Farm Update: Things Look Different!

Things are starting to look different around the farm, and from this point on, I’m thinking that all the hard work that has been going on behind the scenes will start to show!

On Friday, we took out second pipe delivery. This is the well stem pipe that I’m buying and the guys are cutting down to size to build the fence.  It’s “used” but very, very sturdy.  Once I get the rust treatment on it, it will be solid black and last a long time!

 

 

By Saturday, the top rail had been welded on all the way down across the long stretch of the front of the property.  The guys have been working from about 7 until 11 in the morning.  One of the welders has also been coming back in the evening after the hottest part of the day has past.  On Monday, they will pick up with setting posts and top rail along the two sides.

My brother had started the tear out of the garage that will be my workroom and home for the rabbits.  Lots to tear out before it can be built up.

 

 

The girls made two trips to the country this weekend, one with my mom and me, and another with Ken, me, and our 3 pet dogs. The realtor held an “open house” at our house in Farmers Branch which didn’t go as well as we had hoped. Oh well.

The girls found an attic space above my workroom that they want to turn into a play house.  With a little coaxing, a broom, and a flashlight, they got up there and started cleaning the junk and dirt out.  Once we get it clean enough, we’ll spread out the leftover carpet I found in one of the out buildings!

 

Cindy and Kate came by and looked at all the buildings and walked around.  In the end, we decided on a fencing option that would utilize all the buildings that were currently in place (saving me from having to erect new ones right away), but that would also give me 3 separate grazing and penning areas.  Their input was SO helpful!

Finally, Saturday night, I got my hands into some raw wool that had arrived late last week.  I even had a little help!  I washed a batch of it, and set it out to dry on the skirting table.  It was so nice to feel this morning!

Channeling Laurie

Laurie, one of my spinning friends, is the most out-of-the-box person I know.  In fact, Laurie is so out-of-the-box creative that I don’t think she’s ever IN the box!

Laurie came to spinning last week, spread a bed sheet over her lap and the floor, and started picking the vegetable matter and other unspinnable stuff out of a fleece. She casually remarked how much nicer it was to work on a fleece INSIDE in the air conditioning instead of OUTSIDE on the skirting table.

That thought came back to me tonite after I had done all the homework I could stand.  I grabbed an extra sheet, my bag of “Grace” fleece, and plopped down in the living room.  Grace was young when she was sheared, and I was only working on her blanket. Three and one-half hours later, I had a beautiful light fluffy fleece, ready to be washed!

Thanks, Laurie!

Progress, slowly but surely

Slowly, but surely, we are making some progress toward moving to the country, and on the projects that will make that possible.  Here are some things we’re celebrating:

1.  We can actually see progress in the perimeter fence building.  A few fenceposts are actually set in the ground with concrete.  Due to a miscommunication about the whereabouts of the gates, the crew took off on a long holiday weekend and won’t be back at work until Tuesday.  I’m trying to stay patient.

2.  The tree that was full of dead wood, and also endangering the electric line, has been trimmed up.  In fact, it was trimmed so dramatically that it took a couple of guys 2 trailer loads + 1 dumpster load to haul all the branches off.  Nevertheless, it not only looks a lot better now, I don’t have to worry about it ripping down the overhead electrical line (which would land on the propane tank, no doubt causing an explosion of impressive magnitude).  Still, one thing leads to another around us.  The electric line is now down so low that it is too close to the building that will become my studio and the new home for the rabbits.  So a call to an electrician was in order.  He will be out next Friday to assess the situation, and to replace the electrical box which has been, uh, “modified” over the years with a lot of wire and electrical tape. 

3.  We moved our first load of “stuff” to the house in the country.  We had already moved some things to storage and sold some of our furniture.  Now we’re trying to move stuff that we can do without at the moment in Dallas, but which we will want to have in the house in Farmersville.  This first load included a couple of 7-foot bookcases and the books that were on them, the wire rack from our kitchen and all of Ken’s mega-kitchen-appliances (juicer, stand mixer, dehydrator, etc.) and some toys, toy boxes, and a nightstand from the granddaughters’ room.  An odd mix, but that’s what it took to fill up the trailer such that nothing would slide back and forth and it would be easy to haul.  Getting the 7-foot bookcases down the stairs was something of an adventure.  It became necessary to take the handrails off the stairs and finally, in shear frustration and feeling totally inadequate, I walked down the street to a garage sale and offered $20 to a couple of guys to get their help.  I didn’t have to offer but once.

4.  We bought and delivered building supplies to the house. Finally, as our last act of what was an exhausting day, we dragged the now empty trailer to Home Depot where we purchased a laundry list of 2×4s, 1×4s, wafer board, electrical boxes, romex wire, drip edge, guns that shoot large nails into concrete, and more, loaded it in the trailer, and dragged it back to CR 699.  Once there, Ken backed the trailer up to the garage-soon-to-be-studio conversion, and dropped it.  With a little luck and a lot of hard work, my brother will soon magically turn that building into a place where the bunnies and I can live in peace and harmony, and I can play with fiber. 

For now, I take a step sideways, and work on my UNT studies.  Next week in the country, the beat goes on …..

Ready or not, it has to come off!

This last day of 100 degree weather was the straw-breaker.  Our little air conditioner in the Bunny Barn was trying valiantly to keep up, but it was just too darn hot in there for 8 rabbits in full coat.  This afternoon I decided that, ready or not, the fur has to come off.

I started with Caramel, and then moved on to Coffee.  When we got to the underside, particularly under their chins, I recruited Ken.  Rabbits do NOT like to be touched under the chin!  Once I had all the long, prime fiber plucked, I started to take the rest off with my Peanut clippers.  What I sheared off them went into the compost pile as it was too short to spin.

I have to say that they were both really good as long as they were right-side-up.  Turning them upside down to do their bellies and trim their nails was a bit of a rabbit rodeo!  They are definitely cooler now!  2 down 6 to go!

Caramel (after)

Coffee (before)

Coffee (after)

Oh, the indignity!

First we work, then we rest

Last night I was in a real bummed mood.  Even though I felt like I was getting things done, I really wasn’t getting the things done that I really wanted to get done.  What I really wanted to get done was cleaning out the buildings on the property.  They are all full of crap.  Literally and figuratively. Not wanting me to be unhappy, Ken made a suggestion.  We would get up really early on Sunday, drive to Farmersville, work on the buildings – nothing else – while it was still cool (in a relative sort of way), and then come home and rest.

So that’s what we did.  He gets up at 4:30 on a normal day, so this wasn’t a new experience for him! He got me up at 5:15 and we were out the door by 5:45 and in Farmersville by 6:30 or so.  We spent the next 3 hours, cleaning stalls, emptying the dried and partially composted manure onto a couple of spots where he wants to wants to plant things, and carrying things to the dumpster.  We cleaned out the left 1/3rd of the main barn before we gave up the ghost.

Then we came home and took a nap!

Far Left Clean!

Before – Ugh!

Shoveling it into the cart

Near Left Clean!

Middle Left Clean!

Last load of the day

Breaking the Law and Puppies!

What a day this has been! So little accomplished, and we were in the truck for hours to do it!

First, I set out early toward Grandview to take a look at the horse trailer (at least I think it’s a horse trailer) that I had spotted on Craigslist.  To my chagrin, I-35 was completely CLOSED downtown as they moved construction equipment around.  So we sat. And sat. And sat.  Fortunately for me I was sitting right near the entrance to the I-45 flyover.  I finally decided we weren’t going to get through anytime soon, and headed east on Woodall Rogers.  “You’ve left the planned route,” said Mrs. Onstar. “Would you like directions to get back on route?” Yes, I would! In a minute I had a recalculated route which circled the area of construction and got me back on track.  In another hour, I was at Mel’s

As promised, Mel had a trailer for sale.  I took a good look at it and told Mel I would like to take it home.  He hooked me up and we went to the office to handle the business end of the deal!  Now Mel is an interesting guy.  It wasn’t until I got down to the office and Mel handed me the title that I realized that the trailer had no license plates.  Seems Mel had never had the trailer put in his name when he bought it, and when he needed to take it somewhere, he just stuck a license plate on it from some other vehicle.  I guess that had worked fine for Mel, but it left me with 140 miles to drive and no license plate on the trailer.  I thanked my lucky stars that I had brought the right hardware to get the lights and brakes to work, shrugged my shoulders, and headed on down the road.

The trip home was uneventful, except for my husband teasing me about being a lawbreaker.  In Dallas, we loaded a few things in the trailer that we wanted to take to Farmersville, finished straightening the house so the realtor could show it while we were gone, loaded the dogs in the truck, and headed out once again. (Dallas to Grandview to get the trailer = “not far”.  Dallas house to Farmersville house = “not far”. Farmersville to Savoy to look at puppies= “not far”.  All 3 of them in the same day, round trip = FAR!)

Once we got to Farmersville, we unloaded the boxes and little bit of patio furniture, put the dogs in the house in the air conditioning, and Ken backed the trailer into the equipment barn (sort of – we BOTH have a lot to learn about trailer parking!).  Then it was time to go look at the puppies. Ken had found a litter of Anatolian/Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs, and was determined to have some.

That trip took us to the home of Chris and Mary Littrell, owners of these wonderful dogs and a flock of Nubian dairy goats.  With their 4 boys (all ages 4 and under!), they live on 32 acres in Savoy (near Bonham).  It took us a while to even look at the puppies because we were so fascinated with the goats!  They have 5 kids for sale (in case you’re looking for a diary goat), and Mary has seen to it that they are friendly.  Her mama goats are trained well.  When she opens the fence, a goat walks out and straight up on the milking stand where Mary milks her while the goat eats a bite.  Once Mary has all the milk she needs (I watched her milk 2 goats), she funnels the milk into empty water bottles, puts a nipple on them, and feeds the milk to the kids.  It was a real treat to watch her and the goats both!  Mary explains that this helps the goats be friendly and makes them easier to manage even into adulthood.  Her adult goats proved the point!

In with the goats, however, were the animals we really came to see:  the Anatolian/Great Pyrenees dogs.  Chris & Mary had dogs from two litters, one set older than the others.  We talked with them at some length about these wonderful dogs, how best to utilize their natural guarding instinct, and then talked to one another about how our place is going to be set up and our needs.  While Chris and Mary gave us a little distance to make up our minds, we did just that.

Like everyone else from whom we’ve bought livestock, Chris and Mary agreed to keep the pups for a couple more weeks until our fences are in place.  Ken’s in dog heaven because he knows he’ll have them soon, and that they will be well taken care of in the meantime.  WordPress is not cooperating with me right now, so you’ll have to go to my Flickr set to see their pictures!

Thank Goodness for Friends & Neighbors!

I am not going to thank my friends and neighbors enough for everything they are helping me with right now as we transition from suburban life to country life.  It’s simply not possible.  They do too much – hold me up, back me down, tell me what to do, tell me what not to do, and willingly share their knowledge and experience with me.  They’re tearing down old buildings and fences, building new fences, and still speaking to me after I’ve changed my mind about how I want the fences built at least 3 times. [Please note that they did very calmly announce to me today that no further changes would be allowed.  At least I don't have to ponder over fencing any more!]  They’re boarding my animals, putting me in contact with other people who have equipment and skills I don’t have, helping me find materials, and making sure I don’t buy crummy stuff. Some of the labor is costing me money, but a whole lot of it is not, for which I will be ever grateful!  I only hope that I can return the favor to each and every one of them some day, and pay it forward to the next country newbie who comes along!

Today’s Lists:

Things I got done today:

•  Robbed a bank. Well, sort of. Let’s just say I “repurposed” some funds that weren’t doing a whole lot of good where they were.
• Interviewed for a job which they offered me and I accepted!  Yippee! Continued income to support for fiber addiction, both stuff from the store and the kind on the hoof!
• Took delivery of 50 sticks of oil stem pipe for the fence, the first delivery of many.
• Took delivery of the pallet of concrete even though the delivery driver considered 9:50 to be a good time for my “afternoon” delivery.
• Called the dumpster company to come get the full dumpster and bring me an empty one.  I seriously under-estimated the size of the dumpster I would need!  Live and learn.
• Travelled to Bonham, met with the gate guy, ordered the gates for the fences ,and arranged for them to be delivered on Wednesday.
• Bought a hay rack.  I couldn’t help it! It was calling my name, and it was a bargain!
• Talked to the guy that was going to mow my pasture.  Bad news. Pasture is in too bad a shape to be mowed and baled.  Instead, he’ll get after it with a bush hog, then get his friend (gotta love it!) to come over and turn it with a disc.  There will still be enough greenery for the animals to eat, but no hay.  Next year, it will be in much better shape.  Time to take the long view.
• Stopped in Anna to look at some alpacas.  The timing is not right for me and these particular animals.  Too bad.
• Made final arrangements with the fence guys about how and where the fences are going.
• Visited with my mom.  She rode around with me all day, and told me all kinds of stories about when my brother and I were kids, and when she and my dad bought their place in the country and moved up there.  I really am turning into my mother!
• Packed up 4 boxes of dishes, the ones that were in the china cabinet and buffet that I sold.
• Trimmed the tomato plants.  They were taking over the garden!
• Fed and watered the rabbits, and scooped out their litter boxes.  Must be done on a daily basis with them all closed up and the air conditioner running in order to keep the air quality good.

Things I still need to do (Saturday’s list):

• Finish cleaning up the house so it will look decent for the potential buyer(s) who come visit while our realtor holds it open tomorrow afternoon.
• Drive to Grandview to look at a trailer.  With any luck, it will follow me home (that’s trailer humor, in case you didn’t catch it).
• Work on cleaning the junk out of the main barn.
• Buy a microwave and a couple of plain Jane bar stools for the Farmersville house.
• Go to Bonham with Ken to look at the Anatollian/Great Pyrenees dogs he wants to buy

Sunday, we rest (and do homework).  Monday it starts all over again!  Ain’t life great!

The Wheels on the Suburban go ’round and ’round.

Okay, it doesn’t have the same “ring” as The wheels on the bus… but it sure describes my day! 

Not long ago I got into a conversation with an acquaintance about going somewhere.  I’m a Native Texan, and she was from some other state in the USA which is … well … smaller.  Does it really matter?

Anyway, I made the comment that wherever we were going wasn’t very far, and she looked at me like I had 3 heads!  It was at that moment that I realized that, in Texas, by comparison with places that aren’t Texas, we have a different definition of “far”.  For example:

• Driving from Dallas to Austin to speak at a conference and then driving back is “not far”.
• Driving from Dallas to Orlando, Florida, with two kids in the car, is “far”.
• Driving from North Dallas to Southern Louisiana to go to a Fiber Festival is “not far”.
• Driving from Dallas to Frederick, Maryland, to go to a knitting Festival, is “far”.
• Going from North Dallas to Galveston to go to the beach for the weekend is “not far”.
• Driving from Dallas to Missouri to pick up your alpacas, well, that one is right on the line.

There are some rules, I think, that come into play in these determinations, that are present but unspoken.  First, it takes an hour to get anywhere in Dallas, even on the freeway, and especially on LBJ.  So if you can get there in less than an hour, it’s “not far”.  However, if you have to stop for more than one meal and tank of gas, and are seriously considering spending the night on the way, well, that’s “far”.  On those occasions, it is smart to entertain yourself along the way with such fun games as determining where along your route you will no longer be able to get real sweet tea (unlimited refills) with your meal.

So today the wheels on the Suburban went round and round – North Dallas to Allen and back, then North Dallas to Arlington and back (each trip 45 minutes each way in total opposite directions).  But that’s how we “run errands” here, so it was all “not far”.

Today’s Lists:

Things I Got Done -

• Called a guy about mowing the pasture.  What in the world am I going to do with 300 square bales of fescue hay?
• Had a hitch put on the Suburban
• Made an appointment with a guy to look at his horse trailer on Saturday morning (1 hour +15 minutes away = “not far”)
• Went for a job interview (not a farm chore, but directly related to the farm since it is, at the moment, a money pit)
• Ordered a load of fence pipe to be delivered tomorrow about the same time the pallet of concrete will be delivered.
• Made arrangements for the A/C at the farm to be “tuned up” while I’m there tomorrow.
• Went to the bank and withdrew vast sums of money to pay for the pipe.  Hint: they asked for 2 forms of ID
• Talked to the local farm and ranch store to be sure they have my fence wire in stock (yes, they do)
• Visited with a friend
• Went to the CPA’s to finish last year’s taxes (yes, I filed an extension in April)

Things I still need to do:

• Rob a bank.

Sigh.

Our latest acquisition

Agape Oaks M, 9 weeks old, he’ll be the buck for the Nigora herd. Come on, fence!

Today’s Lists

Things I got done today:

1. Rented a storage unit near the new place within which to store the stuff we own that will not fit in the new (temporary) house.

2. Had a dumpster delivered within which to deposit the vast amounts of junk that the prior resident left in our barns and around the new place.

3. Ordered a pallet of 80-lb bags of concrete from Home Depot (to be used to set fence posts) to be delivered on Friday afternoon.

4. Contracted with a guy to come out and mow the pasture and turn it into square bales.

5.  Walked the property line and cross fence line and had many discussions with fence builders about how much fencing stuff was going to be required and what their labor costs would be.

Things I still need to do:

1.  Rob a bank.

Sigh.