The search for my farm tractor

I have begun to look for a tractor to use on the farm. I would like to keep my own fields mowed do my own plowing and disking for the garden and move manure around. Also I want to move some small logs out of the wood lot and maybe split wood with a pto driven wood splitter. The two characters above are not impressed with my goals, they just want to know when I am serving their dinner :)

I searched the local papers and haunted the local tractor dealerships for miles around without finding my tractor. I also searched EBay listings where I thought I had found my tractor and traveled 300 miles round trip to only find that the condition was not as advertised and I walked away from that deal I am sure to hear more from EBay about that deal. My search goes on for my tractor. It doesn't help that I am rather frugal (cheap) with my money.

The search goes on

What's been happening

The goats are ready to have kids any day now just a matter of when they are ready to be born.

Other than the goats getting bigger with kids I have had another bout of chest pain and spent a night in the ER. I have new medication that seems to help most of the time. This heart disease
problem is getting to be a bother. I am pre-occupied with the state of my health and somedays I am to tired to accomplish much, then other days I am fine.

The garden has been plowed and waiting for disking. I have the seed potatoes waiting to put in the ground. The pasture has been reseeded, I borrowed a neighbors tractor and equipment and spread the seed myself. This was the first time I drove a tractor and I loved it. I have begun looking for my own tractor to use here on the farm.

So for now we or on the brink of spring and this coming week we should have spring like weather up into the seventies :)

Tonight there is a thunder storm and my big brave dog is trying to find a place to hide she doesn't like the thunder at all and tries to get under something for protection.

Thanks to all that sent messages inquiring about me because I haven't posted in a while, it is nice to know people care.

Waiting for Spring

The above photo is yours truly the ol'lady farmer carring water to the live stock because the water lines are froze in the barn, the lines have been frozen for weeks now. I just look at it as just part of the experience of living on a farm. The calves are doing well by the way and it looks as though we will be having some baby goats this spring too.


The bird feeders have had lots of business this year and the Cardinals have been feeding in flocks. Sometimes there are more than ten males and and an equal number of hens feeding at the same time. Talking of birds the chickens are doing well and still laying regular which is most unusual at this time of year, I am very surprised at their laying ability, got seven eggs yesterday from eight birds in the middle of a winter freeze-up.

Now it is just a matter of hanging on till spring which will be here in just a few weeks and then it will be time to plant the garden and tend to the new born animals. Before I know it I will be out berry picking again :)

A little bit of winter

Here it is the end of January and we get a cold spell with snow, the horse had a bit of fun in the snow prancing and galloping about like she enjoyed it. Up till now the weather had been unseasonably warm, can't say that anymore. We are having a bit of problem with the water hose in the barn it is frozen and some of the pipes in the bathroom are frozen also, I will have to look into that when the weather abates and in the daylight, as I have heat tape on the pipes now, maybe I need more than that to keep the pipes unfrozen.

Yearly Report

I have been living full time here at Oak Spring farm for a year now.
A lot of things have happened to the farm and to me. Fences have been built, live stock added, new roof on the house, the siding has been completed on the house, bathroom put in, electricity added, telephone service brought in, hot water heater installed, kitchen cabinets installed, mud room dry walled and painted, kitchen painted, porches rebuilt, new wood stove for the living room, ceiling fans, new posts and beam to straighten the house, new ceiling in the utility room, textured the ceilings in the kitchen and living room and new septic system installed, repaired the road to the house and installed a culvert to help drain the field and road, and planted fruit trees. I have also added high speed satellite Internet and Dish TV.

Seems like a lot but it was done a bit at a time and there was time to visit the grandchildren and do some exploring in the area. I also made two trips to the hospital for short stays and feel better now than I did. I have made a few friends here and life has become quiet and low stress.

This winter has been mild, higher than normal temperatures which should change next week as it is supposed to get colder. I have already started thinking about spring and getting the garden planted. This year I hope to plant the usual; corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, carrots, lettuce, gourds, strawberries, onions and other things that strike my fancy. hopefully most of it will grow in abundance so I can put up my own veggies and make jam. Some where along the way a steer or half of one is going into the freezer. Of course we have fresh from the chicken eggs from 'girls' out in the hen house.

That is what has happened and those are the plans I hope we are here next year to give the yearly report :)

New critter on the farm

Here is the newest addition to the farm a Jersey bull calf. He hasn't been named yet, but I was thinking of something like What's, like in what's for dinner ? Okay bad joke but he is burger on the hoof for someone, even if he is a cute little fella.

A very quiet day here at the farm Christmas day or any other day you still have chores to do and they can't wait. The is home now to lots of critters and I spend more time there taking care of them. However, there are farmers here who have thirty plus calves to take care of and they do it year after year, so my little calves are no big deal concidering what others do. It has been raining here for a few days so things are muddy and squishy, there may be snow later tonight, we are all snug and have plenty of wood in for the stoves and the animals have fresh straw bedding so we should be comfy and dry.

In the spirit of the season, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A new addition to the Farm

A neighbor of mine wanted to raise a calf to beef but she didn't have a barn or a big enough pasture for raising an animal that would grow large so we went in together on a calf. He isn't weened yet so he has to be fed twice a day with this huge bottle of milk and boy does he like it. He grabs that bottle and sucks her down with a vengence. I hope he stays healthy and grows up nice and big, so he will fill the freezer with beef.

The drywall project

I have several rooms that need drywall work done. It didn't seem to bother the previous owners that there was no drywall in the mudroom. They used it for storage mostly and the previous door was worn out and ugly, that has been changed and a nice new door is there now. I got a recomendation for a local drywall person from a neighbor. When he showed up I was taken aback at how young he looked, then when I saw his crew I felt like I was hiring the local shop class at the High School. I guess I am getting old, lots of people look young to me these days, except me.

The mudroom project is sort of a test for this drywall crew. If they do good I will use them for the rest of the house. They do local jobs on their own time and work other drywall jobs for a contractor during the day. Drywalling is a messy project there is a lot of dust and debris. The dust gets everywhere and is hard to clean up. The results are nice though, brings a feeling that the house is complete.

The new roof

I have suffered leaks in the roof of this house since the first day. The prior owners told me that they had fixed them. Well their idea of fixing a roof and mine differ. I don't think a bucket under a leak is fixing it. I tried fixing that leak and later found some serious leaks in the wash room that as time went by just got bigger and more troublesome.

Finally I gave up trying to repair the leaks myself and called a man I know that fixes such things and had him come over and replace the whole roof. I figure that with the new roof I would avoid more problems coming up if I just patched the roof.

So here are the photos of the roof going on and after the job was completed what do you think?

That strange feeling in the chest

As some of you know I have been ill for a few weeks. It all started about the beginning of October I had some pressure in my chest and having been diagnosed with cardiac disease some years ago I felt it prudent to have my records transferred to my new doctor here in Kentucky. One day being in town I stopped by to see if the records had been transferred and they had. I made an appointment that day to see the doctor about the records. He ordered an EKG and based on what he saw he insisted that I go immediatly to the ER located at the Regional Medical Center about forty-five minutes away. The next thing I know I am in an ambulance headed to the ER. Scary, very scary. I spent overnight there and they ran some tests and I guess I looked good enough to go home and they released me with an appointment to see a Cardiologist in few days.

Oct 20th, I was home and I didn't feel good, I had some pressure in the chest and after a nitro tab it didn't abate. So I called a neighbor to ask him to take care of my animals and he said sure what's up? I told him and he offered to take me to the ER in town, I accepted. I am so glad I did, because as time went on I felt worse. I am not sure I could have driven all the way myself. When I got to the ER they got all the records from the Medical Center and deceided I was going back there by ambulance again. When I got there I was told I was going to be prep'd for a cardio cath that is when they put a tube into the artery in your groin all the way to your heart and then release some dye to see if there are any blockages. You guessed it I had 'em, one at 80%a and one at 70%. I was then told I was being transferred to the next hospital for stents to be put in to increase the blood flow so with the catherer still in me I was loaded into another ambulance and off we went to the next hospital. There two stents were placed in my heart.

I am home now thanks to many people who cared about me and did their job in a very professional manner. I am grateful to my neighbors who took care of my place and me. I feel very lucky to have such nice people down the road.

I am recovering well, and hope to be back to my usual activities within a few weeks, a little humbler than before and ever so grateful.

Quiet Sunday

This has been a lovely quiet Sunday. The chickens are out hunting bugs and such like good chickens should, the goats are out and munching on brush and weeds like good goats should, the dogs are out keeping an eye on everything just like they should. Just a peaceful day here on the farm. We had a killing frost for the past couple of days and that did in the gourd vines so what we have harvested is what we will use for bird houses this coming spring. Now the gourds are behind the stove drying until spring and I cut, clean and paint them to be bird houses for the Purple Martins that will be flying our way and hopefully picking our birdhouses to nest in and rare their off spring.

I got some fresh straw Saturday and feed for the chickens and goats stopped by a neighbor's house to ask about a visitor to the farm he might know of and I found out he had cut himself with a chain saw and he was trying to decide whether to go to the Doctor's office or go to the Emergency Room. When I left he was getting ready to go to the Emergency Room and get that sliced knee sewed up. I think I will call him this evening and see how he is doing.

Stopped by my neighbor's house to check on him this evening. He was up all night with pain and stayed in his recliner as the thought of moving to bed was just to painful. He had over twenty-five stitches to close the wound. He will be laid up for about a month. We talked about a lot of things besides his wound, like the cost of living, how to fix metal roofs, who does repair work in the Amish community and how to get a hold of them, and a few stories thrown in for good measure.

The picture above is that neighbor helping me lay gravel up the ramp to the hay loft.

New Goat Stand

I am new to tending goats and need all the help I can get with these squirming, kicking, free spirits. I have put together a goat milking stand which also can be used to examin, medicate, hold 'em for their hoof trimming which has to be done on a regular basis, as well as (we hope) milking the little darlings. This was the first time for me trimming the hoofs of goats and it was the first time they had it done by me. So it was a good test of the strength of the stand as these goats didn't want to have their feet messed with by the rank beginner (Me). The goats got trimmed I learned what I need to do to make the stand more efficient. The goats got a treat, so they would think better of the contraption later. We shall see the next time I put them in the goat milking stand :)

Fall is on its way

Fall is on it way to the farm. Time to reflect as to what we accomplished and what we didn't accomplish this year. Time to get the wood in and split some kindlin for the stove.
Lots of thinking going on here as to what to do for the winter and what projects to get done before the cold wind blows that white stuff around. Time to think about the future and what it will bring. Summer went by so fast I look back and wonder were did it go?
I am glad that things did get done that I wanted like getting electricity in the first floor rooms, we now have hot water, a real bathroom, the kitchen has cabinets, the barn has a new door to protect the goats.
I wonder what next year will bring?

Test of photo program

This is a test of the photo program

Me and my big friend

This is Princess and me having a little chat she is staying here at the farm while her owner is away on business. Princess is a big draft horse very calm and friendly she likes attention and will follow you about the pasture to see what your doing and sniff the equipment and look in the pick-up truck to see if there is anything there of interest.

Kentucky Hay Ride

Today I got up close and personal with a hay wagon I got to buck hay with two youngsters will being driven around the hayfield pulled by a tractor. This was my first time bucking hay and I had fun. I have always wanted to buck hay and now I have, it is a lot of work lifting those bales and those kids did a fine job. I could only keep up with them for one wagon load they did the rest of the bales on their own and had a fine talk with one another while they worked. The lad was from my next door neighbor's farm who has seven children so they felt they could spare one for the afternoon. The young lady came from down the road her Father shares in my hay and she loves to work with her Dad in the fields. If this is the kind of youngster they are growing here things don't look to bad for the future.

The hay is now in the barn so I have about two tons of hay to get me through the winter and that should give me a few bales to sell to help pay for the grain I feed the goats now and then.'
It won't be long and it will be breeding time for the goats so we will have spring kids and fresh milk and cheese.

The hens have been doing well laying from six to ten eggs a day, that will decrease as the days get shorter, but we will always have some eggs as long as we have birds.

Yup, fall is coming on quick got to get things ready for winter before I know it I will be lighting the stoves and hauling wood again.

Laundry Day

Here at Oak Spring Farm we have only a few modern convienences, we don't have an automatic washer and dryer. We use a Maytag wringer washer and clothes lines to wash and dry our clothes. In case of incliment weather we can run a clothes line back and forth in laundry/washroom. The clothes come out clean and drying in the fresh air gives them a nice smell as long as the wood smoke doesn't get to them.

I thought that using the old time washer would be a lot harder on me than an automatic washer, but I found that washing clothes using the wringer washer isn't that hard just takes longer. However I have the time and would rather let the sun dry my clothes and not pay the electric co-op for the privilege of using their power.

We don't have a dishwasher or garbage disposal either the dishes are washed by hand and the garbage goes in the compost pile. We do have a vacume cleaner here and it is handy catch those dust bunnies and we have 'em as we have indoor pets. We also have indoor plumbing now and hot water by an electric hot water heater, sure is nice when you want a shower.

Bathroom Project update

Things are progressing, I have a functional bathroom, not finnished yet still have a lot to do but it can be used. The toilet flushes the sink drains the shower works. Some things still have to be done and or redone; the electrical fixtures have to be put in, the drywall installed, the wax ring for the toilet reinstalled, painting, trim work and flooring installed. We are getting there just taking a lot more time, effort and money than I first thought. There is so much work to putting all this together it can be over whelming.

Had a little leak around the bottom of the toilet so that ment the was seal wasn't working. Removed the toilet; undid the tank, and pulled up the toilet, cleaned off the the old wax seal added the new wax seal and added another for good measure, put the whole sheebang back together again under an hour and a half. Practise makes perfect or almost perfect. Will have to wait till the wood floor dries out to see if the new wax seal is working or not. I sure hope it is I don't want to get to good at this toilet plumbing stuff :)

I just keep at it until I get it done; little by little. Sure have learned a lot.

Plumbing story part 2

I got the drain and vent system connected. Today I got the kitchen sink drain connected to the drain and vent system and tested. It drains well, no funny noises and it drains as fast as any other drain I remmember. This is a leap forward as before the kitchen sink drained into the cellar and was piped to the drain in the floor of the cellar and emptied out in the pasture somewhere. So, now the kitchen drain goes to the spetic system where it belongs.

The toilet has been mounted on the waste pipe and bolted to the floor and the sink is in place not connected yet, but it is ready to be connected. I am leaving it unconnected for now in case I need to move it out of the way to work on the shower. The shower is connected to the drain and vent system and the wall is begun.

I think things are going to look nice once everything is completed and decorated.

August 11, 2006
Progress is slow as I had to redo some work and get more pieces and parts. I do have the walls of the shower up and I have dry fitted the fittings and pipes to operate the shower. I will start cutting into the cold water line and connecting it to the shower and sink tomorrow. The directions for installing the single lever valve where confusing and incomplete, so I just guessed at the installation procedures. There is still a lot of work to do. This project seems to go on and on, sigh.

Plumbing Project

This will be an on going project. I am putting in a bathroom, at least a shower, sink and toilet. I have torn out the shelves in the pantry and I have reinforced the floor with plywood. I have purchased a toilet and shower stall. I have to build a wall for the stall to be mounted to so it won't fall over.

I have had to learn a lot more about plumbing. It can be complicated. There are many factors to keep in mind at the same time. There is a drain/waste system, a vent system, and a water supply system. I have the drain and vent system in place now without the pieces being glued together so I can adjust and move them as I build around them. I have started the wall. I have the vent going from under the house up through the floor and through the ceiling and out the roof.

My next purchase is a sink and cabinet to put it in, then I will know where the supply and drain lines are to go for the sink and I can drill those holes and fabricate the drain connection for the sink. After that I can start joining the drain pipes together. First everything has to fit.

I will be adding to this post as I go along. I sure hope that it all works well. I haven't done this much plumbing before.