Sept. 11-12, '09

Sally was in New Mexico for Rosen Movement training, so this was a solo trip. Well, Tender came along.

Garden
Picked lots of black eyed peas both Friday and Saturday. There were also lots of jalapenos and cherry tomatoes, a few other tomatoes and one bell pepper. The spinach and broccoli planted the week before had survived. We had .9" in the rain gauge.



Work
Mowed the upper level including the barn and spring. Weed ate the hill. (Need to get a new head for the Poulan.) Marked the pecan trees along the north creek -- feed from Plume spring. (Found 12 of my trees.) Went into the back pasture both Friday and Saturday cutting and piling up ice storm limbs. Got a full truck load of firewood and hauled it back to the barn. There is still much, much more to go. I sharpened the McCulloch and it cut good, but then I couldn't get it restarted. It actually cut better than the Stihl -- maybe I need to lower the depth gauges.

Tender and I ate a whole (all be it small) watermelon. Half Friday and half Saturday.

Sept. 5-6, '09

CJ, Lisa & Savannah
Came out Saturday night and Sunday. CJ and Lisa fished Sunday morning and afternoon. CJ caught and released at least 25 large mouth bass, and one grass carp that broke the line and got away. He said the carp was cruising with 4 others. That means it had to be one of the ones we stocked no more than 2 years ago, but CJ said it was huge. Lisa caught a few perch. They cruised around the pond in Papa's canoe quite a bit. We cooked buffalo and turkey burgers out at lunch. Savannah was napping, so CJ and Lisa took off about 4:30 and we brought Savannah back later with us.

Garden
Harvested about 8 cups of black eyed peas, some tomatoes, and some jalapenos. We had gotten .7" of rain Friday so didn't have to water. Had bought and planted 8 spinach and 8 broccoli plants. Hope they survive (no rain forecast for several days).


Work
Mowed the road and barn, cut up more limbs downed in the fields by the ice storm, dug about a dozen thistle plants either side of the road coming in, cut more spent blackberry canes and pulled grass around the plants, hung a couple of bars of soap in the fruit trees to defer deer, and flagged about 8 pecans I found along the creek coming out of the pond (maybe 20% of the ones I planted there in '07).

August 29-30, '09

Sally
Sally had to get CEUs for her massage license, so was taking one of Ted's reflexology classes in Harrison. She left from the house early Saturday morning and would meet me at the farm after class, returning to Harrison on Sunday.

Rain
We had gotten rain Thursday in town, but the gauge at the farm was empty. Probably just as well given I wanted to get the yard hydrant behind the barn replaced, and needed dry conditions. (The hydrant had been very difficult to open/close and the handle had cracked about a year ago.) I had exchanged the 4' bury hydrant I had gotten the week before for a 2' which was what I really needed. More on this project later.

Garden
There were tons of black eyed peas, lots of jalapenos, and some tomatoes (those cherry ones are the best). The few green beans were over grown and hard -- just not the right time of year for them. I spent the morning picking, weeding and watering.

Pond
Sally and I drove to the pond at dusk to see what the beaver had done. The culverts didn't seem to be dammed any higher than the previous week, though no water was flowing. I just left them as is. I can live with the beaver if this is all they do.

Work
The project for the weekend was the yard hydrant, but first I mowed around the spring and the swing and took the weed eater (really my brush whacker) all the way up the road and cleared around the cattle guard. (Sally commented that the road looked good. Wanted to know if I had ridden the mower up there.) Last thing Saturday afternoon I cleared out all the mud that accumulated in the hole I had excavated around the yard hydrant. It mostly involved using a garden trowel while leaning over and into the two and half foot hole. It was easiest to just put a bucket in the bottom and put the mud directly in. The plan was to get it ready for the replacement on Sunday when I could shut the water off and Sally would be gone.

Well, Sunday I realized I had to use the pipe and PVC joint on that pipe from the old hydrant, and that I would have to cut the line before the junction that existed connecting these two. That meant more excavation to give me room at the head of the line.

Did I mention how nervous I was about this project. I was secretly hoping I wouldn't have what would be needed and could put it off. Up until the end I was afraid I would not get it put back together water tight, and would have to call in a plumber.

I got the water shut off -- just turned off the breaker to the pump. Then I opened a faucet in the house and the other yard hydrants in front of the barn. Finally the water stopped flowing and I used the wire Lowe's had sold to me to cut through the line. That worked really well, and was necessary since the bottom of my hole was one solid slab of rock on which the line and hydrant sat on top of. Not as much water as I figured flowed out of the cut line. But it wouldn't drain into the soil as I had hoped. My hole was like a pool. The ground down there below the bluff is mostly clay, which is why I think the other two hydrants don't drain. I decided to mop up the water with a rag, again putting a bucket into the bottom of the hole. During the process I noticed that water seemed to be seeping in, and finally realized it was very slowing flowing into the hole from the line. There was a slight rise there and the line wouldn't drain completely.

I went to lunch and decided to just check back later. Well, later there was as much water as when I first cut the line. (There were also half a dozen mud dobbers in the hole collecting building material. I would spend the afternoon shooing and cussing them.) I realized that if I was going to do this job, I'd have to get the hole and pipe dried out as best I could and quickly glue the PVC connection. Did I mention I was nervous. I tried a dry fit with the joint connector and needed to scrape and sand both pieces. I cut my knuckle on that rock trying to sand paper around the feed line, all while water was seeping out. I stuffed towels into the line to try and get as much water soaked up as possible. I also laid the old hydrant across the hole and duct taped the hydrant to it at a 90 degree angle to hold it in place, knowing that once I connected the two pieces I couldn't have it wiggling around while the glue dried. In the end it worked out and the hydrant is in and not leaking. (I am somewhat surprised.)




I collected small rocks and filled the bottom of the hole so there would be some space for the water to flow when the hydrant is shut off. The instructions were to have a 1 foot deep hole like this below the hydrant. I then put three buckets of mostly chirt on top of that, and still need to finish filling in the hole. I just don't want to use that clay that is available because I figure it will fill in and clog the drain -- which it will anyway over time.

And afterward, my chest and the lower edge of my rib cage are very sore from laying on my belly, leaning into the hole, and working.

Next year I'll need to dig up the other two to get them to drain.