Category: Farm Life (Page 2 of 4)

This is where we’ll show off our paradise and the changes/improvements we are making to it.

Flabbergasting Feral Felines

September 26, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

Strange! We awoke this morning to NO (feral) cats. Insert your own inappropriate political/immigration joke here if needed but I’ll pass on that low hanging fruit.

Luther (our remaining domestic feline) is still hanging around on the front porch but the 5 feral cats have all vanished. Being feral, they often disappear but that’s 1 or 2 at a time out hunting and we always have at least 3 (usually 4) around at feeding time. Today’s breakfast is still sitting out in their pen wondering what happened to them. Every morning up to now, they are fed same time as the chickens and usually are lined up on the coop roof awaiting their breakfast.

I don’t know if they “sense” something in the area we should be concerned about and are hiding but none of the other critters, including the dogs, are acting weird.

It figures we’ve recently spent a couple hundred dollars getting 2 of them fixed with plans to do another as soon as we can catch it and get it in a cage (no easy task that we’ve failed at twice now).

Farewell thee Jackson (2007-2024).

August 29, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

The dark cloud hanging over the farm the past few weeks was the demise of our long tenured ranch boss Jackson, our faithful border collie/husky rescue who’s been in charge with us for 14 years. Sadly however, all those years finally caught up with him as his rear legs started failing. It wasn’t noticeably painful for him but his frustration in dealing with the dying limbs was depressing for him. By this point, he was just waiting to die – and was already just fur and bones so he/we knew we wouldn’t be waiting long.

Poor Jackson had a terrible night (and me as well tending to him) the night of the 6th so I knew his time with us was quickly ending. Towards morning, his hind legs were next to useless. I had been helping him up lately when he struggled the past few weeks but even after helping him up now, he’d fall right over again. There just was no strength back there at all. He’s been so frustrated, he had pretty much given up and stopped eating or drinking anything as of a few days ago.

After the travelers left for MN around 7am, I placed him on his pillow on the front porch and stayed with him there for about 5 hours. Cooper and Lyddie were very respectful of him and they knew he was not going to be with us much longer. He really wasn’t in apparent pain but would quietly moan occasionally like he was thinking “how long do I have to go through this?”

He finally took his last breaths a little after noon.

He was a great dog, companion and protector and we were lucky to have him for the final 14 years of his 18+ year life. And that’s a pretty good haul for a border collie/husky mix. Luckily, his final 2 years were running free down here on the farm.

Here are some pics of his life and his final few hours.

R.I.P. Jackson

Here is the young man, as we got him from the rescue shelter. On his initial vet visit, he estimated Jackson was about 4 years old at the time.

The foster caretakers warned us his “Border Collie” tendencies meant we shouldn’t have any cats around. Ummm, no. We had 2 cats at the time and they got along just fine. He dealt with as many as 18 here on the farm and had no issues as long as they stayed in their lanes where they belonged.

This 2 year old pic shows his gray-ness progressing as his muzzle transitioned to nearly all white.

But, he was still in charge – as long as he didn’t need to get on his feet (or I was around to help him up).

Such a good boy! But, in the end, his coat really was a mess.

He’s had it by now.

This was his final hour so the flowers bring it all home I guess. I may have to transplant some of these out to the pet cemetery.

Jackson’s grave is prominently situated to face the farmstead so we can see it from the front porch while he keeps an eye on things. Lola, (our long term cat we lost a few months ago) is the other grave in the background.

Kris, our former classmate, coworker AND realtor who sold our Lakeville home presented us with this memorial marker, which I mounted to the large oak tree towering over the site. You can see Jackson’s grave below (bottom/left). It’s perfect.
Thanks Kris!

Just for fun, I stumbled on this video of Jackson having fun in his better days.

Remy Visit

August 8, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

After 3 weeks of frenzied activities with us, Sherry is returning Remy to MN this morning (along with 13 kittens, so place your orders with Luke and Julie for one of them). It was such fun having him here with us. He got to do so much and helped us harvest hay, blackberries, peaches, walnuts, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and more. He got to meet and help care for all of the chickens and the feral cat family with all their new kittens. He even performed a burial ceremony for one tiny runt that didn’t survive. He got over his fear of the water and is now ready for swimming lessons.

Already looking forward to his next visit.

Here are some pics from his stay with us:

The Haymakers

July 25, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

Most everyone around here did their first cutting a month ago. However, it took us a while to line up someone to complete ours (since we lack the machinery). He started cutting on Monday and finished about 1/3 of the area we wanted harvested before the PTO broke on his tractor. Then he raked and baled that area before moving on to the rest of it.

The results of that initial cutting below.

Last year, our field (about 8 or 9 acres) produced 221 bales but it was an exceedingly dry summer and the farmer said we should expect double that in a normal year. Well this year, that 1/3 initial area that was cut produced 300 bales!

With minimal drying time, I was leery of storing it in the barn so is under a huge tarp out below the shop. With rain forecast, it is now wrapped pretty tight. If it doesn’t spontaneously combust before then, we’ll uncover for more drying when the forecast clears.

Luckily, I had help with Remy staying with us for a few weeks. Here we are hauling the final load to the hay pile. I have a dozen bales in the big trailer with Remy pitching in with his tractor and trailer.

The “next batch” was cut on Wednesday and then raked and baled on Thursday late into the afternoon. Also, after asking the farmer to tighten up the bales a bit, we ended up with ONLY an additional 252 (heavier) bales to add to the 300 already under the tarp. We had no choice but to leave it in the field overnight (with a 40% chance of rain).

Thankfully, it stayed dry and we set out to get it under cover this morning. We finished moving all of the new bales into the shop by 1PM. We stacked it loose with plenty of airflow so it can dry out more in there.

We’ll let it settle in there for a week before moving it under the barn lean-tos. Now, nearing 4PM, the skies are rumbling and rain is approaching. So, we are extremely glad to be done with that fiasco.

God is good!!! Anyone need any hay? Our total of 540 is about 400 bales more than we needed.

Soggy Doggies

July 9, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

With the core of (what’s left of) Beryl passing overhead now, the rain is relentless. I had to empty our rain gauge (at 5″) before it overflowed. That’s after I emptied it yesterday after 2″ so we are at 7″ total in this storm so far.

We’ve been under a flood watch for a few days that are now turning to warnings for the rivers in the area. Luckily, we are situated pretty high but travel is quite interesting. Even being at a higher elevation, the standing water pooling in the yard is a pain but thankful that is all we have to worry about.

Weather or NOT

June 26, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

I realize many are dealing with monsoon rains and major flooding these days. I just saw the video of the white home toppling into the river at the Rapidan dam in southern MN. That is tragic and my heart bleeds for that family’s loss. It very much reminds me of 1993, when a similar scenario hit the upper Midwest – only to see Missouri succumb to the same flooding later on as both the Mississippi and Missouri river watersheds channel that water downstream.

However, down where we are in the southern part of the state, it’s been stinking hot and we haven’t seen rain in 3 weeks now. It’s supposed to happen overnight tonight and into tomorrow. But the closest we’ve come is a storm that formed overhead, but then moved east and is now “severe” in the bootheel/Memphis area. I am still praying we get something tomorrow though to green things back up.

As for the heat, we are dealing as best we can. Today topped out at 108 (feels like) degrees. 90 degrees is our threshold for running the AC and it’s been on for about 5 days now. I hate AC and having a sealed up house but would rather have it than not. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors (Amish and off grid homesteaders) have no such refuge and are suffering right now.

We also take care to make the critters as comfortable as possible. Jack enjoys the AC (and his personal fan) indoors. The younger dogs are out all day but have plenty of shade on the porch and also enjoy the fans we have set up at the doors to keep the flies away. Lydia acts like a fashion diva laying directly in front of one of them with her hair flying in the breeze. They get plenty of water and today we set up a small wading pool that they jump in to cool down. We also bring them to the river up the road where they get to swim in the cool water.

Incidentally, our pool is now getting much too warm for my liking but has been a godsend that gets used around 4pm each day. I am hoping for some rain to cool it off.

The chickens are uncomfortable but hanging in there. Today, we only had 4 eggs – a record low for the 15 hens. I’ve made canopies for each of the 3 runs and they get plenty of water – both in their waterers and via a sprinkler that they all enjoy. They also have fans in each of the 3 coops.

As of now, the major storm activity is up in the Omaha area but seems to be slowly sliding east and south so we appear to be still lined up for some action later this morning. Let’s hope so.

I wrote most of this post at 1am, when the weather alarm blared for a Severe Thunderstorm Watch. Now at 7:45am, the front of the storm has finally reached us and everything has dropped below the severe level so looking forward to a good ol’ fashioned soaking. No wind. No hail. Just RAIN. Bring it on!!!

Circle of Life Continues

June 25, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

I realize we need to get used to the comings and goings of the critters but it’s always hard when a loved and trusted pet departs. With that, we gave Lola a proper send off on Friday evening.

Wouldn’t you know, the very next morning we just got done with the morning feeding and discovered 7 (count them 7) new kitties born overnight in the feral cat lair. The other 2 feral cats are ALSO pregnant so we’ll soon be overrun with them.

All appear to be healthy and have the preferred darker coloring – meaning no Donald clones. “Donald” is the brother of the 3 hyper-fertile mommas that populate our barn cat enclosure and is the one continually impregnating them. Thankfully, we haven’t seen him in weeks and he will be chased off if he shows up again.

Did you know a majority of orange cats turn out to be male? Something like 85% turn out to be male. Now that “Donna” (one of an earlier litter) has grown a bit we checked and sure enough has now been renamed to Don Jr.

These (and the upcoming litters will all be looking for new homes when they are ready. Actually, they are pretty easy to get rid of as others are always looking for barn cats. All it takes is a trip to the Walmart parking lot, or in our case the Dollar General in Summersville and they are claimed within 20 minutes.

Hola Lola

June 25, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

Yes, “Hola” technically means hello but I am altering the meaning to say goodbye to Lola, our loving furry companion for the past 15+ years. He, (yes HE) has been with us since a bitty kitty and spent his first dozen years as an indoor cat in Lakeville. We’d let him out on the deck for some outdoor adventure, where he’d manage to snag an occasional songbird and usually always figured out a way to escape.

His life in captivity was altered drastically when we moved to the farm and he spent the past few years exclusively as an outdoor cat – hunting and exploring whenever he cared to. However, he spent a majority of the time curled up on the front porch napping with his buddy (and nephew) Luther.

His passion was raiding my garage and seeking where I had hidden my work gloves. He would drag them out and distribute them around the yard and driveway. It was a little game for us.

Prior to that, he was notorious for finding little bags of stuff and scatter them around as well. Everything from sewing bobbins, pins and metal sewing machine parts in Sherry’s sewing and monogramming shop to my nuts and bolts in the garage. If they were in a baggie, they were fair game.

He never tore anything up or damaged them in any way. It was simply a game of hide and seek for this prankster.

And, I will add that since he moved outdoors, we definitely do NOT miss the gobs of fluffy white fur all over the house – choking the fans and air filters.

Sadly, Lola passed unexpectedly on 6/20/2024.

When Sherry got home from the goat farm that afternoon, we jumped in the pool to cool off. While soaking, we were discussing Jackson’s last days as he gets feebler and feebler as his rear legs are beginning to fail him. As an 18+ YO Border Collie, his longevity is already somewhat astounding.

Wouldn’t you know a half hour later, as we were feeding everybody, we noticed Lola was in distress. He is nearly as old as Jack and had his tongue hanging way out and appeared to be struggling to breathe. We felt so helpless. He’d still move around trying to get comfortable so Sherry grabbed a box for him to curl up in. Once he was placed in the box, he moved around a bit but ended up laying down on his side but his head was against the side staring up at us with his eyes wide open. I’m not sure if his eyes were seeing anything at that point but he was as loved as he could be. He was in there maybe 3 minutes and let out 2 (almost) “chirps” and he was gone. Thankfully, he passed quickly. Afterward, we repositioned him in a natural way and closed his eyes.

Lola is the first loved pet to be buried in our pet cemetery. The other burial there was the feral momma cat that left us with her hyper-breeding offspring barn cats. So for Lola, she got a burial with full feline honors.

R.I.P. Lola.

Treework by Nature

June 14, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

This is at least the 3rd time I was puzzled about how to get a tree/limb down SAFELY (without me ending up paralyzed). Plus, I also seem to always deal with these when I am on my own (with no one around to call 9-1-1).

This limb while not all that large was snapped off and hung up in other branches between the garage and the house.

I noticed this up there a few days ago. It’s not that big but could definitely injure someone falling from high in the tree so I contemplated my options.

To saw it clean, I might have been able to reach it with my tallest ladder set up in the back of my truck bed backed up to the tree. But there is nothing worse than trying to make a cut with a chainsaw while precariously perched high in the air.
The other option was to try to throw a rope around it to pull it down. To get close enough to it would also require the ladder in the pickup trick but wouldn’t be nearly as high and a simple throwing motion is better than operating a chainsaw.

Luckily, nature AGAIN took care of it for us, as it was laying on the ground when we got up this morning.

Although the “nub” will still bother my sense of order and should be cleaned up, the fact it is 40′ in the air will temper my urge to get after it.

As with the large dead pine across the field from the 1st above photo, that I sawed nearly through and ended up binding my saw. I was able to pound a wedge in to free the saw but the tree remained standing. Rather than accept any more risk, I simply backed away and left it there at the edge of our field. In a matter of 2 or 3 days, the wind did the rest. Once it fell, I retrieved my wedge and cut it up for firepit fuel. These have already been used for a few Viking Funerals for dead critters.

The other was another large pine that blew against it’s neighbors on the edge of the woods behind the shop. My saw was too small for the trunk so a neighbor friend came over with a larger saw to saw it free from the root ball still mostly embedded in the ground. We then chained it to his truck but there was no way we were pulling it down – it stayed hung up in the trees. My next idea was to wait until haying season and try to pull it down with the tractor we hired for that. Since haying season was still months away though, I wasn’t keen about keeping everything away from there. Luckily, the wind dropped the tree to the ground a day later. With the return of high tick season, I tabled further work there and still have plenty to cut up when cooler weather returns in the fall. There is also a nice oak that the pine blew into. It didn’t kill it (yet) but that has a notable lean to it as well and I’ll be harvesting that one for heating wood as the ample pine available is only burned outside in the firepit.

Fun times!

Weird weather (apps)

June 14, 2024 / WJG / 0 Comments

Our relative remoteness and new “occupation” necessitates keeping a close eye on the sky. However, the outlook from various angles vary widely so we are never sure what to expect.

Here’s the current forecast from this site, using an RSS feed from (I believe) Mountain View, 20 miles to our south – even though I labelled it Hartshorn.

And, here is Weather Undergrounds forecast for the same period.

Our weather radio (that keeps me up at night blaring alarms for RAIN every 20 minutes) sits inches to the left of my office monitor. That will give me the direct NWS forecasts and usually provides a 3rd option of what could happen.

Then, we have the local radio stations providing additional views. Here, I sometimes trip myself up by streaming WDGY or another MN station and the forecast initially startles me until I realize that forecast isn’t for our locale.

Then, we have the ever present YouTube weather porn industry continually forecasting Armageddon for Missouri that rarely materializes. Here, thankfully, the risk skirts just to our north so I guess I should be concerned. Also, Sherry left this morning for MN for a nieces wedding and will be driving directly through the red blob of horror. But, she left early enough that she should easily get through it before everything heats up but I’ll keep praying.

I guess it’s not a big deal. I can just digest it all, take a look outside and usually get a pretty good idea of what will happen and when – and then we plan activities and tasks accordingly.

My BIG hang up right now is having a convertible that doesn’t exactly have a trustworthy hydraulic system for raising/lowering the roof. I’ve got it open now and I think I could close it if needed but am not certain so it ONLY rolls out of the garage if there is NO chance of any rain whatsoever. It looks like it is staying inside today.