Rock Dust

We finished up the last project so we got started on the next one. We went to the quarry over on Donaldson Road and picked up a load of rock dust. We got 2.4 tons, it may have been a bit much for the 1/2 ton truck. I had to take off the trailer hitch because it was dragging. And the loader operator filled our tires with air. They didn't look low on air until we got the load on. We want to put it in the barn in the low spot by the roll door. Of course the barn is on top of the hill. We'll have to leave the truck down there and haul the rock with four wheeler and dump cart.

Big loader.

Emptiness.

Here it comes.

Rock dust is quite dusty. It isn't really dust. This place calls it Class A sand. It is geologically identical to the rock in our driveway, just a finer product.

Low rider. Cheech and Chong would be proud.

That's what 2.4 tons looks like.

Barnyard Project Complete

We finished up the fence on the downhill side of the barnyard and installed the gate. The slam post still has fresh concrete. Lisa will wait to move the horses around until after the big horses drink some of the water out of their tank. It has to be moved and is a little too heavy with 100 gallons in it.

The woolly worms are everywhere and woollier than usual. They say that is a sign of a bad winter coming. But what do those old wives know?

We still have to go down the hill by the chain link. It will be 24' on that side at first. We might go all the way to the corner eventually. I can still call the fence complete because the barrier is there and usable.

We went with five boards on this fence. We normally use the four board method and follow the terrain. This was a short run and we wanted to stay square with the house so we made it level. This caused too much of a gap at the end closest to the house, thus the fifth board at the bottom. We didn't want the tiny little horses to fall through the gap.

Fall in Kentucky

These trees are over at Michael's house. He's our farrier and Lisa was taking care of his animals while he was out of town. He just lives about 1/2 mile down the road.

More Fencing

We worked on the barnyard fence today. When it's done we'll be able to allow access to the barn from either pasture. We can put a water tank near where Piper is in the first picture. We are going to run wood fence down the hill so the big horses won't beat the chain link to death.

Heather stayed and helped us with post hole digging. Thanks Heather! She loves it.

I dug some too.

There will be a 12' gate on the post where the diggers are.

We got a new freezer for the Larrys.

They should fit in there.

The end of another fall weekend.

Frosty Morning

Today was our second straight day of frost. We had a record breaking cold snap last week. There were four or five days in a row that the temperature didn't go above 50. It was the first time that has ever happened in October in Kentucky. We feel honored to have been able to participate. Last winter we had record breaking ice storms, now record cold.

Frost on the garage and car windows.

Frosty grass.

The sheep stayed out of the frost. They came out to graze when the sun came out.

Frosty hay rolls.

Can't see the frost real well in this picture but the fall color is showing.

Court Days, Mt. Sterling, KY

We went over to Mt. Sterling yesterday to attend the "Court Days"festival. There was food and entertainment and hundreds of vendors (maybe thousands). It was kind of a flea market, craft fair, and gun & knife show all rolled into one. We had heard of it and missed it last year. We had no idea it would be this big. The estimate was that over 200,000 people would attend over the three day run. I think they were all there yesterday. It was overcast and around 40 degrees, which was cool but made it nice for lots of walking and crowds.

Court Day, back in the early years was the day the judge came to Montgomery County to hear cases, marry people and issue other judicial opinions. Since everyone was going to town on the same day merchants would set up to sell things and people would bring stuff to trade. I think it was more than once a year but the fall court day became an event because of the harvest and other festivals. It grew from there. I think Montgomery County Court opens more often these days but it is still a traditional event that has been going on in Mt. Sterling for over 100 years.

Cracking John's Nuts with a Hammer

I know how that headline sounds, but you're looking now aren't you? I husked the bushel of black walnuts this afternoon. After they dry for a few days in the back of the truck I'll put them in the flat-rate box and send them off to John.

Out of the bushel I got about a half bucket of black walnuts.

Nuts spread out on the back of the truck to dry.
Sundown came to see what was up.
We found a baby snapping turtle walking across the parking lot at tractor supply.
We brought him home. When he gets bigger we'll introduce him into the local ecosystem. They are indigenous so the environmental impact won't be too bad. His name is Larry.

Black Walnut Harvest 2009

I went down yesterday to gather some walnuts. It was grey and cool out, around 50. It feels like fall now.

I had lots of help.

Bo, Arizona and Josie were fascinated by the basket.

Arizona is a little grubby, but she's cute. You can see all of the walnuts laying around on the ground. This tree is completely bare now. No nuts or leaves.

Josie is down right pushy. She's like Bahloo, has to be in the middle of everything. Unlike Bahloo, you can give Josie a shove and she moves.

Bo is back from his exile in the big horse pasture. He was gelded last week and seems to be doing okay.

The first bushel is going to John, my friend in Florida. He has never tried black walnuts and was asking about them after one of the previous posts. I'll husk them before shipping, otherwise I'd only get a few in the flat rate box.

Heidi's walnut trees still have hundreds on the ground and still in the tree.

Sheep Shed Extension

The sheep and Larry use the little shed all the time. Larry "Lunch" would get in there and take up all the space so we decided to extend it. We put in two more posts to make it 16 feet long, doubling its size. Now they all fit in there. I got the roof on last night after work just in time for today's rainy weather.

The black walnuts are ripe too. You can see them in the trees. Anybody that wants to come pick some up, you're welcome to them. There are hundreds of them on the ground. We also burned the debris pile last weekend. That's the white and black burned looking area on the right.

We started parking the trailers down there too. It gives us more room by the house and we don't have to fight gravity coming up the hill with a trailer.

Festival of the Horse

Georgetown, KY had its 30th annual Festival of the Horse over the weekend. We went on Saturday. There were events in the park but we went to the street festival so we could watch the parade of horses.

There were a lot of people.

Piper got to go too. These kids loved Piper. The boy could get her to sit with a hand signal.

Piper wouldn't sit for the girl for some reason. She must not have been doing it right. The boy thought this was marvelous.

Piper was well petted.

This booth had blooming onions.

We got some kettle corn.

And a funnel cake.

We sat on the steps of a bank and waited for the parade. Piper was waiting for people to come by and adore her.

She didn't have to wait long.

This girl's dad went to get his camera.

They had horses too!