Posts Tagged ‘farm’
Opportunity Aplenty
Here are some of the issues that are crowding my realm of possibilities this morning:
Our male cat, Mozyr, has fallen into the behavior of peeing on our bed. I’ve been told that once that gets started, it is unlikely to change. We must deal with this immediately. I hate that stench.
We are getting more than enough urine smell from our manure pile. I had no idea what was involved with manure management, and I’m thinking now that the spot we selected seems undersized. I still feel like the location we selected is good, even though the smell sometimes wafts up toward the house, but I fear we may need to take out a few additional trees to expand the square footage.
Speaking of taking out trees, I now have all the equipment to do some serious lumberjacking and there is a dead tree on a corner of our property by the road. It is a chore that is overdue to have been started. Every day that goes by, the task feels more delinquent.
We spent time yesterday testing out the Grizzly ATV for assisting with cleaning up manure in the paddocks, with mixed results. The manure is frozen in multiple layers and much of it covered in snow. We tried both dragging the rake and pushing with the blade. Each seemed to make improvements, but manure that gets collected still needs to be scooped up and moved. That remains and laborious and lengthy endeavor.
I’m supposed to be clearing out our storage corner in the basement. In my search for a solution to the fractured triangular window beside the fireplace, I have connected with a local builder who stopped by to measure for the replacement. Over the phone I mentioned that we also were interested in having a storage room built in our basement. That seemed to go a long way toward enticing him to take on the window replacement. Now I need to get that space ready for the basement work to commence.
It is now nearing the middle of January and I never got around to preparing engines for winter storage. I understand that the primary reason engines fail to run well, or to even start, is leaving old gas in them over the off-season. I am my own worst enemy there. I have a hard time keeping my engines running properly, because I have a hard time getting myself to prepare them for the months of storage.
I took the mower deck off the little Craftsman garden tractor last fall, then flipped it over to be cleaned and to remove the blades for sharpening. It remains where I placed it, untouched.
I’ve got a half-built fence awaiting my attention down the hill from the house. The first snow of the season put that project on hold, but when it’s not bitterly cold, there is progress that could still be made there. I’m afraid the fence has gotten lost in the blur of other work that needs attention.
Meanwhile, we have plans for a Wintervale web site to market Cyndie’s services as a leadership trainer and to offer seminars and retreats here. The “under-construction” image is as far as we’ve gotten.
I’m sequential in nature, so I’d like to go back and get the first things done, so I can move on to the next few, but life doesn’t work like that. I’m back to playing “Whack-a-Mole” with whatever pops up in the moment.
Yesterday, since I had the Grizzly out, I ran it up and down the driveway to clear off the drifts that had developed over the week of historically cold temperatures. It was pleasing to so quickly and easily “whack” something from the list.
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From Elysa
(While we were at the lake, our daughter, Elysa, was home running the ranch. That was blessing enough, but she has gone beyond the call of duty and has also written a guest post for us, too! The photos are both taken by her, as well. Thanks a million, E!)
I was in charge of the ranch over the weekend, and I’m happy to report that it went well despite my parents’ absence!
Saturday morning was as beautiful at Wintervale as it was reported up in Hayward with the long crystals of frost covering every surface. As I walked down the driveway toward the barn, the sunrise lit up over the snow and glistened on the frost. It was breathtaking! However, I tend to find myself lost in the moment without any camera most of the time. I went back to the house after feeding the horses to grab my phone for some quick photos while getting in a walk for Delilah. My dad posts wonderful scenes at Wintervale here on the blog, but they just cannot compare to the experience of viewing it all in person. Luckily, I had the opportunity to watch both sunrise and sunset when I went to feed the horses each day.
While the horses ate at dawn, the dog was up even earlier than that. Working on farm-time was a bit of an adjustment for me. I was getting up almost four hours earlier than usual. Delilah was a delightful challenge (most of the time). She got me up early, kept me busy all day, and gave me a whole set of reasons to be skeptical of her doggie kisses, seeing what she puts in her mouth. She also got caught chewing one of her toys to shreds on multiple occasions (covering herself and her surroundings with bits of batting and leftover squeakers) and trying to sneak small branches into the house. 
To give her some credit, she did let me “sleep in” until 7am on Monday and later spent some time quietly cuddling her favorite toys. I definitely have a new respect for all the work my parents are doing each and every day!
I’d have to say caring for the rest of the animals was easier than the demands of the dog. The horses probably noticed that I wasn’t that good at putting out their hay without showering myself in it. I found myself picking out bits and pieces of hay from my hair and clothes for a while after each feeding. The cats were pleasant roommates. Mozyr snuggled up next to me through one of the cold nights. Pequenita was an instigator of over-excitement as she taunted the dog time and again. Though it was challenging at times, the farm life has been a welcome experience to balance my everyday life in the Twin Cities.
Many thanks to my parents for sharing it all with me as they build their Wintervale wonderland! I’m so glad they could take a break and enjoy their stay at the cabin. (So are we. Thanks, Elysa!)
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Book Report
Cyndie enjoys listening to me read aloud, and we recently finished a perfect book for that exercise, allowing her to fold laundry while I recited the last chapters of author Jerry Apps’ “The Quiet Season: Remembering Country Winters.” The book was a gift from my niece, Liz. She said that reading it caused her to think about us and our place in Wisconsin. I can see why.
Hopefully, it wasn’t because the period Jerry wrote about was in the 1930s and 40s. Things aren’t that backward out here. His descriptions of chores and routines do evoke a sense of the familiar for projects we have undertaken in our first year here. As difficult a time as they had carving out their existence on a country farm (he describes winter life at a time before indoor plumbing or electricity, and very limited wood stove heating), it definitely caused me to feel a longing for the simpler time.
Since then, life has gotten a lot faster and busier.
I think the frenetic pace of modern life suits Cyndie better than it does me. Yesterday was her annual holiday cookie baking extravaganza where she converts restaurant portions of butter, sugar, flour, brown sugar, and I think, more butter, into a wide array of delectable works of edible art. Our kids braved the light snow and drove out to be here for the festivities and helped to truly kick off this annual tradition the way Cyndie likes.
They produced a dizzying volume of beautiful cookies that have the house smelling dangerously delicious, causing me to gain weight just breathing the air. Between baking tasks, Elysa fed the horses and Julian helped me shovel the labyrinth. We watched some football, sat by the fire, shared a wonderful dinner –why not? The oven was already hot– and created cookie trays for sharing at everybody’s workplaces.
Much of the day resonated for me with the spirit of the stories I had just read by Jerry Apps. Maybe that is because we almost crammed his whole book worth of tales into one day.
Thank you, Liz, for the book. It was a wonderful treat that we enjoyed very much!
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The Table
When Mom let us have the old Hays family dining room table, the one thing she required in exchange was that we host the Thanksgiving meal on it. Whenever it is time to haul the 5 center leaves out of storage, to stretch the table to conference-room size, I experience a flood of memories, and an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the honor of being given possession of the family table.
This table was in the farm-house of Intervale Ranch where my family lived when I was born. It has been with me for most of my life. I snapped this shot of the expanded length prior to covering it with 12 place settings and more foods than should be allowed yesterday.
Another happy Thanksgiving is in the books.
Ah, but that’s not all. This year we get two versions. Yesterday, Cyndie’s side of the family came over. On Sunday, the Hays side of the family with gather. We’ll keep the table extended for the days between. That will prolong my period of enjoying the memories conjured up when I see it in all its glory of being full-size.
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Clean Up
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“What do you mean I have to put away all my toys because company is coming?”
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Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and all through the house… Yeah, we’re cleanin.’ And cooking!
Cyndie read somewhere that you should give your dog a new toy every few days, or at least, rotate them out of service for a while as new ones are introduced. I know how this works. We raised kids. Delilah would just as likely play with a stick or a leaf and be fascinated for an hour. She would just as happily devour the cardboard backing a new chew toy had been mounted to, instead of the toy itself. Ice cubes are a current fascination. But it seems everyday I discover a new colorful device in our house that pet scientists of the world have devised to keep our dog intellectually challenged.
I’d like to meet the marketing genius who wrote that article Cyndie read, …and congratulate him.
“Don’t forget to clean up after the horses in the paddocks!”
Yes, dear. I should just let Delilah eat it all. With a dog’s sense of smell a gazillion times better than humans, you’d think manure would smell something awful to them. So, why the need to taste it at every encounter? The horses, deer, raccoons… She doesn’t discriminate.
I sure hope it won’t be too sunny tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll get around to washing windows before guests arrive.
If you are traveling today, be careful out there! We hope everyone in the States reading along will have a chance this holiday-extended-weekend to gather with others, sit down to a meal together, and bask in the valuable energy of being thankful. If you notice your hosts missed a spot when they were cleaning for guests, be sure to cut them some slack. Especially if they have been trying to live with a great big puppy and two frustrated house cats for the last two months.
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Disappearing Days
Can days actually disappear? Vanish without a trace? Somehow or other we have arrived at Monday, November 25th. Where was I when time flew by?
Efforts are under way to prepare our home to host guests for multiple gatherings over the coming Thanksgiving weekend. You know those things that lie around unnecessarily for months, that suddenly become noticeable as being out of place when preparing for special events? Suddenly, piles of stuff are beginning to form at the top of the stairs, waiting to be carried away and stashed in some less conspicuous location.
I don’t understand where it all came from, how it all accumulates, or where we have space to store it in the future.
Maybe those days don’t actually vanish without a trace, and this stuff is what gets left behind by the disappearing days.
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The local deer population has been reduced by a few already. Yesterday morning, we were surprised by a knock on the door, and our neighbor stepped in to describe the scene that had just transpired with his grandson down by the pond on their property. He was confirming we were okay with them tracking a deer they had shot, which then turned and ran into our woods.
In reality, it crossed our property entirely and made it into the neighbor’s woods on the other side of us. The guys dragged it down the trails to the edge of our woods where they could drive up with a trailer to haul it away to be registered with the DNR. I had Delilah out for a walk when they showed up in their truck and of course, she took great interest in this, and thus was a challenge to hold as we visited with the hunters for a moment before they drove away.
I think she is frustrated with the extended time indoors and on the leash this weekend. I spoiled her with a lot of time running loose last week.
Now that I think of it, last night, when our CSA farm neighbor stopped by with this month’s delivery, which included a fresh turkey, Delilah had that same look in her eyes as she put her paws on the counter to sniff the bird as she did with the deer in the trailer. She is a carnivore, there is no doubt about that.
One night I decided to treat her to some left over chicken chow mien on top of her usual food. She eats everything she finds on the ground, from sticks to antlers, mummified carcasses, and even manure, but when I checked her bowl after the chow mien, I found she had deftly set aside a piece of celery and a mushroom that didn’t interest her.
She certainly knows what she doesn’t like.
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Partial Accomplishments
It was kind of a slow day yesterday at Wintervale. We are approaching the first freezing overnight temperatures, so it is time to pull the pump out of our little landscape pond, and drain all our hoses. I got part way through that project. It has been that kind of week for me. I seem to only get part way to completion on everything I choose to do.
We had some luck with Delilah behaving well, a couple of days ago, so I gave her some time off-leash. I was walking around the area that I recently mowed, on the north side of the driveway, taking measurements for future fencing, and she was having the time of her life. She was running back and forth at amazing speed. It was going so well, I offered to take her for a walk through our woods. She bolted down the trail, getting way ahead of me. When I got to a place I could see her, she was facing the neighbor’s woods, locked in on something.
I called her, but she had tuned me out, and then she darted through the rusty barbed wire fence that separates our properties. I didn’t see her again for about half an hour. Our period of lucky good behavior had come to an end. While waiting for her to come back, I killed time by pulling Buckthorn up by the roots. Upon her return, she got shuttled directly to her kennel where she spent the rest of the day.
I tried to do some work shaping the main drainage channel beyond the paddocks, but it was too soon after a recent rain, and my boots and tools became a comical mud disaster. I switched my focus to the deck, where I proceeded to dismantle our gas grill to troubleshoot a problem with gas flow. I hope it is the regulator, because I have exhausted all other logical possibilities. That’ll require a trip to the store where I bought it, to swap out that part.
As the afternoon wore on, a little sunshine appeared, so I headed down to mow the labyrinth pathways. It was still a little wet, but manageable. I guess that one did get accomplished, although it doesn’t feel like completion because, by walking the path to mow, I keep seeing all the things we still want to work on down there. I’m wondering how well it will survive the winter, and whether we will be able to walk the path throughout the complete snow season.
It wasn’t one of those dramatically rewarding days here, but that’s okay. There is something valuable to be gained from days like this. The horses have a way of dealing with things, and then just going back to grazing. At one point yesterday, I decided to go down and be by the horses, to immerse myself in that kind of energy. Being with them can provide a sense of calm.
It was good for me, but I must admit, I don’t think I could rate the visit as being anything more than just a partial accomplishment, in that regard.
New Me
I spent most of my life in the carefree world of not needing to take care of a pet. Yesterday afternoon, as I fed four horses, then our dog, and finally, two cats, it occurred to me how much things have changed. Luckily, it seems to fit rather seamlessly into the days here, especially compared to my old life during the years we lived in our previous home. I didn’t want that kind of commitment back then, but it is proving to be a natural extension of our new routine.
The part that doesn’t fit anymore is my sitting in front of a television watching sporting events, or any program, for that matter. Lately, it has also meant not playing my guitar or mandolin, or doing much in the way of bicycling, but I hope to reclaim some of that time in the days to come. Our days are now filled with managing operations on our 20 acre ranch of fields and woods.
I miss being able to play soccer in the mornings with my friends, but I am reaping the rewards of all those years of that brilliant exercise, transferring the stamina, strength, and breathing capacity I acquired into the physical work done around our property.
The new routine appears to be burning more calories than I am consuming, so I am actually in better shape now than I have been in years. I’m hoping I will notice the difference when biking, in that I won’t be hauling as much weight up the hills.
Last night, as I moved the horses into the paddock from the open field, I had an opportunity to put into practice something that I learned from Cyndie and our friend, Dunia, at the Epona seminar they led in Arizona. The horses were loitering just outside the open gate as I arrived to encourage them to come in. Legacy, the leader, acknowledged my arrival, but made no motion to enter. If he doesn’t come in, the others won’t either.
I knew I was talking to the right guy, but he wasn’t buying what I was selling. Conventional wisdom would be to use a treat or bucket of grain to entice him to approach, but I learned another method to inspire a horse to follow me. I walked an arc in front of Legacy, back and forth, increasing my energy as I went. If you walk far enough around the horse, they will be inclined to move a hoof in a step to keep you in view. That step is the one I was looking for, because if you play that first step properly, it will lead to another, and then off I went, walking into the paddock up to the grain I had set out for them, and Legacy followed me all the way up.
On Sunday, I put into practice another essential lesson I learned at the Epona seminar in Arizona. When you approach a horse, the horse gets to set the boundary. When the horse approaches you, you get to set the boundary. When I unexpectedly found myself facing four horses running right toward me in the open field, standing with nothing but my camera in my hands, I remembered what Dunia, Cyndie, and the other leaders taught about setting my boundary.
I motioned with my hand to display an arc of my boundary in front of my body. Legacy, leading the group charge, suddenly came to a halt, just short of that virtual line I was projecting.
The person standing on that hill with those four powerful animals was not the guy I remember from a year ago. That is the new me, tending our property and caring for all our animals. It is feeling like a pretty good fit.
Great Anticipation
Today is the day. After years of preparation, starting way back when we hatched this crazy scheme, we will finally have horses. It is the culmination of our vision, and it is the first step into a new normal. What an amazing change this is from our years back in Eden Prairie.
It should be a busy day today. First thing in the morning, I am expecting a visit from a log home professional who will quote the job of sealing up our home and preserving the logs for the coming winter season. After that, we will be watching for friends coming to visit, the delivery of bales of hay, and then the arrival of our herd of horses –not necessarily in that order.
We’ve got some things to do yet, prior to their arrival, so we hope to get one or two chores accomplished before we enter the phase of just standing and staring, which I expect will consume us for the remainder of the day.
I hope they will be happy with the grass they find here. They are coming from fields that have been over-grazed, so our long, thick grass will be a significant change. I also hope I will remember what I learned at the Epona seminar I attended with Cyndie in Arizona.
“Breathe.”
I will remember to breathe.
Counting Down
Okay, I’ll finally admit it. We are now counting down the days until horses arrive here. I have purposely avoided writing about it, in case something interferes with the plan, but now we are close enough that I am breaking my self-imposed silence on the subject. Four Arabian horses have been identified, two mares and two geldings. This fact woke me in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and I wasn’t able to get back to sleep until after I made a list of all the things that were flashing into my mind that remain to be done.
I think I came up with a list of 12 items. After both Cyndie and I were up and talking in the morning, the list grew to 31 things to be done. Yikes! On second review, I was able to convince her that many of the tasks could wait until after the horses arrive, but there are still more things than can probably be accomplished. We’ll just have to prioritize.
Yesterday was a beautiful day to get a lot done, but we struggled with hitting our high gear. We knocked off some things that were on our list, but not the one that will take the most time, which is unfortunate, because time is now in short supply. It was a beautiful day, sunny, breezy, and the temperature was perfectly comfortable. There was no reason we shouldn’t have gotten a lot done, until our first visitor of the day arrived.
George, from our neighboring CSA farm came over by horse-drawn wagon to deliver this month’s share of meat and eggs. We had a wonderful and valuable chat, but it extended well into time we can barely afford. It is a tough thing to balance, because on the one hand, such interactions are priceless. It is very close to being the very essence of living in a rural setting like we do now. On the other hand, it keeps us from finishing what we start.
Normally, it wouldn’t be such a challenge, but yesterday, it happened twice. The second time it turned out to be the person who will be delivering a semi-load of hay with the horses. He was scouting the route to our property and wanted to check the layout of our buildings and driveway in order to be prepared. He turned out to be another very talkative person, full of knowledge about things pertinent to our endeavors here. Another priceless meeting and exchange that we are blessed to receive, but which knocks us off our list of tasks we want to get done. This took us into the dinner hour, and standing in the cool evening breeze brought on a chill that had both Cyndie and me happy to call it a day.
We ended up building the first fire of the season in our fireplace and Cyndie made soup and heated some french bread for our meal. More things to love about September.
That, and the pending arrival of horses…
Relative Something 