farm life

Day 5 of the downstairs floor project

Steve HardinLeave a comment

It is honestly only day 5 of this project! I cannot tell you how pleased I am that things are going so quickly. Mr Experience is the bomb and is a very hard worker! He is anticipating my next need and keeps the tiles and mud coming. This is such a departure from my normal virginal work help that I am just amazed at our progress. We have a total of about 46 hours each into the project. The best part is I am realizing how much I get interrupted in a normal day, get dogs out of crates, potty dogs, feed dogs, potty dogs, do am farm chores, feed barn cats, feed horses, feed sheep. The entire time I am doing chores, Mr Experience is moving the tile saw, filling it with water, making mud, laying out tile and in general making our project get done with little to no direction.

We did have some difficulty this morning with the area directly in front of the main entrance.
There is a low spot here of at least 1/4 inch. This needed to be built up but it caused problems. We laid down four tiles at first and had to pop up three of them and add more mud. It was very convoluted to get the tiles in place without stepping on any of them. It took us almost 2 hours just to do this small area. You can see the bottom of one of the closet spaces that will get tile in the bottom left corner of the picture below. This whole area took one bucket of mud.

Mr Experience heard me talking about the blog and offered to take some action shots. So you will be seeing my mug more than usual this project. Who knew I was bald?! As we exited the hallway into the main room I started to get very hungry. Unfortunately quitting time is dictated by the mud. If there is still mud in the bucket then its not quitting time! My knees were starting to bother me. Yes I have some fancy gel knee pads but after several hours they just don’t feel that nice. It took forever to get the last of that bucket used up. We had an excellent lunch of combined leftovers. What makes cheesy potatoes and ham mixed with chili and hot dogs better? More chili and cheese! It was amazing and hit the spot just right.

At 1500 the third bucket of mud arrived. It was huge, the entire bucket was full. It was going to take forever to get it all used up. I switched knee pads in the desperate hope that my new ones were somehow better than my old ones. Nope, this did not pan out the way I had hoped, my knees were killing me. We started to really sling mud and lay tile. One of the problems with this much tile at once is it starts to push on itself and get out of alignment. I never knew this as I have never laid this much tile in a single session before. We ended up putting a few strategic screws in the joints to keep the tiles from moving. This works very well. We had the last tile laid by 1730. It was finally quitting time. My knees were ready to call it quits hours before. They are already thinking of boycotting tomorrow but it looks like we can be done laying all the tile in just two more days! Incredible timing, I took off 25 days to do this and we could be done by day 10 with everything. As soon as we get grout in and it cures we will set the house back up and then most likely tackle the kitchen. I think we can do the entire kitchen start to finish in under 7 days.

Day 4 of the floor remodel

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Another exciting day of vacation as we attempt to get the downstairs tiled. Since my wife is now back to work and currently out of town I am doing all the farm chores during all this. I now wait until it is light to do chores, it just makes it easier than doing it by head lamp. We have not had any more lambs for the last two days to the best of my knowledge. I have to throw that out there as there are lambs everywhere! They are like cockroaches in the barn. Its hard to keep track of all of them. We have had one more bummer since the ram’s demise for a grand total of 10 bummers and 2 dead. That is a lot for us.

The real problem with any remodel is the prep work. it is absolutely crucial to the longevity of any job but it is the most unglamorous part of the job. Take today for instance, we finished laying the subfloor. I had to screw in another 1000+ screws. This is painful, first you run the impact driver in your right hand and pull the trigger with your index finger. It gets tired so you start to use your right middle finger for the trigger. This also has the added benefit of altering your grip. When this gets too hard you switch to your left hand even if its not your dominant hand. That is four different ways to drive screws. it is just enough to keep going until the job is done. The site needs to stay clean and when tiling there can be nothing under the underlayment and the fuzz from the screws needs to be cleaned up. All the low spots that we patched Mr Experience floated in mastic so that when it dries the floor is perfectly supported in all areas. We then spent about an hour drawing lines on the floor to make sure the tile stays in alignment once we start laying it. You can see the bright orange chalk line we snapped in the picture below. I have been trying to figure out how to keep a steady input of coffee ready at all times. My french press doesn’t keep it hot. So today I started to use a small thermos to keep the second cup of coffee from my press hot. I tested the thermos last night by putting hot water in it. This morning the water was still very hot! This has been a fantastic discovery and I will be doing this every day of my vacation.

I have had to put Zeke outside on the run as he keeps jumping the fence and Mouse just runs around in the yard. Gizmo wants attention but he cannot run around when there is wet mastic on the floor. He does not understand this and tomorrow we will need to use the back porch so the laundry room will need to be traipsed through. He is going to have to spend some time upstairs in his day room.

Lunch today was chili and real Hill, all beef, hot dogs mixed together with onions, and drowned in cheese. A very manly lunch. For tomorrow we are having leftovers I am thinking about mixing the cheesy potatoes and ham with the chili and hot dogs! A most excellent combination.

We were finally ready to start laying tile after we moved the tile saw out onto the front porch. Its above freezing and we are trying to get the cut pieces to the layer as fast as possible. A bucket of mastic had to be mixed and the first tile cut and then we could lay some tile. I am the designated tile layer. Mr Experience does everything else. This means mixing mud, cutting tiles, and feeding me whole tile stacks so I can reach them. The firsts batch of mastic was a little runny for me. I truly do like the peanut butter consistency. It works well and is is easy to manage. Mr Experience fixed it up and off we went. I am the designated layer as it is my responsibility to get it right! In an hour we were able to lay the tile below. This doesn’t seem like much but this hallway is hard as I have to lean out and work on one side. Once we start down the other hallway I will only have to work one row of tiles at a time instead of bouncing between 7 rows of tiles and jigsawing them in place. I am hoping for 50% completion tomorrow. I realize this is incredibly ambitious but one must have goals!

My bladder made me do it!

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You ever get that feeling that says get out of bed? As I approach fifty this sense of urgency has gained prominent attention. Last night I had to wake up at 0300 to pee as I forgot to do it before going to bed. I crawled back into a warm bed hoping to spend the rest of the night warm and blissfully uninterrupted. I was dreaming about these weird deadly creatures that only come out at night and were wiping out mankind when Annmarie jabbed me in the side and whispered “Do you hear that?” Something had cut through my dream but I was unsure if the deadly creatures were on the run in my dream or if it was external. It was external, some odd chittering sound. I had sudden hope that I might get to avenge my untimely departed chickens. The real trick here is time and stealth. Every time I have stopped for a coat, made noise or tried to sneak around on this night terror it has gotten away. That was not going to happen tonight, I got out of bed very quietly and went right downstairs to grab Killer (Walther P-22 pistol with laser sights). I usually load the pistol outside but it was time to change up and get serious so I racked one in, slid the safety off and laid my finger alongside the barrel. I snuck back to to the laundry room and peeked out into the dark. It is dark, I cannot see anything! I reach over and fumble around for the outside light switch. I had left all the lights on the back half of the house off so the predator would not see me coming. I flicked the porch light on and there it was, my Nemesis, a raccoon! I flicked the light off, took one second to ready myself and flicked the light back on and ripped open the door. I led with Killer speaking the language of death. This is where each of our actions have led to our current relationship. I got one “word” off while it was still on the porch attempting to get away from the cat food. I got a second “word” off when it ran left in the back garden. It remembered that the old house was safety and flipped a U-turn and headed back that way. I got off a third “word” which caused it to run behind a trough planter. Killer and I were a team, we followed the predator’s every move and spat out our language every time we had a clear view. There was a fatal flaw in the raccoon’s plan, it had to climb a fence and once it got in the small walkway clearing it realized it could not squeeze through the fence. It was too late, my bladder had taken control of my body and insisted that this event end right now! I just kept pulling the trigger until Killer ran out of breath. Now was time for another crucial conversation, was my bladder going to win or could my desire to see this through to a dead nemesis prevail? It has been too long, we have suffered under the burden of being preyed upon and it had to stop. I ran back into the house and grabbed a second big breath for Killer so we could say our goodbyes. Now normally, I would have just stuck the holster onto my pants, pajamas, robe whatever I was wearing but since I was not wearing anything this did not happen. Killer and I rushed back because my bladder was disagreeing vehemently with our decision to finish the conversation. Annmarie hollered down and asked if “I had gotten it?” She offered to bring down the 30-30, her preferred raccoon eliminator after her raccoon attack but my bladder won this point as we knew the delay would cost us. When I went out onto the back porch the raccoon was not moving, three “words” later I was running for bathroom. I had to pause at the door to unload Killer and drop it onto the couch. My bladder had taken control but Killer and I managed to get the final word in.

I made it in time! Always a great feeling. At breakfast Annmarie informed me that a raccoon has been terrorizing my mother-in-law and tearing into her bird feeders and opening desk drawers on her front porch. Hopefully, we have eliminated the problem and now if my stupid chickens don’t get in before the automatic door closes it won’t be a death sentence.

As the world turns

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As always something comes up, whether you want it to or not. I was reminded yesterday that the cows probably needed food as they had tipped over the feeder. Usually I can get 1-2 days after the feeder gets tipped over as they are just trying to get to the stuff below the solid panels. But with all the snow on the ground I felt sorry for them so I opted to feed them early. I had been charging my car battery in the hopes that it not starting was just a fluke. So I walked out to the machine shed to start up the tractor with the dogs in tow. The dogs are a necessity as the cows will bum rush the large hay bale as I attempt to push it into the field. I jumped onto the tractor, put my hearing protection ear muffs on and turned that key expecting it to start. I was disappointed. It did nothing but light up a couple of lights, no tick, no noise whatsoever. Luckily, we spent $2500 last year to get a single 110v outlet and light out to the machine shop!

So I grabbed the charger from the car and put it on the tractor. I then had to unload the propane tank and all season tires from Annmarie’s car out of the back of the pickup so I could use it to haul hay. We still have some 100# bales of alfalfa in the machine shop so I loaded up six bales and drove them out into the pasture and tossed them into the feeder. The nice thing about a moveable feeder is I move it every time I feed otherwise the cows create a mud pit. We are still feeding at the far end of the field away from the houses also. In the spring I want to drag a set of discs all around the field and spread out all the leftover hay and cow poop, maybe I can get it to mulch in.

The horse’s hooves needed cleaning out as it looked like they were walking on ice bubbles. It takes some effort to get those broken up enough to scrape them off the hooves.

My chickens are causing me grief again. I thought I was down six hens due to the raccoon and then this week number 19 magically appeared in the coop one night when I was counting them. I had been spotting this random hen out in the barn before the snow came down. Annmarie spotted it yesterday in the barn. We have no idea where it is roosting in the barn but it is not returning to the coop at night. It is just wandering the barn digging through the sheep and horse poop as content as can be. Tonight when we went out to do chores it was digging through horse poop and we caught it. It is now living with its comrades in the coop. This is chicken number 20! So the raccoon can only be credited with killing four hens now.

Annmarie called me today to say that when she went out to feed in the morning that the twin miniature babies were ice cold. They were totally limp and not very responsive. I asked if their new mom had abandoned them but she said they were curled up against mom. All we can figure is that she is not producing enough milk for the babies and they are unable to get enough calories to stay warm. She called to ask if I would come tube feed them. We have never had to do it before but you just insert a tube into their stomach and give the formula in with a syringe. I told her they were most likely not going to make it and just try her best. She put them by the gas stove and fed them every 5-10 minutes little dribbles until they got warm and strong. They were both sitting up and looking around 6 hours later! We gave them to the housekeeper. She now has 9 bummers from us! Its crazy how many problems we have had this year. Including the two that have died that’s 11 sheep we have lost out on for a cost of $770. We still have at least 10 ewes that need to give birth still. They are all our older more experienced ewes. We figure they avoided the ram the longest. My sister is visiting family this week and is coming out on Saturday. We will tag and band all the babies again to get caught up. To know if the baby has been tagged or banded you just look for the floppy lowered left ear. The ear tags weigh down their ears for the first couple of weeks. Its easier to spot the low ear than the actual tag from across the barn.

On the plus side, I did not have to go fishing for a retained placenta in one of the ewes tonight. She had passed it today on the second day. I have a pack of 100 shoulder length gloves that I have only used 5 out of in the last 5 years. I am hoping to continue the streak of infrequent utilization.

Hawk ears

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It happens every year, we have our first bummer. The weird part is it’s almost always caused by humans. When we first started having sheep they would go down near the front spring and have babies and the babies would get wet and cold or drown. Annmarie convinced me to start locking them up at night in the barn by making me get up at 0300 many times in the dead of winter to search for a mewling baby lamb. This is not fun and became good incentive to get the barn redone. Every year the sheep find a way to become bummers that we had not anticipated. Today is a prime example. We had two more sets of twins born in the barn last night. I was sent out to the barn early as Mrs Hawk Ears (aka Annmarie) could hear a new baby that was in distress. Now she heard this through a barely opened bedroom window on the second story of our house through the great big tree and through the walls of the barn which is 60 yards away. Her students wonder how she can hear them whispering in the back of the classroom, the woman has better hearing than anyone I have ever encountered!

When I got to the barn I could hear the baby also and it was in distress, so I did not feed the meowing kitten or the whining horses and instead opted to go right into the barn. Going into the barn is still a risky business as I am not using the dogs. The ram and I have come to a mutual hate agreement. I carry a big stick and he stays away from me. Neither one of us trusts the other to keep his word. So I was searching for the baby and trying to keep the ram in sight. I spotted one momma and one baby but could not see the complainer. I could hear it loud and clear. I moved the sheep away from the newly installed wall feeders and saw four little feet under the feeder. The little bugger must have laid down close to the feeder and rolled under then stood up. Once upright she could not figure out how to get out. The real problem is this normally happens during the birth process so the mother doesn’t bond with the newborn lamb. There was no sorting off the momma and baby with everyone in the barn so I went and opened the outer door to let them out of the barn.

The ram followed me to the door and got within four feet of me but never tried to ram me. I had the pitchfork handle in my hand the whole time. I keep trying to use the old pitchfork heads I find laying around and they fall out of the new handles all the time so now I have a $15 club. I got about 2/3 of the herd out when I decided I had better shut the outer momma pasture gate until I had checked in the barn. I didn’t want the new momma getting out because then I have to go get the dogs and run everyone in again and sort them all over, a process that would add an hour to my outside chores. This endeavor would not disappoint either border collie as they would get to move the sheep.

I headed back into the barn and lo and behold there were two mommas and four babies! The little buggers can really hide amongst the sheep. Normally, we would just keep walking through the herd until we spotted them all but the ram is preventing us from our usual routine. Luckily with no pressure most of the mommas will hang back with their babies. So I shut up the barn and watched them, the little complainer got pushed away by both ewes. This is not a good sign but I figured if I could stick all four babies and both mommas into the smaller momma area maybe the one would change her mind. I went down to the spring and got a large bucket of water as I was going to trap them in the barn instead of allowing them free access to the spring. I had the baby area all ready and had to lure the mommas in by catching the babies and holding them out and walking to the baby area. It works even better when the lambs cry out loud for mom. I even rubbed the twin to the complainer all over the complainer hoping the scent would rub off. No go, Annmarie came out to check on me while I was watching the complainer and we just opted to call it a bummer. So she carried it to the house in her church clothes holding it out away from her body to keep her clean. I finished the morning chores and came inside. Annmarie feeds the babies way better than I do, so she offered to stay home. I sent her on her way and mixed up a bottle. We keep formula mix in the freezer for just this occasion. The lamb hollered loudly and continuously until I fed it. I then went upstairs and got our small dog kennel and turned on the gas stove so the baby could get warm. She fell asleep after the first feeding. One more time she woke up hollering and slurped down another few ounces of formula. She is a good eater, actually head butted my shoulder until she got more milk and had her fill. We have a wonderful lady who comes and takes all of our bummer lambs. We give them to her free of charge so that they can have a good chance. She has about a 50% survival rate over the years. Sometimes they are just too small. Although with this new ram that has not been a problem. His babies are gorgeous and healthy which is only reason we are putting up with him for another 3 months. I want him to impregnate all the ewes so we can have another set of his offspring. Once that is done he will be sausage. It’s just not safe to go out into the barn with him. We also don’t believe in selling our problems to other people. It’s not fair to them and most people won’t believe you when you say he is mean. Because he was tame first he has no fear of humans which makes him even more dangerous than normal as he is not skittish or unpredictable, just mean.

Here is a prime example of his behavior. Today, once I shut the gate and trapped in the last 1/3 of the ewes to check on the baby he hung around the gate waiting for them to come out. I leaned my pole up against the fence right next to the gate. I opened the gate to let the last of the ewes out and our super friendly brown ewe slipped back inside and the ram followed her. I switched sides of the gate I was standing on so I had the gate between us. All the ewes ran out and he saunters over to the gate and spots my handle leaning up against the fence. He stopped and head butted the handle multiple times until he had knocked it down on the ground and then tried to prance through the gate opening. I smacked him a good one with the gate! He is not afraid of me only of the stick. He did run off after getting blindsided by the gate.

He is not safe to be around and we have people who would like to come out and see the babies. So we will have to let them into the baby area from the outside so they can avoid him. Ideally, they would be able to just wander through the herd in the barn as everyone mills around but that won’t happen this winter.