Hurricane in KY

What was left of hurricane Ida came through here today. It was a little windy and rained all day. We didn't get the heavy flooding like they were forecasting. It mostly stayed to the south and east of us.

It was between feeder bands so everyone was out grazing.

Poppy said if I could take pictures I could damn well take her for a walk.

She was correct.

I don't think the creek came up very high. It was still below the culvert.

The water tub was full and water was running through the bottom.

It wasn't all that cold, but it was still sprinkling so I wore my hoody. I had shorts on.

Pulling Posts

I got the last of the bush hogging done for the season (I hope) so I unhooked the cutter. I put the boom lift on to try and pull up the posts around the Bradford pear. It worked fine since we hadn't put any concrete around them. With concrete it would have been a different story.

I put it in close to the lift arms. I didn't want too much leverage since I wasn't sure how much resistance there would be. I didn't want to flip the tractor.

I wrapped the chain around the base of the post and the cross bar.

No problems.

    

All done.

I also got the broken lenses on the truck lights fixed. I ordered the parts last week and they came in on Friday.

The mirror ones came in a pack of two. They had LED lights in them and they were a slightly different color so I replaced them both. 

The tail light was identical to the old one. It's just cleaner.

They were playing with a pear. Well, one of them was playing.

Marianne is transporting this foster puppy to KY so she is staying here for a couple of days. His name is Pugsley. He is not a Sheltie.  

Another Form Started

I got started on the ground work for the next slab form. It was raining today and it was cooler back there under the porch roof. 

First I moved most of the decorative rocks.

I broke up the top soil with a spade shovel.

I used the square shovel to scrape the topsoil and give it a rough grade. It's going to be low in the back like the last one but I'll use rock to fill it instead of the weedy dirt.

I got most of the clearing done. The cart was full and I didn't want to go out in the rain to dump it. 

I did eventually get some help.

Spraying some Weeds

It was another hot afternoon. I went out after work and sprayed the rest of the 24-D that Lisa had left in the sprayer. I put it along the back fence behind the chain link. It's the weed killer for pastures that doesn't kill grasses. I sprayed the wild roses and other thorny things back there so they will die. Then I mixed up a gallon of Roundup and sprayed the weeds around the compost pile. The rest of it went down by the equipment barn.

 

Greener Pastures

Lisa moved the sheep back to the front pasture. They don't have the pond this time since the horses are over there. They still have the upper Reece pasture that hasn't been grazed in a few weeks. It should be nice and thick when they go back to it.

It was still early so they hadn't come out yet.

The shed is all cleaned out for them.

Llamas and horses and rams

And dogs.

It was much cooler this evening after a storm went through.

It's all over there now.

I'll probably leave it alone for a while to let it settle. It will give the chickens a chance to work on it. I'll have to find something else to dig. I wanted to dig a pit but Lisa said no.

Snake in the Garage

 Lisa messaged me this morning with a picture of a weird looking snake that was in our garage. She said the strange ridges straightened out when it moved. It's a good size snake. Hopefully it stays out of the barn where the chicks are.

I was in the Lexington office today but still had a chance to work on the compost a little and get some exercise. It was hot so I didn't do too much.

The lawn clippings decayed some and got scratched around by the chickens.

I buried it. There are a lot of voids from the piled up barn floor chunks. I'm thinking that will give air to the decomposing grass. It's all an experiment so we'll see.

Lisa gave the chicks the melon scraps and, of course, rotten tomatoes.

Burn Pile

The burn pile was getting pretty big and we've had plenty of rain lately so I lit the burn pile today.

While I was waiting for the pile to burn down I collected some of the build up in the shed. 

It was all chunks this time. I took two carts out.

After the pile burned down to where it was safe to leave it alone I mowed the back yard. We don't usually put the grass clippings on the compost. The back yard has a lot of clover which has a high nitrogen content. Since the actinomycetes are there this should give them something to eat. 

I piled the lawn clippings on top of the two loads from the shed. I expect it to get pretty hot the way it is and break down those clods. I'll knock it over and bury it with the existing compost in a few days. After it sits and stews for a while it should be good.

Bees

It was a foggy morning. The heavy dew was sparkling in the sun. 

Ivy and Bobby thought I might have a bucket.

They saw me looking so naturally, they peed.

I wanted to show how much they've cleaned up around that tree.

Foggy horses.

Foggy weeds.

Foggy llama.

Foggy doggy.

Poppy plays sometimes.

Not this time.

The bees have been living in the trees down there for a while. The moved into a new spot at the base of this tree, they were up higher before. Maybe they are just added an addition. Turn up the sound, you can hear them buzzing.

Chick Growth

The chicks are getting bigger, which is good. They have long legs and feathers now. 

That's Beyoncé in the light. Britney is the one up on the block. Celine (left) and Diana (right) up in front.  Lorretta next to the block and Dolly behind the panel.

That Britney is a real diva.

The others are just in awe of her.

Tequila the farm dog.