Monthly Archives: January 2015

PDF LOG 1/19/2015


Friday, January 16, 2015 Farrier first thing this morning…did Star Baby and Perkins. Julie was a witness to Perkins shedding….other two still not but I am hearing scattered reports of other horses shedding now as well. Then began cutting wood…still clearing the strip in the front and still near the power line so getting a cable in the tree is still the hardest part….I have to figure out a better way of getting my throwing weight up over a limb than trying to throw it….and the little paracord will snag on anything and tie itself in knots which disrupt the throw as well….tried a fishing rod but it wraps around every twig and then hangs up….the sap is really running in the maple now…hauled two loads of old wood to the house. RMT worked 10 to 2….made her an appointment with dr…

Saturday, January 17, 2015 Made a dump run first thing and got some mulch….then a little computer work…figured out a way to get my power point for Tuesday finished without going to the office…then an excursion to Ashland Feed for Mineral and Kelp meal, the bank, walmart, tractor supply and hardees for lunch…Tractor Supply manager says my splitter should be in this week. Bought a screw clevis to make it easier to hook cable to trees…found a decent flashlight with a good beam on clearance at TSC for 9.99…trimmed the bush in front of the window…then resumed cutting wood…got almost every thing down in my selected strip and got it cut up….the new chain sharpening guides I bought really works well….took me a few minutes to figure it out but when I sharpened the saw it was cutting like a new one…throwing shavings….I do have a large oak to take down but I am not sure the tractor is big enough to pull it..and it leans some the wrong way……also a large pine…problem with it is no limbs to get a cable around….hate having them fall on the fence…weather both today and yesterday was tolerable for January….lille breezy but sunny and 40s. RMT working half day.

Sunday, January 18, 2015 woke up at 4:00 am done sleeping…got up and fixed breakfast and then put together supper in the crock pot….not sure what I am fixing as I just started putting stuff in there…2 lbs ground beef browned, some sliced up turkey pastrami, potatoes, onions, green pepper, corn, tomaotes, chillie peppers and chille seasoning and salt and pepper….had to quit as the pot was full…..raining outside a little bit now…was not raining at 4:00 when I took the dogs out…Posted a couple of soil things to the facebook pages…thinking of things I need to do but Thanks to MLK I have Monday to get some of it done…might watch football this afternoon if it is still wet and muddy outside….need to note that one evening this week I caught the biggest and nicest of the three roosters and put him with the hens in the tractor….He was very placid which I liked….plan is next time the banty hen sets I will put some of those eggs under her…RMT working half day today and tomorrow…….Finally stopped raining around noon….went out and we had a bunch of rain…don’t know exact as I had winterized the rain gauge….got some wood to the house and went to the feed store and hay the horses….settling in to watch the game…

Monday, January 19, 2015 I’m a Cowboy, On a Stihl horse I ride….at least three of the last four days…began the day by going over to check cows to see if any had their chalk rubbed off….things were looking good…today was pretty and nice and I cut down three big pine snags…these were big dead standing trees where the tree had died and the top fallen out….The biggest was about thirty feet tall and a good thirty inches in diameter…the other two were a little smaller…I cut them into log lengths and drug them to higher ground and cut them up….still have the biggest log from the biggest snag yet to deal with….ran out of time and energy….did the chores and came to the house in time for supper.

pdf log 1/12/2015


Sunday, January 11, 2015
Brought four loader buckets of wood to the house…Then cut up the big sweet gum I took down Friday and then felled and cut up a couple of smaller maples…one of those had sap running out of it pretty soon after it was felled….Then when I fed, I petted Perkins and got covered up with hair….checked both Star Baby and Pete…neither one had any loose hair…the hand loosened up some with use but I still have limited grip…hurts about half of what it did last night…..afternoon was nice…but breezy…

PDF log 1 11 2015


Friday, January 09, 2015
no more calamities today…except in the mornings excitement I neglected to pick up my phone….found myself standing in the barnyard holding Star Baby and Julie was an uncharacteristic fifteen minute overdue….put Star Baby back in the barn and went to find my phone….sure enough she had called earlier…so I turned the horses out and we rescheduled…Went to cutting wood….cut three nice trees and got some good wood….where I am cutting is near a fence and getting near the power line….I definitely want to control where the trees fall….I normally throw a line over a limb and pull a cable up in the tree and use the tractor to influence the fall….the trees I cut today the lowest limb was just outside my throwing range to get a line over a limb….took a good while to get that third one down….got it down where I wanted it but not yet cut up….supposed to be cold again tonight…was mid forties this afternoon but the wind was sharp and biting…..

Saturday, January 10, 2015
Why must every day have a mini tragedy? I can only assume it is so I will have some continued relevance….This morning while I was fixing my breakfast the little wood stove…the one we have had for 28 years….decided all of a sudden that it was required to fill the house with smoke….This is a catalytic stove and is supposed to be more environmentally friendly but you have to have a phd in smokeology to operate the damned thing…and it stops up the chimney much worse than a regular stove….Chimney cleaning at least once per year is mandatory….This year it had it twice as Marvin brushed it out when he lined the other chimney last month…..I suspect that a second new stove is in our future….we really like the new Ponderosa we got from Northern…well now to go out and tackle the day….
had a good day overall…nothing spectacular …grocery store and feed store and dump and the afternoon was fairly nice, but toward the end of the day it got cold again and I let my hands get cold and the left hand started aching like I had hit it with a sledge hammer….the only way I could sleep was with it wrapped in a heating pad on low….checked with Court and looked at cows…none of the marked AI cows seem to have been in heat since being put with Slim Shady…good sign…

Sunday, January 11, 2015
another cold one…outside thermometer showed 9 degrees…but winds are calm …..so far no calamities and it is supposed to get in the forties but cloudy this afternoon …..left hand still hurts but less than last night….going to let it warm up a little outside and then begin moving wood to the house….I have a lot of wood cut and am cutting for next year now….but I like to have several weeks worth right at the house in case of bad weather where I might have difficulty getting to the piles…did buy a new saw sharpening guide yesterday and a new file…had to break down and sharpen the new chain as it quit throwing flakes and started throwing dust…side note…this fall I have been using a new Stihl synthetic oil additive for the 2 cycle saw and I think it really helps saw performance and starting…bought another six pack of it yesterday….

blog update 1/4/2015


Thursday, January 01, 2015 cut wood in the front…clearing a new strip…took down a maple nearly sixty feet tall..several smaller trees….cut til noon…lunch,,,replaced toilet seat,,,cleaned ashes from the new stove,,,moved and seeded behind chicken tractor,,,worked on new wheels for chicken tractor,,,low of 20…high 47 but raw and windy all day….when the goats were out they ate the leaves off of my azaleas at the stable….topped off the newest compost barrel as it had settled some,,, still not heating…mixed some high diversity seed with some late seed and a cup of red clover seed to use behind chicken tractor…idea,,,instead of mulch in the upper part of the tractor I am going to start using dry horse manure…

Friday, January 02, 2015 whew…I am whipped…put the last two heifers in with the herd and slim shady…of course when I opened the gate the whole damned herd came into the big back field…took me fifteen minutes to get them back out…then went back to cutting wood….took down two tall maples…no low limbs…real chore getting a cable on one of them to control the fall and keep it off of fences and power lines….finally got both down in the right place and dragged out and cut up…brought a load of older wood to the house…went to feed store in Montpelier…chores…supper…start a fire in the small stove that had let go out during the day…do this..bath and then crash in front of tv.

Saturday, January 03, 2015 do little day…still wore out from yesterday….went to grocery store and left 147 bucks plus change…big new years hunt going on so I had to keep the dogs close and in the house most of the day…did see a small doe come across Jacks front field and thru my front and into the cutover next to me….heard a shot over there a few minutes later…at least it was only one shot…not the usually assault at Normandy….put some bigger wheels on the back of the chicken tractor to make it a little easier to move….picked up a load of wood in the loader and parked it in the barn to keep dry….dreary day but did not rain much…tried putting the dry horse manure in the floor of the chicken roost…they had scratched and picked thru it a good bit more that the mulch….maybe need to put the mulch in the horse stalls first….before composting …..got my new pitchfork today…came in the mail….six tine short handle…had to order it as no stores stock them….easier to carry in the van or trailer and six tines pick cleaner….looks like a good quality tool….should see me thru…have an old five tine short handle but one tine is and has been badly bent for years….need to remember to ask Julie to heat and straighten it the next time she fires her forge….Star Baby limping…looks like an abscess brewing…cleaned and applied some hoof goo…

Sunday, January 04, 2015 Left hand is throbbing this morning…must have aggravated it with the contortions I was doing working on the chicken tractor….put together supper in the crock pot…at least the entree…barbecue chicken breasts…Marie will fix some mac and cheese and a salad…checked the cows AIed animals are still wearing chalk. Yvette and ASHOW are 22 days today…piddled around at the barn and dug out another old mineral barrel for a compost/planter….beautiful day…wind is blowing the clouds away and it is warm….only four weeks til ground hog day and then only six weeks til spring…looking thru seed catalogs and thinking about the garden….back to work tomorrow with the rush of things undone and now urgent…and the winter meeting season…at least we have the cover crop seed samples made up and labeled and ready to go to NRCS and the district samples in from Green Cover….I am still putting seed down behind the chicken tractor every time I move it….about a cup full of mostly mixed seed…sometimes just barley and a legume.