Saturday, November 15, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Red Wattle Sow
October 25
We bought a heritage breed of hog! The heritage breeds are rare and we wanted a pig that does well foraging for most of its food as opposed to one that is penned up and fed just commercial feeds.
We chose a Red Wattle sow named Rosie. (probably because she is red). She is friendly but quite large so not quite what I would call a pet. No, we aren't going to eat her. Rosie is two years old and has been bred to a Red Wattle boar. There should be about a dozen little piglets born around the first part of January. Rosie will be kept in part of the barn and one of the cattle pens this winter so we can keep an eye on her and keep the piglets warm with a heat lamp.
A Red Wattle pig has two wattles hanging from its neck. The wattles don't do anything, sort of like our appendix. They are just distinguishing breed traits.
We bought a heritage breed of hog! The heritage breeds are rare and we wanted a pig that does well foraging for most of its food as opposed to one that is penned up and fed just commercial feeds.
We chose a Red Wattle sow named Rosie. (probably because she is red). She is friendly but quite large so not quite what I would call a pet. No, we aren't going to eat her. Rosie is two years old and has been bred to a Red Wattle boar. There should be about a dozen little piglets born around the first part of January. Rosie will be kept in part of the barn and one of the cattle pens this winter so we can keep an eye on her and keep the piglets warm with a heat lamp.
A Red Wattle pig has two wattles hanging from its neck. The wattles don't do anything, sort of like our appendix. They are just distinguishing breed traits.
Oct 30 - Nov 12 Roof on
Who knew there was so much involved with getting a new roof? Not me, that's for sure.
After removing the red metal and two layers of shingles and tar paper, there were hundreds of nails that had to be popped up. Again, thank goodness for the proper tools and strong able bodied people. Then some new bracing and sheeting was cut and installed. The sheets of under liner went down and then the metal was put on the addition first so the metal would not have to be hauled across a finished roof. Joe and Wayne had a few challenges with the 20 foot panels in the blowing wind, but they did great and got the job done. Then the process started again on the old roof. I don't know how the guys have been able to work on the roof as the temperatures are running about 25 degrees below normal. This weeks high was about 31 degrees and low around 22 at night.
We now have a beautiful green metal roof ! The trim is on all sides except the high end of the house. That will get put on next week when we have a tractor with a lift on it so the guys can reach the peak.
Joe also put in the last two French doors. What a difference they make in the way the patio side of the house looks.
This week I have had a cold and have not been any help. The cats and my Yorkie, Muffin, have loved snuggling in bed while I slept the week away. I have basketball tournament week and homecoming. Callie and Emilee borrowed Papa Joe's flatbed trailer and decorated it for the homecoming parade today. He was out in the dark last night hooking up the trailer for them. They didn't call until about 7 pm.
Rosie, our Red Wattle pig has settled in nicely. I have let her out to graze, but she seems to always wind up in the yard by us. Very sociable. She knows her name and comes when called, especially if she thinks food might be involved. I added another strand of electric fence tape so that should keep her out in the pasture. She has a house made from straw bales in one side of the barn. She seems warm hunkered in her straw bed in her house.
Joe's mom, sister and brother in law finally arrived from California. They bought a beautiful place on acreage just across town. It will be wonderful having more family back here!
After removing the red metal and two layers of shingles and tar paper, there were hundreds of nails that had to be popped up. Again, thank goodness for the proper tools and strong able bodied people. Then some new bracing and sheeting was cut and installed. The sheets of under liner went down and then the metal was put on the addition first so the metal would not have to be hauled across a finished roof. Joe and Wayne had a few challenges with the 20 foot panels in the blowing wind, but they did great and got the job done. Then the process started again on the old roof. I don't know how the guys have been able to work on the roof as the temperatures are running about 25 degrees below normal. This weeks high was about 31 degrees and low around 22 at night.
We now have a beautiful green metal roof ! The trim is on all sides except the high end of the house. That will get put on next week when we have a tractor with a lift on it so the guys can reach the peak.
Joe also put in the last two French doors. What a difference they make in the way the patio side of the house looks.
This week I have had a cold and have not been any help. The cats and my Yorkie, Muffin, have loved snuggling in bed while I slept the week away. I have basketball tournament week and homecoming. Callie and Emilee borrowed Papa Joe's flatbed trailer and decorated it for the homecoming parade today. He was out in the dark last night hooking up the trailer for them. They didn't call until about 7 pm.
Rosie, our Red Wattle pig has settled in nicely. I have let her out to graze, but she seems to always wind up in the yard by us. Very sociable. She knows her name and comes when called, especially if she thinks food might be involved. I added another strand of electric fence tape so that should keep her out in the pasture. She has a house made from straw bales in one side of the barn. She seems warm hunkered in her straw bed in her house.
Joe's mom, sister and brother in law finally arrived from California. They bought a beautiful place on acreage just across town. It will be wonderful having more family back here!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
And the roofing continues
Wonderful fall weather in Lead Hill. The hillsides are becoming dotted with the changing colors of fall. It is so beautiful here.
October 29, 2014
Work continues on the roof. Stripping the metal, then the two layers of shingles. Once the shingles were off we realized there were many places there the roof boards had to be replaced. I am so glad Joe wanted to strip the old layers of the roof off or we might not have seen all the places that really needed to be replaced. We had had help getting the shingles off as it was just too much work for us to get done. We had finally gotten the roof stripped when rain that was supposed to go north of us was heading our way. We hurried to Home Depot and bought a 20' by 100' roll of heavy plastic. Joe and I were on the roof until 2:40 in the morning rolling out sheets of heavy plastic and stapling them down. Thank goodness the rain didn't start until about 3 AM.
The next day our worker, Wayne, came to help Joe hang the 16 foot sections of facia trim. Today we had to go to Bentonville , so Wayne finished replacing any bad wood on the backside of the roof. He also cut out any bad wood on the front side. They will be able to replace the sections in the morning and then finish the facia trim on the front. I can't believe how different the house looks with the new white facia all across the back side of the entire house.
The roof should be fixed and the roof liner put down this week. I am so thrilled that the new hunter green roof goes on soon!!!
All the hard work and frustrations are so worth it to get to have a new house on our beautiful property! Yeah!
October 29, 2014
Work continues on the roof. Stripping the metal, then the two layers of shingles. Once the shingles were off we realized there were many places there the roof boards had to be replaced. I am so glad Joe wanted to strip the old layers of the roof off or we might not have seen all the places that really needed to be replaced. We had had help getting the shingles off as it was just too much work for us to get done. We had finally gotten the roof stripped when rain that was supposed to go north of us was heading our way. We hurried to Home Depot and bought a 20' by 100' roll of heavy plastic. Joe and I were on the roof until 2:40 in the morning rolling out sheets of heavy plastic and stapling them down. Thank goodness the rain didn't start until about 3 AM.
The next day our worker, Wayne, came to help Joe hang the 16 foot sections of facia trim. Today we had to go to Bentonville , so Wayne finished replacing any bad wood on the backside of the roof. He also cut out any bad wood on the front side. They will be able to replace the sections in the morning and then finish the facia trim on the front. I can't believe how different the house looks with the new white facia all across the back side of the entire house.
The roof should be fixed and the roof liner put down this week. I am so thrilled that the new hunter green roof goes on soon!!!
All the hard work and frustrations are so worth it to get to have a new house on our beautiful property! Yeah!
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Oct. 18 roof
Sunday, October 18
Saturday night was the coldest so far this fall. It dropped to 41 degrees. I looked outside this morning and the fog is so heavy I can barely see across the yard. High temps today should reach into the upper 60's. This is good weather to continue stripping the layers of old roof off.
Have I mentioned that we would be in a house by now if we had just bulldozed the old house down? Building is SO much faster than removing almost the whole house and now the old roofs. Yes, that was roof with a plural S at the end. Joe and I removed the old red metal roof and are going to reuse it on the shop or barn. We got about 1/4 of the next layer up and I called
Tiffany's boyfriend and got his brother and cousin to work on removing most of the other layers on the front side of the roof. Thank goodness, they are coming back to finish that side after church today.
After looking at umpteen roof/ house color combinations, we have switched from a brown roof to a hunter green. Brown on brown would have just been too dark. Besides, 50 million US Forestry brown cabins with green roofs can't be wrong. I think we will be much happier with the dark green metal roof.
The cows were up by Francis' barn so we were able to get our calf ear tagged so we know which one to keep at our place. She is weaned, but still hung out by momma when several were penned, so we could identify her to tag her. Charolais are cream to white colored so it can be very difficult to tell them apart. Momma cow, Heidi, is part something else and a reddish brown with a distance white markings. We didn't tag her because she is very easy to ID.
Granddaughter Tiffany was able to get three of her cows tagged and identified her bull calf. It was impossible to tell which calves belonged to which cows so she will get her two calves marked when we see them with the tagged moms. I am so proud of her for buying a small herd of 5 head of cattle last year. She will sell the bull calf this coming week. Two of her cows now have babies and a third should calf this winter. I know it is hard for her not to buy new clothes, or get material things young people want today, but she has such good sense and is making such a good investment with cattle. When the other kids things wear out, Tiffany's cows will be continuing to multiply and increase her savings. You can sell cattle on any Wednesday and Thursday back here at the sale barn if you need immediate cash.
If this fog ever lifts I need to get the rest of the facia board painted so Joe can get them up. I think they go up before some channel for the roof goes on. I was hoping to have Thanksgiving at our place, but may be lucky if we are in by Christmas. There is only so much Joe can do in a day, and thank goodness we aren't paying me by the hour! It takes me 20 minutes just to get a tea and my tools together before I can think of actually doing something. The interior is where my work really kicks in. I can paint, trim, tile and put in outlets and bulbs. I am going to learn to help put down laminate flooring and hang drywall.
The 4 baby chicks are starting to get feathers and little combs. I am pretty sure two are roosters so I need to sell them soon. All 11 baby Guinea keets are growing and starting to get feathers. Their little necks are starting to get longer. They look like long necked quail right now.
Enough rambling for today.
Saturday night was the coldest so far this fall. It dropped to 41 degrees. I looked outside this morning and the fog is so heavy I can barely see across the yard. High temps today should reach into the upper 60's. This is good weather to continue stripping the layers of old roof off.
Have I mentioned that we would be in a house by now if we had just bulldozed the old house down? Building is SO much faster than removing almost the whole house and now the old roofs. Yes, that was roof with a plural S at the end. Joe and I removed the old red metal roof and are going to reuse it on the shop or barn. We got about 1/4 of the next layer up and I called
Tiffany's boyfriend and got his brother and cousin to work on removing most of the other layers on the front side of the roof. Thank goodness, they are coming back to finish that side after church today.
After looking at umpteen roof/ house color combinations, we have switched from a brown roof to a hunter green. Brown on brown would have just been too dark. Besides, 50 million US Forestry brown cabins with green roofs can't be wrong. I think we will be much happier with the dark green metal roof.
The cows were up by Francis' barn so we were able to get our calf ear tagged so we know which one to keep at our place. She is weaned, but still hung out by momma when several were penned, so we could identify her to tag her. Charolais are cream to white colored so it can be very difficult to tell them apart. Momma cow, Heidi, is part something else and a reddish brown with a distance white markings. We didn't tag her because she is very easy to ID.
Granddaughter Tiffany was able to get three of her cows tagged and identified her bull calf. It was impossible to tell which calves belonged to which cows so she will get her two calves marked when we see them with the tagged moms. I am so proud of her for buying a small herd of 5 head of cattle last year. She will sell the bull calf this coming week. Two of her cows now have babies and a third should calf this winter. I know it is hard for her not to buy new clothes, or get material things young people want today, but she has such good sense and is making such a good investment with cattle. When the other kids things wear out, Tiffany's cows will be continuing to multiply and increase her savings. You can sell cattle on any Wednesday and Thursday back here at the sale barn if you need immediate cash.
If this fog ever lifts I need to get the rest of the facia board painted so Joe can get them up. I think they go up before some channel for the roof goes on. I was hoping to have Thanksgiving at our place, but may be lucky if we are in by Christmas. There is only so much Joe can do in a day, and thank goodness we aren't paying me by the hour! It takes me 20 minutes just to get a tea and my tools together before I can think of actually doing something. The interior is where my work really kicks in. I can paint, trim, tile and put in outlets and bulbs. I am going to learn to help put down laminate flooring and hang drywall.
The 4 baby chicks are starting to get feathers and little combs. I am pretty sure two are roosters so I need to sell them soon. All 11 baby Guinea keets are growing and starting to get feathers. Their little necks are starting to get longer. They look like long necked quail right now.
Enough rambling for today.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
October 5 pictures 2
Joe bush hogging waist high weeds
Fireplace corner. French door openings. Beside the kitchen area
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