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.

root cellar, rock wall

the stars aligned and i got to work on my root cellar. the right side of the door is almost complete.

just ignore those beer bottles. this stone is extremely heavy. i was gifted it from my old boss they are imported from somewhere with heavier rocks--possibly another planet like jupiter with a larger gravitational field.

i wired each course to the expanded metal lath. it should be very sturdy. it will look much better when the dirt is covering the root cellar and covered in violets and mint.

this is the styrofoam and cement mixture that i used along the north wall. as time passed it has hardened with surprising strength.

i had to mix my own mortar color blend. i wanted to match the hue of the rocks yet stay a little darker to try to hide in the cracks.

my selection was very limited. i also add smelly dish soap to the mix to help the cement become more workable without using too much water--thanks walter. it doesn't have to be smelly but we won't use it in the house because it is smelly, stinky artificial and stays around far too long.

real rock work requires a very dry mortar mix. if it is too wet when it splashes on the rock it'll discolor it. i tried to hide the mortar to make it look like dry-stack. all of the rock work in this area has tragically ugly thick mortar joints--imo.

i also used the mortar to stucco the portions of the walls that will show. i'll know this morning if my color is correct. just ignore that half full beer it is mine..

the dirt backfill should wrap around the high side of this wall sloping up the root cellar roof.

if all goes as planned all of the water will shed out and away from the root cellar. only the incline to the entrance will shed to the root cellar. that is one of our famous billboard tarps it will remain there and get buried. it will be watershed protection. i still need an old piece of carpet to cover the roof to help the dirt stick while plants get a chance to take.

i am very sore today but still plan to start up the other side after morning chores--advil gel caps. two days in a row will make a huge difference.

the root cellar plan
digging the hole
photo of earth bags
photo of ferro-crete shell #1
photos of ferro-crete shell #2 & #3
the back bottle wall
front wall portal
red door and rock wall

things left to do.
- - run electricity to the cellar.
- - stub out plumbing to go to the barn.
- - stub out electrical conduit to go to the barn.
- - lay the first few courses of the solar storage tank.
- - back fill the entire thing.
- - plant mint and violets.

next stop.
- - new chicken coop
- - barn
- - pump house, canning storage
- - solar hot water
- - green house
- - summer kitchen

just a list

the cow is getting better--we hope.
i moved the waterer so acorns couldn't fall into it easily. it is an old bathtub that is really heavy. i supported it from three cedar posts that i drove into the ground. it needed to be elevated about a foot so i can plumb it for overflow into the garden.
i fell a quagmire of a tree at our neighbors. it was wedged between the house and their outbuilding.
cut and split the tree into over a rick of wood for them
i calked and painted kassi's closet pink and the kitchen door
we cleaned the pantry/laundry-room
i righted the big bee hive after the cows knocked it down
i rehung the gate to the calf pen--bad cows.
i tried a mix of styrofoam and cement along one of the walls to the root cellar. it wasn't a complete failure but didn't preform as well as i'd hoped.
i moved most of the little rock ring to back fill the root cellar--seven wheelbarrow loads full of rock.
we put an obama sign in the front yard
packaged Danielle's award to send.
we went to a bonfire the kids had a blast. there was a long bagpipes demonstration. the kids loved it. they danced and danced.


i hurt my arm--just a little. it'll take a few days to heal.

political relief

this is funny no matter where you stand.