot in the water!  Another 20 minutes later and I managed to move the panels out of the way.  A flashlight in the dark would have been better.  We headed down to the second crossing.  On the way there I spotted a spring coming out of the dirt embankment.  I don’t usually walk down this side of the creek so I am not sure if it is always there or we are just so water logged that it sprouted.  There are several springs all along the creek length so it would not surprise me if this is usually here.  The second crossing was very easy I just waded in and unhooked one side. 

I went back to house and got more tools for tile job, went upstairs on breeze porch and setup my tile cutting plastic enclosed room.  I also had to put on a new blade for my tile saw.  I could not get the old one loose.  A trip to the shed, a pair of vice grips and an hour later and the saw has a brand new diamond blade.  I cut all the tiles for the countertop and have them fitted.  I need to label them and break out the mastic.  I also brought in my six foot level so I could keep them level as they are installed.  On a side note, as I was bringing in more tools I noticed that I had forgot to turn off the grill last night.  It never ends, there is always something…

Falling into the creek is cold.