Farmer Liam

Grandbaby Liam's First Visit to the Farm

Hi, my name is Liam.  I'm seven months old and I came to visit my Pops and Shelly at the farm.  This is Shelly.  She's my grandma, but she doesn't want to be old, so she told me to call her Shelly.  Pops doesn't care if I call him Grandpa, but Shelly said to call him Pops anyway.

My daddy didn't feel good, so whle he took a nap (I didn't need a nap), Shelly took me on a tour of the farm.  I sat on the big red tractor.  I think I'll be driving it soon.

But for now, I can only sit.  It's time to get down now.  See how I wore the farm colors?  Red and tan.

Next, we went to see the goats.  Only Hyacinth would put her nose up here for me.  I kind of had the urge to bite it with my two teeth.  Billy didn't come see me 'cause he was busy eating hay.  Someday, I'll try eating some hay and see if it tastes as good as Billy thinks.

Then we went to see the donkeys.  This is Henry.  Wow, look at those ears!

I think he likes me.  Shelly doesn't usually let little people go in the gate because sometimes Kip and Henry get frisky and run and kick, but she thought it would be OK 'cause I can't walk yet.

Whoa!

We saw lots of chickens, too.  They love Shelly and they followed us all around.

I mostly liked Harry and Pearlie. 

This is the wishing well where the goldfish swim and wish.  I made some wishes, but I didn't swim.

I took a ride on the golf cart.  There was lots of good dirt on it.  When I get big, I'm gonna drive this bad baby.

We chilled on the patio in Shelly's new furniture.  Yo, yo.

Well, maybe I slept a little bit.  Just a ten minute power nap.

Birds

We've had a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks in our front yard for about an hour.  I don't know what they're eating, but they're very busy.

And some kind of woodpecker thrown in the mix.

You can't beat nature's colors.

I think I painted one of these in the oasis mural at the church building.  They probably don't evn live in desert oases where camels live, but hey, what do I know?  It was fun to paint.

Another Storm, Another Carpenter

Big storm rolling in from the west.  More snow and below freezing temps predicted starting late tonight.  Winter, be gone.

I hired another carpenter recommended by my friend, Netta.  He is excellent.  I couldn't ask for a better fit of the crown moulding against that tin ceiling.

Yesterday, he completed this room and tightened up all the baseboards in the rest of the apartment.  Today, he finished the trim in the green bedroom and the crown moulding in Tom's office.  He's good.  He's fast.  He doesn't charge by the hour.

Texas...What's UP?

This weather is not Texas weather.  This is not why people live in Texas.  Big snow two years in a row?  Extended stretches of below freezing weather?  Icicles hanging off Henry's brow?  This is just not right. 

Harry doesn't mind, but he does like to stay in the garage at night.

Sometimes, Harry can look downright regal.

I hope my fish pond isn't frozen solid.  How long will fish survive in a little pond with a frozen top?

He's a hardy little goat, but doesn't he look like a dwarf?  I'm thinking he's a dwarf Boer.  Is there such a thing?  He's just weird looking.  But he has a happy little smile on his face.

Misery

This cold weather is misery for all of us on the farm.  The goats are surviving, but they're keeping their tails tucked, and some of them have their hair standing on end - their version of goose bumps, I guess.  They stay in their sheds most of the time, so we stocked them with hay bales.  For some reason, Pansy's boys (the meat goats born this past spring, which should have been slaughtered already) are the ones who seem the coldest.  They shiver a lot. 

I'm afraid for Rosie goat.  She's so skinny and frail looking.  And I don't think she has much sense.  Yesterday when I went out to check on them, she was standing outside of the shed against the wall.  Just standing there alone and forlorn looking while all of the others were inside the shed, out of the wind, eating hay.

We brought the Nubians into the barn last night because it was supposed to be the lowest temp. yet.

All the water buckets are frozen solid and we have the water to the pastures turned off so that we won't have any broken pipes.  We have to carry water to each pasture twice a day.  Yesterday, Kip and Henry sucked down a gallon a piece as soon as I handed them the bucket.

It's 23 degrees right now and the high today is supposed to be 32.

I am so sick of winter.

Incident Report

Crime: Assault and battery

Crime Scene:  The Henhouse

Victim: Hubby LaRoo

"He just came at me.  He's crazy, I tell ya'."

Suspect: Tubby Malone

Witnesses:

Henny and Penny, "We didn't see nothin'!"

Li'l Red Hen, "Idiots."

"Will they be going on 'oliday?"

Ouch.

Things around here have come to a screeching halt.  Tom is in the hospital.  On Wednesday he started having a lot of pain and thought he had a hemorrhoid.  He toughed it out until Saturday when the pain was so bad that he couldn't sit and could barely sleep the night before.  We decided that perhaps it wasn't a hemorrhoid and that it could be something that needed some medical attention.  So we went to the ER.  They determined that it was a perirectal abscess and they admitted him.  He had surgery to drain it on Sunday afternoon and because it might possibly be a staph infection, they have kept him there.  If all goes well, they plan to discharge him tomorrow.

Despite the pain and with Tom working in slow motion, on Saturday we managed to put the greenhouse frame up.

It backs up to the garden shed so access to the shed will be through the greenhouse.  We used the old dining room doors for the greenhouse doors and have two panels left (one is leaning up against the wall of the shed in the picture) that we're trying to think of a way to incorporate into the structure.  I might just end up using them as potting tables.  We didn't put the plastic over it because it was too windy that day.

A friend gave us 15 hens that will probably start laying eggs in March.  It only took them a couple of days to figure out that I'm the food lady.  They're running after me in this picture as they do every time I walk out there.  When our friend offered them to us, I thought he was offering little chicks.  When he brought them over and I realized they were practically adults, I was concerned about integrating them into our small flock.

I had read that you shouldn't try to put two flocks together because it messes up the pecking order, but it's been a little over a week and they seem to be doing fine.  We used the dog kennel to make an extra yard for them while for three days I conditioned them to come when I call, "chick, chick".  Then we took the plunge and let them free range.  They are definitely kept low in the pecking order by our older hens.  They get lots of pecks and an occasional feather pulled out and they are not allowed on the roost at night, but I expect all of that to be sorted out with time.

Today was the first time I got the opportunity to take a picture of one of the bluebirds with  my new camera.  These birds are so elusive and skittish that it has been very difficult.  They fly away if I'm anywhere near with the camera.  But this little guy keeps trying to get in the house.  Each  morning he (or one that looks just like him) sits on the bathroom window sill cheeping and fluttering and banging into the window over and over again.  And this afternoon while I was sitting at the computer, he was doing the same to the kitchen window, so I grabbed my camera and very quietly went outside just in time to snap this pic while he was sitting on a nearby tree.  Unfortunately, it is kind of blurry.  I've found that when I zoom in real tight, it is very difficult to hold the camera still enough for a clear shot, especially when I'm in a hurry like I was today because I knew he would flit away at any moment.

Craigslist Finds, Cottage Antiques, and Birthday Gifts

I found this patio set on craigslist.  Had to drive to Dallas to get it, but I took Netta with me so the drive was fun and she helped me pack it into the back of the truck.  Well, to be more accurate, she packed it and I kind of helped.

On the way, we stopped at an antique mall.  I bought this old tablecloth.  I love the colors.  I think I'll make it into a bedspread for the apartment.

I also got these two white lamps to go in one of the bedrooms.  Milk glass, hobnail?

For my birthday, my very sweet sister sent me this teacup wind chime.  Very cute.

Love.

But the Good News Is...

The A/C guys came on Monday and finally finished installing the A/C unit.  So now we have real heat, not that we need it today because it is supposed to be 60 degrees.  But, that is progress.  Now that it is done, we can start moving stuff off the barn floor up to the loft and getting the barn cleaned up.

The heat is electric, but we just have that for back up.  We got a propane heater that will be installed by the door in the living room that is supposed to be able to heat the whole space and be cheaper than the electric heat.  We had originally planned to have a wood stove in there and I really, really want to do that, but Tom is not so keen on it and it would take up space in the tiny living area.  It's still a possibility in the future, but for now it will be propane and/or electric.

Gently Fired

We let our carpenter go this morning.  He was just doing shoddy work.  It's not like it was earth shatteringly awful, but why pay someone to do shoddy work? 

It's little things like this...

and this.  I mean, why not cut the casings to the proper length so that it all flows nicely, fits tight against the floor or the adjoining board and doesn't have to be caulked?  The carpenter's solution is to caulk these places that don't match up.  My thought is, why not do it right the first time?  What is so hard about measuring the board to fit correctly?

And, sure, all of the boards are not straight, but if they aren't straight and don't lie flat against the wall, why not be a little creative and find a way to make them as much as possible?

There are a few corners like this one where the baseboards aren't flat up against the wall, which leaves a gap both against the wall and a V-shaped gap against the adjoining baseboard.  Yes, these gaps can be filled with caulk, but why?

Tom went in and used screws instead of nails to screw the wood to the stud.  That pulls the wood tight against the wall, even if the wood is warped.  The carpenter should have taken the time to do this.  Since, he didn't and he already cut all the wood to fit with gaps, when Tom made the adjustment, it left an even bigger gap.  The choice is to take the whole other piece of baseboard out, go buy more and replace it with a longer piece, or put this little sliver of wood to fill the gap.  We're going with the sliver.  We can't afford to replace all the boards that would need to be replaced, so we're going to fix what we can and remind ourselves that "this is a barn, it doesn't have to be perfect".

So, it's a whole bunch of little things, of which the above are just a sampling, that have added up to "fired".  Now, either we have to find another carpenter or Tom is going to have to finish the trim work.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the  moment and Tom must be, too.  There are just so  many things that need to be done NOW, that it's hard to know what to do first.

We have to get the entry gate up now to stop Harry from leaving the property and chasing cars before he gets killed.  We have to get the greenhouse up now so that I can get my seeds started for the spring garden.  We need to fence off the back yard now so that when the plants start coming up in the flower bed, the chickens won't scratch them all up and destroy everything.  We need to get the barn cleaned up now so that when the baby goats arrive at the beginning of March, we'll be able to keep them in the barn.

I  haven't even cleaned up the garden from last summer.  There are still dead plants in there and lots of winter weeds have sprouted up, so it will have to be tilled.

Ack!

Harry v. Wylie Coyote

While fixing my breakfast this morning, I happened to glance out the kitchen window just in time to see a small coyote (about the size of a border collie, but scrawnier) lope from the direction of the road into the circle that our driveway makes right out in front of the house.  It appeared that he came right up the driveway.  At first I thought it was some ugly little dog, but I couldn't identify the breed and it suddenly dawned on me, "that's a coyote!"

Harry happened to be in the front yard and saw the coyote right about the same time I did.  He jumped up and gave chase and the little coyote turned and high-tailed it as fast as he could go.  Harry chased him all the way down the driveway, across the road (thank goodness a car wasn't coming right at that moment), and into the hay field across the road.  Harry came back empty handed, so I guess it got away. 

Brazen little thing to march right up to our yard at 8:00 on a bright clear morning.  He was probably on a  reconnaissance mission for his pack.  I hope his report back was, "humongous, scary, mean dog there, too risky to try to hunt on that land." rather than "only one dopey dog watching the place, lots of chickens and goats for dinner, I'll lead him away, while y'all go catch a chicken."

Wish I had had time to get my camera and get that on film.

On a Happier Note

So, I wasn't going to post pictures of the kitchen until it was all trimmed out and done, but I couldn't wait.

Here's the peninsula.  The butcherblock countertop will jut out a few inches in the back to make an eating bar.  The apron front sink will go in the cabinet right under the window.

This is to the right of the window/sink.  The refrigerator and stacked washer/dryer will go in the blank space, microwave in that tall cabinet with the open space in the middle.  In retrospect, I could have made the kitchen a few feet smaller.  Actually, I did try, but I couldn't get the cabinets to work out unless I moved the sink out from under the window and I didn't want to to that.

The IKEA cabinets were super easy to put together.  Most of them literally snapped together and you can put them together without any power tools, although a drill comes in handy.  The installation is pretty simple, too, however, power tools are necessary for that.  A level is a must.  During installation, every angle must be leveled.  The process is rather tedious, but again, simple.  IKEA provides little plastic legs that snap onto the bottom of the cabinets and can be screwed up or down to level each side.

Here is how the trim is going to look...and the colors.  This is one of the bedroom closets, doors taken off and primed by the carpenter **mad face**.  All of the apartment and Tom's office is painted this color with the exception of the bathroom, which is a shade lighter, and the other bedroom in the following picture.

I LOVE these colors!  And I love the contrast with the white trim.

This is Tom's office with two buit in bookcases, so far, only primed.

What do you think?  Cottagey?

Fed Up

That's what I am, fed up with these workmen that have no respect for our space.  The A/C guys still haven't finished the job.  They finally...finally came this week to finish it, but they drilled a hole in the wall in the wrong place.  They have to repair that so all work has stopped.  That was Wednesday and they still haven't come back even though they made arrangements to come yesterday.  No show.  No call.

I didn't realize unti too late that when they left on Wednesday, they just left all the stuff right in the middle of the floor, blocking the door.  If I had known, I would have had them move it all upstairs out of the way.  Instead, the carpenter had to move it all out of the way so he could work on Thursday.  And I'm paying him by the hour.  So, essentially, I paid him to clean up the A/C guys mess.  Currently, it is just shoved out of the way so we have at least a pathway through the middle of the barn.  To this mess...

And this isn't even half of it.  I couldn't get it all in one frame.  Every flat surface is covered with painted boards, drying in the barn.  Basically, the carpenter bullied me into letting him paint all the trim boards.  Yes, he did in just a few hours, with his spray rig, what it would have taken me much longer to do.  But, I didn't hire him to paint.  I hired him to install the trim.  And, yes, I was kind of dreading painting all that trimwork after it was up, but I could have done it in my own time and for free.  I had to pay him.  So, I do feel bullied.  It's a good thing that we don't have to put any animals in right now because we literally could not use our barn.  At all.

This is a working farm.  I guess I'm just tired of people not respecting that.  And I'm tired of dealing with contractors.  Period.