Farm Fodder

Went outside about 2 hours after Nathan & ! put Dex in his own paddock.

He had climbed over a section of fence that was already scrunched down to about 30 inches high. He was happily eating up the alfalfa pellets and sweet feed we had given Fern.

So, I had to fix that section of fencing. Since it was late, I did that after church Sunday afternoon.

I cut a section of cattle panel down to fit the section of fence that Dex had stepped over. I then nailed it to the wooden end post and wired the other end tightly to the adjacent metal post.

Nathan, Sam and I put Dex back into his paddock. He was furious!!! He ran around (slipping and sliding in the Kentucky clay mud) and kicking his hooves in the air! But he stayed put this time – we would hear him yell (or bellow) loudly every few minutes.

Eventually the bellowing subsided to once or twice per hour.

It is after 10 PM, and we suspect he is still in his paddock. If he stays there tonight, Nathan may get milk from Fern tomorrow! Dex has been nursing her dry every day, so we haven’t had fresh milk from her for over 2 months. We’re hoping to get a quart or 2 each day.

–Pat

This morning, while feeding and watering the animals (in the freezing rain and ice), I saw that the bull was “bullying” the cow (no pun intended). He would push her away from the hay, and she is obviously intimidated- and getting thinner.

So, I went out and took down the electric fence wire (which he had run through as soon as we put him in the paddock with the electric fence). Nathan helped me carry the big roll of field fencing down  to the paddock.

By then, my gloves were soaking wet, since I had to strip the ice off of the high tensile wire as I rolled it up (after taking it off of the fence posts). I carried the fence wire insulators and the rolls of high tensile fence wire down to the garage to store them. it was still icing and raining when I went into the garage. When I came outy, with the fence clips for the field fence, it had turned to HUGE snow flakes, mixed in with the rain and ice.

The boys and I came in to sip tea and coffee while I put my soaked gloves on the wood stove to “steam dry”.

I will head back out once I finish the coffee and put up the field fencing. Once that is done, Dex the bull will have his own paddock and he won’t be picking on Fern anymore.

Update to follow…

I got a lot done this past weekend.

I took Friday and Monday off of work so I could try to get ahead.

The boys and I cut, split and stacked a lot of fire wood.

I got two thirds of the porch sided on the outside. Of course, I had to frame in a sliding glass door first!

I patched a couple of holes in the drive up the hill and cleaned out and dredged two drainage trenches to help alleviate the washing away of the gravel from the run off from the rain and snow.

I’m sure there was more – my muscles are telling me so as I type this, but I’m too tired to remember what it was!

–Pat

Didn’t go to work today – saw people sliding all over the road and I had 5.5 inches of snow on my drive.

I cleared the drive with my tractor and then got my 4×4 truck up the hill.

Our drive is a steep hill that runs about 100 yards to the actual “driveway” where we park our vehicles. When I got home from work yesterday, there was already about 4 inches on the drive and I was sliding while trying to get up the hill. So, I parked at the bottom and walked up. I didn’t blade the drive with the tractor because the weather forecast was for “heavy snow” later.

The picture at the left is a view from our back porch – there is a sidewalk next to the little solar powered walkway lights. Of course, you can’t see the walkway.

I do need to cut and split more firewood this weekend.  As you can see,  we’ll have to broom the snow off of the piles of wood before we start. I’ll need to lay down a tarp to put the wood on after splitting, too..

Well, it took some figuring, and gathering up the strength to press in and start all over.

I was able to sink the 6 4×4 posts I needed today. The weather was in the 50′s and off and on sprinkling.

Once the posts are set, I will continue on. I intend to raise the roof back up a bit (it sagged when the original 4×4′s burned up, but 2 4×4′s and the siding were holding it up.
I will raise it up when I replace the 2×6 support beams. Which will happen later in the week.

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Ours was made very nice by a couple of friends – and of course, Jesus…

You see, our barn burned down on Monday.

Marilyn had brought the boys to town to meet me at the allergist. Sam & I had to get our allergy shots. After that, Sam and I headed to the Tractor Supply in Williamstown to get a ton of wood pellets for the pellet stove. Marilyn and Nathan headed home.

I got a call on the cell phone just as we were preparing to exit at Dry Ridge. Sam answered the call and Nathan asked to talk to me – Sam told him that I was driving and couldn’t talk when Nathan interrupted and said “It’s an emergency!”.

Nathan told me that the barn had burned down. We lost one chicken, but all the goats (that had been in the paddock where the barn was) were safe and sound. When I got home, a fireman was giving oxygen to a chicken. He said that the fire was started by an electrical problem. There was one 8 X 8 section standing and everything else was in rubble. A big, smoldering rubble…

Marilyn and I both posted on facebook that the barn burned down. Many people said that they would pray for us, 1 person said that they would bring us hay, and another volunteered to come out Christmas weekend to help in any way that they could.

Then came the email…

A friend emailed and said that she and her friend wanted to buy Christmas for our boys – so we could use our money to rebuild the barn.

Not only did they do what they said, but they gave us money for the barn project, got money from a chiropractor for the barn (when the husband told the story to the chiropractor, she wanted to give), and said that they had 6 people lined up to help build it when I was ready! Even one of their daughters took money out of savings for Christmas for us – so we would have money to rebuild.

In the end, it was a testament to God’s goodness and of how He works through His people.

I will always remember this Christmas… because love DID come down at Christmas – in more ways than one…

–Pat

Well, in between craft shows and enclosing the porch, the boys and I have moved the laying hens into a winter house and moved the broilers to an outside pen. Now back to the porch.

I worked in the dark last night. I built an 8 ft/ frame complete with the openings for 2 – 33″ wide x 29″ high windows. With Nathan’s help, I put it in place. Tonight I have to anchor it down to the concrete with masonry screws. Then I will cut out the opening for the glass slider and frame it in. That will be about it for tonight.

Hoping that sometime (between the rain storms) on Wednesday and Thursday, I can finish the framing (one 2 x4 to put in) on the East wall and get the house wrap and siding on. Then it’s on to the insulation and inside walls!

We just wrapped up our busiest craft show of the season.

We always set up a booth at Ryle High School craft show in Union, KY. it is a very big show, attracting vendors from other cities and even other states.

We enjoy having a profitable weekend (it is a Friday night – Saturday show), and we are usually wiped after it is over.

But despite the physical drain, we always come away with a sense of satisfaction – not so much for the monies earned (even though we don’t deny that it helps), but because we have the opportunity to share our hearts with others. We give them information about the food and cosmetic industries, and things that they can do to live more healthy lives.Good choices go a long way in providing good health practices, and we believe that teaching people about the things they can avoid and what they can use when making those choices is an important step on the road to health and well being.

Besides, we enjoy meeting and visiting with people, and the craft show venue is an excellent way for us to do that.

To Your Health,

Pat