Last Stall

Yup, last post I showed you pics of the cement going into the boy's side of the barn.   And now today I've got pics of the girls' side.

Because the girls' side of the barn is so long, they kept the cement truck up near where they poured the boys side and swung the chute over to the girls side.   Got it?   Yeah, sure you do!

Maybe this pic makes it clearer for you to see what I am talking about.   See the boys side way in the back?   It's perpendicular to the girls side.   They poured the top half of the girls side and then the truck moved around to the other end of the barn to pour the rest of that stall.  Easy-peasy, right?

These guys thought I was a little weird sitting on the edge of the wall taking pictures of them moving cement around.   Oh, well, maybe they don't know anything about blog-land!   And my obsession to document all we do around the farm by taking pictures.   Maybe one day when I'm obligated by old age to sit in my rocking chair on the porch, I'll be really happy to relive these days by looking at all the pictures I'm taking now.

And then the truck shifted around to the front side of the barn to complete the pour.   See what I mean?  Nothing to it.

Getting there.....

.....slow by sure.   Almost done now.

Ta-da!   And boy, does it ever look nice now that it has all set up and we can walk on it.  The cement pour happened a week ago.   Since then we've been working on the inside of the barn, taking down boards, putting up hog panels.....whaaaaaaat?    Yeah, I'll show you that in a day or two.

So, come on back and see how we complete our gargantuan summer project.
Debbie

Making Progress

 I know, I know.  How dare I lead off yet another post with pictures of fencing????  But there's good news from Whispering Oaks.   The fencing is done!    Yes, I know, I can't believe it either.   The rolls of fencing above and the gates are now all neatly and very professionally(I might add) installed.   The angels in heaven sang the Hallelujah chorus as we completed the last piece of fencing a couple of nights ago.   You didn't hear the angels?   Seriously?

And this is what some of the boys pasture looks like now.    I realize the fencing isn't quite done in the pic on the right, but, trust me.   It's done now!   AND, the concrete guy called and said he could come.....would 7am be okay?   Okay!    You betcha, come as early as you want to come.   And so they did.

 This is Brent pulling stone from our ever-present pile in our parking area.    He used the stone to level out some areas in the stalls before setting up the concrete forms.

 And lo and behold, a few short hours later the forms were ready and the concrete truck arrived, full of great, grey slushy stuff.   Yippee.

 The first truck had to back up next to the barn to reach the boys side of the barn.   Um, we now have pretty significant divots along the barn.   Oh, well, time for some top soil and a little pasture seed anyways.  Ha!  What's another little "project" after all we've done this summer?

 THE guys.....ready and waiting for the real work to begin.

 And begin it did.....in earnest.    These guys really hustled to push, pull and jostle the flow into place.

And in less than an hour, we had smooth ready to set-up cement in place.   Whew, one side down, another to go.    It took a couple of hours before the second truck made its way from town to our farm.

More on that later....
Debbie

The Barn Re-Do

Besides working on setting up pasture for the alpaca, we also have some renovating to do inside our barn to make it a little more alpaca friendly.   Alpaca typically don't like going into closed in spaces, especially if they're dark.   One of the ways we are improving our barn is to remove some of the inside walls to open things up a bit.   

Like this area between what will eventually be the girls area and the boys area will be on the right where my guys are working on the ladder.   The long area where the tractor is sitting will eventually be the girls area of the barn.   Joel and Jeremy removed the corrugated metal wall and lots of thick locally milled boards between the tractor area and the foreground area.   Just doing that one wall sure made it seem a lot lighter inside that side of the barn.

Here Jeremy and Joel are removing even more of the corrugated metal in preparation for the concrete guys.   Once the concrete is poured in these areas, the metal would be submerged in concrete and much harder to remove.   Yup, good thing Joel thought of that!   He's pretty smart, you know?

I think Jeremy was having way too much fun using his tools to cut the metal to length.   He sure has been a huge help with this enormous project.

To give you some perspective on the areas of the barn......this is going to be the boys area.   The girls area is to the left in this shot.   My entire contribution on this particular day was to use the leaf blower/sucker-upper thing and I sucked up all the leaves that were cluttering the ground inside both stalls.   Yup, it was a tough gig, but somebody had to do it.

As far as the chickens are concerned life just goes on as usual.   They've been enjoying free ranging all over the farm this summer.   Unfortunately, that will soon come to a halt as we put up their electric poultry netting once again to protect them from a fox who has been hitting the flock lately.   We're "down" a few chickens and the fox got one of Joel's prized roosters, too.   Bummer.   That just means that a couple of the "new" roosters will get to live on another year as they will replace the rooster that we lost.

Making steady progress,

Debbie

Seriously? More Fence Pics???

Yes, groan, I know.   I've got nothing else to show you....sorry.   But that's all we've been doing for what seems like weeks now.  Putting in metal T-posts, pounding gravel around 4x4 posts and hanging 2x4 welded wire fencing.   So, you'll just have to bear with me as I share some more pics of our labors.

 Ta da!  Observe the end of the fence......where it gets stapled onto the 4"x4".   We only pounded our fingers about 20 times as hundreds of these little metal torture staples got hammered onto the posts.  Yeah.   Not my favorite part of fencing.  But, a very necessary part of the process as these staples helped to hold the fencing taut, resulting in a much straighter line of fence.

These green metal posts with the white tops are called t-posts, are 6' long and several in a row at 8 foot intervals get pounded into the ground with this mama.......

......the dreaded post pounder.   Jeremy would groan when he came home from work and we met him at the door announcing we were going out to pound in more t-posts.    You see, it weighs in at a hefty 16 lbs.   And you have to hoist it over your head in order to lift it high enough to slide it down onto the t-post.   Once in place on the t-post (which, by the way, I was holding upright as I squatted down to avoid the pounder), it had to be lifted and "pounded" down on the t-post to drive it into the ground.          Again and again until the t-post was inserted all the way into the ground.

Joel's job was to stand a few yards away and tell us if the t-post was starting to lean in one direction or another.   You can't have a crooked fence!   Oh, heavens, no!   Someone might come along and think we didn't know what we were doing.....horrors!   Gasp!  Um, yeah......anyone watching us during the last few weeks could write a book about family dynamics.   Hey, don't judge until you've walked in my shoes!   Bah-ha-ha-ha....

Ok, I digress.   Sorry.   Must be fencing hallucinations or something like that.   Anyway, after the 4x4 wooden posts are in the ground at 48' intervals, it was my job to run a string line and measure out where the t-posts went so they would be spaced out properly.   Don't ask me why this was my job.   Maybe I was the only one who could still do math at this point.   I don't know.  OH!  I remember now.   It's because I couldn't lift the danged post pounder over my head.

And then we would all call it a day and head inside to lick our wounds and soak our aching muscles.  But the fence was nice and straight.   See?  Not too bad for a bunch of city people whose knowledge of farming comes from books and internet videos secretly watched repeatedly.

'Enuf said,
Debbie

Gates, Posts and Fencing

More and more fencing......and more and more posts.   Yup.  We've been digging holes for what seems like days now, prepping for fencing.   Thank goodness we have a post hole digger on the back of Joel's tractor or this job would never get done.

So far we've installed over 70 six foot 4x4 posts and we're almost done.  First we run string line to establish a straight line, then we dig holes for the posts about every 48 feet.   In between the sturdy posts we bang in the metal T posts and then the wire 2x4 fencing gets attached to the wooden posts and the metal T posts.   Wash.  Rinse.  Repeat.   Bah-ha-ha-ha!

When we get to an area that needs a gate, a whole lot more goes into the process.   First, at least 2 posts need to be installed to help support the weight of the gate.  The posts need to be cross braced with a 4x4 in between them, helping to offset any sagging in the future from the gate.   That's a lot of holes, posts and bracing.  Here, my guys are putting in 2 10' gates which will allow Joel access to the chickens with his Polaris while still keeping the alpacas in their pasture.

Ta-da!    A couple of hours later it's done!   In this configuration, the pasture for the male alpacas is open to their side of the barn by walking thru this corridor we created.   But when Joel needs to drive the Polaris to the far side of the farm, the gates can be swung in an opposing direction.  Like this.....

And this.....

Resulting in this.......

Pretty slick, eh?   Figuring out how we wanted to do these gates was the hardest part of all the fencing so far.   But we're really pleased with how it turned out.   Joel is especially happy about it since he is the one who will be using this the most.

And now we have 17 more days until the alpaca arrive.   We have tons more to do so I need to sign off for now as we are heading out to put up more fencing.   At least now we feel like we are on the down hill side of all this work.    Now it's just a matter of going out there every day and doing as much as we can to get all the fencing installed.    Are you sure you don't want to come visit us right now????   Aw, come on, you know you wanna help with the fence.....

Heading out,
Debbie

Another Busy Weekend

It's not that we aren't busy during the week, but on weekends we have Jeremy for 2 whole days and he helps us get so much more accomplished.   Three sets of hands sure do come in handy when putting up fence!  

When I woke up early Saturday morning the entire farm was embraced in a thick mist.   It seems as though it's been months since I've had the urge to shoot pictures, but on this lovely morning I picked up my Nikon and headed outside.    I could hear cows mooing across the road from our lane as I headed in that direction.    And guess who was there?   Several of the newborn calves from this Spring were just hanging out, chewing on grass and swatting at flies with their tails.

The little guy on the left was the most curious of the group.   As I slowly approached the road, he began walking closer to me, too.  

Isn't he cute?    He seems to be saying, "What are you doing over there?   Is it safe to let you get closer?"   By the time I reached the road, he was directly in front of me and then all of a sudden he bolted away from the fence line and ran up the hill.   Maybe next time he won't be as skittish.

I walked back over to the potager garden which is now almost completely weed free for the first time since planting it last year.   And it looks so much prettier with a thick coating of brown mulch covering the paths.   These brown eyed Susan's (Rudbeckia) surrounding the wind vane re-seed themselves every year.   Talk about no maintenance!

A good portion of the potager is designed with ease of gardening in mind.    The "bones" of the garden are all perennials.....plants which come back year after year....all by themselves.   Plants such as the blackberry and blueberry bushes produce with just a little judicious pruning.   And the huge oregano you see in the mid-foreground of the above picture came back without any help from me.   The same goes for the rhubarb, strawberries, asparagus, chives, peppermint, lamb's ears, and many more.  

I hope to expand the potager by half again now that this original section is under control once again.   The new section will be where I plan on planting sprawling plants such as pumpkins, hubbard squash and watermelon.   They all need a large area all by themselves so they don't take over the entire garden.   HA!   Lesson learned from last year's big garden down by the barn.

And speaking of the large garden by the barn.....it is no more!   Yup, we have completely cleaned it out and Joel spent several hours last week leveling out the ground using his tractor and the box blade behind it.   Once it was all leveled out, we raked it and put all the remaining garden litter on the ever-growing compost pile.   Next, we seeded the bare ground with pasture seed containing fescue, ryegrass, Potomac Orchard grass and various clovers.    All of these should make good pasture for the alpacas to munch on.

On the days when it didn't rain we had to water the bare ground in an effort to encourage the seeds to germinate.    Finally, we got 2 days of rain late last week and now there are tiny green shoots popping out of the ground.    Since this area was already fenced in with 6' fencing, we have decided this will become our mating pen for the alpaca.   It's in a central location near the barn and in a place where we can keep an eye on the animals.  

Our alpaca males and females need to be kept separated so we can control who mates with whom.....a very important step in producing high quality fleece for spinning.   Since the ladies pasture is on the right side of this large pen, and the males will be on the left, this was a logical spot for the mating.   Whew!    So much to plan ahead for!

Last week while Joel was in town running his errands, Jeremy and I  decided to do a quick 2 hour project ourselves.   Jeremy manned the front end loader and picked up gravel from our huge pile in our parking area, and I manned the rake.   Yup, farming is really good exercise!   Admittedly, I did a considerable amount of huffing and puffing while raking the stone level, but we got it done and it looks really nice, don't you think?  

Oh, yea, it might help if I told you what you are looking at.   Duh!    This is one of 3 remaining camp sites located behind the barn.   The first one is occupied by Joel's workshop.   The site we worked on just so happens to have 2 levels of railroad ties as a backstop for the gravel, making it really easy to level the site for future campers.  The white post on the right of the site holds an electric box for campers to hook up to for power and also a water faucet.   Now we have 2 more sites to finish with stone and then our RV family and friends can bring their campers here and have their very own space to camp on.  Nothing like having a mini-campground on our property!

So, getting back to the fencing.   Um, yeah, fencing has begun to occupy our thoughts almost every day as we plan where to put pastures for the alpaca and how to leave space for the cement truck to have access to our barn to pour pads in 2 separate areas for the critters.   It's a lot to consider, but I think we finally have it all mapped out in a methodic order.   Sorta.   Hey, what do we know?    We're complete novices in all we try to accomplish and sometimes things work out and sometimes we have to start over.   Groan.........

From this vantage point you can see the barn on the left, the "new" fenced in mating pen, and the line of fencing off to the right is the beginning of a pasture for the females.    Yup, that's a whole lot of fence posts and fencing we installed.

Here's a closer look at the first line of fencing we have installed for the ladies side.   We can't complete their pasture until the cement trucks are done offloading their cement in the barn stalls.
Like here.....

The stall on the far right will become the feeding and watering area for the females.   On the backside of the barn is a tall lean-to section and half of that will get cement also, and become the male side of the barn.   We have yet to figure out how to install windows on the walls of the barn to let in more light and make it less intimidating for the alpaca.   They usually won't enter a dark space that "dead-ends" as our stalls do, so we have some major construction alterations to make before we pick up the alpaca.

Like I said earlier, Jeremy has been a huge help with all this outside work.   Joel figures out how to do something, but he can't because of his bad eyesight.    Then he shows Jeremy what needs to be done and oversees the work as we all pitch in to "git 'er done".  Only a few thousand more feet of fencing and posts need to be installed and that chore will be done.    yeah.   That's a lot of fencing.  

And here's a shot of my almost-worn-out favorite summer work shoes.....my little toe is busting out of the right shoe but I'll keep on wearing these sneakers till they are completely shot as they are soooooo comfortable and don't make my feet hurt when standing for hours working with my guys.  Not exactly a glamour shot, is it?    But it's the reality of real work on a real farm.    

So, there you have it.   This is what our daily life has been like all summer.   Now I remember why I haven't posted very much over the last couple of months.   We've been really, really busy, but still loving every single sun burned, sore muscle, bone-tired minute of it!   Before we know it the leaves will be turning brilliant red, orange and gold on our trees.   It's better to get this work done before the really cold weather sets in.  

Learning to work with the seasons,
Debbie

It Never Even Occurred to Me....

Yes, it never even occurred to me NOT to lower our American flag to half mast after the horrific slaying of 5 military men in Chattanooga last Friday.   But, seriously, our president  couldn't order the flags over our Capitol to be lowered as a sign of respect to our military??????   Really??????  How little does he care for those who defend our freedoms?

So let me get this right: last month we had to view the appalling rainbow of colors garishly illuminating The People's House, but our unarmed military gets ignored after yet another terrorist attack.

Doing more than a slow burn this morning,
Debbie