May 21 - 31 In Reverse Chronological Order

05/31/2009 Sunday: Hot again, but it felt wonderful. We had the afternoon sea breeze that felt wonderful.

I was pooped out. I got in from doing morning chores at 9:45am, ate breakfast and had a nap till noonish. I was tired.

I didn't bother with lunch since I ate a late breakfast. Instead I went out and prepared the stall for the new cow, Baby, and her bull calf. I leveled the muck and then dropped several loads of barn sweepings into the stall. One of the times I was picking up a load I noticed Wedgie in the cow barn with the other cows. Pat had left the bottom of the gate between the two groups untied and he just pushed his way through. Then I thought about putting Baby in the larger pen so I also booted out Three, my Milking Shorthorn.

Then I took the waste hay from the feeder and spread it around so that the cow and calf would have a nice place to sleep. I'll be keeping her in the stall for 21 days so that I can be sure who the father of any new baby will be. I can let her in with the others on June 21.

I was thinking that I could put in another paddock using the center stall. That way I'd have a stall and pasture for a second mom to be or a mom who was having trouble with her calf. It would be an electric fenced in area but would have three stock panels wired together to make a smaller paddock.

I took the plants I'd purchased Friday and put them on the ATV. I drove over to the potting shed and laid them out in three hanging baskets and a pot that just sits on the ground or a step. After those were filled with flowers and watered well, I hung them up on the deck, stepped back and admired them and then went on to fill another pot. I still need to plant some of the plants but will put them in the beds.

I need to invest in some good perennials. This buying new bedding plants every year is the pits.

I did some watering and had just about finished when Chas came out with a pop. We sat in the garden and enjoyed the afternoon breeze. I was on my way over to help him move the lawnmower deck to the lawnmower when Tye showed up

Around 3:20 this afternoon Tye L drove his pickup up the driveway and dropped off Baby. I purchased Baby and her bull calf, Rowlander, from RafterCSJ Ranch in Zillah. Baby is a pretty little thing and if Rowlander is anything like his daddy he should be a good replacement bull for Huck.

I gave Tye $100.00 for going out of his way to deliver Baby and her calf. I sure appreciated it especially since I knew if I didn't get Tye to pick her up I would likely not buy the cow-calf combination. I paid $1500. for the pair. She might have been bred last Tuesday by Chuck's bull.

The bull calves were not happy that they weren't getting their alfalfa and grain. They were actually standing at the gate between the two stalls waiting for me to let them in. I just laughed. They are going to have to wait.

Gary brought my tractor back. I keep forgetting how often I use it in the summer time. Gary had borrowed it to rototil his garden. He usually does mine but I decided to use my little Mantis. The garden won't be very pretty this year but I'll enjoy it - if I ever get anything planted.

Dinner was cold cuts with chips and dip.

05/30/2009 Saturday: Another hot day and no sea breeze to cool us off.

The guys showed up around 7:30. I asked them to move three bales of alfalfa to the goat barn and three to the Dexter barn which they did. While they were at the cow barn I had them move all the bales of old hay out of the north west corner so that Chas and Pat could finish putting up the plywood along that side of the barn. We're putting in braces and plywood to protect the metal when we stack hay against the barn wall.

After that I had Juan work with me to lay builder's bricks around the strawberry bed. We leveled the ground and then laid the bricks in a circle. I can fill the bricks with dirt and plant merigolds or other plants in the holes.

Enrique and Juan cleaned out the sheep pen, including removing the hay from the feeder. I laughed but it gave me a chance to replace the local grass hay with some alfalfa.

Juan washed out the Dexter and Hereford water tubs while Enrique weed whacked around the sheep pen and over by the equipment shed. It looks so much better.

At 10:30 I took them over to the Orcutts place to work over there. I'd had enough of the guys for that day. In general the fact that Pixie had her baby, a bull, and it had gotten through the fence to the pen where the two calves are living and had not bonded was a real downer.

I tried feeding the baby off and on all day but it refused to eat. It kept wandering off. I finally tied him up to one of the posts in the Dexter lean-to to keep him available. His momma kept kicking him away when he tried to eat so now he's really shy of her and he refuses the bottle. He is strong and very stubborn. Maybe he'll be hungry enough tomorrow to want to eat.

05/29/2009 Friday: Hot and sunny.

Rotated the Herefords into S4. The Dexters were in S1 today and S2 yesterday and the two days before that.

Before going into work I stopped at Madson's to have them look at my weed whacker. The head had stopped spinning. The guy at the counter showed me that the two arrows that indicate where the head and the motor meet along the shaft were out of alignment. He took apart the two pieces and reassembled them with the arrows pointing at each other. He started it up briefly. The head spun properly.

I asked him how much I owed him. He just waved it off. I asked him to sell me a hat. I got a green Stihl cap for just over $6.00.

I spent the day at the Health Department.

I forgot to mention that when I was doing evening chores I heard the sound that a bee hive makes when the bees are actively hunting nectar. When I looked up into the tree to the immediate left of the green barn I saw the swarm. They must have just started swarming because there were a lot of bees flying around. By the time I finished chores the swarm had calmed down and most of the bees were either clinging to the trees or to each other. I immediately thought of my dad and how he would have enjoyed seeing the swarm. He was a beekeeper for many years. He just had two hives but he loved working with the bees.

I forgot to look to see if the swarm was still there. Perhaps there was a hole in the tree and they planned to make their nest there. I'll have to remember to check tomorrow night.

05/28/2009 Thursday: Pretty hot today.

Sherry came to clean. I had her vaccuum out the loom room where I'd kept the chickens since there was dander and tiny feathers everywhere.

When I do the chick chores I try to move each of the pens at least two feet to give them clean ground. The manure seems to collect around the feeders. I've been keeping the feeders on the left side of the chicken tractors so that when I move the chicken tractor, that ground is exposed and I can hose it off really well. Their feeder is a hanging feeder that I've got put on blocks instead. Their waterer is a gallon sized waterer also up on two two-inch thick boards.

The ducks have the same problem except the manure collects around and in the water container as well. I'm using a low black tub for that tractor's water container and a small black tub for their feed.

Pat also showed up to continue work on the sheep lean-to. I asked him to put in another two boards down low so that the sheep won't rub against the metal siding and push the metal panels off. I also asked if Pat would put some of the smaller metal sheets along the inside of the lean-to to keep the side of the barn cleaner. The sheep like to rub against the walls and when they're wet, the wet wool and lanolin and dirt leave a distinct mark. Since the metal sheets are brown they won't show the dirt plus they'll be easy to clean, much easier than the side of the barn.

Pat put the metal pieces up. Before he put the siding on he scabbed on two more 2x4s about the height of a Welsh Mountain sheep. I had him install the extra boards so that the sheep don't push directly against the siding. Then he installed the siding and roof.

Before he left for the day he hung the futon gate that Mike welded for me. Before he hung it, Sherry attached some wire that I found in the small trailer to the gate to keep the babies from walking out into the barn yard. They always went back into their pen but I didn't want them running around outside.

We got a call from Mary H this morning. Not exactly sure why she called me but I'm glad she did. Chas and I went over for a visit and I shared half the coffee grounds I picked up Monday with her. Mary gave me an empty bucket for the next load. Chas was looking for a belt for the riding mower. Unfortunately Mike, who has a lot of belts, did not have the size that Chas needed.

We went over to Pat M's to pick up the tractor and deliver it to Gary N. Gary needs it to rototil his garden. So far it's been too wet to till. I guess Gary dumped almost a foot of chicken manure on his garden last fall and it still hasn't dried out. We'll leave the tractor with Gary. Hopefully he can bring it back on Saturday or Sunday.

We need to do some brush hogging soon especially along the driveway and in some of the pastures. Plus we're still working on cleaning out the cow lean-tos.

I worked in the house. Then I had a nap. By the time I woke up, Pat was gone. He finished the lean-to for the sheep and hung my futon gate. Sherry put on some wire on the futon gate to keep the little lambs from getting out. She did a great job.

We had leftover turkey, mashed potatoes with chives and corn. Chas cooked lima beans separately and added them to his portion of the corn. I used to like succotash but haven't been fond of it for a couple of years.

I was finally able to get in touch with Tye L this evening around 8:40pm. I asked him about hay (he will have at least 300 bales for me), penning some steers (he can), and about picking up Baby from Chuck Johnson in Zillah. It turns out he's going to Yakima tomorrow morning and can pick up Baby and her calf. He'll be back Sunday with Baby. I made a mad dash over to his house to give him directions and a check for Chuck.

I'll have to turn out the two bull calves before she gets here so that I can quarantine her for a couple of weeks (at least 21 days) so that I know whether or not Chuck's bull rebred her after she gave birth to a bull calf. If not Huck can breed her.

I ordered 8 bras online. Mine are so old that I can't remember when I bought them.

05/27/2009 Wednesday: Sunny and hot

Worked at the Health Department. Before work I stopped at Nasco to get a new windshield wiper and at the feed store to pick up some additional feed for the goats and for the Barred Rock chickens. After work I went to the library to return some books and then went grocery shopping at Shop n Kart.

The herefords must have gotten spooked last night because they broke one of the polywire fences and were grazing in the wrong field. I will keep them in tomorrow to help them forget and to punish them for being bad.

Mary and Gary came by for a short visit. Gary's haying. He cut today and will rake, ted and turn the hay into bales. He's going to sell me some hay.

05/26/2009 Tuesday: Overcast today and just a few drops of rain around 11:00am. Just perfect weather to work outside in.

Danette and Joe came for a visit this morning to see the changes we'd made on the property and to see our chickens, the Red Rangers. It was a great visit but they couldn't stay long. I gave Danette a copy of the handouts from the WSU workshop. I'll pass them on to John A in the Health Department and then on to Susie.

Chas picked the mushrooms I showed him yesterday and cleaned them and chopped them up. I'll saute them to put over steaks tomorrow night.

After lunch I weed whacked around the chicken coop. Now I can drive through that area without having to battle the tall grass. Once I got worn out from the weed whacker I got out the Mantis tiller and tilled up a couple more beds. I really should rake off the dead weeds because they tangle in the tiller. That would make life a little easier.

The former owners must have laid in some kind of gardening felt around where the raspberries used to be because I kept getting the felt tangled up in the tiller's blades. The tiller doesn't go down very far but does do a good job of breaking up the soil.

I'm going to put some onion sets out at the far south end of the garden. I have three different kinds of sets. Mostly we'll eat them as green onions, I think.

I called Mary and Gary. Gary was assembling his equipment to do some haying.

Pat has not returned my tractor which he borrowed Sunday. We were using it on Saturday to clean the barn. I probably won't be using it again till Saturday so this isn't a big problem.

I cooked salmon burgers for dinner. Earlier Chas had weeded the rhubarb and then went back to pick some stems which he cut up into chunks. I made rhubarb crumble with Splenda. It was quite delicious although I could still use some additional sweetener in the rhubarb part of the crumble. I cooked two extra salmon patties so that I could have them for lunch tomorrow - well, at least one of them. Chas may like the other for his lunch.

05/25/2009 Monday, Memorial Day: We got lucky, an entire weekend of sunshine. Today was also lovely.

It was nice to have a day off. I actually felt like working. Not exactly energetic, but certainly focused on getting the weed whacking done.

I did some weed whacking in the morning including weed whacking the vegetable garden to knock down the weeds that are there.

After lunch I planted potatoes including finger potatoes and leftover potatoes from last year's garden. Who knows if they'll grow but they did help to fill in the holes where the potatoes are coming up this year. Actually, the potatoes are coming back from the ones I didn't remove last year.

I dug out the Mantis tiller since Gary didn't contact me about rototilling my garden. The Mantis goes down about 4-6 inches if I let it. I used it by starting a row and walking backwards. Much easier than trying to keep up with it as it pulls me forward.

I did four rows and then planted two hills of sweet meat squash. I have other things I need to sow but plan on buying tomatoes and other kinds of squash to get a jump start on the process. I'll try corn again but am not sure that it's worth the space. I'd love to plant beans and may use one of the futon backs that Mike Welded together for me as the bean holder. It's about the right size if I put it on its side. I'll pound in two t-posts to hold it up after I rototil the area where I'm going to plant the beans. I purchased Kentucky Wonder but forgot to check to see if they are climbing beans. They may be bush beans. Sigh.

The Red Ranger chicks survived the night ok. I expect some of them were cold but they huddled together under the heat lamp and there were no dead bodies this morning. I moved the two tractors right about two feet to give the birds some clean space. The Red Ranger chickens produce a lot of poop especially around the feeder. I think I will have to move them daily at least a foot or two. The chicken tractors are heavy to move because I have them surrounded by metal roofing panels to keep the wind off them and those have to be dragged with the chicken tractor as I move it.

I change the water on the ducks twice a day. They seem to appreciate the clean water. I need to change it often as the ducks turn the water into feed-colored soup.

Giving the ducks and chickens their feed is easy. I just fill the scoop and dump it into the feeders.

Chas took me out to dinner at Eveys in Pe Ell. We had taco salads. Lots of salt but otherwise quite good.

05/24/2009 Sunday: Nice, very nice weather. Sunshine after a partial morning of clouds.

After chores and breakfast I moved the Red Ranger chicks out of the loom room and into the second chicken tractor. I moved them about 5 or 6 at a time in a box. They were none too happy about being picked up and carried to what must have looked like a huge space with funny feeling grass underfoot. They'd never been exposed to grass. Many just hunkered down till they got over being terrified.

After lunch and a brief nap I picked up a bunch of boards and leftover scraps from the various building projects and the aluminum gate that's been in the way for a long time and put them on the ATV's trailer. The gate was actually moved to the green barn and is leaning up against the stock panels. The wood is still in the back of the ATV.

I got the weed whacker out. Pat was over to see if he could borrow our tractor to put in his footpath over the stream that goes through the property. He started it up with no trouble and I proceeded to week whack the area in front of the cow barn. The grass was getting tall. I also worked on the horse's grave and in front of the steel water tub that I use for wildflowers. I moved on to the back of the horse's grave and did some there. In the process I discovered some edible mushrooms. I called Chas over to take a look. I thought he might pick the mushrooms to eat with dinner but for some reason he did not.

Then I started wandering over to the driveway between the two gardens and got some of that brush knocked down. I did some weed whacking in the gazebo garden but have lots more to work on. I also need to have the guys help me pick up the picnic table and move it a few feet. It has sunk into the ground and is too short to sit on. I'm hoping it hasn't rotted out. If it has it's off to the nearest burn pile for disposal.

I did go around the potting shed and along the east stock panel before my string gave out. I had more string but must have lost it in my travels. Oh well, the strings will show up.

If I feel like it tomorrow I will do some more weed whacking. The place looks really overgrown. I may also weed whack the garden so that I can use my mantis to stir up the soil. I could also use a shovel but that seems like too much work to me. It would be nice to find the paths. I can use the same beds as last year.

Gabe called me today when I was outside. Chas told me he called but I wasn't inclined to return his call. He pooped out on me yesterday and didn't call. It may be awhile before I call him.

Pat stopped by to see if he could borrow our tractor. His footbridge finally gave out and he needed to rebuild it. Using the tractor to lift the heavy beams would make his life much easier. I planned to work on other things so letting him have the tractor wasn't a problem.

No word from Gary N about whether or not he's going to rototil my garden. I'm assuming not because he hasn't called about borrowing my tractor. That means if I want a garden I'm going to have to use my little Mantis or borrow one somewhere.

It's going to be really nice to have two more days off (Monday and Tuesday).

05/23/2009 Saturday: Lovely and sunny, low 70s.

Enrique and Juan moved six bales of alfalfa for me over to the goat barn. Later on in the afternoon Enrique and Juan put the feed trough back into the pig pen and we chained down one side. I'll have to buy at least 2.5 more feet of chain at the box store. Who knows if I'll find any weaner pigs for sale.

While the guys were cleaning out the cow lean to I took the second chicken tractor down to the area beside the creek with the tractor. Chas helped me put it together. I found several small tarps that were way too small to fit the chicken tractor so after lunch I drove into Pe Ell to pick up a 10'x12' tarp. I put it on and tied some of it down. I still need to do the outside.

I managed to bend one of the panels carrying it to the grassed area. After the chickens are gone I may take that panel and stand on it to straighten it out. I found two scruffy pieces of wood and laid them in crosswise. Then I laid in one sheet of metal roofing along the length in the middle of the pen and resting on the two boards. When I finally got the tarp I put the brown side up (not the green) and fastened it down on either end. I'll do the sides later.

Juan and Enrique helped me attach the metal panels along the four sides. I used the heavier alfalfa binding twine in two places on each metal sheet to firmly secure the panels to the hog panel.

Enrique did some weed whacking around the well house and across the driveway into the Dexter winter pen and then along the west side of the house where the door is. It looks ever so much better. I may do some weedwhacking tomorrow. I'm getting tired of my chicken coop area looking like a bomb hit it.

Tomorrow I'll move the Red Ranger chickens into their chicken tractor along with their waterer and feeder and will clean out their tubs. Not sure where I will put the tubs. I think I will tie the feeder to one of the boards close to an edge.

I let the two Muscovy drakes out to graze. All they did was stand by the gate waiting to be let back into their old pen. Both hens are setting. The one who started first must be nearly ready to hatch the ducklings. It's been awhile. The Muscovy ducks started setting 04/20/2009. The Web says, "Eggs from Muscovy ducks hatch in about 35 days after setting." It won't be too long now since it's been over a month.

Dinner was spaghetti with lots of mushrooms. Tomorrow night we'll have turkey breast. If I can remember to do it I plan to make crockpot turkey cooked with onions and BBQ sauce and whatever veggies I can find, maybe carrots, and rice.

05/22/2009 Friday: Sunny

I went into work and continued on my Indicators project. John came in for a visit and we discussed what needed to be done to finish the project. I suggested that since he was better at understanding statistics than I was that he do that part and I would continue to write content for the "Importance" section.

I hit the bank and the feed store in the morning before work. I needed to pick up another bag of non-medicated chicken grower for the baby chicks. They and the other batch of chickens and the ducks go through a lot of feed.

The Red Rangers ought to be ready to butcher in 12 weeks total. That would put it August. 30 but I'll bet I could start butchering sooner than that.

I visited the library to pick up some books Chas had on hold.

Dinner was frozen potstickers boiled and dipped in dipping sauce. Chas also cooked some noodles since there were few potstickers. Chas has been trying to find older dated food in our pantry. He brings it up and I try to incorporate it into dinner.

05/21/2009 Thursday: Sunny on both sides of the mountains.

The drive back was pretty good except that I ended up going east towards Prosser instead of west towards Yakima when I started out. I finally got myself turned around and started over. Once I got back to where I was supposed to start, the trip was pretty good sailing.

After lunch and a brief rest I took my camera out to the pastures and took pictures of as many of the cattle as I could. I want to match up the name and other information with the picture. I took a left side, a right side and the face for each cow. Any that I miss I will go back and take pictures of that animal or animals.

Did evening chores. I forgot to tell Chas the first rule of feeding expensive hay. Don't put more in the feeder if they haven't finished off the last batch. Otherwise the animals waste it, big time. When alfalfa is as expensive as it is, you sure don't want to waste it.