Spider On My Lips!

Spider on MY LIPS! AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHuhuhuh.... **Shudder**

I was reaching out to pick a tomato off the vine yesterday, focusing on the tomato and I planted my face right in the middle of a spider web. With the spider on the web. I felt it's spider feet tap across my lips. ACK! It was one of those beneficial garden spiders and harmless, but still, spider feet should never touch human lips. Ever.

Brain Dead

Why can't I remember to take my camera with me out to the farm? Even if I get it out of the charger and set it right here on the desk in front of me, it will remain there until I return from the farm...mocking me.

It's no fun getting old. An attorney friend, Greg, says to eat blueberries. Apparently, they have been proven to be the only food that will regenerate brain cells. I definitely think I need some.

Aphids! Not.

I did some research and discovered that the problem I'm having with my tomatoes is blossom end rot...not aphids. I've read different philosophies on what causes it and how to treat it, but most of them agree that uneven soil moisture has something to do with it. I can see where that might be my problem since I wasn't watering the gardening at first. I was just letting the rain take care of it. Then I decided that I needed to water and I soaked the ground every 2-3 days. Maybe not such a good idea, but I really don't have much of a choice since I'm out there for 2-3 days then gone for 2-3 days.

Some websites say not to panic, that only the first fruits will be affected. That seems to have been the case with mine. Unfortunately, now that the blossom end rot appears to be gone, the vine ends are splitting open, rotting, and are getting eaten by ants. Grrr! I've read that the soil moisture can be a cause of this problem.

Despite the problems I'm having with the tomatoes, we've actually gotten to eat some of them. I've been harvesting them before they are completely ripe - not as tasty, but still quite good. On Saturday I cooked lunch for Tom and myself at the farm. We had, from our garden, squash seasoned with a tiny jalapeno, salt and pepper, sauteed in butter, sliced fresh tomatoes, sweet corn (having problems with ants and caterpillars) and a little dab of leftover pork BBQ. It was so good. I'm not much of a squash lover, but even I liked it fixed that way.

The wood floors that I ordered have arrived (partial order as expected). Tom decided to scrape the popcorn ceilings himself and has been working feverishly on that. He got all of the kitchen/dining/hall area done and started on the master bedroom. He's planning to finish that on Wednesday, then we will have the floors installed. After the floors are installed, even though the house won't be completely ready, we can start moving in. We'll finish the rest as we have time. It's important for us to move some of our belongings and mostly live out there for two reasons: (1) we need to make our current house show ready by cleaning it out (2) we need to be at the farm most of the time so that we can work at making our farm productive.

Also, the barn is being built. When it's finished, we'll be able to store a lot of stuff in there that we don't have a place for yet.

Aphids!

Friends came to visit us at the farm today and I took the wife out to see our garden. We discovered that some of the tomatoes had ripened, but when we went to pick them, every one appeared to be rotted out on the bottom. My friend told me it was aphids. They suck the juices out of the bottom as soon as the tomatoes start to ripen. I've got to find a way to get rid of them right away or they will ruin my whole tomato crop.

It looked stormy out there this morning so the barn builders did not come. Tom and I got up early so that we could be out there at 8:30 to meet the floor guys. They didn't show up until about 10:30, so of course, they didn't finish today. They are planning on arriving at noon tomorrow to finish the subfloor.

Produce

Our first crop of hay has been baled. Our neighbor even custom baled it for us so that the bales wouldn't be too heavy for me to handle. We've already used some bales in the goat pen and as soon as we can, we'll pick up the bales and store them in the existing barn.

The erection of the new barn is supposed to be started tomorrow and the installation of the plywood subfloor in the house started on Monday - should be finished tomorrow. It's good to have the dirty concrete covered.

Also, I was able to harvest a couple of squash, the corn is growing ears, there are lots of tomatoes on the vine - still green, the lettuce needs to be picked again, and some new plants have sprung up that look as though they might be some of the bell peppers I planted and gave up on. It remains to be seen if they will produce anything.

Bad news. I had another kidney stone attack at midnight Monday when I was out at the farm all alone. That was horrible, but I called Tom and he drove out in the middle of the night to be with me. Is that love or what?

Views of the Farm

Looking out over the pasture by the barn and a view of the path from the barn to the house.

Amazing Feats

Really, Tom has accomplished so much. After he spent Monday afternoon sawing off the tin overhang on the existing barn, he got up early this morning and sawed off the overhang rafters. That was a big job. Everything is ready for the foundation pouring in the morning.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

First Harvest!

I picked the lettuce today even though I'm not exactly sure how to do it. I decided that since the outer leaves seemed to wither and die while being replaced with younger leaves in the middle, I would just pick the outer leaves. I picked about half a plastic grocery bag full. Then I picked the one little jalapeno.

More Projects

Just when we think we've got the big projects done, something else crops up.

We went out to the farm for a couple of days to clear away several things from around the existing barn because the builder has scheduled the concrete foundation to be poured and they need lots of room to manuever the trucks. Tom got everything cleared away and the builder told him, "By the way, you need to cut off the overhang in the back so that we can set some poles."

So Tom spent the afternoon on the hot tin roof. First he started to pull off the whole roof, but after one strip, he saw that it was just too big of a job to get done in such a short time. So he ended up taking a saw and cutting the tin off along the back. He's going back today and tomorrow to cut the overhanging rafters off. The foundation is scheduled for Thursday. He'll take the rest of the roof off during the 7-10 day concrete curing period.

I've scheduled with the wood floor installer to begin the installation of the subfloor on Monday. We're almost ready for that, but there are still a few small projects to be done ...and one big one - the rebuilding of the office wall.

Tom has to go to Houston on Thursday and Friday for some Republican voting thing. He has been elected as a voting delegate. I think the convention he is attending is for electing the electoral college delegates from among the district delegates.

In the meantime, Tom went to a hearing on our property taxes. He prepared and presented his case to the panel. They ruled against him, but were intrigued and excited about the information that he presented. I asked why they ruled against him if they were so convinced. One of the reasons was that if they ruled in his favor, it would set no precedent. They want him to file a suit and go to court because if he wins, it will benefit everyone in the county. In the meantime, they did lower our appraisal by 30%. But, really, does Tom need another project?

Amazing Progress

It is quite amazing what Tom is able to accomplish. In just a few days he has torn out and rebuilt much of the living room walls that were eaten by termites. When he tore everything out, we were astonished that the room was still standing. It must have been held up by the window frames. One whole wall had to be torn out, window taken out and replaced. And these are not tiny sissy windows. These are huge slabs of glass about five feet wide and six to seven feet tall. Fortunately, he only had to remove and replace one. For the rest of the repairs, he was able to pry out the damaged wood from underneath the windows and shore them up without removing them. He had help from friend, Nolan, for two of the days and I was there, but wasn't much help with the heavy work. Mostly, I just tried to keep the area cleaned up so he wouldn't have to work amongst the debris.

Now he has to tear out and replace about one and a half walls in the office. Except for that, we're ready for the wood floor guy to come put in the plywood subfloor.

Yesterday, the granite countertops were installed. The installer did a horrible job. But to correct the problems would mean selecting new slabs and causing further damage to my lovely new cabinets by taking out the granite. The fix is worse than than living with the bad job. I'm not willing to go through it, so I will live with it. Otherwise, the stone is beautiful, the island turned out great with a big curve across the back so that we have some space to sit at the counter on bar stools.

Two New Goats

Since Billy was so lonely, we decided to get him a pal as quick as possible. On Sunday afternoon Tom went to the Canton First Monday Flea Market and bought a little goat. He was told that it is a Nubian, but I'm pretty sure she is not. She's a little white goat with light tan markings similar to a Boer goat and she has some funky ears - long and pendulous like they are supposed to be, but they turn up at the ends.

I think I'll start my flower themed names with her and call her Pansy.

After Tom got that goat, I happened to check Craigslist that same evening and found a registered Nubian nanny. I went to see her this morning and bought her. I think her name should be Hyacinth.

Hyacinth is as affectionate as Billy. When I put her in the pen with Billy and Pansy, both Hyacinth and Billy were jostling for a place to stand next to me. Neither wanted the other to be near me. This resulted in a head butting contest which was hilarious to watch.

They would both stand their long ears straight up, which made them look like little donkeys, then they'd rear up on their hind legs and come crashing down, butting their heads together. After watching that scene for a while, I decided that if I left, they might be able to work out their differences. I watched them from the house and they did stop butting heads soon after I left. In a short time, they were all happily grazing together.

The building in the background is the previous owner's new barn. Ours will look similar to that. She chose the same colors as me so that our properties would kind of look like one big place and everything would go together.

Veggie Tales

Yippee! We have veggies!

Don't snigger at the grass in my garden. I know it's out of control. I spent the morning hours pulling it out from around my veggies, but I just didn't have time to pull it out from the middle of the rows. Hopefully, when we get the house in shape, I'll have more time to tend to the garden properly.

Despite the neglect, my lettuce is growing good, I have baby squash and a cute little green pepper. Tomatoes are blooming, so if the bees are doing their pollinating job, I should have some tomatoes on the vine soon. The watermelon vines are growing like crazy, but I forgot to take a picture of them.

Thirty Years of Dirt Is a Lot of Dirt

Nasty discovery today. We took the paneling down in the living room and office and discovered extensive termite damage.

Before we bought the place, we had a wood destroying insect inspection and the inspector noted in the report that there was damage, but there was no evidence that the bugs were still active. So, somewhere along the road, termites were eating the house, they were discovered and euthanized. Unfortunately, the damage was not repaired. It was hidden by that hideous paneling. Above is a picture of what the gypsum board behind the paneling looks like. It's going to have to be torn down. Also the bottoms of all of the window frames (in that room) are all eaten away and have to be replaced.

Also, after removing the baseboards, I was sweeping and vacuuming up the endless supply of dead bug carcasses that were behind the baseboards. I noticed that in one spot, I'd vacuum up a pile of sand and more would replace it. I spent a very long time vacuuming us sand that was falling out of the wall. It was pouring out as quickly as the vacuum could suck it up. I gave up after filling three vacuum cleaner bags. I'm sure there is more. I think that at one time, the house was infested with ants and they built the mother of all ant hills in the wall. Who knows how long it has been there...or how long it will remain.

Billy Goat Pics

I finally remembered the camera so I've got lots of pictures to show. These are of Billy. He's afraid of Pearlie and she fancies herself a herding dog.

Making Hay

It's amazing what we don't know. lol

I had an uncomfortable feeling that we were supposed to be doing something about our pasture that is supposed to be coastal Bermuda hay but looks more like a huge weed patch. I finally did a google search and read up on it, discovering that there is a small window of about two weeks in which to cut the hay so that it will be at it's optimum - retaining the most nutrition for the livestock and not being too wet or too dry.

What I did not read and didn't find out until just this week by asking one of the locals is that you're supposed to mow the pasture early to knock out the weeds, which can't grow back as lustily because of the heat. That way, you have a lovely field of hay which is more nutritious and healthy for the livestock.

Needless to say, we did not do that. So our first cutting of the hay will be full of weeds. It's not a total loss because the goats will still eat some of it and it can be used for bedding, too.

Apparently, the second and third cutting of a hay field yields the best hay. Unfortunately, fuel has become so expensive that it is knocking a lot of hay balers out of business, so we're going to have to really search for someone to bale our hay for a price that won't break the bank.

Billy the Goat

The goat's registered name is Stony something-or-other, but Tom insists on calling him Billy. There is no fighting it. He will be Billy. And Billy is a character. He's just like a pet dog. He wants to be with us, not out in the field. He bleats and bleats. He wants us to pet him constantly and will stick his head under our hand to achieve that. Sometimes he makes a funny spitting noise, "Puh!". I don't know if he is actually spitting because he has only done it when I wasn't looking - I think out of disgust for his not getting attention. I don't know if goats can spit, but it's hilarious to hear him.

We went down the road about a mile or so to talk to the owners of a goat farm. We thought they might have a little female Nubian for sale. But they raise Boer goats and only keep a few Nubians. The woman informed me that she won't sell her goats for less than $400.00 each and that I shouldn't either. And she won't sell her goat milk for less than $8.00 a gallon and I shouldn't either. I don't know if she was giving me good advice or trying to keep me from competing with her.

What she doesn't know is that we have no intention of going into the goat raising and selling business. We only want enough to be self-sufficient and aren't looking to make a profit. However, I've been told that one Nubian will produce up to a gallon of milk a day. I don't think there is any way that we'll use that much. We don't even consume a half gallon in two weeks. So I'll either be learning to make butter (which I intend to do), buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, etc. or I'll have to give the milk away or sell it...that is, if I'm successful and keeping the goats alive and learning how to milk them.

Livestock

First, above is a picture of one wall of my kitchen cabinets. It's the "command center" where I'll put my computer, keep farm records and recipes, and have the intercom system.

Second, these are the guard donkeys. Tom wants to call them Hilde and Buffy, after the characters in Tom Hank's early hit TV show Bosom Buddies. I kind of wanted to call them names of flowers like Hyancinth and Daisy. Maybe we'll compromise and go with Tom's choice so I can save my flower names for the goats.

Speaking of goats, we ended up getting the little male goat yesterday...earlier than I had planned, but that's how it worked out. He's like a pet dog and wants to follow us around. It was very sad to leave him out in the pasture when we came home because he was standing on his hind legs looking over the fence bleating his little heart out.

Joanne (neighbor, former owner of farm) said he was bleating last night and they thought he was so cute. They felt bad for him and watned to bring him into their trailer to stay with their dog. I told Tom to tell her to feel free to do so because we felt bad for leaving him out there.

Both of the donkeys are pregnant and due soon - maybe within a month. I'm kind of bummed because they won't let me near them and they are not halter broke. I had wanted to have plenty of time for them to get used to me and let me handle them so that when their babies are born, I'll be able to get close to them. Since they're due so soon, that may not happen. It is also problematic that they aren't halter broke. There is no way for us to move them into another pasture if we need to.

Cabinets

The cabinets are installed. It went off almost without a hitch. The man that I hired to install them was very good. Very meticulous like me. Not once did I have to tell him, "That's not right!" or "This goes here." or "Where did that big scratch come from?" or "That's not level."

They look great. I'm more than a little miffed with the designer, though. I only wanted a couple of cabinets with pull-outs in them. She insisted that I needed pull-outs in the big tall cabinets. I gave in on those against my better judgement. But I told her to order the other cabinets without pull-outs. Well, almost every cabinet has pull-outs. It's a huge amount of wasted space for those stupid drawers (I'm all about using space efficiently)...and it's an upgrade that costs more. I mean, if I had wanted drawers everywhere, I'd have ordered drawers instead of doors. Bah.

And, she didn't order any shoe or scribe moulde. I mentioned it to her before we ordered, but she waved my suggestion off as something that wasn't needed. Well, we need it. So I'm going to have to order some and have the installer come back to put it in.

I forgot my camera, so don't have any pics, but I'll take some when I remember to take the camera with me.

Also, I bought two donkeys today. We got the truck fixed (it just needed a fuse), so I'll be able to go pick up the donkeys and the goat this coming week. I got two "Jennys" (female donkeys) that are supposedly pregnant and due to foal some time this summer. Cute baby donkeys in the future!

Painting

I spent yesterday and today painting the guest rooms and hall leading to them. I finished the biggest one and ran out of paint before finishing the second. I'm painting everything Antique White and it took two coats to cover the green and purple in the biggest room. I think there were a million pin and nail holes in there that I had to patch.

Direct Buy has an account with Sherwin Williams paint supply store. I'm happy about that because that's the kind of paint I like to use anyway. I got the paint half price with the Direct Buy card, which was a happy surprise.

The cabinet installation is scheduled for Friday. Yesss!

When I got to the house today, there was water on the floor in the soon-to-be kitchen. Uh-oh. I think it might have come in under the doorway that we blocked off. I'm not sure what the short term solution to that will be, but the long term solution will be for us to build the new entryway that we were planning...and soon.