Sunday, November 20 2005
Hi there
I spent a week preparing the floor area -- installing the plumbing and bringing in truckloads of fill in order to level the floor -- prior to pouring concrete.
After all the procrastination and delay that happened for digging the trenches, the plumbing was installed amazingly fast. Our friend Rush spent a couple of days with us and he had that plumbing sorted out in no time at all. Bev and I had driven into Safford earlier - mainly for the bits of pipe and various angles, joins and connectors that would be needed. We only missed out on one that I didn't realize was available and didn't know that I needed it.
I started with a large pile of fill, about 6 truck loads, all in the Southeast corner of the house, and wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load, started leveling the floor area. Ever noticed what a large gap a wheelbarrow load makes in the pile you're pulling from and what a negligible effect it has on the area you're leveling -- Murphy's corollary to the law of the conservation of matter! I alternated from despair that I needed yet more fill to despair that I had too much fill and would have to remove some. Eventually I got to the "ahh stuff it" stage and declared the area level. Large amounts of concrete were going to be mixed and poured over this so what difference did it make?
With tractor, trailer and Mule I hauled in 5 truckloads of wash sand (which is a natural course sand and stone mix) calculating that each load was close to 2 cubic yards of material - hence 10 yards which was required for the floor. All calculations were good - except that I ran out of sand at the halfway point and will have to spend another day hauling in another 5 truckloads. With 5 full 55 gallon drums of water ... we were ready to go!
So we spent a week mixing and pouring concrete -- working most mornings and setting up for the following day during the afternoon. We're still only half way there!
Last Monday, Angus the bull decided that he was really interested in our building operations and that they needed much closer examination. At around 6 we (Mojo and I) chased him away from under the house porch where he was taking an interest in.... concrete? -- there is nothing there for him to eat so we have no idea what he thought he was doing. Mojo started barking at about midnight - so I let him out. Angus was standing in the shed about 6 feet away from me -- I'm not sure who was most startled, Angus, Mojo or me. We saw him off and went back to bed - Begorrah, he came back again. At about 3 he was bumping around in front of the trailer. This time he got another stone on his butt and was chased quite a distance away.
That morning, I couldn't understand what had happened to my work boots until I realized that Angus had licked the inside of my boots, pulling the inner sole completely out. Bev theorizes that he was after the salt. Meanwhile, bullspit in my boots -- Ick! But for one letter, that could have been a whole lot worse!
Mojo likes licking my feet after I've had a hard day's work - Angus likes the inside of my boots.... maybe I could market this stuff. Bottled foot sweat - keep your dogs and bulls happy. Guaranteed to ... okay, that's a problem because I'm not sure what it's guaranteed to do. But maybe it would sell on E-Bay.
The high-desert temperatures have dropped rapidly in the past 2 weeks with our first frost occurring on Thursday morning. That's the end of the squash plants - they really don't like frost. Still, we've got a fall/winter crop planted and we're hopeful that we'll get some greens that the bull won't eat. Unfortunately there is this rabbit/hare that is raiding the veggies - I haven't seen it yet but the tracks are fairly clear. I'll line the bottom half of the fence with plastic mesh as soon as I get some - that should keep him out. Unless it's not a rabbit/hare and is a rock squirrel which is simply climbing the fence...
If "vegetarian" means "really poor hunter", what is the word for a vegetarian who can't grow vegetables? Biafran?
Regards
Ajay
I spent a week preparing the floor area -- installing the plumbing and bringing in truckloads of fill in order to level the floor -- prior to pouring concrete.
After all the procrastination and delay that happened for digging the trenches, the plumbing was installed amazingly fast. Our friend Rush spent a couple of days with us and he had that plumbing sorted out in no time at all. Bev and I had driven into Safford earlier - mainly for the bits of pipe and various angles, joins and connectors that would be needed. We only missed out on one that I didn't realize was available and didn't know that I needed it.
I started with a large pile of fill, about 6 truck loads, all in the Southeast corner of the house, and wheelbarrow load by wheelbarrow load, started leveling the floor area. Ever noticed what a large gap a wheelbarrow load makes in the pile you're pulling from and what a negligible effect it has on the area you're leveling -- Murphy's corollary to the law of the conservation of matter! I alternated from despair that I needed yet more fill to despair that I had too much fill and would have to remove some. Eventually I got to the "ahh stuff it" stage and declared the area level. Large amounts of concrete were going to be mixed and poured over this so what difference did it make?
With tractor, trailer and Mule I hauled in 5 truckloads of wash sand (which is a natural course sand and stone mix) calculating that each load was close to 2 cubic yards of material - hence 10 yards which was required for the floor. All calculations were good - except that I ran out of sand at the halfway point and will have to spend another day hauling in another 5 truckloads. With 5 full 55 gallon drums of water ... we were ready to go!
So we spent a week mixing and pouring concrete -- working most mornings and setting up for the following day during the afternoon. We're still only half way there!
Last Monday, Angus the bull decided that he was really interested in our building operations and that they needed much closer examination. At around 6 we (Mojo and I) chased him away from under the house porch where he was taking an interest in.... concrete? -- there is nothing there for him to eat so we have no idea what he thought he was doing. Mojo started barking at about midnight - so I let him out. Angus was standing in the shed about 6 feet away from me -- I'm not sure who was most startled, Angus, Mojo or me. We saw him off and went back to bed - Begorrah, he came back again. At about 3 he was bumping around in front of the trailer. This time he got another stone on his butt and was chased quite a distance away.
That morning, I couldn't understand what had happened to my work boots until I realized that Angus had licked the inside of my boots, pulling the inner sole completely out. Bev theorizes that he was after the salt. Meanwhile, bullspit in my boots -- Ick! But for one letter, that could have been a whole lot worse!
Mojo likes licking my feet after I've had a hard day's work - Angus likes the inside of my boots.... maybe I could market this stuff. Bottled foot sweat - keep your dogs and bulls happy. Guaranteed to ... okay, that's a problem because I'm not sure what it's guaranteed to do. But maybe it would sell on E-Bay.
The high-desert temperatures have dropped rapidly in the past 2 weeks with our first frost occurring on Thursday morning. That's the end of the squash plants - they really don't like frost. Still, we've got a fall/winter crop planted and we're hopeful that we'll get some greens that the bull won't eat. Unfortunately there is this rabbit/hare that is raiding the veggies - I haven't seen it yet but the tracks are fairly clear. I'll line the bottom half of the fence with plastic mesh as soon as I get some - that should keep him out. Unless it's not a rabbit/hare and is a rock squirrel which is simply climbing the fence...
If "vegetarian" means "really poor hunter", what is the word for a vegetarian who can't grow vegetables? Biafran?
Regards
Ajay