Hay Wood Cat Dog

It's been a while again. We've been getting ready for winter.

 A couple of weeks ago Andy went with me to this hay farm in Owensville to get some hay. They had some spectacular views up on the ridge.

 We made one trip on Saturday.

 The hay had been outside since it was baled but the cattle won't mind much.

 We got 6 bales on the trailer.

 We went back on Sunday and got six more bales. We rolled them off the trailer into the shed.

I split several of these today.

 The third rack is almost full.

 Betty looked like she was in deep thought. She was, the thoughts were about the bird that had landed on the garden bench.

 Dani. She's a mini Aussie rescued from a puppy mill. We're fostering her for a while.

 Paige.

More Wood

We had some strong storms come through here last week. Over the weekend we went to Bath county and picked up some firewood Andy had located for us.

 These are some hailstones that fell on Tuesday.

 The first place we got wood was on Lois' property. This is the area where Andy and Heather go deer hunting. It is a beautiful spot for killing defenseless woodland creatures.

 Andy had the tree cut up and hauled down to the clearing by the time we got there.



The next place we got wood was in the woods off Donahue road. Andy cut it up and brought it out on the four-wheeler.

 We left the truck on the road this time.

 There was still some wood left from the last trip. I need to get the racks assembled so we have somewhere to stack it after splitting.

 It was a pretty good load.

 All stacked. Once Leo gets off the chopping block I can get to work.

 Ready for the chopping block.

 Lisa planted a dogwood next to the fence. She brought compost for the hole.

 Paige.

Post Cat Post

The weather has cooled off a lot. Highs were in the 70s and low 80s until this weekend. We had some patchy frost this morning. It's not quite cold enough to start the wood stove but it's coming. I was out chopping wood for the stove in the nice weather.

 Betty likes sitting on posts. I'm not sure what she's doing on this post but let's call it "sitting".

 Lisa is still training the two ram lambs. They get to go for walks in the front yard. Harry and Bill are both doing well.

 Lisa planted some trees. One by the gate. We hope it will put some shade on the garage some time in the future.

 This one is in the sheep pasture. They need more shade out there.

 These are both silver maples. The cage is to protect the trees from the sheep. Maple leaves are delicious if you are a sheep.

 Lisa has been watering them with tree food mixed in.

 Paige.

The Loft

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'll still try to do better.


 I've had several request for more detail on the new mower. It's a commercial Husqvarna with a 26hp Briggs and Stratton motor. We got it from Advanced Turf Equipment in Winchester. The owner delivered it and gave me instructions on using it and maintaining it.

 It has a 52" cutting deck which is 2 inches smaller than our old mower. This one fits through our gates better and it mows twice as fast. The deck is suspended on chains and floats freely over uneven terrain. We have lots of uneven terrain.

 It cuts really well. I mowed the front pasture yesterday.


The gate opener is installed. It's awesome!

 The actuator and solar panel. We got the pin lock you see on the close end of the actuator arm. It's a straight shaft padlock that replaces the drop pin and cotter to prevent theft. Apparently people steal those things. Who knew?

 I got the keypad installed too. The code is 1155. It isn't a secret code but they didn't sell just a plain button opener. I found out when I installed it that any button switch would have worked. The documentation didn't mention this fact.

 Piper and her bff.

 Lisa sorted the lambs. These are the rams she's keeping. They'll supplement Stevie, plus she wanted a dorper ram.

 Harry is the big blond guy on the left. Bill is the dorper ram on the right with the black knees. They're staying in the barn while Lisa trains them to walk on a lead.

 The rest of the ram lambs are out in Stevie's pasture. Stevie is trying to get to a ewe through the rusty gate.

 Stevie ran them around a little then llama asserted her dominance. They're calm now.

 Natalie helped Lisa feed the animals when she was here with Jennifer. The pic is a little blurry but you can see her big smile.

 The tomatoes are still coming.

 Tinks waiting patiently while Lisa picked the tomatoes.

 One tomato bin full. She's been canning. We have salsa, pizza sauce, pasta sauce and chili base. All delicious.

We got a solar powered security light for the shed.

  LED and motion sensor.

 I got the loft started last weekend.

 The beams and rafters. It's all lumber left over from building the shed.

 I got the rafters toe-nailed and the decking in today.

 It came out pretty good. It wasn't square because James built the shed around our old center posts. They had warped and shifted in the two years they were standing in the weather. His new posts are all true and plumb but the center wall is a little off. I had to make some interesting cuts on the plywood.

 The rest of the leftovers. I'll be storing it in the loft.

 Paige smiling at Satin.

The Gatekeeper

I've had hundreds of emails asking why I haven't been posting to the blog. Well, if I could think of an excuse that you might actually believe, I would use it. All I can say is I'll try to do better.

 Dad was here in late July. He painted the wall where the old built-in entertainment center used to be. He also put the tiles down where the chairs are sitting. We'll move them in the winter and put a log rack there.

 Lisa painted the shed walls. She took a piece of the metal siding to Lowe's and they matched the color.

 Our old mower finally gave up so we bought a new zero turn. It's a Husqvarna M-ZT 52.

 We also got a gate opener. I got most of it installed today. It has a solar charger for the batteries and remotes like a garage door.There is an automatic sensor for exiting cars. There is a keypad entry controller outside that I didn't get installed, I needed some more parts but it was getting late. Hopefully we don't have any visitors or deliveries before I get it finished.

 Paige, Piper Satin.