Poco and I are sitting on the front porch watching the hurricane roll in. (Poco is actually taking refuge under the bench - just in case things turn ugly! He's not the bravest cat around, be he's a survivor!) So far, so good. The 5 to 10 inches of rain they've predicted for the coast is only up to an inch right now. That's good - we really don't need a flood. It's windy - probably 20 to 30 mph, and I see a couple of dead branches that should have been cut out a long time back. Hopefully they're locked in tight for the time being.
We managed to get gutters put up on the coop and one side of the barn - the north end still needs to be done. Both locations drain into new water tanks- 550 gallons and 1500 gallons respectively. The garden uses so much water, and Big John and I were getting nervous about the strain we were putting on the house well. It seems a shame to waste God-given rain, so we're going to try our hand at capturing it. Of course this will require the purchase of a new pump. Big John tries so hard to hide his delight at all of these equipment purchases, but I can see the hint of a smile each time we head to Tractor Supply! I have to admit, I enjoy those shopping trips, too!
We're the proud new owners of a reach-in cooler. Our old icebox just wasn't cutting it for storing produce. It would freeze up on one side and not get below 50 degrees on the other. That garden is too much work to lose vegetables to a cranky icebox. The cooler is fabulous!
We're hoping this will be our "starter cooler," as we've spied a three-door beauty we'd love to have. We also "invested" (as our CPA calls it!) in a new, larger freezer. We found an upgraded model for half of what we'd planned to spend, so it must have been meant-to-be! Big John transferred everything into the new freezer and unplugged the old one to defrost it, and now it won't come back on! Talk about good timing! It's loaded up in the pick-up, waiting on a diagnostic trip to town. Hopefully it's fixable, as the plan is for that to be Big John's game freezer. The old icebox is getting fixed and will be storage for beverages and excess leftovers. Now, if I can just get that commercial kitchen in the works ...
Probably the best deal of the week is the 7' stainless table/sink combo that we'll put in behind the house. This will be the perfect place to wash produce - eliminating the mess and hassel of hauling it inside to clean, then out to the cooler to store. That one little improvement will make all the difference in the world! It's waiting on us in town, so we'll head in to pick it up next week. In order to clear the space for the sink, we had to do a little demo. Years ago, Big John had installed a plastic wash tub, built into a cabinet attached to the house, on top of an extra slab. We tore out the sink and cabinet, to find missing Hardy siding behind it. No problem. Big John took a swing at the slab with the sledge, and broke the handle. The slab didn't even blink. No problem. Out came the impact wrench with just the right attachment on the end, I was assured. But again, no progress. And Houston, we've got a problem. Namely, missing siding on the house, unable to be replaced until the slab is gone, and a hurricane in the gulf. Time to stress. Rental of a jackhammer for a full day, and only 15 minutes of work, and that slab was gone! We were able to replace the siding just before the rain began. It will just have to look redneck for now. I'll worry about paint once the weather dries up a bit.
Only about 5 hours out of the 8 days, but seeming like a week's worth of work, Big John and I managed to get some grass planted in the trap. We'd decided to go ahead and work up a little more than half the trap - about 6 acres altogether - knowing that we'll just have to hay Ranger and Roxy for a while. We'd been waiting on that sure bet of rain before we planted, and an impending hurricane seemed like the best shot we'd get. We called our neighbor, Gary, and got grass lined up for Sunday. Monday morning, in the field by daylight, Big John and I set out to plant our grass - BY HAND. ***I don't recommend this for anyone over the age of 18.*** Gary mentioned this grass had some "organic matter" on it - he'd put out some chicken manure - awesome fertilizer - on the patch next to this, but then forgot he'd have to drive through the poop to cut our grass. No biggie - I deal with chickens all day long. HA. I still smell chicken manure in my sleep. "BLECH!" as Su would say!
Gary cut us enough grass to plant at least 3 acres - maybe 4 if we stretched it. We were ready! Big John drove the truck and trailer while I pulled off chips of hay. Once we got halfway down the trap, we both walked back to where we'd started and began spreading it out. We repeated this process to the end of the trap, and then Big John made a couple of passes disking it in - while I made a trip to the house for drinks.
The first pass looked like a beautiful hayfield, but we'd made a pretty big dent in the bales - without getting very far along on the 3 to 4 acres. The next round found us determined to spread that hay thinner. And the next round even thinner. And so it went for 6 passes, until we ran out of grass. The grand total: about an acre and a half in 5 hours of hard, hard labor. Not too good! We're in the process of looking for a sprigger to borrow or rent - or some younger help! Worse case scenario: we'll have a hell of a stand of grass!
So that's how I spent Big John's summer vacation! I think we were both ready for him to go back to work - not to get away from each other, but to have a little rest! We'll hit it hard again next week when he's off, but I suspect he's planning on a fishing trip or two as well. Hey, he's earned it!
Well, I am exhausted just reading about your farm-ventures! Loved the pics and the commentary! Y'all are amazing! I think the rain is God's way of saying "enough already!" HA! What will you do now? Inside for days??? Make some bubble pendants or some barnboard frames...hey, yeah, that's the ticket!
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