decorating

tabitha decorated the feeder


the kids helped.

my hand prints are there too


we took delivery of some hay

the bank over drew because of it.

the pigs are really growing



toly likes the pigs


i made kombucha today

bale feeder dark blue

kassi was unhappy about my choice of radio station--NPR.

i finished painting the hay feeder. i like the dark blue.


i also painted tabitha's milking shanty.

this could be a scene right out of mexico.

kassi was trying to catch a chicken.


i'll drag this thing to it's temporary home as soon as tabitha is finished decorating it.


heeeeaaar chicky chicky....


we might declare this blue the official out building color.


wardrobe please..


our dogs are great they just hang out and blend in.


i still have to put on the ridge cap but the feeder is almost ready for service.

part three square bale feeder

i got some hinges from bob. he has a little of everything. i built the doors and hung them. they were warping a little funny so i had to re adjust the hinges to try to compensate. in the end i had to stress the doors using diagonal supports and a little shim in the middle. this warped the doors back the other direction. i also made a little hasp.


the kids got to help paint the primer coat. mostly they just made a big mess but they had fun.

tomorrow we'll paint the the final color. it is a much darker rich blue. i hope it ends up looking cute.

part two square bale feeder

today i worked half of the day at bobs so this is only a few hours progress on the do-it-yourself square bale feeder. so far i have spent $20 dollars on it. but still need to get hinges. i have a few resources that i'll try before i pay full price...

here it is without the door or ridge cap.


today i put on the condenstion barrier (billboard tarp), perlines, steel roof and hardware cloth screen bottom. here is a close up of the bottom.


here is a side shot. the dog is there for size. you figure out who it is for the dog or the feeder.


cute isn't it?


this is the wood left over from my $20 investment. i had the sheet of plywood. it was left over from some cement work my neighbor was doing.


this is the pile of scrap. the kids will play with it for a few more days then it will become kindling.


this it the billboard tarp condensation barrier. plus this is re-used steel so a little extra protection can't hurt.


tomorrow i should conclude my build your own small square bale feeder project. except for the painting..

pigs, square bale feeder and more

we finally got our pigs. they are cute and frisky.

they are in the calf pen addition. it is made from pallets per ron's example. i picked up mikes feeder. it needed cleaning and a little touch up. i had some black spray paint and covered the rusty areas. we'll keep food in front of them at all times and feed them the waste milk products around here. whey soaked grain is really supposed to fatten them up quick. these pigs are 1/2 giant black--a heritage breed. so far we really like pigs and might make raising them a permanent addition to the farm.

the cows desperately need a square bale hay feeder that will keep the waste to a minimum. the idea is it will keep the weather out and be able to be moved to different areas for pasture development and maintenance. tabitha showed me a picture of what she thought would be perfect.

so i went to the lumberyard and asked if they had any culls. i slipped into my best missouri accent and toured the lumber yard with the manager. he started saying "a dollar here and a dollar there." i waited until we ran out of culled wood and offered him $20 for the whole lot--deal... here is the pile of wood that i came home with for the feeder.

toly verified it's value.

this is the foundation skid from landscape timbers. i had these laying around.


the first course made for good monkey bars.


toly helped too.


notice my fancy bale support.


kassi was the resident princess and purveyor of good cheer.


homemade rafters from yellow pine.


the construction is a little nonstandard. i want to be able to re-purpose all of it in case things change.

the roof might become and out house roof or a play house. you never know...


tristan decided that the entire thing was his monkey bar set.


brave?


just showing off.




this is all the further i could get today..

happy second birthday toly

toly turned two and had a party.

we had home made cake and ice cream


the kids all enjoyed themselves


tristan is trying to figure out how he can get that heart.


the adults waited patiently


enters the ice cream

hand cranking is best when everyone gets a try at the crank.


toly got a new "guck guck" or tractor for you and me.


rome got held by every of the genteeler persuasion

just a little nap until his next cute-em-up performance of flashing his dimple.

the adults had fun too. we got into a heated debate over the political quagmire that we are in. some opposing views were represented, discussed and respected. the discussion lasted for over an hour and given our different views it ended very well. being satiated by cake and ice cream probably didn't hurt.



we got new piglets, zelda and kerby. i'll post on them very soon.