One of the add on projects was to fix our master bedroom lights. The stained glass lights fit the farmhouse theme but depending on where you are in the house some rooms are noticeably darker. Our bedroom only had one light over the bed and if you were over by the book cases it was dark! We have talked about adding another light for years and I finally decided it was time. We purchased the lights and then it was just up to me to install them. The real problem with this plan is over the years I have added boards and plywood to the attic to create a storage space. This storage space now has a relatives stuff, our daughter’s stuff, our stuff and our Christmas stuff. The bugs love to get into the attic and I bug bomb it every year. We have not vacuumed it out in 10 years probably. So it was a bug jungle up there. It needed to be vacuumed. The real issue was to run the wire for the new light we needed to pop up the floor and then run new wire to the new light. So first we had to dig out the boxes then clean then get to the correct spot without tearing up the entire floor.
Now that Annmarie has a sewing room again we worked on cleaning out the walk in closet in that room and brought down all of the bins of bulk fabric. There were eight bins of fabric! The sliver lining of this is that we found the material for her to make me some new dress vests and she is going to make me a suit out of some really nice thin Pendleton black wool. This gave us an extra eight empty bins. So we started to consolidate all of the cardboard boxes and putting them into plastic for more permanent storage. This took two days as I kept getting distracted by finding stuff I had not seen in 20 years! We managed to empty out about 20 boxes and consolidate them into the eight bins. We still have two more empty bins up in the attic.
There were a lot of old books from the old schoolhouse. They were in fair condition but most were from 1900-1930. I just put them in a plastic bin and the child can deal with them in 30 years when we die. There are two whole bins of Barbie clothes and dolls. I was going to take down the storage rack I had set up for all of the electrical wiring supplies I would need to install power all around the attic. Instead I wired up three outlets in the entire attic and left the rest of the boxes empty. Eventually, we will get it cleaned off and moved to a different location in the attic. I will need it eventually and the child keeps buying stuff for her wedding next January and it is getting stored in our attic.
The siding contractor is done with the siding. We just need our gutter fixed and a screen replaced. Mr Rainman has been working on getting our porch ceiling painted. He used a thick primer to fill in the gaps between the boards. We thought about painting it white but were afraid it would be hard to match our siding. Annmarie remembered the porch ceiling being blue when she was a kid. I had to look up why blue and the reasons vary quite a bit. It was supposed to keep away evil spirits, it represented the sky so it made the porch feel bigger and it repelled bugs. We are going with the first one.
Primer doneFirst coat
The annual barn clean out has been happening over the last two weekends. Mr Rainman started it by getting a main path dug all the way through the barn (5 hours). I have worked on it two more days a four hour day and a three hour day. We have managed to get most of the barn dug out in 12 hours! This used to take 40-60 hours to do. We started earlier this year and it is really wet still inside the barn, so there are no hard sheets of dried stuff. It is scrap-able with the manure forks. I took the forks off yesterday and used the bucket to scrape the muddy material loose and then just leave it to dry for a while. Mr Rainman had ambitions of finishing it next week. The rest all needs to be hand dug. It should take about six hours.
Beginning spot
We will have gotten the whole thing done in under 20 hours which is pretty amazing. I keep getting better and better with the little John Deere tractor. I think the real reason is I don’t want to get off and pitch fork as much crap as I used to, before becoming more aged. I am getting more efficient as I age!
We have been having some trouble with random people coming down the driveway. We had installed a ring camera this year and are now having to monitor it. For some reason we have someone on a motorcycle who keeps coming onto the property. Annmarie is making another sign to do down by the driveway cattle guard. Once we have the gazebo up we are going to install a 16’ gate across the driveway down by the first house. Initially, we are going to keep the gate open and only close it when we work the animals. If we keep getting unknown visitors we may have to install a solar automatic opener with a battery backup. This will force everyone to stop and push a button to open the gate. If we install an auto gate opener we will bury an auto sensor from our side that will open the gate so you can leave. I am hoping that we won’t have to do that but when we install the manual gate I will weld new hinges on the gate and install a double post and offset post for latching. This will make the installation of an auto opener very easy.
We got the side fence temporarily back up so the dogs can no longer steal cat food or harass the cats. This week we will start in on the gazebo! This is our next big project. I am thinking it will take us about six weeks to get it all up in the air. We will still need to finish the floor inside, create countertops and an entrance cover and ramp. For now just getting it up with the roof on it is the goal this year.
I had to order more parts for the micro hay baler. I needed another $500 worth of parts and am probably going to have to pop off the wheel on one side to be able to reach all of the gears. I will definitely be ordering a spare chain and will only allow myself to take out links one time before just replacing it. The chain only costs $150, all of the gears are over $2k.
Summer is grinding on with our entire region surrounded by wildfires. Luckily for us, the wheat field next to our houses was harvested last week. The wheat crop did very well, they harvested almost 48 bushels/acre. I realize that may seem low to a lot of people but for a dryland wheat crop in Eastern Oregon foothills with marginal soil that is fantastic. As an added bonus they disced a fire break around the entire stubble field so even if the field did catch fire it would be contained. The family leasing the property are great!
The smoke is bad. So bad I have started to snore nonstop due to congestion. We have two carbon air filters going in the house at all times in an attempt to cut it down. The fires are all around and have now moved into the surrounding mountains.
There is a small grass airstrip on our neighbor’s property parallel to the road. He uses it to fly his small plane. It has been taken over by fire fighting helicopters. There are 5-7 helicopters with assorted fuel tanks and support vehicles all over the runway. They fly mostly during the day and are dipping water from rivers, ponds and dams. This means they don’t have to bring any water out to the airstrip. There are all kinds of helicopters. I took the one picture from our front window.
The foot is improving but by the end of the week work my limp is back and I need some rest. We were sick on Friday but I did manage to go out and get started on fixing the Abbriata M50 round baler. The chain drive gears have worn down so badly that the chain no longer drives anything. It’s not hard to see why as some of the gears are worn down to nubs. I had looked at this a couple of months ago (before broken foot) and ordered all of the parts I thought I would need.
I am no mechanic. I don’t claim to be one but I am capable of doing it, I just don’t like it at all. That being said there is no one in the area that is used to working on a mini Italian round baler. Nor anyone that has better access to parts than just calling the same place I do. So I started to tear into the baler to get to the gears. By the time I had replaced three small gears I had almost everything off the one side. I am working on taking off two gears at the top that are chained together now so I can pull the gear off behind them. I really only need to pull one gear but I either break the chain or pull both gears off at the same time. It’s a toss up as to what is easier but by pulling off both front gears I can inspect and or replace both gears behind if needed. I know one gear needs replaced.
I need to get down below to the lower drive gears but after really looking at it I think I am going to have to jack up the one side of the baler, block it in place and remove the left wheel and all of the covers to gain access to those bottom gears. By the time I get everything fixed there won’t be anything on the drive side of the baler but exposed gears. This is why I hate doing mechanic work. I of course do not have all of the needed pieces to repair everything. I lost a key when I was pulling a gear off, so I need a replacement. I need to replace a small gear but it is not bolted in place it is welded to another piece so I did not order it before, will need to order. That special gear probably needs a bearing but I cannot tell yet as I have not removed it. I need a special shear pin I don’t have. Also, those double gears at the top I think are special and need another sprocket and gear setup I do not have.
I scrutinized the parts catalog and think I have the correct part t numbers now. On Monday I will call the dealer. The dealer and I will go over the diagrams together and I can walk them through what I am trying to replace. They are very good about helping me order the correct parts. I am replacing all of the bearings as I put in the new sprockets. The bearings feel good but I am not doing this again and you should never really reuse bearings. It just sets you up for failure.
Our siding is completed! It only took three and a half months. It looks amazing! There is a small piece of gutter to repair and we are going to get gutter installed over the back door. I don’t want an ice puddle forming directly outside the back door in the winter. This has allowed us to start watering the front yard finally. The entire yard was almost dead and the cheat grass is trying to take over. Water will help this dramatically. The dogs are coming in covered in dead grass all of the time.
Hopefully, we can start in on the gazebo this week. Mr Rainman will be out this week to help with that. There is one more field to finish mowing and all of the mowing will be done.
On Tuesday I did a walk around the house with the contractor. He wanted to return the overhead lift so he spent a couple of days finishing up the caulking on the upper part of the house. It is looking good. They just have to fix a corner of the front gutters, replace a screen in a window and finish caulking the lower part of the house. They got the yard all cleaned up and we are going to start putting some water on it to cut down on all of the dry weeds the dogs keep bringing into the house.
Mr Rainman came out to mow the fields and has missed coyotes two mornings in a row. Gingerman and I went out Thursday evening and Friday morning and did not see a single coyote. So maybe he managed to scare it off, no body, no credit.
On Wednesday, we had another big event, the dreaded lightning strike fire. We had a storm pass over Pilot Rock and lightning started four fires in a very short amount of time. A couple of the fires got controlled fairly quickly but the wind picked up and started to really spread the flames. The lightning continued to start more fires as it moved. Our area ended up with several big fires. Four days later and there is a state disaster team, agencies and assets from all over the state fighting fires around us. Highway 395 is closed down 39 miles outside of town and we are surrounded by smoke. The fires are continuing to grow. Luckily for us the fire never jumped the highway before town so we were safe and the wheat crop next to the houses is intact and ready to be harvested, not everyone was as lucky. I spent a couple of hours driving around looking for our Border Collie, Chance. She got out of the yard during the storm. She came back to the house as I was headed down the driveway. Annmarie called me to let me know she just showed up at the front gate ready to be let inside the yard. Milo is doing great, he is going to the vet to get neutered next week. He doesn’t know it yet.
Well I am officially out of the boot and able to bear weight on my healing foot as long as I wear a stiff soled shoe. I heard this on Monday so I started walking around with the boot as I did not have any shoes for the right broken foot. It hurt, pins and needles and stinging when I bore weight on it. After only six weeks no weight bearing I expected to just jump right back into the hard manual labor and, per the wife, I did not listen again. I didn’t want to listen, I don’t want to rehab, I don’t want to take it easy! But after having to sleep 10-12 hours each night after bearing weight I would say it is a lot harder than I expected. First thing in the morning when I put my foot down the whole thing has pins and needles. I am walking with a slight limp that progresses if I push it too much. So I am trying to take it easy for me.
Mr Rainman came out on Saturday and we went out and wormed the sheep. Most of the sheep look great but some of the ewes are pretty skinny so we worm when that happens especially since they are out and about on the farm. I was able to use the drencher device and it is so much faster than filling syringes. It still took us a couple of hours to go through the herd. He jumped in with the sheep in the chute and held them so I could dose them. You always get your feet stepped on when you are in the chute and I do not need that yet. One ewe had an abscess on her chin that I lanced. They get them from the cheat grass. We have been mowing and spraying the cheat grass but this year it is winning. We are planning on spraying Rejuvra on the fields this fall to help us control the cheat grass. This time in the barn pointed out that we still need to dig out the barn and the chicken coop. They are on the list. Mr Rainman wants to put the heavy panels in the hay room so he doesn’t have to carry them as far. Normally we take them outside the barn. This is a valid strategy he employed today to get the barn opened up today so he is ready to start digging it out with the manure forks on the John Deere 2520 tractor. The smaller tractor is the only one that will fit into the barn.
The plan was to hook up the small sickle bar mower to the John Deere tractor but Mr Rainman had to move equipment around in the machine shed first. I put away my auction winnings that the progeny, Gingerman and I picked up on Friday. The tools were brand new and looked unused, I should have bid on more tools. I did not win the large toolbox I wanted. I am looking to create a metric toolbox and a standard so that I can easily find the correct tool. I am filling up the big tool box and cannot fit any more open end wrenches or sockets in it. We wrestled the mower onto the tractor then spent an hour getting it greased up and the teeth oiled. I needed to mow the orchard and for it to be feasible we needed the smaller tractor and the smaller sickle bar. This was not the offending sickle bar that I broke my foot on. Except we were not sure that this sickle bar was in working condition. After doing everything possible to make it work I cut the orchard with it. It was brutal as the grass was too high. I also managed to hit one of the metal horse panels encircling a tree. Luckily, the mower belts started to slip and I quickly turned off the pto, usually I pop off a bar tooth when this happens. I was able to pry it off and get back to cutting. The plan was to just pick up the downed grass and toss it over the fence for the animals. The sheep and eater cows can get to it.
After all that I was whooped and needed a shower and some rest. I took a nap!
On Sunday, I cleaned house and moved upstairs back into our bedroom. I have been sleeping downstairs so I did not have to try and maneuver the stairs with a bum foot. So the puppy and I are now back in the master bedroom. Things are starting to get back to normal.
The siding is really starting to come together. We can see how good it is going to look by the time they are done. I figure another 3-4 weeks before they will be finished. It will be nice to have everything done and to not worry about letting Milo out into the yard. Once that is done we can think about putting gravel around the base of the foundation.
The next big project to happen will be the Gazebo. The new throttle part for the compactor came, so once it is installed and all of the hay is inside, that will be the next project.
The mice are making us crazy this year. This is the worst year for mice in 17 years. We have them in the house and it has been very hard to get rid of them. Today, I put poison in the subfloor of the second story and down near our animal food storage bins. We have already killed four mice but we hear them in the ceiling every night while we are watching television. It’s annoying. The cats are not doing their jobs. Neither are the chickens or the dogs. Everyone should be killing mice at every chance they have.
It has rained a couple of times but not a whole lot. Just enough to make some spectacular rainbows but not enough to soak the hay bales on the ground.
The wife was gone last night, she has a convention to attend, so I was able to make a BTT sandwich for dinner, Bacon, Tomato, Toast. I even added pepper to the bacon! It was very good and as a secondary benefit I used up the last of the bacon, the last of the bread and an old tomato from the fridge. I didn’t want to dirty a dish so I used the cutting board dirtied when I cut up the tomatoes as a plate.
I have graduated to using a Peg Leg for getting around without crutches at home. I get tired of using the crutches and it’s hard to do any chores around the house with crutches under your arms. I can do the dishes, fold and rotate laundry and cook dinner with the peg leg. I have only fallen once so far and it was on the crutches trying to take the dogs outside for bedtime potty after a long day. I was too tired and lost my balance and fell back on the stairs. I did not injure anything other than my pride. I am still sleeping downstairs in a boot, propped up on pillows every night. By the end of the day my foot is still pretty swollen. Sleeping with it propped up is not ideal but first thing in the morning there is not swelling! I will be glad when the swelling stops. My foot is a nice, purple, yellow green color.
Stewart Creek Somethings 