Wednesday, 14 January 2009
 

GWMA - Update

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 14, 2009 at 02:01 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 13 January 2009
 

GWMA - Update

Algore, Algore, wherefore art thou, Algore? We could use some of your hot air right now. They're saying it might actually get above freezing during the day starting Saturday. Maybe if we burn part of the dead wood we have piled out back we can put enough CO₂ in the air to help.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 13, 2009 at 04:04 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 11 January 2009
 

Global warming my ass

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 11, 2009 at 01:19 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 10 January 2009
 

False alarm at The Circle F, apparently

It's beginning to look pretty unlikely that the turkey who wants to put a road across the bottom of our pasture is going to even come close to offering us enough to close the deal. He'd have to increase his last offer by about a factor of ten to get me very excited about the idea and at least a factor of six to get me to even seriously consider it. As things stand now, I get up mornings and look at the bathroom window to see Sunshine, about two days out of three, standing down at the end of the pasture on land that would be paved over if we'd give it up. Then I move to the kitchen table and sit drinking coffee for a while, looking across the kitchen and through my room at the tops of the trees between us and Wal-Mart, trees that would have to be cut for a road to go through there. Then when I eventually get around to moving to my blogging corner I glance up every so often to see if anything's happening over at the Grigsby place, right in the middle of where this fool wants to build a road. I won't say that for the right price I couldn't be persuaded to give that up, but the right price is going to have to take into account more than just "How much is land worth by the acre on the west edge of Lawrenceville?" I really don't know what sort of game this fool's trying to play; apparently he has it in his head we're desperate enough for money to accept pennies on the dollar for what that particular piece of land would be worth to him. He's offered Grigsbys, contingent on us selling, $70K and a house he could easily sell for more than that. I don't have any firm numbers on how much it costs to put in a street across undeveloped land but I can't believe it wouldn't cost at least as much as he's offered Grigsbys for their place. If he's really ready to spend that sort of money to increase the value of the land he owns behind us then the piece of our place he wants is obviously worth a lot more to him than he's offered us. Is he really stubborn enough to give up his plans to develop the land behind us just to prove a point or is it simply a matter of waiting him out? Time will tell, I suppose.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 10, 2009 at 12:57 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 06 January 2009
 

Frustration at The Circle F

It's not at all clear at this point whether that land deal's going through or not. Our initial asking price and the developer's initial offer were only off by about a factor of ten. We may or may not end up meeting somewhere in between the two numbers. Anyway, here's a better aerial shot our place and the area right around it than I've had before, courtesy of the developer. Click it to see it bigger.

The blue line in the above pic more or less shows the pasture area Sunshine currently has available. The red line is more or less what the developer wants to buy, and the green line is additional pasture I'd need to fence in if he does. There's enough room in the green area so that we'd still have enough pasture for one horse without the land we might be selling but there's going to be some work involved getting it properly fenced in. For now it's just a matter of waiting to see if the developer calls back with an acceptable offer.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 6, 2009 at 04:47 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 02 January 2009
 

Circle F update (Updated)

Basically, none of what I'd hoped to get done around here yesterday got done. Kyle woke up hung over, Matt woke up with a runny nose, I woke up with a major sinus headache, and we decided it was a good day to not try to work outside. Today, fortunately, was better. Matt cut all the trees we lost Saturday into manageable pieces and Kyle and Brian stacked the pieces. We roughly doubled our supply of firewood for cookouts and our supply of kindling, which we already had more than enough of. It'll take a while for what got cut up today to dry out enough to be burned so for now the kindling-size stuff is piled in the old garden waiting to dry out and be burned.

I told Kyle and Brian to plan on working tomorrow but I haven't decided for sure what to have them do in what order. Vicki (my sister) wants a trench and levee to keep the floor of the barn from getting muddy when it rains, which it's expected to tomorrow night, so that probably gets priority. I guess when she went out to calm Sunshine down after the storm Saturday night they were both slipping and sliding around in the mud even in the barn. After that's done I think I'll have the guys clean up better along what used to be the edge of the woods to improve our negotiating position with Mr. Boyd, the guy who wants to build the road down at the far end of the pasture a little, (more on that matter in a minute), then maybe clean off the front porch like I was going to have them do before I left for Texas if the weather hadn't turned so mean.

I guess for some tax-related reason would be to Boyd's advantage to wrap up whatever deals he's making for land for a road by the middle of the month. Vick talked to him for a few minutes this morning and told him I wanted to discuss the situation with him. He says the next step is to get some surveyors to mark off the part of our field he needs, then he'll stop by to talk to us, tentatively Tuesday. In the mean time Vick found out how much the Grigsbys are getting for their place and it's pretty clear that Boyd wants to build a road bad enough he should be able to make it worth our while to deal with him. She also got an estimate from someone who knows the local realty market on how much we could sell the whole place for and it's considerably more than he offered us for it before. Some things Mr. Boyd's going to have to understand:

• My baby sister's a nice person. Me, not so much.

• It's not just a matter of how much land is worth by the acre on this edge of Lawrenceville, it's a matter of him wanting to build a road and us not really wanting a road right next to our pasture, not to mention the noise and dust while it's being built.

• In the months that have passed since the last time he wanted part of our place my Social Security came through. He could still turn our heads with enough money but we can also afford to tell him to get lost if we decide to.

• We now have a horse to care for, who will live out the rest of his days here. Whatever deal we work out can't result in the horse having any less pasture space than he does now.

• The people who are converting the place just west of the lane to a bar and grill would like to buy this place so they could live close to their business. (There's no chance of us actually selling the whole place but Boyd doesn't need to know that.)

Back to my reason for cleaning up along the edge of the woods a little better. When Boyd first showed up here about a year and a half ago this place looked like something straight out of Hazzard County, complete with junk piled in the yard, derelict cars scattered around, and a garage that looked like it could fall over any day. I can see how the man might have thought he was dealing with a bunch of poor white trash too desperate for a few dollars to hold out for a fair deal. There are still some things that need to be done before this place looks as nice as it did when Dad was healthy but over the past few months I've made major progress. Goodbye Dukes of Hazzard, hello Picket Fences. Getting the edge of the woods tidied up a little more before Tuesday is another step in the right direction.

I may not get a lot of restful sleep between now and when the situation settles out. I have big hopes of Vick and Mom ending up with enough money to not need so much help from me for a while and I'm sort of looking forward to playing "Engineer Bill" some more rearranging fences. As nerved up as the matter is going to keep me for a while it's really a good thing Boyd has reasons of his own for wanting to get things wrapped up quickly.

***

Been sitting outside thinking when I might shoulda been sleeping but I have a lot on my mind.

Unless Boyd wants a bigger chunk of our pasture than I think he probably will I'm not sure there needs to be any land trade involved, just cash for land, which should be a lot easier to define and negotiate. The thing is, I don't think letting Sunshine pasture in the garden and having the garden available for use as a family park necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. I could fence off the garden, leave the existing gate between the garden and barn lot and put in a gate between the yard and the garden. During times the garden needs to be used as pasture in could be and during other times we could shut Sunshine out of it, throw a few souvenirs of his presence over the fence, and use it the same way we always have.

Having realized we can use the garden as pasture without giving up our traditional weenie roast area, I also realize now we can be more flexible about which exact part of the field behind us we'd have to have in a land swap if Boyd does need too much of our east end for just opening up the garden to make a big enough difference. I need more time to flesh that idea out when I have daylight to walk around out back by and after I see how much of our place he really needs, but basically it doesn't have to be a matter of moving our whole south line out by the same amount and keeping the new line parallel to the existing one. Right now what I really need to do is get some sleep.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 2, 2009 at 10:40 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 01 January 2009
 

Meanwhile, back at The Circle F

I think we're really gonna miss that little woods they tore down:

Maybe we really did, by pure coincidence, have the worst windstorm we've had in at least 51 years two months after they tore that woods down but it doesn't feel that way. I guess it got pretty exciting around here Saturday night; exciting enough to convene an emergency family meeting in the hall outside the hall bathroom, the only place in the house with no windows and the place the roof is least likely to fall in on if things get really bad. We lost two trees along what used to be the edge of the woods and one out by the old dog kennel. I'm proud to say the barn I designed and the garage I had repaired came through unscathed. It didn't even blow "our" geese away; with the cold snaps they've already ridden out without leaving I think maybe it's safe to hope they've decided to stay near that lake for good:

I went for a little stroll around the perimeter of our place this afternoon; here's a glimpse looking down our back property line from a little south of it and a little west of our place:

My reason for being out there was curiosity about what part of that field behind us would be most useful in return for giving up part of the east end of our pasture for a road from the highway back to the field so the developer who owns the field has a better chance of being able to sell part of it as small-business lots. I couldn't remember how far behind our place the ground was reasonably level before dropping off sharply down toward the lake. It looks to me like there's enough of it that is fairly level to more than make up for the amount of pasture we'd be losing if we let go of enough land for a road. The next step in the process is to get me face to face with the developer to discuss the matter. My thinking right now is that if we're going to be tearing down fences and building new ones we might as well give Sunshine access to part of "the garden" in the process. My sister thinks we'd be better off with a bigger barn lot and smaller pasture anyway, so fencing part of the garden and part of the field behind it sounds reasonable to me. Of course that means that in addition to just the land swap there has to be enough cash involved to cover a lot of labor and fencing materials, not to mention what it's going to take to convince my sister it's OK to have a road that close to the pasture. She's convinced the developer wants to build that road bad enough to make a very non-trivial difference in our budget to convince us to let him do it. If he wants to do it bad enough to buy and tear down that first house east of us he must want it bad enough to make things worth the bother for us while he's at it. Aside from the fact I don't have nearly as much of that big Social Security back settlement left as I wish I did and we could really use the money, I know getting out and around to get that fence built last summer was good for me physically and mentally and I'm really a little excited about the prospect of having money to work with to do some more of the same sort of thing in the coming months.

Before the developer and I can get out to take a look at things without walking way out around we need to get those fallen trees cut up and moved; that needs to be done before the next time we need hay anyway. (Fortunately there was an almost-new bale in the barn lot when the trees blew down, so it's not an emergency for a few days.) My brother in law got out yesterday (12/30 -- It's still Wednesday to me) and did some of the cutting up and will be doing some more tomorrow and maybe Saturday if need be. As it stands now Kyle and Brian will be here tomorrow and Saturday, and Sunday if need be, to carry off and stack what he cuts.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 1, 2009 at 12:38 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 18 December 2008
 

I may be moving

Resolved: I will get a damned sight more respect from those around me in 2009 than I have in 2008, whether that happens in Lawrenceville or some place with a more pleasant climate.

My youngest nephew's parents have until I get back from Texas to convince him the king did not die and leave him in charge. If they prove unable to accomplish that task, I'll move somewhere where the adults are in charge.

I realize getting by around here without the contributions I've been making to the family budget could be challenging. It might require, for instance, selling a computer and some video game systems and some associated games and accessories, followed by some other more extreme cost-cutting measures. It might even prove easier to simply teach my nephew some manners.

In particular:

• When someone is between me and some place I need to be I wait till they move, possibly after asking them to do so. I will receive that same respect. The next person who decides to just shove me aside may very well find himself dumped unceremoniously on his ass.

• My mother will be addressed at all times in a respectful tone of voice. She's old, and some times forgetful. She is not stupid. I will be accorded the same respect.

• My nephew will address me as "Uncle Bill" or some other term connoting the respect due an elder family member. I am not his good buddy "Bill."

This list may grow as I have more time to think about all the ways Cordell has been disrespectful over the past few months.

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 18, 2008 at 11:15 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 05 December 2008
 

I th-th-hink m-m-my b-b-brass m-m-monkey's d-d-dead (Updated 12/6)

I don't know what our high for the day turned out to be but as of 11 AM weather.com was predicting 28 degrees, which didn't contribute to getting a lot done outside. Both Brians (Jr. and Sr.) decided it was too cold to work, on top of Kyle having some sort of stomach bug. Todd took some lumber we didn't end up needing back to Bridgeport for me, then we spent a couple of hours working in the garage. The place still needs a lot of work but you can already tell a difference. We're gradually clearing out a bunch of clutter that had no reason being left where it was to begin with and trying to force what's left into some semblance of order. Mom told me last night that she realized the repairs I'd had made to the house and garage were probably more important in the long run but just seeing the garage clean and tidy would mean more to her than anything else I'd done. Guess that means we finish what we've started. It's supposed to be 38 tomorrow, 31 Sunday, then at least in the upper 30s for the next 8 days after that. That should be plenty of time to wrap up everything I have on the agenda till spring. Next spring we need to paint the garage, which is three different colors right now, and after it cools off some next fall we'll probably paint the barn. That will take care of everything I know of right now that needs done around here but I'll probably get bored eventually and think of something else.

*** 12/6

I guess that monkey's still breathin' but he's definitely singin' soprano. I woke up to about an inch of snow on the ground, which melted before I got energetic enough to go out with a camera. There were patches of snow on top of the ice on the lake well into the afternoon but I didn't get the urge to venture out far enough to take pictures. According to the thermometer it got about 10 degrees warmer today than it did yesterday but it was windy enough to feel just as bad or worse out. Kyle and Brian spent a couple of hours helping me clean out the garage before they froze out; Todd was busy 4-wheeling with his girl friend and Brian Sr. is out of action for an indeterminate length of time due to a back injury. The high tomorrow's supposed to be 30 and we aren't even going to try to work. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be warmer but it's supposed to rain Tuesday then get cold again Wednesday. Mom's already said enough about how nice what we've done so far looks that we will end up finishing the job but I'm beginning to wonder how long it's going to take.

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 5, 2008 at 08:40 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 28 November 2008
 

Visitors at The Circle F

Well, not "at the Circle F," exactly. More like "near the Circle F." Anyway I stood on Circle F property and took their pictures.

Geese!

A bunch of em.

I guess they were here for a while yesterday but I missed them. Today they spent most of the day here. I'm sure they'll move on as the weather gets worse but having them there takes a little, not much but a little, of the sting out of all the noise and dust we put up with while that lake was being created.

Except for some painting I think we're within about a day of having the garage repairs done. We might have gotten done today if the lumber yard in Bridgeport hadn't been closed; Lowe's doesn't carry siding the same size as Dad used and we're only replacing what needs replaced, not tearing it all off and starting over. After we're done with the repair job I'm going to have the guys help me clean out a bunch of clutter and try to make some semblance of order out of what's left. I know the mess out there bothers Mom even more than it does me and I'm past tired of looking at it.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 28, 2008 at 10:41 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 23 November 2008
 

Stayin' busy at The Circle F

Busier than I'd really prefer, actually. I'm not sorry I decided to have Todd and the gang fix up the garage, just tired. After seeing how rotten some of the lumber holding it up was I know it really wouldn't have been a whole lot longer till part of it collapsed. Before we started tearing things apart I thought all we needed to do was replace some rotten trim and siding here and there to humor my sister. I didn't realize how much of the rotten trim and siding was hiding rotten 2x4s and 2x6s. I also thought all we needed to do was replace one pane of glass in a window that turned out to need replaced in its entirety, and plane a little off the bottom of a door that turned out to be beyond help.

I think we have all the rotten structural pieces replaced now and really are down to just replacing some trim and some siding. We also need to replace the storm widow on the west end of the kitchen -- All it needs is one glass insert replaced but no one around here sells just the inserts any more.

Things should start moving a little quicker from here out if the weather holds, which the weather.com seem to think it will long enough we should be able to get everything done. Brian woke up sick today so Todd brought his (and Brian's) dad, Brian Sr. with him instead. The guy definitely knows what he's doing and doesn't have a lazy bone in his body. Today (To me it's still Saturday.) it was just him and Todd but when Brian gets well and Kyle gets back from spending the weekend at his sister's I'll keep all four of them working whenever they want to, Todd and a helper working in one area, Brian Sr. and a helper somewhere else. As Todd pointed out when I brought the subject up, when I have three people here I typically end up, at any given moment, with two working and one watching, simply because most of what's being done only takes two people.

Tomorrow we're going to make a Lowe's run, then with a little luck get the rest of the trim and siding on the garage done. Monday will be storm window day first, then on to other things. As a minimum we need to paint the trim around the doors and windows, since it's all untreated lumber, and I guess I'll have the whole garage painted so everything's the same color. I've also decided to put a layer of Celotex on the outside of the wall between the kitchen and garage, with a layer of particle board over that; it won't take too many years for the reduction in heat flow through that wall to pay for the job. The kitchen has always been hard to keep warm in the winter and maybe this year it won't be quite so chilly in there.

Time for me to get some sleep so I'm at least half way awake when the guys get here tomorrow.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 23, 2008 at 01:15 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 20 November 2008
 

Baby news, some other things

Today's major news: Heather checked into the hospital about 4 hours ago and they're going to induce labor tomorrow morning. By this time tomorrow night I'll have a granddaughter!

In other news, winter's officially here:

You have to look close, but those are snowflakes. It quit snowing shortly after I took the picture, then snowed enough again later to cover the roof of my car, the hood of Daddy's truck etc. btw, that barn is the one Daddy built in the mid-60s and no one took care of after he got too sick to; there's now one about a month old about 50 feet east of it. For you city kids, that round thing with the hole in it is a hay bale. It didn't come with a hole in it; Sunshine just decided to eat the inside first and work his way out.

It's more than a little pathetic, and it makes me more than a little angry, how little it takes to make Mom happy these days. Little things, like clean walls in the kitchen, a bird feeder just far enough from the kitchen window so the birds don't scatter when we walk in there, a door that opens and shuts right on the back of the garage so we can keep the big doors closed to shut out the wind, new siding on the garage and new studs in some of the walls so they don't collapse, the fact that I ordered new storm windows for the kitchen and promised to put up miniblinds on the inside of the kitchen window sometime soon, things like that.  I know part of the repairs that got put off around here the last few years were put off for lack of funds, but how much does it cost to wash walls? You can buy a pretty nice bird feeder for under $10.00, which leaves me personally with no excuse for not putting one up way before now.

We ended up taking today off from the garage-repair project. First Todd called to say we'd be getting a late start because he had to go to court, then it started snowing, with rain visible on the radar not too far from here. I guess we're working tomorrow, with a predicted high of 36. Kyle and Brian were planning to take the day off -- it's supposed to be warmer Saturday -- but Todd wants to work if he can get anyone to help him. I guess I'll get up and around tomorrow planning on working and hope he can find some help. I guess we're to the point now where, except for putting the rest of the siding on the parts of the garage where there isn't any right now, we could put everything else off till spring, but there are still several things that need to be done inside the garage eventually and I'd like to go ahead and get them done rather than risk Todd finding a "real" job by spring and leaving me with no one available I trust to finish things up right. Kyle and Brian are good kids but when it comes to carpentry work Todd's definitely the brains of the outfit; he's the one I decided I trusted enough to start tearing the garage apart and put it back together right to begin with.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 20, 2008 at 10:45 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 16 November 2008
 

A good weekend to spend inside

... which I did, for the most part. It rained too far into the day yesterday to do anything on the garage-repair project, then Todd called this morning to say he wasn't feeling well. With some luck we'll get back to work tomorrow.

I did get out and around enough yesterday to buy and hang a nicer bird feeder out by the kitchen. The local sparrow colony liked the old one just fine but we're hoping the bigger one will attract Cardinals and maybe Blue Jays. So far all I've seen on the new one is sparrows but maybe with time.

I guess with the woods gone we're going to hang some miniblinds in the kitchen and on the door to the west porch. Aside from blocking a lot of wind that woods provided us with a lot of shade and privacy. Hanging blinds is something that can be done in bad weather so the garage project has priority till it's done.

If you haven't been reading my daughter's blog now's a good time to start. If she hasn't gone into labor on her own by next Friday morning the doctor's going to give her a shot to get things started. I guess she's going to make me wait till some time around Christmas to head south to meet my new granddaughter; we haven't agreed on exact dates yet.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 16, 2008 at 06:24 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 11 November 2008
 

Not a bad day in spite of the weather (Updated 11/12)

We have hay, and apparently a reliable source lined up for the winter. My first clue was when I saw Sunshine go prancing past my window like he'd just spotted his best friend in the whole world out by the barn. When I got outside to see what was happening Tom was about halfway down the drive headed this way; I'm not even sure he'd turned off the highway yet when Sunshine spotted the hay on the back of his truck.

It rained off and on all day, which meant we couldn't get anything done on the garage repair project, so I kept the guys busy doing things that could be done today. While Scotty and Kyle were washing walls in the kitchen Todd and Brian put a hydraulic closer on the back storm door and replaced the cracked plexiglass pane in the back door, both of which should make the kitchen a lot less drafty, then I had them start on the walls in the hall bath. I'll keep people working on the garage as weather permits and stay after the walls when it's too wet to work outside.

Todd and I went to Bridgeport yesterday and bought a new back door for the garage. From a dollars and cents (heating bills) standpoint it would make more sense to put in between the garage and the kitchen and move the kitchen door to the back of the garage but Mom and Vick neither one think the kitchen would look right with a different door. At least this year we'll be able to close the back garage door all the way so the wind doesn't blow through the garage so bad.

Why does watching people work wear me out like it does? Time for my nap.

*** 11/12

Another rainy, gloomy day, but we made the most of it. Mom's thrilled with the way the kitchen looks and we now have smoke alarms in the kitchen, front room, and all three bedrooms; something else she's been worrying about. If the weather.com people are right we'll work on the garage tomorrow, take Friday off due to rain, then  have good weather for the next several days, by which time the garage project should be finished.

I wish I'd realized sooner how much those dirty kitchen walls were bothering Mom. She's been mentioning them now and then for months, and almost daily the last few weeks. I think if Vicki hadn't fallen off Sunshine back in August she'd probably have washed the part she could reach right after school started, after which I think we could have gotten Scotty to do the rest of the job. I'd suggested several times that I could get Kyle and Brian to do the job but it took till three days ago for Mom to agree to having me do that. So now we have clean walls, a new plexiglass pane in the back door, and a storm door that closes itself and I don't think Mom could be much more pleased if I'd bought her a whole new house.

I think Mom will also really appreciate having the repairs done that the guys are making on the garage, although Vicki was the one that wanted them done the most. I guess my excuse for putting those off as long as I did was not knowing who I could get to do them, on top of not realizing till we started tearing things apart how much the repairs needed done. Chad supposedly knows enough about carpentry work that he and Brad could have done the job but after the disappearing act they pulled on me right after Memorial Day I'm not sorry I didn't have them start on it. Todd has turned out to be a godsend. Until I needed someone to haul lumber so we could build a barn I didn't even realize Brian had a brother and after we got started on the job it became pretty obvious that Todd really did have carpentry experience. Even at that it took me a few days after the barn was done to think of having him fix the garage. At least I thought of it eventually. When I first discussed the job with him I thought we just needed to replace some trim and a little bit of siding but when we started pulling that off we found rotten studs behind it. Vicki may have really been right that we were in danger of the garage actually collapsing if we'd waited too much longer to have repairs made.

After the garage repairs are done I need to do some checking, or have the guys do some checking, into replacing some broken and missing storm window panes, or entire window assemblies in a couple of cases. I know it would bring our heating bills down some if some of our windows kept heat in better, I just don't know whether I can afford to have them fixed up. Neither Lowe's nor Home Depot list storm windows on their web sites so I can't even get a ballpark feel for how much money I'm talking about. I guess what I should probably do is go to the lumber yard in Bridgeport (Leggitt's, where Todd took me to buy a replacement door and a replacement window for the garage) Friday and see what they do or don't have.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 11, 2008 at 08:14 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 09 November 2008
 

Ready for winter, I hope

Tonight I find out whether that freeze-proof hydrant I bought for out by the barn lot really works as advertised; weather.com says it will get down to 25 before morning.

Matt (my brother in law) crawled under the edge of the house this afternoon and wrapped heat tape and insulation around the water lines under the hall bath. They've frozen a couple of times every winter for the last few years but money was tight enough we just had to live with the situation, not to mention the fact we tore the insulation off of some of them last summer looking for the best spot to tie in the line for the hydrant. He also put some insulating board ("blue board") over the opening to that area for the first time there's been any there in years so maybe he won't have to crawl in there with a hair dryer when we have a serious cold snap like he has in the past.

The guys took the day off except for a couple of Lowe's runs. First they went after some material for the garage-repair project, then when they got here we sent them back after the blue board; nothing like planning ahead but I didn't know Matt wanted anything and he didn't know they were going there before they came here today. I got out and around long enough to buy some things at Ace and Wal-Mart but other than that and taking Sunshine some munchies I sat on my butt inside all day.

I need to have the guys help me take the air conditioner out of my window sometime soon but it can wait till the garage project's finished. We also have a Martin house to put up when we get around to it.

I've seen birds eating from the new bird feeder a couple of times but both times they've left as soon as they've realized there was anyone in the kitchen. Anyhow they know it's there.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 9, 2008 at 10:48 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 08 November 2008
 

A milestone at The Circle F

Sunshine went in the barn on his own! One time a few days ago he followed me into the barn in hopes I had food in my pocket, and he goes in without hesitation when we take him his corn and sweet feed, but today was the first time anyone's seen him go in with no one in there or headed that way. Brian and I were out by the picnic tables trying to figure out how to mount a Martin house to a pole that wasn't designed for it and I looked over toward the barn lot just in time to see Sunshine stroll in to the barn just like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn't stay long and I suspect he may have just been checking to make sure his feed bucket was really still empty but it's a start. Maybe he'll eventually catch on that it doesn't rain in there and it's warmer in there than out in the open on windy days.

Between the cooler weather and the time change the guys have only been putting in about four hours a day on the garage project (replacing some rotten lumber in the walls) but things are going more quickly than I was afraid they might. They're going to Lowe's after more material tomorrow morning, then if the weather's as bad as the forecast says it may be I think that may be all that happens tomorrow. The predicted high tomorrow's only 44, with wind to go with it, then it's supposed to get up into the 50's Monday and even up into the 60s later in the week. I've told them I'll leave the choice up to them but it would suit me just fine to spend the day inside.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 8, 2008 at 11:48 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 06 November 2008
 

No rest for the weary

Not that I have any excuse to be tired, other than the fact watching people work wears me out. Today I didn't even do that, just a brief conversation with Todd and a little bit of shopping. Rain is a good excuse for just spending a day inside.

I guess I'm going to trust Todd to know what he's doing and have him and Brian and Kyle do some repair work on the garage. I'm not sure if there were termites involved at some point back the line or if the lumber just rotted but the the support joists on either side of both doors and some in the walls need replaced.

I guess I'm also going to have the guys get rid of a bunch of trash for me that accumulated in a pile out by the woods over the years because there wasn't money available to have it hauled off. With the woods gone it sticks out like a sore thumb and it needs to go somewhere.

Brian and Todd, and Kyle if he makes it back from his sister's in time, are supposed to be here at noon tomorrow to put up Mom's Martin house and get started figuring out exactly what needs done to the garage. I'll have them put my lawn chair in a convenient location so I can get tired watching them work as usual.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 6, 2008 at 09:57 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 05 November 2008
 

Saying goodbye to Summer

If the weather.com people are right today was the last really nice day this year for being out and about. We observed the occasion by spending some time out back letting Sunshine graze some grass he doesn't normally have access to. Normally that area is reserved for weenie roasts, etc but the main pasture's getting pretty picked over. We supposedly have hay on the way but there was apparently some confusion about who was supposed to bale whose field and it isn't here yet. (Personal to my daughter: I talked to your Mom and she says that at least for now there's no danger of having to sell Champ over the hay situation. There's plenty to go around, it just took some doing to figure out how to get some of it down here.)

At least till the guy who owns that area behind us actually finds buyers for some of the lots he hopes to sell off we're going to have a nice view back that way, even if we did get real tired of the noise for a while.

Would you believe I actually made it down to the edge of the lake, up the hill to that fence row on the right, and back to the house under my own power? I owe that horse big time. On my last VA visit my weight was just under 200 lbs and my blood pressure was well down into the healthy range. At the rate I was going last summer, before Sunshine needed a new home, I'd have probably been up to around 270 lbs by now and barely capable of waddling around the house.

With the barn done, the hydrant hooked up and hay lined up I guess The Circle F is ready for winter. Now it's time to get on with some other things I didn't consider as urgent. Come to find out when I finally got around to asking, Mom was missing having a bird feeder where it can be seen out the kitchen window and a Martin house out in the pasture (Sunshine ran into the pole the old one was on and it hit the ground in pieces).  So, as of this afternoon we have a bird feeder again -- Maybe the birds will realize it's there soon -- and I have a Martin house in the trunk of my car waiting for Kyle and Brian to help me put it up. I guess we're going to put it out near the old barn where the pole won't cause Sunshine any more problems. If I can get Todd involved and the weather cooperates I also want to get some repairs done on the garage before winter. For now Kyle's out of town for a few days and things are on hold till he gets back.

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 5, 2008 at 11:45 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 31 October 2008
 

Almost done at The Circle F

Finally, eleven days after my sister started making phone calls for me we got plumbers out here this afternoon to hook up the freeze-proof hydrant out by the corner of the barn lot. No more carrying water in buckets when the faucet in the garage freezes like it does a few times every winter. Just walk out to the back of the back yard, hook a short hose to the hydrant, fill Sunshine's water tub, turn the hydrant off, unhook the hose and drain it, and that's it.

Kyle and Bryan put a primer coat on the barn roof yesterday then came back today and put a coat of white semi-gloss over it. Up till yesterday I was thinking about painting the whole barn before the weather gets mean but the gent at Ace says paint won't stick to treated lumber till it's had a year to age and dry out. By that time I may be so used to how the barn looks without paint on the walls that I decide we don't need to do anything. The walls are made of the same 1x6 lumber as we used for rails on the wood fence around the pasture and I don't think there's probably any reason to paint them at all except just to make the barn prettier.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 31, 2008 at 10:59 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 26 October 2008
 

Slow Sunday at The Circle F

My nephew Scotty brought his friend Nicole and her son Jack out for a while this afternoon. They can hang out around here anytime they want as far as this old dog's concerned. (That's a hint, boy.) Cadby Cat agrees:

Somebody finally found a use for that little table under the fort:

Can't be up on those high places without a safety line:

Of course swings are lots of fun too:

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 26, 2008 at 10:26 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 25 October 2008
 

I guess winter is coming

I don't know why the trees in our yard aren't doing anything yet; I thought sure my favorite Red Maple would be changing by now. The tree in the picture is about 100 yds. north of the house. Weather.com says it's going to start freezing at night about Monday night; I hope that doesn't mean a bunch of our trees go straight to brown without getting pretty first. I guess we'll know soon.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 25, 2008 at 10:20 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 24 October 2008
 

I think the barn's gonna work out OK

I had my doubts for a couple of days but I think maybe the rain last night and this morning helped. When I was out there yesterday the place smelled like sawdust and new wood . Today not so much.

Before today, the only two times Sunshine had been in the barn he had to be bribed with munchies (corn and sweet feed mix), hesitated at the door even knowing there was food inside, then backed out the way he came as soon as he was done eating. Comparing his length with his head down to eat to the front-to-back depth of the barn left me thinking maybe the barn needed to be a little bigger in that dimension, lengthwise, or both.

I sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee this morning and decided maybe it wouldn't be too tough to tear one end out of the barn and move it 4' farther from the other end. (Moving the front or back wall would be a major undertaking, basically amounting to tearing the whole barn down and starting over.) When I went out later to refresh my memory about how we'd done some things Sunshine convinced me there wasn't a problem after all. When he saw me headed toward the barn he came galloping up across the field, apparently assuming I was bringing him his daily munchies. After he realized I didn't have anything with me we stood and visited for a little bit, then he followed me into the barn with no hesitation of any sort at the door. We visited in the barn for a while longer (farther into the barn than he'd ever been before) then he followed me out the back door; now he knows it's possible to walk through the barn instead of just going in long enough to eat and backing up to get out the way he came. At that point I decided he'd earned his daily treat, came up to the house to get a coffee can full of munchies, and headed back to the barn. Again he didn't take any coaxing to walk right in. I squatted against the wall at the other end of the barn while he ate, then when he was done he came over to see me. I rubbed his neck and talked to him a while longer, then when I went out the back door he did a U-turn inside the barn (the first proof I'd had that he could) and went out the front door.

Conclusion: The barn's big enough, but I'm still not certain he'll take advantage of it for anything but eating. Maybe if we keep feeding him there he'll eventually come to think of it as a nice place to be, maybe he won't, but I've done all I can.

I wanted to get the water line to the freeze-proof hydrant hooked up before our first freeze but that's looking like it's not gonna happen. I knew we were gonna be calling in close anyway due to not having money for a plumber till the first of this month and my sister not feeling well for a few days. Then we lost three more days waiting for a guy to call back, only to find out he was just ready to leave town for about three weeks to go meet his new granddaughter. (The nerve of that guy! Packing up and going on vacation just because he has a granddaughter he hasn't met!) It sounds like we have someone else lined up but it's going to be Monday at best before we can get the work done and it's supposed to freeze Monday night. If I have to live with a few more days of having to disconnect hose at nigh and reconnect them to water the horse the next day I can but we definitely need the hydrant hooked up before it starts being very cold out during the day.

I think maybe when we get the hydrant hooked up I'll finally be done working outside except for taking Sunshine his daily munchies and keeping him watered when it gets cold enough no one else wants to.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 24, 2008 at 05:02 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 22 October 2008
 

Look, ma! It's a barn!

Watching people work wears me out. Think I'll take tomorrow off.

***

btw, I guess the machine I bought at Rent One last January is up and running at Brian's and the one my sister bought there about 3 weeks ago is now in Scotty's room. I think when everyone thought the one I bought last January was messed up the problem was a bad USB port, which since the mouse was attached to it caused the computer to not respond to mouse movements. I gave Brian an adapter I had lying around so he can plug a USB mouse into the PS/2 mouse port on the computer, which may have been all we needed to do when we thought the thing was acting up. Brian's a good kid and he and Scotty have been good friends just about forever so I don't feel too bad about the situation.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 22, 2008 at 07:14 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
 

Sunshine now has a barn roof

And a couple of walls, even.

Not much of a barn compared to the ones my grandparents had, or even the one dad built when he first decided we needed horses around here, but at least Sunshine will have a place to get out of the rain and wind. Tomorrow we paint the roof and put the other walls on. After that we may or may not paint it red some time simply because barns are supposed to be red but the walls are treated lumber that should be just fine for a long time without paint.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 21, 2008 at 11:26 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 20 October 2008
 

Progress at The Circle F

Considering that the first two hours after the guys got here today were spent going to Vincennes after lumber for the roof I'm fairly pleased with the amount of work that got done today. That's Scotty studying the situation, Kyle and Brian looking toward the camera, and Todd looking the other way. 

Still a little airy looking but at least you can sorta tell what it's gonna look like:

Things would go faster if I'd quit redesigning things as we go. I'd had it in my head for a while that I wanted the walls to consist of horizontal 1x6s attached to the 4x4 posts but I changed my mind after the guys left today. That means tomorrow they get to move 12 2x6s that are currently attached to the insides of the posts to the outsides so they can nail vertical 1x6s to them. Hell, I'll probably change my mind again by morning.

The future owner hasn't seen it up close yet. Maybe in another day or two. 

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 20, 2008 at 11:54 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 19 October 2008
 

Gettin' 'er done (gradually) at The Circle F

As usual, I did my share of the work from a lawn chair:

You don't get far below the surface in that barn lot before you hit hard clay. That's good from standpoint of knowing those poles won't sink farther in the ground as it freezes and thaws or when it rains next spring, but the guys did not enjoy digging those holes deep enough to suit me. Throw in the fact that several of the holes had to be moved over a few inches after they were dug to the proper depth because no one on the crew is good at eyeballing a right angle and we didn't really get as far into the job this afternoon as I'd hoped. Anyway we did end the day with all ten poles in the ground exactly vertically in a proper rectangular pattern. With the digging out of the way things should go faster tomorrow.

I think I'll change my plans and put a roof up before the walls. Either way the next step is to attach some horizontal 2x6s to those poles to make the assembly rigid. The horizontal 2x8 in the picture will be moving up several feet, high enough for Sunshine to walk under without ducking, and will be mirrored by another one about 6 inches farther from the ground on the front (near) side of the barn. Then we'll add some 2x6's front to back above the 2x8s to support a plywood roof. After that it's just a matter of nailing up some 1x6s for walls and putting the plywood on the roof. If we put the plywood on the roof first the horizontal 2x6's in the wall will be available as a ladder to make it easier to get up and down to to put the plywood on. 

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 19, 2008 at 09:01 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 18 October 2008
 

I guess we're starting the barn today (Updated)

I don't have formal drawings all done up that I could turn over to someone else and just sit around the house while they build it but I do have a design fleshed out in my mind that I think will work out and a materials list ready to take to Lowe's later today. The plan as of right now is for Kyle, Brian, and Todd (who has a truck and has agreed to move things for me) to show up here about noon so we can convoy to Vincennes. I also need to go to TSC to buy some corn and sweet feed while I'm over that way be we should still be able to get a good start by the end of the day.

***

I guess we're officially started. We now have 4 (out of 10) 4"x4"x12' posts in the ground, with no dirt tamped down around them yet. More of today went into buying and hauling lumber than into actually doing anything with it; I now have enough wood in the back yard to build all four walls but we'll need one more trip to buy material for the roof. I would help if Lowe's web site did a better job of listing everything they have at the store, and just what they have at the local store, so I didn't have to make design changes on the fly in the process of buying material. I'm expecting the guys back at noon tomorrow so we can seriously get down to business.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 18, 2008 at 12:22 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 17 October 2008
 

Staying busy at The Circle F (Updated)

I guess between election blogging and building a barn I can count on it being a little while before I really get caught up on my rest again.

Between the trip to Marion Wednesday (for a routine checkup with my kidney specialist) and the flu shot I got while I was there I really wouldn't have minded spending yesterday just being sort of lazy. Problem with that was that I'd told Kyle Tuesday to call me yesterday morning and we'd decide what time he and Brian were coming out to redo the fence between the house and the pasture. Anyway it now looks a little nicer than it did and there's room for Sunshine to eat under it. After the guys left I crashed for a while then more or less caught up on my blogging.

I'll be taking it a little easier today. I need to move the new family PC to the other end of the house and bring the machine that's in there in here for a few days, then I can spend the rest of the day sitting down or catching up on my sleep. To feel like I didn't waste the day I also need to design a barn so I can buy some of the material for it tomorrow night or Friday morning. I guess Jared's truck's broken down but Kyle has another friend who says he'll haul lumber for me. I guess I could rent a truck in Vincennes and try to get everything hauled in one day but it will make life easier to be able to haul it one load at a time.

I'm going to set a goal of getting a decent barn built before the weather gets mean but we may have to settle for just getting some walls up this fall and putting a roof on them next spring. If we do that Sunshine will at least have something to stand downwind of, which is all he had last winter, or for the 18 winters before he moved here. If the weather holds long enough to get a roof up so much the better. To picture what I plan to build, imagine an 8' x 8' square, then slice it diagonally and move one section 4' to the right to create an 8' x 12' rectangle with two 4' doors. Then put a roof on it. Maybe next summer we can even paint it red. I may or may not decide to include some way to keep Sunshine from getting out when we think he should be in but right now I'm not leaning that way.

I'm not sure how long we really have to get the job done. Last year it wasn't too bad outside till the 10th of November but my sister says she remembers snow on Oct 25 one year not too long ago.

Time for me to get some rest and think more about it later.

***

The new Gateway PC is now "the family machine" and what was "the family machine" for the last couple of weeks is sitting outside Scotty's door waiting to be moved into his room. The Rent One machine I bought in January and used for my blogging, etc, till I bought my laptop, then moved to the other end of the house when I bought my laptop, will be moving in town to Brian's place sometime soon; I told him he could have it for free and if it quit working again I'd give him his money back.

I need to throw together a list of things I need from Lowe's then go pay for them after bit so we can start on the barn tomorrow.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 17, 2008 at 02:04 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 14 October 2008
 

I guess I'm probably gonna build a barn, maybe.

I'm thinking about it hard anyway. My sister's firmly convinced we need one. I think my daughter and my ex (who owns the horse in question) agree with me that all we really need is something Sunshine can stand downwind of when it's cold and windy out. Last year he made do with plastic tarps hung on a 5' high fence but I promised we'd do something better this year.

The main thing that changed since last week, when I was thinking all I wanted to try to do before winter was build some sort of windbreak, is that Kyle went on a binge Friday night and lost his job for not showing up Saturday. I guess Brian's also still out of work so that means I can count on both of them working any day the weather permits till it gets too cold and miserable to work outside for good.

I need to spend a day or two scratching my head and trying to get some plans drawn up before we can do anything beyond that. I'll be spending 6 hours or so on the road to and from a medical appointment tomorrow so maybe I can come up with some good ideas by the time I get home.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 14, 2008 at 10:12 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 13 October 2008
 

A frustrating day on the computer front

I've been doing business with CompUSA off and on for years, and quite a bit the last few months. Up till now they'd never sold me anything that didn't work as advertised. Up till now. The external hard drive enclosure they sold me is either a piece of junk in general or isn't compatible with Windows Vista, I'm not sure which. In either case I have three computers which see the Western Digital 500MB external drive I bought last spring just fine but none of which can see a perfectly good 500MB drive in the enclosure that came today. Tomorrow I'll be calling them to tell them that if they'll give me a refund on it I'll order a different model from them, otherwise I'll order a different model from someone else.

On the good news side, I got the computer that died a couple of weeks ago (the one I bought at Rent One last January) up and running today. After the problems we've had with it I don't trust it enough to use it as anything but a spare but at least I was able to copy all of my sister's music and pictures off of it onto the Western Digital drive I mentioned above. What I wanted to do after that was move the 500 MB drive I added to it last spring to the enclosure that came today so we'd have two external drives around but that will have to wait till I get a different enclosure. Anyway, my sister was happy to hear that she didn't lose the pictures and music she had stored on the old computer when it quit working reliably.

I guess I'm out of reasons not to move the new computer to the other end of the house as soon as I have the time and energy to do it. After it's moved I'll attach the external Western Digital drive to it so my sister can copy her things from it to the C: drive. Eventually I want to end up with another external drive for my personal use but that can wait a few days. I guess I could just splurge and buy another drive like the WD external drive but hat would still leave me with a perfectly good 500MB drive I wouldn't be getting any good out of. ... I guess I could install that drive in the computer Scotty's going to end up with but after I had my mind made up I was going to put it in an external enclosure I'm inclined for now to go with my original plan.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 13, 2008 at 11:56 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack