August 29 - September 1, 2014

Wow, 4 days at the farm! I haven't done that in a while, nor will I do it again. The appraisal came in, the buyer's loan was approved, and closing is scheduled for September 8th. So this was our main pack up and move out weekend. Sally was watching Savannah Friday night, so she joined me Saturday. The dry weather had persisted, but we did receive about a tenth of an inch Saturday morning and again Monday morning. Highs were low 90s and lows were low 70s, but at least it was breezy. We slept with the window open Sunday night.

Mower

Bill had the Craftsman almost two weeks. He first had someone else weld some steel to the top of the deck to provide support for the left spindle. It turned out the bearings were shot in both spindles, so two new spindles. And then there were the spindle brakes that remain on until the blades are engaged, he replaced both of those but had to wait on parts. There went another $215 blown on this piece. It wasn't ready until about 3 on Friday. That, plus a stop for a yard hydrant, meant it was 6pm before I got to the farm.

After filling the bird feeders, I figured I had enough light to mow to the pond and back. But as soon as I engaged the blades it started throwing sparks. I don't think Bill ever tried it after putting the brake arms on, because they were rubbing against the bottom of the spindle pulleys. That is why they needed replaced, because it had worn entirely through the old arms. Bill had told me it was like I had a new deck. Wrong! Looking around I quickly saw what I (and Bill) had missed, there was a weld that had failed between the deck plate and some upper portion where the brake arms were attached. That is why it had been cutting so low and why there was contact with the arms.

I bent the arms down so there was no contact, kept the deck raised as high as it would go, and went ahead and mowed to the pond. It was getting dark, so I cut a few corners getting back. Dang it, more mower problems -- and I was hoping to sell it to the new owners.

I mowed the front and back yards Saturday, and did the weed eating around the house and the hill south of the house.

Yard Hydrant

I had committed to the buyers that I would try and complete this replacement job (I had already dug it up down to the feed pipe), but I still didn't have a new hydrant. I had planned to come out 412 and stop at Tractor Supply, but completely forgot and headed out Hwy 45 as usual. I was pulling into Eureka right at 5:30 and was hoping the plumbing supply store there on Hwy 23 would still be open. It was, and actually didn't close until 6. A lady there helped me collect what I needed and gave me some great tips. When I told her this was at the bottom of the line and it tended to drip, she switched me to some cement that works better in wet conditions, told be to stuff a piece of bread up the line to temporarily stop the seeping, and to let the cement setup for at least an hour before turning the water back on. Its just great to have experience, or get to talk to someone that does. I doubt it would have been the same at Tractor Supply.

I was also pleased when she told me it was a Simmons hydrant. I believe the other 4 are Simmons, but this one back of the barn was originally some other brand, and then the Clayton Mark I replaced it with lasted only about 3 years before snapping.

I thought I would shut the water off and do the replacement Saturday morning before Sally arrived, but it rained early and I could not find any teflon tape. I called Sally and asked her to bring some out. I did go ahead and widen the hole and clean out the debris from the bottom.

Mid afternoon I got permission from Sally to shut the water off for an hour and half (it turned out to be more like 2). I turned off the pump, shut the water off to the house so it would not all drain out, watered the garden with what was left in the pressure tank, and opened up the hydrant in front of the barn. I cut the line with the same wire I had used the last time. But just before penetrating the inside wall it stuck. It took me awhile to get the sawing motion going again, but once the line was penetrated it went easy. The water pooled in the bottom of the hole, so I had to get a rag and sop it up, wringing it out into a bucket. I used another rag to dry things up as best I could, got some sand paper to smooth over the cut, and placed a piece of cardboard in the bottom of the hole.

The cementing went pretty well. But the hole is deep and I had some difficulty keeping from sliding into it. In fact my ribs were soar for 4 days due to laying on them and reaching into the bottom of that hole. Just as I came into the house to turn the well pump on, Sally told me she had already done that but that the toilet would still not flush. It freaked me out a bit, and I ran to the well house and just found a little water running out of the open hose. I shut it off and ran to the front of the barn and that hydrant was gushing. I shut it off and ran to the back to check the new hydrant. Thankfully no leaks. Back at the house I pointed out to Sally that she needed to also turn the water on to the house in addition to turning on the pump. I am just glad she didn't turn it on sooner. I checked the hydrant again Sunday, tested it, and late in the day went ahead and filled up the hole. I sure hate replacing yard hydrants.

Firewood

I am sure glad I picked up John and Amanda's firewood when I was out to meet the appraiser, otherwise I would have had another trip to make. But I still had one red oak log in the barn that I had been saving for Amanda to split, plus the larger walnut pieces left from the tree I had milled. I split it all and lined the bed of the truck with layer to provide some weight and traction getting up the hill pulling the trailer. The rest I piled into the trailer with the rest of my junk.

Packing

Sally had brought out a bunch of boxes and packing material and did most of the packing up of small items. We are fortunate our buyers are going to purchase many items, and allow us to just leave others for them. This includes the beds, couch, table, some house chairs, the TV, two picnic tables, a bench, and three Adirondacks. Sally also loaded her Outback, except for the concrete coyote which I helped her with -- standing it in the front passenger floor board. That left me to clean out the garage and get everything into the trailer. Hopefully we can then get everything else into the truck the next weekend.

Cedar Logs

I had been thinking about the cedar logs that I had trimmed after they were downed in the January 2013 tornado, just lying in the cedar groves. I had talked to Ryan (who milled the walnut) about them, and he said they would be fine. So Sunday morning I went down to the pond to get the bird house and coon guard, and to inventory what I had. There were more logs than I realized of a decent size. I brought my Stihl to be prepared, and decided to go ahead and pick them up. Of course once they were loaded, it would be best to go ahead and get them to Ryan. I couldn't find his phone number, so I sent him an email. We had lunch, and by the time were done he had gotten back to me giving me the OK to drop the logs off. At 1:50 I headed for Wesley, unloaded the logs, painted the ends, chatted with Ryan, and headed back arriving about 5:30. I was bushed and we decided to stay another night.

Leaving the Farm

Sally was anxious to get back and start unloading, but it started raining Monday morning and we were planning to get the table and the twin headboards in the back of the truck. We even had the table top loaded at one point, but then changed our minds and decided to leave it. (I'll now have to put it back together.) From the weather radar we could tell it was clearing, and we were able to get the headboards loaded (and wrapped in a tarp) and get off about 11:30.

One more week, and Serenity Farm will no longer belong to us.