Labour Day BBQ
One of the things that trixstirand I really used to enjoy back in Calgary was the annual Labour Day BBQ - we'd prepare a huge mass of steaks, fresh Taber corn, baked potatoes (with all the trimmings!), garlic toast, and invite a bunch of friends to come share the feast and bring desserts. Since we moved out here to the farm, we haven't been able to have such a grand gathering, but we still make sure to at least have a decent BBQ for ourselves. This year was no exception, and the menu featured BBQ'd venison steaks and venison skewers (with thanks to wolfmatixfor the venison!), sirlion steaks, fresh Hutterite corn, baked potatoes, and homemade garlic bread. Maybe next year we'll have this place cleaned up enough to actually invite friends to come out and join us - we certainly have enough space out here for folks to set up tents and campers. :)
We got a few long-delayed things done around the farm as well: I got some of the (farm) shop shelving organized and unloaded the pile of engine-parts from the junk-tailer we got from Alfie's estate. Once the trailer was cleaned out we finally put it to the use it was bought for - loading it up with the garbage that needs to be hauled to the dump. We don't have garbage pick-up out here, we have to haul it to the dump ourselves and pay a $5 "tipping fee" to dump it at the landfill. At least now that we have this trailer I don't have to worry about my truck getting filled up with garbage for several weeks before making the trip, nor having it sitting in a pile where the cats can get at it. We don't generate that much garabge (we recycle almost everything!) so it can be several weeks before we have enough garbage to make it worth hauling it in. Even at the Iron Pony shop, I think I've only produced two bags of actual garbage since May; Everything else (cardboard, paper, metal, plastic, oil, oil-jugs & filters, batteries, etc.) can all be recycled.
Yesterday, Trixstir and I went to Swift Current to try to buy some horse-feed, and get a few supplies we needed. The plan was to stop at Alfie's farm on the way home, and pick up the tractor and haybine. We wound up being later than we expected, so instead of driving it all the way back to the farm, I just brought it into town and parked it at the shop. I'm glad that I did, because it would have been dark before we got it home otherwise, and with no headlights on the tractor that would have been incredibly dangerous, but there was also another problem: When we got to the shop, I noticed that the tires on the right side seemed low. It was getting dark by then, so we left everything until this morning when we went back again. Turns out that the tires were indeed low, but that was only the smallest part of the problem! The real problem is that the valve on the right rear tire was extremely corroded, and it snapped off when I tried to attach the inflator to it! Worse, these tires are filled with brine (commonly used to add weight, thus traction) which started pouring out of the broken valve. There was nothing that could be done (being the holiday and all) so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see about getting it fixed. :/
On the plus side, the tractor seems to run very well, particularly given its age. Nothing quite like "zipping" down the highway at 20km/h on an open-seat tractor, with the wind in your hair and a faceful of diesel exhaust along the way! Which reminds me, I need to get an exhaust-stack cap for the thing; otherwise every time it rains or snows there's a risk of water running down the stack and rusting out the exhaust system. The tractor, BTW, is a Klochner-Humboldt-Deutz-Ag D8005. If anyone knows where I can find an owner's manual, and/or a shop manual for it, please let me know! It's a big air-cooled six-cylinder diesel, one of those purely-mechanical beasties that would keep running even after a nuclear sky-burst EMP. Old-tech, but reliable! ;)
Almost forgot - I saw my first wild raccoon(s) today! The Kidling thought he heard them chattering somewhere, and sure enough when I went to the back of the quonset (the East side) I could hear them chattering. Then I could actually see one - climing up the doorfram on the old farmhouse/grainery out back. We think that building was the original farmhouse here, but it had long-since been coverted to a grainery. Now it's a derelict old building, with a family of raccoons living in it!
We got a few long-delayed things done around the farm as well: I got some of the (farm) shop shelving organized and unloaded the pile of engine-parts from the junk-tailer we got from Alfie's estate. Once the trailer was cleaned out we finally put it to the use it was bought for - loading it up with the garbage that needs to be hauled to the dump. We don't have garbage pick-up out here, we have to haul it to the dump ourselves and pay a $5 "tipping fee" to dump it at the landfill. At least now that we have this trailer I don't have to worry about my truck getting filled up with garbage for several weeks before making the trip, nor having it sitting in a pile where the cats can get at it. We don't generate that much garabge (we recycle almost everything!) so it can be several weeks before we have enough garbage to make it worth hauling it in. Even at the Iron Pony shop, I think I've only produced two bags of actual garbage since May; Everything else (cardboard, paper, metal, plastic, oil, oil-jugs & filters, batteries, etc.) can all be recycled.
Yesterday, Trixstir and I went to Swift Current to try to buy some horse-feed, and get a few supplies we needed. The plan was to stop at Alfie's farm on the way home, and pick up the tractor and haybine. We wound up being later than we expected, so instead of driving it all the way back to the farm, I just brought it into town and parked it at the shop. I'm glad that I did, because it would have been dark before we got it home otherwise, and with no headlights on the tractor that would have been incredibly dangerous, but there was also another problem: When we got to the shop, I noticed that the tires on the right side seemed low. It was getting dark by then, so we left everything until this morning when we went back again. Turns out that the tires were indeed low, but that was only the smallest part of the problem! The real problem is that the valve on the right rear tire was extremely corroded, and it snapped off when I tried to attach the inflator to it! Worse, these tires are filled with brine (commonly used to add weight, thus traction) which started pouring out of the broken valve. There was nothing that could be done (being the holiday and all) so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see about getting it fixed. :/
On the plus side, the tractor seems to run very well, particularly given its age. Nothing quite like "zipping" down the highway at 20km/h on an open-seat tractor, with the wind in your hair and a faceful of diesel exhaust along the way! Which reminds me, I need to get an exhaust-stack cap for the thing; otherwise every time it rains or snows there's a risk of water running down the stack and rusting out the exhaust system. The tractor, BTW, is a Klochner-Humboldt-Deutz-Ag D8005. If anyone knows where I can find an owner's manual, and/or a shop manual for it, please let me know! It's a big air-cooled six-cylinder diesel, one of those purely-mechanical beasties that would keep running even after a nuclear sky-burst EMP. Old-tech, but reliable! ;)
Almost forgot - I saw my first wild raccoon(s) today! The Kidling thought he heard them chattering somewhere, and sure enough when I went to the back of the quonset (the East side) I could hear them chattering. Then I could actually see one - climing up the doorfram on the old farmhouse/grainery out back. We think that building was the original farmhouse here, but it had long-since been coverted to a grainery. Now it's a derelict old building, with a family of raccoons living in it!