Sunday, November 6 2005
Hi there
Despite Mojo's valiant efforts, the 2 large bulls that wander around have been camping out closer and closer to the homestead. Mojo, after some encouragement from us, is turning into a very effective cow-herder and is now more than happy to chase the bulls. It's a pity that I know nothing about the specialist training for a working dog because he's quite receptive to it. Anyway, the bulls. I named them "Black" and "Angus" but could never really tell the difference between them ... they all look alike. For the past week or so, Mojo has helped me chase them from the immediate environs of the house. One evening, we chased Angus out of the vegetable garden but not before he had sampled some produce - casually destroying 2 cauliflowers that had taken months to grow and were just starting to form heads.
The following night we traded the fall growing season's worth of green, leafy vegetables for 3 lumps of bull shit. Not a trade I would normally have engaged in, but, grateful as ever for small mercies, I philosophically dumped his payment for the vegetables into the compost heap and now optimistically look forward to the vegetables that the compost is going to help grow. It's interesting that he ate the cauliflower and kale (he meant collards but whatever!) but, other than something to sleep on, he ignored the squash. Squashed them, but ignored them.
As a result of this minor debacle it is easier to tell the bulls apart -- Angus has a large stone embedded in his butt! (He's kidding of course!)
I spent the remainder of the week building a fence around the remains of the vegetable garden. We always knew that the garden was in danger from the wandering "hamburgers" but the urgency of finishing the roof delayed the building of the fence. We had gathered about 50 pallets from the copper mine which were stacked, to the absolute delight of the rock squirrels, in 3 piles about 8 feet high. The fence consists of 32 pallets, has 3 gates - one of which is big enough to allow Mule through - and involved the digging of 32 holes, each a minimum of 20 inches deep. These holes are dug with a rock bar ... a hand powered rock bar! If you're wondering why I'm emphasizing this - it's called a rock bar, not a digging spike, and there's a reason for this! The fence looks very "Wild Westish" -- sort of OK Corral on the cheap but without the gunfight or any of the characters -- although my neighbors didn't seem too impressed with its looks. But the price was fantastic -- about $10 in all. (I paid for some of the hinges and the fasteners.)
The steep uphill road leading to the property claimed one of my tires this week - shredded it right down to the steel casing. I had been bragging that I could drive the hill without needing 4 wheel drive - it just took "technique". Now, with less hubris, a smaller bank balance, 4 new tires and a whole new understanding of the dangers of spinning tires on a bad dirt road, I'll hit 4 wheel drive every time I try that hill. How's that for technique?
I finally installed the 4 new PV discount "cosmetically blemished" panels that I bought about a month ago for about half their retail price. Our system was doing fine, we seldom had to cut back on our electricity usage for lack of sunlight, but I wanted a bit more generating power in reserve for winter cloudy days and the capacity to run power intensive machines like a concrete mixer ... or popcorn maker. I definitely want to be able to run the popcorn maker!
After several weeks spent building the roof, I felt that a week or so on the campsite wouldn't go amiss - but now it's back to working on the house again. I dug the trenches for the plumbing (which are amazingly long for such a small house - who put the kitchen and bathroom at opposite ends of the house and why?) and am getting ready to mix and pour the 11 ¼ cubic yards of concrete that it takes for the 4 inch slab floor. We investigated an earth floor, consisting primarily of oiled and sealed clay, as a "greener" alternative -- but eventually discarded the idea for a couple of basic reasons. Tiles don't adhere well to a clay floor - no matter how well sealed - and a clay floor is not impervious to termites. We reached a weak compromise with our consciences by deciding to use less cement in our concrete.
I always rave about the weather here ... okay, maybe not in the summer or winter, but at least half the time. Then again, Spring had bugs so I wasn't impressed then either. Hmm, maybe that "always rave about the weather" should read "Fall is definitely my favorite season". The nights are cool (high 30's and low 40's) and the days are mild (high 60's and low 70's) with very little humidity. The evenings and sunsets are beautiful. We've started sitting outside again with a small fire going (to the delight of the cat and the consternation of the dog who is scared of the flames) - watching the sunset and star gazing. Planets must really have confused the early star gazers ... if you don't understand why, then you need to study the night sky more often.
On that note, until next time
Regards
Ajay
Despite Mojo's valiant efforts, the 2 large bulls that wander around have been camping out closer and closer to the homestead. Mojo, after some encouragement from us, is turning into a very effective cow-herder and is now more than happy to chase the bulls. It's a pity that I know nothing about the specialist training for a working dog because he's quite receptive to it. Anyway, the bulls. I named them "Black" and "Angus" but could never really tell the difference between them ... they all look alike. For the past week or so, Mojo has helped me chase them from the immediate environs of the house. One evening, we chased Angus out of the vegetable garden but not before he had sampled some produce - casually destroying 2 cauliflowers that had taken months to grow and were just starting to form heads.
The following night we traded the fall growing season's worth of green, leafy vegetables for 3 lumps of bull shit. Not a trade I would normally have engaged in, but, grateful as ever for small mercies, I philosophically dumped his payment for the vegetables into the compost heap and now optimistically look forward to the vegetables that the compost is going to help grow. It's interesting that he ate the cauliflower and kale (he meant collards but whatever!) but, other than something to sleep on, he ignored the squash. Squashed them, but ignored them.
As a result of this minor debacle it is easier to tell the bulls apart -- Angus has a large stone embedded in his butt! (He's kidding of course!)
I spent the remainder of the week building a fence around the remains of the vegetable garden. We always knew that the garden was in danger from the wandering "hamburgers" but the urgency of finishing the roof delayed the building of the fence. We had gathered about 50 pallets from the copper mine which were stacked, to the absolute delight of the rock squirrels, in 3 piles about 8 feet high. The fence consists of 32 pallets, has 3 gates - one of which is big enough to allow Mule through - and involved the digging of 32 holes, each a minimum of 20 inches deep. These holes are dug with a rock bar ... a hand powered rock bar! If you're wondering why I'm emphasizing this - it's called a rock bar, not a digging spike, and there's a reason for this! The fence looks very "Wild Westish" -- sort of OK Corral on the cheap but without the gunfight or any of the characters -- although my neighbors didn't seem too impressed with its looks. But the price was fantastic -- about $10 in all. (I paid for some of the hinges and the fasteners.)
The steep uphill road leading to the property claimed one of my tires this week - shredded it right down to the steel casing. I had been bragging that I could drive the hill without needing 4 wheel drive - it just took "technique". Now, with less hubris, a smaller bank balance, 4 new tires and a whole new understanding of the dangers of spinning tires on a bad dirt road, I'll hit 4 wheel drive every time I try that hill. How's that for technique?
I finally installed the 4 new PV discount "cosmetically blemished" panels that I bought about a month ago for about half their retail price. Our system was doing fine, we seldom had to cut back on our electricity usage for lack of sunlight, but I wanted a bit more generating power in reserve for winter cloudy days and the capacity to run power intensive machines like a concrete mixer ... or popcorn maker. I definitely want to be able to run the popcorn maker!
After several weeks spent building the roof, I felt that a week or so on the campsite wouldn't go amiss - but now it's back to working on the house again. I dug the trenches for the plumbing (which are amazingly long for such a small house - who put the kitchen and bathroom at opposite ends of the house and why?) and am getting ready to mix and pour the 11 ¼ cubic yards of concrete that it takes for the 4 inch slab floor. We investigated an earth floor, consisting primarily of oiled and sealed clay, as a "greener" alternative -- but eventually discarded the idea for a couple of basic reasons. Tiles don't adhere well to a clay floor - no matter how well sealed - and a clay floor is not impervious to termites. We reached a weak compromise with our consciences by deciding to use less cement in our concrete.
I always rave about the weather here ... okay, maybe not in the summer or winter, but at least half the time. Then again, Spring had bugs so I wasn't impressed then either. Hmm, maybe that "always rave about the weather" should read "Fall is definitely my favorite season". The nights are cool (high 30's and low 40's) and the days are mild (high 60's and low 70's) with very little humidity. The evenings and sunsets are beautiful. We've started sitting outside again with a small fire going (to the delight of the cat and the consternation of the dog who is scared of the flames) - watching the sunset and star gazing. Planets must really have confused the early star gazers ... if you don't understand why, then you need to study the night sky more often.
On that note, until next time
Regards
Ajay