Archive for the ‘Images Captured’ Category
Visible Difference
Good progress was accomplished yesterday, which begins to reveal the opening of space around the barn.
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I took a picture of a couple of our working diagrams, and then I tried to doctor the one on the right to indicate some of the old fence we are removing.
Bear Pose
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Happy twelve/twelve/twelve!
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Our bear could barely bear this first big snow storm of the season. He took on a bit of a “see no evil/hear no evil” look.
Lesson Learned
Round 2 goes to John, and if I felt more bold than I do, I would declare myself the victor. However, I am calling it a draw.
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The tractor put up a good fight, repeatedly clinging to the snow that would hit the bucket or blade. As my confidence increased, and I became more aggressive, the tractor sensed the opportunity to up the intensity a bit and left me stuck, teetering on the edge of the driveway, with the front wheels down in the soft snow. I had gotten away with the maneuver several times before. You just never know when the big rear wheels will suddenly lose their grip.
I found myself on the edge of giving in, and shut the engine down to prevent making a bad situation worse. I walked back up the driveway, considering my options. Who would I call for assistance, neighbor to the north, or neighbor to the south? Then I decided to try one last trick before seeking outside help. I remembered an old ice cream bucket that Cyndie had found when we were packing for our move.
The contents of that bucket have been with me since 1980, when I worked as a security guard at a shingle manufacturer in Minneapolis, while I was attending tech school. The manufacturer gave away the ceramic granules that go on top of the shingles, which can be used to provide great traction. It is amazing that I kept that bucket around all this time.
Between those granules and my years of winter driving experience, I was able to ever-so-slowly rock the tractor up out of that predicament. As I looked behind me when I finally got it moving on solid pavement, I noticed the neighbor to the north starting down the road toward me with a bucket of his own in his hand. I was able to wave him off and get back to putting the finishing touches on my work.
Next time down to the road, I took a moment to rotate the back blade 18o° and then backed up to push the snow into the ditch. Lesson learned.
Got Snow?
It finally fell. Snowflakes are still falling this morning, and Mozyr is engrossed in all the new views out our windows. The increasing accumulation presents many learning opportunities for me. I am learning where the snow collects in the corners where our roof lines meet. I am learning where ice develops as dripping ensues. And, I will soon learn whether I need to put chains on the tractor yet, or not.
In a twist of timing fate, I am alone for these lessons this week, as Cyndie happens to be in Arizona, continuing with her apprenticeship training with horses. On the good side, there will be no one to witness my foibles as I experiment with clearing snow with the back-blade on our tractor. I can tell her it worked perfect, first try. Yeah. Sure.
New Surprise
We’ve been on the new property for over a month now, and are continuing to discover surprises. When one of the contractors was surveying our place to quote some work, I heard him say, “Oh, you have an eagle.”
An eagle? What did he mean by that?
He pointed to it.
For the entire time I have been walking this property, starting with the visits before making an offer, through the many visits after our offer was accepted, then for weeks, (WEEKS!) after we have been living here, I failed to discover a statue of a perched eagle located near the entrance to the barn. Granted, it had been swallowed by growing things, which created a canopy that completely hid the eagle’s profile…
But, it only took this guy a few seconds to spot it as he walked by to view the space behind the barn.
I’m wondering about the origin of the piece, and also the decision for its placement. I’ll be checking with the folks who sold us the property, but wouldn’t be surprised if it was here when they bought the place.
They told us that’s why they left the bear. It was from the previous owner, and our sellers felt it should stay with the property. We are discovering there are multiple things left from previous owners. The old barbed wire fence was here long before the log home was built, which happened in 1990.
It’s been fun discovering little surprises like this one. They continue to make this place seem more and more special every day!
Relative Something 